Aric was walking through the city like he usually did. The weather was nice. The streets were full of people. Everyone was doing their own thing. Some were shopping, others were talking. Kids were playing, and people were laughing. It was just a normal day.
Then a man ran up to him.
"Are you The Hero, Aric?" the man asked. He looked tired and scared. His face was pale, and his eyes were wide.
"Yes, that's me," Aric said. "What's wrong?"
"Please help me!" the man said. "The young lady I serve is missing!"
Aric looked at him closely. The man looked like a servant. His clothes were clean and fancy. He was shaking a little.
"My name is Cedric," he said. "I'm the butler of Lady Viorel. She is a noble. She was going to the capital and she stayed in Aegis for a few days to rest from the long trip. Then… she disappeared!"
"Disappeared?" Aric asked.
"Yes," Cedric said. "She was resting here in Aegis for three days. On the last day, she didn't come out of her room. We knocked, but she didn't answer. When we went in, she was gone."
Aric could see the man was serious.
"All right," he said. "I'll help you."
"Thank you," Cedric said. "Please… we must find her."
Aric went to get his friends. He found Kail, Rune, and Elias at the guild. He told them everything. They agreed to help right away. Ryn wasn't there. Someone said he was on a quest and would come back later.
"That's fine," Aric said. "We'll tell him later."
They all followed Cedric to the inn where Lady Viorel had been staying. It was a nice place, with flowers on the windows and clean walls. Cedric showed them her room.
"She was staying here," he said.
The room looked normal. The bed was made. There was a desk with some books. A few bags were on the floor.
"She didn't take anything," Elias said.
"No," Cedric said. "Everything she owns is still here."
They started looking around for any clues. Rune checked the closet. Kail looked under the bed. Aric walked over to the desk. He picked up a book, and something fell out from under it.
It was a letter.
He opened it and read it out loud:
> "We have Lady Viorel. If you want her back, bring 50 gold coins. You have two days. We'll send you tomorrow a letter of the place where we exchange the money for the lady."
Everyone stared at the note.
"She's been kidnapped," Aric said.
Cedric looked like he might faint. "No… Young Lady Viorel…"
"Can't you give the kidnappers the gold coins? She is a noble, money shouldn't be a problem." Suggested Kail.
"We didn't bring that much money with us. And if we asked her family to send someone to bring the money, it would take at least five days until they arrive." Said Cedric.
"We'll get her back," Aric said.
They didn't know what to do next, so they all went back to the guild to think. It was getting late, and the sun was starting to set. They sat around a table and talked.
"We don't have any clues," Rune said.
"We should rest for now and think more tomorrow, it's getting late." Aric said.
Everyone agreed. They all went home and said they would meet again in the morning.
The next day, they met at the guild early. Cedric was there too. He looked very tired. It seemed like he hadn't slept at all.
"We still don't know anything," Rune said.
Just then, Ryn walked into the guild. He was holding something in his hand.
"Hey," he said. "Sorry I wasn't here yesterday. I was busy."
"What's that?" Kail asked.
Ryn held it up. "It's a hairpin. I found it on the road earlier. It looks valuable. I thought I could sell it."
Cedric gasped. He pointed at the hairpin. "That belongs to the young lady!"
"What?" Ryn said. "This?"
"Yes!" Cedric shouted. "It's hers!"
Everyone looked at Ryn.
"I didn't take her!" Ryn said quickly. "I just picked it up. I didn't know it was hers!"
"Where did you find it?" Aric asked.
"On the road," Ryn said. "Near a dark alley."
"Take us there," Aric said.
Ryn led them through the city to a quiet area. Not many people were around. The buildings were old. It felt different from the rest of the city.
"That's the alley," Ryn said.
They walked into the alley. It was dark and narrow. At the end of the alley, there was a wall. But something looked strange about it.
"Wait," Rune said. "Is that a door?"
They walked closer. There was a hidden door in the wall. It was old and dusty.
"Let's open it," Aric said.
He pushed the door. It made a creaking sound.
Inside was an old bar. Everything was dusty. The tables and chairs were broken. It looked like no one had been there in many years.
"This place is creepy," Elias said.
"Let's search around," Aric suggested.
They looked through the bar. It was dark and cold. The windows were dirty. The floor creaked with every step.
Then Ryn found something.
"Over here!" he called.
There was a hatch behind the bar. He opened it, and they saw stairs going down.
"A secret passage," Kail said.
They all stood around it.
"Do we go down?" Elias asked.
They were quiet for a moment.
"We don't know what's down there," Rune said.
"But if she was taken, they might have brought her this way," Aric said.
"Yeah," Kail said. "This might be the only way."
Cedric looked scared, but he nodded. "Please, let's go and check."
They stood at the edge of the stairs. It was dark below. They didn't know what was waiting for them.
"Let's go," Aric said.
And so, they found a secret underground passage. It might lead to Viorel... or something else. But they had to decide–go down into the dark unknown, or turn back.
They looked at each other.
The decision had to be made.