It was dark in the cabin, while Drake, Chad, Mike, and Nelly were huddled in the bedroom. Renn was prowling around in her rat form, keeping a careful watch. She was doing her duty to protect her cohort and the child they were protecting. They hadn't lit any lamps or candles, not wanting to alert anyone that they were there.

In the forest, Ruby stayed hidden deep within the trees, focused on the clearing and the cabin near the tree line. She watched the cabin and the surrounding area for dangers, wanting to protect her master.

For all of them, all was quiet; not a sound was heard. Even the beasts were keeping their distance.

Inside the cabin, Drake sat on his bed, with his back to the wall. Nelly was asleep on his lap with her thumb in her mouth. He gently stroked her hair, trying to make her feel better. She seemed to be a constant target for attacks. First, the gargoyles had kidnapped her; now this. He feared that this time, she was being used against him and his cohort. He felt responsible, like her kidnapping was his fault. Someone must have noticed there was some kind of bond between them. There was. Nelly had grown attached to him ever since he had arrived at the gargoyle's lair to save her, then carried her all the way back to Draco Town on his back so she didn't have to walk.

As soon as they placed the cabin and went inside, they had secured it, leaving all lights off. Nelly had been given a bath and something clean to wear while her own clothes dried. Mike had washed her clothes for her while Chad and Drake bathed her. Chad used his sword to heal the gash on her arm where they had cut her. Dried blood caked around the wound. They needed to clean her up; they couldn't wait; they were afraid that the wound would get infected. It had been left unattended for too long already.

Rather than cleaning only her arm, they chose to bathe her so that they could inspect her for more injuries. All she had were bruises on her arms and back. The long gash on her arm was the only one that cut through the skin. Drake was relieved when he discovered that she had no other injuries.

After Nelly was cleaned of dirt and blood, Chad healed her with his sword, and they put her in a clean shirt that reached the floor when she stood. It was one of Drake's that he had packed, just in case he needed it. He was glad he had it with him. They couldn't do anything about undergarments. They had nothing to put on her. It didn't really matter since the shirt was so long for her.

Drake had taken out the doll he had purchased for her, so she had a toy to play with or hold. He knew she liked to keep her doll with her, but her old one had been left behind on purpose, by her kidnappers, to send a message that she had been taken. Drake believed that the gash was to spill blood, to show she was injured. It was also done intentionally. He believed that it was part of the message they were trying to send.

Nelly was now asleep on Drake's lap while he and his friends sat on their beds, awake, worried that her kidnappers would catch up to them. They were all too exhausted from running to catch up to her kidnappers. It felt like they needed time to take a breath. It didn't help that they were on the clock. Once that continuously counted down. They were quickly running out of time. It would be a tough fight if they were made to fight in the state they were all in.

Drake let his eyes glow so he could see the threads, to see where they were heading. Making sure nothing had changed. The green one was heading deeper into the clearing, while the red one had vanished. He had Nelly with him, so it had disappeared. He had never received a message stating that he had completed the quest, so he figured that he needed to take her all the way home for it to be complete.

The pain in his gut remained, telling him there was still danger, yet his instincts told him that if he did take her back to Draco Town, they would only kidnap her again. "I think we need to keep Nelly with us while we complete the quest. My gut tells me that if we take her back now, they will only take her away again."

Chad nodded. He had been thinking of that too. "I was thinking that too. We're in the clearing where the quest is anyway. We have two beast familiars that can help protect her, and on top of that, the time is running out. I know we have time to take her back, but I agree with you. They'll take her… again."

Mike nodded in agreement. "Yeah, let's finish the quest and take Nelly back when we finish it. We're already here anyway."

At that moment, an image flashed through Drake's mind. It was from Ruby. A group of men entered the clearing and headed toward the cabin. Each man had an old-fashioned torch, the fire flickering and reflecting off the trees as they made their way into the clearing. "Shit!" Drake hissed. "I sure hope this cabin is fireproof."

With a silent command for Ruby to protect herself, if she chose to get involved, he carefully stood from the bed, still holding Nelly. Carefully, he placed her on the bed, covering her with a thick blanket before they left the bedroom. They had a large group of men that they might have to deal with. They didn't know for sure yet.

"If they set the cabin on fire, can we kill them? Wouldn't that be considered an attack?" Mike whispered, trying not to be heard by the men outside. He knew that they couldn't kill the residents of the dimension unless they were attacked first. They could do nothing until the men acted against them.

Chad had another thought. "What if they surround us, trying to prevent us from finishing the quest?" he asked. "If we die because we failed to complete it in time, Nelly is stuck here by herself."

Drake sent a mental message, trying to discover how many men were surrounding them. They need to know how many they were dealing with. Regardless of how many were coming, they needed to come up with a plan. Something that would help them get Nelly to safety and complete the quest.

Drake looked down at Renn, who remained in her rat form. It would be easy for her to take them all out. All she had to do was leave the cabin, sneak up on each man, one at a time. When she was close, she could transform into her real form, take them out, and change back, making it hard for them to see her. Rince and repeat… until all the men had been dealt with. Of course, killing them wasn't an option; she had to render them unconscious so they could all get away.

They could only do something to kill them if the men chose to attack them or attempt to set the cabin on fire. They had no choice but to wait and see what the men would do before they came up with a plan.

The other option would be to render them unconscious, regardless, and immediately continue following the thread before any of them woke up, obtain the master spell book, and use the staff to return to Draco Town. Drake knew it sounded easier than it was. They would continue to follow them, trying to take Nelly from them and to stop them from finishing their ascension quest.

Using his mind link with Ruby, he kept an eye on the men who were coming closer to the cabin. Drake lit a lamp, knowing they knew the cabin was there, so it didn't matter. "How much food do you have prepared in that ring of yours?" Drake asked Chad.

"A lot, why?" Chad asked, not sure why it mattered. After the way they were thrown into the dimension the first time, the first thing he did was fill his ring with as much food as he could, along with other things he thought they might need. He wanted to be prepared in case they were thrown in again without notice or warning.

"Enough to last us five days?" Drake asked, then continued. "I believe we are about to be under siege. We won't be able to leave the cabin unless we deal with these guys without killing them. If they are only blocking us and not attacking, preventing us from finishing our quest, we can do nothing but incapacitate them. We may be stuck here for a while."

As Drake watched through Ruby's eyes, the men arrived at the cabin and began setting up their camp, surrounding the cabin. Thirty men were blocking their way to escape the clearing. It was clear, they weren't being attacked but stalled… besieged.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.