As promised, Chris' orders were waiting when he arrived at the smithy. Wrapped plainly but neatly in brown waxed paper, most would never suspect the wealth of precious metal within.
The blacksmith and his cousin were always very careful to account for every milligram of his gold lost in each re-forging process. It wasn't even pure dragon gold, just a blend, but they still professed it a great honour to be entrusted to its work and care.
Each time Chris returned with his melted failures, ready to be liquified and cast again, they brought out a ledger and measuring scales. Meticulous care was taken to weigh every magically slagged scrap of his experiments. Apparently, their two species had some bad blood a while back, and the two dwarves were desperate to prove their trustworthiness.
Alon
