Holden and the others made their way to the location the locator spell marked as the spot where the nox-dragon was being held. The group consisted of Holden, Sable, Ike, and Atticus. Since Scalia and Camille weren''t fighters, they stayed behind at the pub.


    Holden had donned his face-changing mask once again, along with a set of light leather armor, and the saber Ike had kept after capturing Sorten. Holden used the mask to change his face to look exactly like Sorten’s. He also tried emulating the beastfolk’s voice as closely as possible.


    When the group arrived in the warehouse district by the underground lake, several heads turned in their direction. However, most of those people gave the group a wide birth.


    Holden grinned triumphantly. Sorten was one of the most wanted criminals in Chrimoria, so Holden knew the reputation the beastfolk carried. He was temperamental, ferocious, and a skilled fighter. Word of his capture hadn''t been announced yet, so Holden decided the best way to enter this district unnoticed was to use his identity.


    They wandered around for a few minutes looking for any signs of the warehouse where the nox-dragon was being held. The locater spell wasn’t able to give them the exact warehouse, since they didn’t have a map of this district itself. All it was able to show them was it was on the side closest to the lake.


    The group ended up making a few passes by each warehouse. Unfortunately, it was impossible to tell which warehouse belonged to the Leudox. They found a spot between two warehouses that was out of sight. From their Holden and Sable both climbed to the roof of one of the warehouses, and began scouting the rooftops, peeking into each warehouse through windows or cracks in the ceilings in order to figure out what was inside. One of the warehouses caught Holden’s interest while he and Sable were learning into it from a small hole in the roof. Only a small corner of the warehouse was visible. Within that corner, there were a couple of men setting down crates with a black flame painted on the side.


    “This is interesting,” Holden said with a devious smile. “I’ll be able to repay my favor to Alwin with this information.”


    “What do you mean?” Sable asked. “All I see are men with boxes. Why would Alwin be interested in that?”


    “Ask him sometime. It’s not my place to say anything. All I can say is he’s got his own personal interest in the people who own this warehouse.”


    Holden and Sable then moved onto the next warehouse. The roof didn’t have any holes in it, so Sable had to teleport down to a window ledge in order to look inside of it. The warehouse was dark, making it difficult even for a cait-sith with excellent night vision like Sable to see what was inside. Sable was about to give up and return to Holden when a faint blue glow suddenly appeared within the warehouse.


    A man glowing blue suddenly walked out from behind a bunch of stacked plates. The man was tall and lanky with goosebumps all over his body. He wore a bandana that covered his mouth, along with a sleeveless shirt, revealing a tattoo with a blue wolf standing in a black circle on his left arm. The man walked back behind the crates.


    Sable watched for a few more seconds until the glow disappeared. He then teleported back up to the roof to inform Holden of what he saw.


    Holden scratched his chin in contemplation. “A glowing man with a blue wolf tattoo. Not sure about the tattoo, but the glowing part likely means he’s a warlock.”


    Warlocks were a type of mage who gained the ability to use magic by forming contracts with magical creatures. The contract formed a connection between the souls of the creature and the warlock, allowing the magical creature to send a portion of their magic and magical knowledge to the warlock. There were often side effects whenever a warlock used magic. Some were benign, like glowing. Others could be more serious, such as losing memories every time magic was used. The side effect and its severity usually depended on a few factors, many of which still remained unknown to magic scholars to this day.


    Holden and Sable returned to Ike and Atticus, and explained what Sable had seen.


    “So, a warlock with a wolf tattoo,” Ike said. “That’s definitely one of Leudox’s warehouse. The blue wolf tattoo is the symbol of the Volvik family of the far north. The fact that one of their men is here means there’s something important in that warehouse.”


    “Unfortunately,” Holden said. “We didn’t see much else in there. We have no clue what we’re walking into.”


    The four of them were determined to put an end to this case. Holden, Sable, and Atticus all wanted to solve the mystery of this dragon Atticus had seen the night before. Meanwhile, Ike was eager to get back at the Leudox for his own personal reason. Regardless of why, they were all determined to break into the warehouse no matter what awaited them inside.


    The door leading inside was locked, so Holden pulled out another tool he kept in his bag of tricks. It looked like a key without any grooves. It was known as a thief’s key, which allowed the user to pick a lock with greater ease than the typical lockpick. Usually, a skilled lockpicker could get through a door such as this within a few seconds to a couple of minutes. Spies didn’t always have this kind of time, so this magic tool was created to reduce that time.


    Thanks to the tool, Holden was able to pick the lock in only a couple of seconds. He quietly opened the door, creeping through with the others staying close behind him. He signaled them to remain quiet before moving deeper into the warehouse.


    The warehouse was full of various crates, none of which were marked with anything to suggest what their contents were. They eventually found themselves in the spot where Sable had seen the warlock with the wolf tattoo. However, there were no signs of anyone else in the entire warehouse.


    Holden suddenly broke the silence. “Something’s not right here. Why would this warehouse be unguarded? Any ideas, Ike.”


    Ike shook his head. “No clue. Maybe we should try breaking into these crates and see what’s inside. Might give us a clue.” Ike took a deep breath while pulling back his fist, then with one quick and powerful thrust, he broke straight through one of the crates with a single punch. He found nothing more than sealed bags full of coffee beans. “You’re kidding. Coffee beans. Is this whole place just full of-.”


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    Holden interrupted his tirade. “Coffee beans are used to cover the smell of drugs. Dogs and other creatures with an acute sense of smell usually won’t notice the smell of drugs when they’re hidden among them.”


    “But then where-.”


    Ike was cut off once again. This time it was by the sound of grinding stone coming from behind the group. Part of the floor opened up, and a group of three men wearing bandanas to cover their mouths came walking out of a stairwell in the floor.


    The man leading the trio was the warlock with the blue wolf tattoo. “Hey, who are you?” The man growled, not even bothering to wait for a response before magic started gathering in his hands. He created an arrow of ice which he hurled at Hilden and the others.


    Bam! Atticus quickly countered with a fire shot spell. It wasn’t powerful enough to completely melt the ice. It did knock it off course, causing the ice arrow to miss the group and embed itself into one of the crates.


    Holden and Ike then charged forward, while the two men escorting the warlock met them in the middle.


    Cling, cling! Holden drew two daggers, while his opponent wielded a sword. Their weapons clashed against one another. Holden’s daggers put him at a severe disadvantage in this situation, since daggers were meant purely for defense, not offense. The best he could do was parry each sword strike, then kick his opponent in the knee to throw them off balance.


    Agh! The man yelped when Holden kicked him in the knee, falling to the ground from the pain. Holden then disarmed him, while driving a dagger into his throat.


    Ike’s fight went a little differently. He didn’t have weapons, just his fists. Despite not having a weapon, Ike faced his opponent without a hint of fear. He swiftly ducked and dodged every swing and thrust, grabbing the man’s arm the moment he had an opportunity. Ike then drove his elbow into the man’s arm, snapping it in half before flipping him over, dislocating the arm all together. He then finished the man off with a swift jab, breaking the man’s nose in the process.


    The immense pain and shock knocked the guy out, leaving the warlock as the last opponent.


    The warlock gnashed his teeth. He had been throwing ice arrows at Holde and the others, only for Atticus to continuously deflect their trajectory using fire shot spells. Once Holden and Ike dealt with their opponents, the warlock stopped throwing ice arrows, switching to casting a larger spell.


    Large amounts of ice magic began gathering in the warlock''s hand. It was enough to cause Atticus to panic. “Run! He’s casting a higher ranked spell. I won’t be able to deflect it!”


    “No,” Sable said, running as fast as he could toward the warlock, then teleporting directly onto the warlock’s face. Sable drove his back claws into the warlock’s eyes, causing him to release the spell too early.


    A cone of ice magic shot up to the roof like freezing air. Both Hilden and Ike then closed the gap, punching the man in the stomach hard enough to knock the wind out of him. Holden followed up by jabbing a knife into the warlock’s neck, finishing him off for good.


    Holden used a piece of the warlock’s short to wipe the blood off his dagger, then sheathed it. He then looked down the stairwell where he saw the light of a fire down below.


    Holden gestured for the others to follow him. The four of them slowly and quietly made their way down, finding a large basement with several cages scattered about. All of them were empty, except for one. This cage contained a human sized creature that was humanoid in shape. It looked like a lizard walking on two legs with light green scales. There was also gas permeating out from his body.


    “Stay back,” the lizard man said in a rhapsody voice. “I don’t know who you are. But I heard you fighting the ice mage. Please, if you inhale my noxious gas, you’ll die.”


    Everyone’s eyes popped when they heard the lizard man talk. Atticus started trembling while putting his hand on his head. “It’s a nox-dragon. But it’s so big. They’re supposed to be small. How?”


    The lizard man, which was now identified as a nox-dragon, groaned. “You’re not wrong. Most nox-dragons are small because they live in toxic environments created by their own poisonous gas. Those who only live in one place will suffer from this. It stunts their growth both physically and mentally. However, there are those of us who wander. We breathe fresher air. Grow taller and stronger. We even trade with other races.”


    Atticus took a step closer to the nox-dragon with arms spread out. “I was in the desert once. My whole squad except for me were killed by a monster. It must’ve been one of your people who saved me then.”


    The nox-dragon raised its head, and looked into Atticus’ eyes. “When was this?”


    “Three years ago. I saw a tail with green scales. Thought it was a marsh dragon. Must’ve been one of your kind.”


    “There are those among our kind who are lone wanderers. I was one before I was captured. I’ve come across many humans in peril myself. Though I don’t recognize you. Likely wasn’t me.”


    Atticus dropped his arms. This revelation was a lot to take in. He sat on the ground, trying to calm his racing heart.


    Meanwhile, Holden and the others decided to look around the place for a way to release the nox-dragon. Aside from the cages, there were frozen vials filled with the nox-dragon’s gas, along with some that had become liquid. It appeared they were somehow trapping its gas within the vial, then freezing it with the warlock’s ice magic. Once it melted into a liquid state, they mixed it with other ingredients to make the drug known as nox.


    “How do we release this guy?” Hilden asked no one in particular.


    “You don’t,” the nox-dragon said. “Leave me here. If I walk around in a city like this, my poison gases will kill numerous people.”


    Holden thought for a moment about who might be able to help him in this situation. A few people came to mind, but only one of them had the power to actually do something.


    “I need you all to stay here,” Hilden said. “Watch over this warehouse. I know someone who can help us.”


    ***


    Holden made his way through the sewers and to northern Chrimoria as fast as he could. The cool night air rushed by him as he ran through the streets. He reached one of the police precincts in the northern city. It was the third precinct run by none other than Captain Hardfall.


    Holden burst through the door, slamming his hands down on the front desk, startling the officer sitting behind it. “I need to talk to Captain Hardfall. Now. It’s a matter of utmost urgency.”


    The officer shrieked back. “Whoa! Calm down there. What’s going on?”


    “I found the location of a trafficking ring and a drug lab in the Undercity. There’s a captive nox-dragon there. The place is owned by the Leudox.”


    “I’m sorry, sir. We can’t go into-.”


    The officer was suddenly interrupted by Captain Hardfall’s booming voice. “Hold up there, officer.” He then spoke to Holden. “I rennet you. You’re that PI that Elliandra knows. You saying you found a Leudox drug lab with something called a nox-dragon? Explain yourself.”


    Holden divulged everything that had happened starting with Atticus hiring him for a job to the infiltration of the Middows, and their discovery of the warehouse where the nox-dragon was held captive. He did leave out the part about Alwin going undercover and giving him information. Holden altered that by saying he overheard two Leudox members talking about it, then acquired a sample of the nox-dragon’s gas that was just lying around.


    Captain Hardfall furrowed his brows after hearing Holden’s story. “You have any ideas how many laws you just broke. I could run you in for breaking and entering, assault, and so much more.”


    “But you won’t,” Holden said. “Because I’ve just given you the justification to go down there and clear the place out. They’re holding an intelligent species captive. That’s grounds for you to act.”


    Captain Hardfall grunted. “As much as I hate to admit it, you’re right. I’ll gather some men. You show me the way.”


    Captain Hardfall gathered every officer he could and followed Holden to the warehouse in the Undercity. Once the captain confirmed the nox-dragon’s presence, he immediately took action to ensure its release, along with gathering all the evidence they would need to prove the Leudox’s involvement.