Observing the worn down palace, the bard began to ponder. "So, how do we know where they're being kept?" Lauren asked.
Ben looked around and answered, "I'm assuming in that tall tower with cage-like bars in the windows. Just a thought."
Alex agreed then immediately perceived, "Hey Drew, didn't you say the palace would be heavily guarded? I don't see anyone here."
"Well, it's... it's a palace. I just assumed it would be. You know, common sense. I guess this isn't actually her palace, just an abandoned one the trapper chose to keep her in," the fighter replied. "But wait," Drew continued. He looked to see a relatively tall elf at the bottom of the tower. "Who's that guy?" he finished.
"He seems to be trying to sneak into the tower too. Maybe he could help us," Isaac added.
The group unintentionally startled the man. "I beg your pardon, fellow adventurer. We didn't mean to frighten you, just simply offer our assistance. We seem to have the same goal," Ben began. He pointed to the top of the tower adding, "To get up top and rescue captured maidens." He then went on to introduce everyone in the group.
"Oh thank goodness. I thought you were enemies who had discovered me! I am Detective Jenson. Lord Elijah hired me to track down his missing daughter. Clues have lead me to this spot," the man explained. Then pointed up going, "Well, THAT spot to be more precise."
Drew's face lit up. A detective? This man would have plenty of information for the situation. "My sister is trapped up there too," Drew went on to say. "I saw this unappealing man place both my sister, Ashton, as well as Lady Claire in a caged wagon and head this way," he concluded.
Jenson told the group how that 'unappealing man' was a local thief. He usually just stole random things from the village, but no one expected him to go as far as stealing the lord's daughter! Ben immediately recognized who he was referring to. A well known thief in the town of Lord Elijah was named Collin. Jenson confirmed how that was indeed the man he had narrowed down his detective work to.
"I will give you all information on him later. First we must retrieve what we came here for," Jenson said. Lauren looked around stating how there wasn't an entrance into the tower. Jenson gave a simple smirk as he replied, "Are you sure about that?" He pushed a stone into the wall and an entrance opened up.
"Wow! He's good," Isaac cried. The group then entered the tower which simply had a spiral staircase to the top. "That's a lot of stairs," Isaac said. They also noticed a man sleeping on a chair. Everyone quietly snuck past him towards the stairs.
The group made their way up to the top until they reached a trapdoor. However, it was locked. "Do any of you guys have a lock-picking spell or something?" Drew asked. However, no one did. "Well that'd be helpful, so try to learn it for the future," he said.
"Guys, the solution is so obvious," Alex told them. Everyone looked at him in question. Isaac suggested just busting open the door themselves, making Alex reply, "Good idea, but no. The guy at the bottom we snuck by must have the key. Simple."
"I am NOT walking back down there just to walk all the way back up," Lauren cried. Drew's face lit up. He recalled how Lauren had a spell to make objects float. "Oh yeah! Good point," Lauren responded. She pulled out her ukulele and played a tune until the keys slowly floated up to the group while failing to wake the man.
"Very smooth," Jenson told her. Lauren thanked him in return.
They opened up the trapdoor to find a circular room with holding cells. Ashton and Lady Claire were the only two present. Alex's jaw dropped when he saw the princess, but not in a good way. Drew chuckled a bit asking, "Did I mention Lady Claire's mother is an orc and that my sister was babysitting her? So... she's a half orc who's still only about eight in human years."
Alex looked back and forth between the child who looked like an orc and the druid which Ben just kept smiling at. Alex frantically tried to change his mind to his brother on the dibs he called. However, Ben just smirked as he took the keys to the cell the two ladies were stored in. Ben then unlocked the chains holding Ashton and Claire's arms up on the wall.
Drew ran to hug his sister and questioned if she was alright. "These chains drained my powers. I'm so weak... Now I can only change into small animals if I choose, but it still takes a lot of energy so I can't do it very long," Ashton answered.
Ben gently grabbed and lifted Ashton's hand, giving it a kiss. "How about now?" he asked.
"Uhhhh, my powers are still drained," Ashton awkwardly replied. However, she looked into Ben's eyes then back at her hand and began to blush and tuck it behind her as she added, "But I do feel a lot better now!"
Ben's smile grew as he gave a simple nod and went, "Ahhh, good." Alex grunted and showed his disgust. "What's wrong, bro? You get the princess, just as you requested," Ben teased.
Immediately, Claire looked over at Alex and her eyes began to sparkle. "Oh! Thank you for saving me. You're my hero," she said as she gave the rogue a large hug.
"Uhhh, sure thing. No problem. You can stop hugging me now," Alex responded.
Out of nowhere, the roof of the tower flung off. They looked up to find a red dragon. Ducking down, Jenson said, "I should've told you all how Collin has a bond with a dragon."
After everyone leaned against the wall to be out of sight, Isaac automatically announced how that was unfair since he wants a friendship with a dragon too. Ashton corrected him saying, "A bond means he's actually connected to the dragon. Like, they share health."
"Ewww..." Alex commented.
"Not literally," Ben told his brother. "Like, magically. So as long as the dragon is full in health, Collin will be too. So we can never damage the thief if the dragon's completely fine."
Lauren questioned if that meant they had to attack them both at the same time. Drew answered, "No, the dragon doesn't regain health from Collin. Just the other way around."
Detective Jenson explained how he learned that it's practically like a deal. Dragon's love power, so Collin will share the health stats of the dragon in exchange for promised wealth and power once Collin overthrows Lord Elijah.
"We have no chance of beating a dragon. Ashton's energy and power are drained, Isaac's never even done this before; Man, we're doomed," Drew said. They noticed the dragon unleash fire on a different section of the abandoned palace, making him add, "Unless one of us is fire proof!"
All of a sudden, Isaac gasped. He quickly announced, "That's it! My family always tells a story of fireproof armor. About ten decades ago-"
"A century?" Ashton corrected. Drew shot her a glare and told her to let Isaac finish.
Isaac continued, telling of a tale with a cave of treasures. Apparently, a wandering adventurer sought out to find this treasure. However, a dragon guarded the cave. So the adventurer had his magical blacksmith friend create a fireproof armor. It practically served as a shield against any of the red dragon's attacks since the armor could resist.
Despite this, the adventurer got lost in the cave. He never found the treasure, but the dragon found him. The red dragon was not fond of an invader in its cave. So it promised an exchange of about 2,000 for the fireproof armor and him to leave and never return.
"Well, let's go track down that armor," Ben exclaimed.
Alex reminded him how they couldn't just take young Claire with them on this dangerous quest. Hearing this, Claire began to giggle and thank Alex for caring about her safety, giving him another hug. Detective Jenson immediately volunteered to bring Lady Claire back to her father, Lord Elijah, while the heroes sought out the armor. After all, that's what he was assigned to do anyway.
"Sounds like a plan," Drew replied. "You and Lady Claire safely go down the stairs. We can distract the dragon by going down this hole in the wall that the dragon made."
Everyone gave nods, signaling that they understood the plan. Jenson brought Claire to the trap door. Once they were underneath, the others started climbing and sliding down the outside of the tower. Before he prepared to jump, Isaac randomly froze and widened his eyes. After a few seconds, he shook it off and started climbing down.
Ashton turned into a small hummingbird to simply fly down to the bottom. However, she still was unable to hold a form very long. Ashton ended up changing back into her natural form and began to fall.
As Ben reached the ground, he noticed this. Immediately he reached out his arms and caught the druid girl. "Gotcha!" he cried. Ashton gave a sigh of relief as she thanked the paladin. "Your magic is still worn out, huh? Not in very good shape?" Ben questioned. Ashton simply nodded, making Ben respond, "Well, I already have you in my arms. I can carry you for a bit if you need."
"Oh! No, no... I can walk, you can set me down now," Ashton insisted. Ben just looked in her eyes and smirked, knowing that was just her trying to be polite. Therefore, Ashton added with a giggle, "Or don't. Ya know, your choice..."
"Hate to interrupt," Alex began. "But we're still trying to avoid a dragon that could roast us any second. Let's try to lose him in the woods."
Once the coast was clear, Drew asked Isaac if he knew where the cave in the legend was. The halfling sadly shook his head. "I only know the story which I told you. Nothing behind it. My dad would, though! We can go ask him," Isaac explained.