Drake led the way through the main street of Draco Town. He realized that everyone was still in the tavern. There was no one there to know they had even arrived. The dirt streets were empty, and all the shops were closed. Even the inn had a sign on the door alerting everyone that it was closed.

Drake walked down the street with his cohort following behind him. He still held Nelly in his arms, with Renn trying to comfort her. She was still in her rat form as she nuzzled Nelly, who clutched her new doll, her grip getting tighter as they moved deeper into town. Drake could tell that she was getting scared. T was far more than she was before.

When he arrived at the tavern, he went straight to a window and peered in. "Nelly, do you see any of the ones that took you?" he asked her gently. She needed to tell him so he had something to go by. Somewhere to start.

She looked through the window, her sucking became rapid. Tears began to run down her puffy cheeks in long, constant streaks. She nodded her head. She pointed at three of the men inside. "Was there more than those three? Is there anyone else missing who isn't here?" he was baffled that one of the men in the tavern was not one of the men she had pointed to.

Nelly shook her head as she sucked her thumb fiercely.

Drake gave Renn a silent command. Once they entered, she was to guard the door so no one could escape. She immediately jumped off his shoulder, transforming back into her normal wolf-beast form. With Chad and Mike on either side of him, they each pulled a door open, so Drake could step in, with Renn following closely behind him.

Once inside, Mike and Chad closed the door and stood beside the oversized double doors. Renn was directly in front of the doors, preventing anyone from trying to run out of the tavern.

All eyes turned to see who had entered. There were gasps of shock, claps of joy, and some even gulped loud enough for Drake to hear. The patron's emotions were a mixed bag.

Mayor Ivan was at the long table, with the map still spread out in front of him. His soldiers were standing beside him, surveying the map. He had looked up with shock and relief, not expecting them to return so soon, much less with Nelly with them. Seeing the young girl alive and well produced a sigh of relief from him. He wasn't the only one.

Before anyone could move, Drake, with his eyes glowing with a fierce green light, cleared his throat. "I need everyone in town to be in the tavern NOW!" He scanned the tavern at all the faces looking in shock and worry at his command. "I don't care how old or young they are. Everyone needs to be here. NOW!"

The silence that followed was deafening. They weren't expecting the anger that Drake showed. Nor the command. Mayor Ivan immediately came forward, pulling his roster from the table, bringing it with him. "I think everyone is already here." He already had a feeling of what Drake was about to do, so he didn't fight it. He wanted him to do what he needed to so he could finish the quest. He didn't want the boy to die. He knew what would happen if Drake and his friends didn't finish the quest in time.

Drake looked around the tavern, trying to remember faces. He immediately found that there were a couple of people who he already knew were missing. "Where are Nana and Tod? I don't see them. Check your roster against everyone. Don't trust that someone calling out that they're here after reading off names, because it's easy for someone to call out in their place. Do it now." Drake's tone was hard. Many of the people in the room were white as a sheet. Most flinched. When a dimension master was angry, entire towns could be decimated.

Drake wasn't here for that. He was there to find everyone who was involved with Nelly's kidnapping. Just because Nelly only knew who three of them were didn't mean there weren't more. "I'll go myself," Mayor Ivan stated, handing the roster to Drake. Drake took it, scanning the room, avoiding keeping his gaze on anyone in particular. He didn't want to let any of them know he already knew of those three men who were involved.

Ivan left the tavern in a rush to look for anyone who hadn't been in the tavern. With everything going on, he hadn't realized that others weren't there. Drake waited, watching those inside. He watched their features, their reaction, even their movements.

It only took Ivan about ten minutes to find any stragglers, those not in the tavern. When he returned, he had a dozen others with him.

Drake handed the roster back. "Make sure everyone is accounted for. Everyone!" He didn't even look at Ivan when he spoke; he was still scanning the reactions of the people in front of him.

Ivan took the roster, looking from each name to the person in the tavern that it corresponded to. When he was done, everyone was present. He nodded, then handed the roster back to Drake.

Drake tapped his staff on the ground. A green glow erupted, forming a soft green light that blocked the windows and doors leading out of the main room and its other rooms, leaving only the main door free, which Mike, Chad, and Renn were successfully blocking. He didn't know he could do that. He had done it out of instinct. He had to hold back the shock and surprise of what he had just done. It would be a handy skill in the future if they could survive their quest.

Nana looked over at Nelly; tears of relief were in her eyes. As if out of instinct, neither she nor Tod came forward to greet her. They could tell that something was about to happen, and Drake wouldn't let anyone near her until he did whatever he came here to do.

Drake paid attention to his gut. It was aching. He could tell there was still something wrong. He wouldn't hand Nelly over until that feeling vanished.

Drake looked around the room. "When I call your name, you will come forward. I will either ask you to leave the tavern or have you sit at the table behind me. There are several of you I need to speak with when I'm done. I'm short on time and need to find you quickly," he told them. He tried to be vague, not wanting them to know that those who were guilty would be the ones staying inside. His goal was to separate them, letting those leave who were innocent to keep them safe from whatever happened once those who were guilty were discovered.

He looked around the room, noting sudden fear in some. Gavin remained silent, drinking from his usual stein. He had a smug look on his face, but Drake paid no special attention to him.

Mike came forward and stood next to Drake. He wanted to help protect Nelly if someone decided to lash out. Drake would be too busy interrogating everyone.

Drake handed Nelly over to Mike. He refused to allow anyone else to touch her. Not until he got to the bottom of things. Renn and Chad stayed ready. They had to protect the door from those trying to escape and help protect Nelly if someone tried to stop the interrogations.

Drake read the first name on the town roster. It was Mayor Ivan himself. As mayor, he was always the first one on the list.

Ivan stood nervously in front of Drake. Drake nodded. I have some questions that I need you to answer me honestly. First, did you have anything to do with Nelly disappearing?"

Ivan shook his head. "No. I had nothing to do with her disappearance."

The system remained silent. "Do you know who took her?" Drake questioned.

Ivan shook his head again. "No, I don't know anything. I don't know who took her or why."

The system remained silent. "You can leave if you want. If you don't, you may sit there," Drake said, pointing to a table near the one he had originally indicated. He wanted to separate the innocent from the guilty. Ivan was innocent, so he was put at a table close to him.

Mayor Ivan had decided to stay, sitting nervously at the table he was told to sit at. He intently watched what was going on. He had been right; he was finding the culprits of those involved with Nelly's kidnapping, allowing him to deal with them. Ivan was one of the few who knew that the dimension master had the lie-detecting skill. He could tell that Drake was using it now.

Drake called the next name on the list. It was a woman he had never met. He had seen her at the celebration, but didn't meet her face-to-face. Her name was Lily. When he asked all his questions, the system remained silent. She was also telling the truth. He pointed to the door, not giving her an option to stay. You may leave.

She merely nodded, then rushed out of the tavern, disappearing as the door shut behind her.

He had called several more people up, going down the list of names in the order they were listed on the town roster, with the same results. There wasn't anyone who was asked to stay. Of course, none of them were the three that Nelly had pointed to when they had arrived and looked through the window for Nelly to see. He told Mayor Ivan that he could stay, mainly because he was the mayor and had a right to know what was going on. The only other ones he would let stay were Nana and Tod, because they were Nelly's family.

He read the next name on the list. It was a man, and his name was Jor.

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