Holden returned to the main room of the Middows. Sable was no longer onstage, so Holden left the club all together. The moment he exited the building somber moans began echoing throughout the streets.


    Holden followed the sounds of the moans to an alleyway where Sable was rolling around in embarrassment.


    “I can’t believe I sang that song.” Sable jumped to his feet once Holden arrived, then hissed at his partner. “How could you make me do that? This is pet abuse. Pet abuse I say.”


    Holden leaned down and ruffled Sable’s head. “I thought you weren’t a cat.”


    Sable tucked his ears back in surrender having realized he just referred to himself as Holden’s pet. The cait-sith then moaned again. “Did you at least find anything useful? Maybe I’ll be able to regain some of my pride if you gained something out of it.”


    “No chance. I found something. But it was Alwin of all people who deserves all the credit.”


    “What!? So, I put myself through all that humiliation and Alwin ends up breaking the case.” Sable then flopped on his stomach. “Kill me now. I want to die.”


    “Look on the bright side. You’re probably going to be famous after this. People will be talking about Sable the Singing Cat for days now.”


    “Die, human. Die.”


    “Alright. I’ll stop giving you a hard time about it. We should get back to Ike’s Pub, though. Alwin unfortunately was the one who broke the case for us.”


    “Yes. And now we can confirm they’re the ones behind the kidnapping of myself and the fairies. We can finally put a close to the mystery of the fairy traffickers.”


    “Don’t get too eager, Cat. We don’t have enough to put these guys away. There’s still a ways to go.”


    ***


    Holden and Sable returned to Ike’s Undercroft Pub via the sewers. Holden then put the vial of nox-dragon gas on the counter in front of Ike, and said, “Leudox has a new drug.”


    Ike, Scalia, and Camille all gave Holden a peculiar look as if they didn’t recognize him. That was when Holden realized he still had his face-changing mask on. Everyone’s eyes popped when he removed the mask, Holden then explained to them everything he had learned from Alwin.


    “Nox-dragon?” Atticus reiterated, confused by the sudden revelation. “Did I really see a nox-dragon?” Atticus started scratching his beard, contemplating everything he remembered when he saw the caged dragon. “The cage was small for a dragon. Gas was constantly leaking out of it. Its scales were green. I guess it could be a nox-dragon.” Atticus then frantically shook his head. “No, no, no. It must’ve been a marsh dragon. A marsh dragon. Not a nox-dragon. Nox-dragons are small. Like goblins. What I saw was at least the size of a human.”


    Holden shrugged. “Well, this nox-dragon is our best lead at the moment. It’s worth looking into. Plus, I can’t think of anyone other than the Leudox who could’ve taken a caged dragon through the sewers anyway.” The whole room paused, except for Atticus, who was mumbling something to himself. That was when Holden had to ask, “What is your obsession with this dragon anyways? Why do you care so much?”


    Atticus stopped mumbling and sighed. “I was saved by a marsh dragon in the desert many years ago. You can say helping this dragon is paying back an old debt.”


    Holden tilted his head. Everyone else had similar looks of confusion, so Atticus elaborated on his story. “It was when I was in the military. My squad ran into a visions monster. Most of us were wiped out. I survived but fell unconscious. All I recalled was seeing a long, green tail and scales before I lost consciousness. I found myself in a hospital once I regained consciousness without any idea how I got there. My memory is foggy after that for a while.”


    This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    “I think I understand now,” Holden said. “Well, regardless of whether what you saw was a marsh dragon, or this nox-dragon.” “Holden then held the vial of poison gas up in the air. “Finding where they’re producing this stuff might give us the answers we need.”


    Sable jumped onto the counter to get a better look at the vial. “And how do you propose we find it?”


    “You’re the one who’s been studying magic. I figured you might already know.”


    “I only started studying a few days ago. I’m far from an expert.”


    “Even though you’re a god among mortals?” Holden jeered.


    Sable growled, then huffed. “Enlighten us then, Mr. Genius.”


    “Gladly. We’re going to cast a locator spell using this vial’s contents as the main material.”


    “Oh yes. I see,” Sable said sarcastically. “And how are we supposed to do that? You can’t use magic. I can only cast minor teleport. Atticus can only use that one fire spell. I doubt anyone else here can use it, otherwise they would’ve said something right now.”


    Holden ruffled Sable head. “We don’t need to worry. So long as we have a magic user we can use it.” Holden then reached into his bag and pulled out a small pocketbook. “I got this during a job off a wizard. He didn’t need it anymore, so I took it just in case.”


    “Do you always take things off people ‘just in case’?”


    “Yes. I’ve had my eye on a certain cait-sith’s gem for one of these ‘just in case’ situations.”


    Sable immediately covered the gem on his forehead with his paws. “You wouldn’t dare.”


    Holden smirked, then proceeded to flip through the pocketbook.


    “Wow,” Camille said to Holden and Sable. “The two of you must be close if you can joke around like that.”


    Holden and Sable both said in unison, “No we’re not.” The two of them then scowled at one another before Holden returned to sifting through the book and Sable started licking his paws.


    Holden suddenly snapped his fingers. “Found it. Ike, by chance do you have a map of the Undercity? I have everything else we’ll need.”


    Ike walked behind the counter after Holden’s question. “Yeah. Give me a sec.” He then opened a cabinet behind the counter, dug through it for a few seconds, then pulled out a map. “Right here. Anything else?”


    “No. That should be enough,” Holden said. “So long as what we’re looking for is actually in the Undercity. I’ll include a map of Chrimoria and its outer vicinity just to be safe.”


    Holden then pulled the maps he mentioned out of his bag, along with a compress. The spell they were preparing required a few specific conditions to be met. First was having a map of the general vicinity where the target was located. Second was something that belongs to whoever they were tracking. The vial of gas Alwin gave Holden worked for this requirement. Third was a magic circle for the caster to pour their magic into.


    The magic circle for this spell resembled a compass with magic tunes written inside, and a needle pointing north. Another condition was that the needle was drawn facing as close to true north as possible.


    Ike brought out a can of paint and a brush. Everyone began painting the magic circle in an open spot on the floor, while Holden held the book open for reference as the others painted. Sable just sat on the counter watching them with a look of boredom on his face.


    Sable sighed and decided to ask Holden a question. “How is it that a wizard is able to make a ritual spell book that’s so small.”


    “Hmm, the rumor I heard was that a fairy actually drew all the pictures and writing using a quill made from the feathers of one of the smallest birds in the world.”


    “And what job was this again? Spy or PI?”


    “That’s classified.”


    “So, spy then.”


    The others stopped painting the magic circle and were just staring at Holden and Sable. Holden glared at the cait-sith, then cleared his throat.


    “Yes. I was a spy. Espionage. Assassination. All of that was part of my job. Can we get back to what’s important now?”


    Everyone continued drawing the magic circle. Once it was done, they had to wait for the paint to dry so it wouldn’t smear, then spread all of the maps they were using in the middle of the circle. With everything else finished, Atticus held the vial of poison gas in his hand pouring magic into the circle, and began chanting the spell. A glowing white dot appeared in the middle of the magic circle. It started moving around the different maps until it finally settled in a location on the map of Undercity.


    “It’s there,” Ike said, a bit surprised plastered on his face. “That’s not as far as I thought.”


    “What’s so surprising about it?” Sable asked. “Is it well known?”


    “I wouldn’t say well known. Just obvious. There are a bunch of warehouses there. Plus, a large underground lake. You’d think Leudox would hide something like a marsh dragon, or nox-dragon. Whatever it is, in someplace more discrete.”


    “Is there a problem with its location other than its lack of discretion?”


    “The fact that there are a lot of criminal organizations storing things there means there will be a lot of eyes on us if we head there. Since we’re not associated with any organization, we’ll be targeted by all sorts of groups.”


    “Is that it?” Holden said with a smug smile. “Let me take care of getting us in there. No one will be the wiser.”