As soon as the system offered a quest to save Nelly, a red line appeared, leading out of the tavern. Drake knew right away that it was linked to wherever Nelly had been taken.

"We're going to see if we can find any evidence of where she might have been taken," Drake told Mayor Ivan. "If we don't come back, we're following a lead. I promise we will find her or die trying." He then scanned the room one last time before heading out and following the link to Nelly.

He took only a few steps toward the door to take them out of the tavern when he received another system message.

{Hidden Quest Received: Find the chamber of knowledge/obtain the Master Spell book}

{Timed Quest: 5:00:00:00 remaining}

Drake watched the counter already beginning to count down. "Shit!" he hissed. "5 days, that's not enough," he whispered more to himself.

The only ones who heard it were his cohort. He was happy about that. He pulled the door open, letting his friends pass him before stepping out himself.

As they followed the red line that led to Nelly, Drake pulled up the quest map, then the green quest thread. He sighed in relief; they were going in the same direction… for now, at least. He also noticed that the lines were heading in the opposite direction from the gargoyle's lair, where Mayor Ivan had suspected her to be taken.

"Five days for what?" Mike asked, his tone uneasy. He looked at Drake, worried for the answer.

"We have two quests that we need to finish before the time runs out. First, we need to save Nelly. There is no time limit; only… her life is at stake. We received our hidden quest, which has a timer that's already counting down. It's giving us five days to find the chamber of knowledge and obtain a master spell book. Dad's right, saving Nelly can hinder us from finishing the quest." Drake looked between his friends. "We need to choose which quest to do." There was a long pause before he continued. "We either save Nelly's life and die, or finish our ascension quest and live, letting Nelly die. I personally want to save Nelly. In my opinion, that's what we should do, regardless of the consequences. What do you want to do? Majority rules."

Chad and Mike exchanged a look. Their expression was resigned. "We are with you, brother. We can't knowingly let an innocent child die to save our own skins," Chad said somberly. "We save Nelly, and if we have time, we try to finish the quest. That's the best thing we can do."

Mike nodded. "Agreed."

Drake nodded. "Then we follow the red thread," Drake said, then rushed down the road, following the red line. He was relieved that his friends agreed with him. He didn't want to let Nelly die. It didn't matter what the consequences were as long as she was saved. Mike and Chad followed with their eyes glowing, allowing them to see the two glowing threads, one red and one green.

"I find it strange that her shoe was found going the other way. Do you think someone is trying to stop us from completing the quest again?" Mike asked. Then he added, "It seems to be working. If we had gone the other direction, there would have been no way to do both quests. At least now we have a chance. Both lines are going in the same direction."

"We still need to hurry. I have a gut feeling that if we don't, she'll be dead when we find her," Drake advised. His gut was still aching. There was also that overwhelming urgency. He knew they had to find her as quickly as they could.

As they rushed down the road, following the red thread linked to Nelly, Drake brought up the quest map. He could see where the green thread was leading. It was leading to a large clearing surrounded by dense trees. They hadn't gone in that direction before, so they weren't sure what was there. Drake used his quest map to see where the road led. He knew he couldn't continue following the green thread until he found and saved Nelly. He hoped with everything he had that no one would attack them, knowing how urgent it was to catch up to where Nelly was taken. They were over an hour behind her.

"Maybe we should pack a car or something like that if we happen to survive this quest," Mike mumbled. "We could easily catch up to her if we had one right now."

"Yeah, well… we don't have one, and we need to hurry," Drake complained. "If we were close to the mountain, I would get the horned worms to help find her. I can't do that, though. Protector is at the bridge; he's too far away from us. He can't help either. We're on our own."

A loud laugh sounded, before three men stepped out of the trees. Dirt coated their skin, their clothes torn. They stood in the road, blocking their way, not moving. Drake could tell that they weren't there to attack. They were there to prevent them from going further.

Drake gave Renn a silent command, needing her to determine if she could smell Nelly on the men. She needed to find out as soon as she could or during their fight… if they had one.

Drake's eyes narrowed at the three men in front of him. "I don't have time for this," he snapped. Throwing out his hand, he sent an explosive fireball toward the one in the middle. It wasn't a strong one. It was just enough to stun him. The man dodged, laughing manically.

Renn leaped up, knocking the man down, and quickly bit through his throat, yet didn't kill him; she only incapacitated him. He lay on the packed dirt road, bleeding. Mike shot a lightning bolt out of his sword, shocking him as he lay. The power of the electrical current knocked him out. That was one down; there were two to go.

The other two men froze, unsure what to do. They knew that as long as they didn't attack, the heirs couldn't kill them.

"Why are you blocking our way?" Mike sneered.

The men didn't answer; they just gave a smug smile.

Renn stalked around the remaining, sniffing. She growled menacingly at one of them. It told Drake that they were part of Nelly's kidnapping.

The men backed away from Renn, yet they kept their smug smiles.

"They're trying to stall us," Drake shot back. Then gave Renn another silent order.

She immediately leaped, tackling the second man, while Mike shot his lightning out of his sword. It wasn't to kill. They knew they couldn't. They had to incapacitate them instead. The men weren't bandits. They never attacked, only blocked their way. Their instincts told them that it would be bad for them if they killed them.

The lightning attack stunned the man long enough for Mike to punch him with his gauntlet. It knocked the man out completely. It was a powerful blow.

Mike turned to the last man. Chad just watched. He wasn't needed for the fight. He just kept an eye on the men's vitals, just in case they went too far and had to heal them. So far, it was just enough.

With two of the men out of the fight, Drake turned to the third. He grinned wickedly. "Your turn."

The man looked at his friends before running into the trees and disappearing out of sight. Renn leaped after him. Moments later, she was dragged by the leg back to his friends. Once there, she moved her large jaws to his neck, making him freeze.

Mike shot another lightning bolt, hitting the man. It was powerful, but it didn't knock him out. Mike sighed, then punched him in the head, knocking him unconscious.

Drake turned to his friends. "Let's go. Those guys stalled us enough. We need to get there faster. I think they're trying to get her to the ocean. We need to make it there before they do."

Mike growled in anger. "If they make it to the ocean, there is no way we can get to her," he complained.

Drake looked down at Renn, speaking to her through their mind link. He wanted to know if she could see the red thread. A vision of the red thread flashed through Drake's mind. He nodded, then gave Renn a silent command to try to stall whoever had her. He begged her to be careful. He didn't want to lose his familiar either. She nuzzled him briefly before dashing off ahead of them, following the thread leading to Nelly.

Drake and his friends began to run, following the red thread. As they ran, the trees became denser. When they approached the thickening trees, the green and red threads split in different directions. Sighing at the green thread, they continued to follow the red one that led to Nelly, leaving their ascension quest behind.

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