Due to Skobeloff playing along and the twins' faking being asleep, Fogdance had been fooled into believing her captives would cause her no trouble. As such, Skobeloff would have noticed no sound of the door being locked behind him, meaning he and his comrades were free to exit this room. Of course, just because the room was unlocked didn't mean the front door would be, and attempting to go down the stairs would likely alert Fogdance. If his intent is simply to escape, Skobeloff still had access to the crystal sand he took from the beach which will teleport him, Tamba and Pleexem to where his friends are. However, if he wants to restore Fogdance from her shadowself, he'll need to find a way to confront her while still retaining the trust he has bought from his subterfuge.

What will Skobeloff do?

[hr]

While Alpin had been correct in his assumption that they wouldn't have to deal with any more corrupted brownies, that didn't mean their journey to Echo's cave was easy: Alpin was not the strongest swimmer, and several times during their journey would find himself sinking into the muddy water. Either one of the drakes or Garrock would then have to grab and place him on their head or back while he recovered. This happened several times, with Alpin getting steadily wearier each time. The only blessing of this tedious process was that Garrock remained mercifully silent for all of it. The yellow dragon, who had fussed and groaned during their earlier walk into the jungle, hadn't uttered a single word after Alpin started leading them to Echo's, and the only hint that he was clearly not enjoying this process was the permanent scowl on his face, which since he was at the back of the group, the drakes wouldn't even see unless they happened to be looking in his direction. 

Eventually, the group caught sight of the large willow tree, familiar to both Stargaze and Fellwing as the one which Echo's cave is situated. They can even see the mouth of the cave beneath the trees overgrown roots, a cave both drakes would know is partially submerged in water. They will have to go under the water to enter. Also worth noting is that entrance is too small for a fully grown dragon like Garrock to enter, meaning the drakes and Alpin will have to go without him.

Speaking of Alpin, the brownie doesn't look too pleased at the thought of going under water and eyes the mouth of the cave with apprehension. "Welp, there is is," he says. "I... err... don't see a doorbell anywhere, so..." He glanced over his shoulder at Stargaze. "Should we just go in? Is she okay with visitors just entering her home?" He's currently seated on Shieldwing's back and shifting awkwardly from foot to foot. "Seems a little discourteous, to be honest, but I don't really know the etiquette of elementals."