The next morning, the five people in Rattle Canyon awoke. "Damn, what a restful slumber!" Tippy stated as he stretched. "Glad you could sleep, I could barely get any rest with these stupid horse legs. They kept kicking me..." Tread exclaimed.  

Once Harl was awake the three of them looked at Snake, who was still asleep. "Hey wake up!" Tread shouted at the naga before poking him repeatedly.  

"God, okay okay I'm awake." Snake groaned sitting up. "Good now we can continue our journey."

The four go out and look for Duke who diligently stayed watch at the front of the inn they were staying at. "Uh, Lawman are you okay?"  

"Yeah, I'm fine." Duke said. He was clearly tired, but he had a group of people he had to protect. "You can take a nap if you need to, we have to gather some supplies anyway since I'm not sure where the next town is." Harl stated

The blue dragon tried to insist he was alright, but the drowsiness soon took over. He could barely hold himself up from staying up all night. "Just a quick nap, I don't want to hear anyone got hurt while I was out." He sighed. "The further we get from this place the better." 

As the Pegasus trotted through the streets, he realized something was off. He hadn't seen a single person since they checked in, a huge change from how many people gathered around the team yesterday. "Maybe we scared them off? I hope not, I know what they did to Snake was wrong but maybe we could have helped them see he's a good man.. Well, more or less with him robbing the city so often." Harl thought. 

The only grocery store in the entire town was a farmer's market loaded with produce and some freshly cut meat. "We'll have to pack stuff we don't need to cook, these cold cuts and dry sausages should do. Huh, feels weird being a horse and eating other animals." Harl joked to himself. Next he packed in some fresh fruits and cheeses alongside bags of milk. 

Once he felt they had enough he went to find the cashier, only it seems they were gone too. "This is so eerie, it's like something out of a horror movie. The ghost town that was haunted, or maybe just before a zombie outbreak." The Pegasus centaur mumbled. "I'll just leave some money on the table until they come back." 

Tread and Tippy meanwhile were in charge of locating another city they could stay in. "I bet I could find Cassian myself in seconds flat!" 

"Oh really? Despite not having any information as to where he is?" 

"Unmm... I just follow my gut, it never steered me wrong before! Or was that gas?'

"Well if you get lost that won't be my problem." 

"I won't get lost, just watch me!" Tread stated before running off. "Oh, he actually ran off." Tippy said before Snake came up to him. "Hey wasn't Tread with you?" He asked. Tippy paused for a second. "Well about that-" 

"Are you saying you lost him?" 

"W-Well I wouldn't say it like that. I mean he was the one who said he could find could Cassian before running off." Tippy said to defend himself. "Well, you probably egged him on."  

Harl, coming back from getting supplies, looked at the two arguing. "Guys, guys, stop fighting! It's not going to solve anything!" He shouted to get their attention. "Hmmph I guess you're right, but Tippy still lost Tread-" 

"I didn't lose him! I tried to make him not run off on his own. In a sort of sarcastic way but still" Tippy stated. "Well, Tippy he doesn't fully understand sarcasm so I guess he took it seriously." Harl explained.   

"Now then, the only thing with can do is wait for him to come back or for Duke to wake up. I mean, it's not like we could catch up to him on foot." Snake stated.

"I'll do a flyover, Duke probably isn't in the best headspace to do any flying right now. He's only been asleep for half an hour." The pegasus offered. "Hopefully he didn't get too far." 

After flying up, Snake slithered back to his new boyfriend, curling up around his tail. "I never would have suspected you and Duke would become a thing." 

"What does a doorman know?" 

"Quite a lot actually, I have knowledge on everyone who ever lived here. Just by the way they enter and exit buildings can say a lot about one's self." Tippy explained. "Although you remained a mystery for so long." 

"Yeah well, I'd like to keep it that way. Or at least I would have if you just listened to me and found some other place to get supplies." The outlaw grunted. 

Tippy was about to utter another word, but then he remembered how upset Harl got when he was arguing. "Look, we didn't mean to bring up any past trauma. We just sort of assumed this place was a ghost town. Although it sure seems that way now." 

"Good, means I don't have to put up with any of them." 

After a while, Duke awoke. His eyes were still red and puffy from staying up all night, but he was a lot more rested than before. "Where to now?" 

"Well, the closest area is the seaside, not much there, however. Only a couple of buildings and a sightseeing location, a cave filled with the most beautiful gemstones known to man. My stepfather attempted to buy it out several times already." Tippy explained.

As Tippy finished his sentence Tread and Harl came back. "Hey sorry for running off, I was trying to be helpful and find the guy! Anyway I guess we should get going to..." 

"The seaside. I think maybe Cassian is there since he sold gems in his store right so it somewhat makes sense for him to be in a cave of them." Duke stated before stretching out. "Well we better get a move on then so we don't have to be here." Snake said still wrapped around Duke's tail.   

"Snake do you want to move closer to me? I wouldn't want you to fall off if I got to fast while I fly." The dragon asked, only for the naga to sliver up his body to be wrapped over his shoulders.  

Once everything was secured, the group started heading to the cave. Which was easier than expected since it was straight ahead after a few miles. However, they were being watched.  

"I see they figured out my location... oh well I feel like I have an advantage." The sorcerer stated. looking at his crystal ball. It sat on a base of rock whilst being powered by the other gems in the cave. 

Some of the gemstones were a muted colour, as if any life the stone might have had was completely taken away from them. "Just a little dark magic and suddenly the entire world turns on you." He chuckled to himself. "All I needed were a couple of beasts to do whatever I tell them, I didn't count on them losing any trace of humanity." 

He picked up a gleaming pearl, just like the one Snake kept in his jacket pocket. "What a dumb little serpent he turned out to be, with this I can not only track their every move but play with their feeble minds." He purred. "I'm just about finished it." 

On a flat slab of onyx was a pitch-black choker, illuminated by a tiger's eye. "Five for five nosy creatures who couldn't just remain in their city. Oh well, saves me the trouble of having to walk all the way back to them." He smirked. "Now, what to do about the small western townsfolk? It doesn't feel right to leave them as stone." 

As h thought, he had a nasty idea. "They would never hurt a human, even if the attackers were overpowering them. And I can tell that dragon would do anything for justice." 

The statues groaned as they awakened, but didn't return to their human forms. "I could use a huge ride back to my own realm, with a few extras." He grinned. "You, show them no mercy."

Meanwhile, back with the creatures, they were right outside the cave. "Huh... Y'know this was rather easy finding his hideout. I mean he could have at least like, boobytrap-" Tread was speaking before a hand pulled him into the cave. "Tread!" 

Harl, being the most concerned out of the four went straight in there, only to be followed by the others. However, since they didn't think, they too were grabbed. Well, for the most part, Duke was somewhat hard to pin down. "Well, well, well. What do we have here? Seems like 5 creatures are out of line!" 

"Well maybe if you didn't turn us into creatures, we wouldn't be here." Tread stated, struggling against the strength of the statue people. "Hold on... Are these... Are these the people of Rattle Canyon?" Harl asked.  

"Yes, what an observant young man you are! Such a shame you're dating someone in their thirties. Now then, the strongest in your group has to make a decision here, either kill them or be enslaved." Cassian said. 

"K-Kill? I can't that's illegal!" Duke stammered out. "Actually, it's not illegal here, I've lived there for 14 years of my life, and nowhere did it say that murder was illegal." Snake said, trying to justify it, also struggling against the grip. "I- But it's still immoral!" 

"Well, seems like enslavement it is." Cassian stated before getting the chockers.

The sorcerer recited another spell, keeping the team of five pinned to the ground for him to shackle. They screamed as their bodies twisted into new forms once again, making them appear more demonic. 

Claws sharpened, fangs elongated, scales became more jagged and fur scruffy. With a snap of his fingers, Cassian smirked as the creatures all turned to him, their eyes pitch black. "Follow me, it's time I show you my plans."