Another Friend in Amphibia

Chapter 17: Otherworldly Collector

Drake looked at the lone cottage. It was far away from civilization which certainly makes this a whole lot easier. That cart had come to this small cottage. The cart itself was pretty large and heavy due to the number of objects it was carrying. The axolotl had pushed the cart himself which slowed him down to the point Drake could probably run faster than him.

He was lucky the cottage wasn't that far from where the Bizarre Bazaar had been set up otherwise Drake would have to follow him the whole night. However, Drake wanted one last confirmation that he followed the correct cart. He sat on a tree branch overlooking the area with his telescope. The axolotl was unpacking his goods that were brought with him, inside one of the cages was Nyx.

Drake continued to case the cottage. He certainly never expected to be on this side of that kind of circumstance. The cottage didn't have any defenses or walls to worry about. It was mostly open land, no crops, no space for animals.

Although Drake could only see whatever was at the windows, he did notice movement indicating other people were in the house. That would complicate things. Still, now that he knew where Nyx was, he could afford to take his time and prepare himself. He was sure this place was far enough away so he wouldn't be discovered. Drake closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep. Little did he know, he was being watched from below in the darkness.

The night had a strange mixture of peacefulness and restlessness. Although Drake was able to sleep soundly, a part of his mind always reminded him that Nyx was still trapped there and needed his help. That fact was slowly eating away at him, and his dream made sure he never forgot it.

Drake opened his eyes to see a cloudy day. It looked like it was going to rain soon. He climbed down the tree and started walking towards the cottage. He wasn't sure what to expect when he got there but he was going in no matter what. Nyx was counting on him; if there was ever a time, he truly needed to be strong and brave, this was that time.

He grabbed the front door and surprisingly, it was unlocked. He slowly opened it, trying to be as quiet as possible. Peering in, he could see there was no one in the living room. Drake walked in hoping to find Nyx somewhere in the cottage. He went into the basement first, that was likely where the axolotl would store his items. He ended up being right when he saw the various objects the axolotl had back in the Bizarre Bazaar. They were organized into different seemingly random piles. At the other end of the basement was Nyx, laying down in a cage with her head close to the ground. She heard Drake's footsteps and perked up, excited to see him.

"I'm going to get you out of there." Drake whispered. Then he heard someone coming down the stairs. He drew his sword and ran into a corner to hide.

It was that axolotl from the stand in the Bizarre Bazaar. He walked up to Nyx's cage. "Hello there, how are you doing? Are you hungry?" he said softly while holding a small bag.

Drake slowly walked out of his hiding place, sword at the ready. He was going to kill him right here, right now. As he raised his sword, he heard another set of footsteps coming down the stairs. Drake turned around to meet the new threat but felt a fist connect with his face, knocking him down and causing him to drop his sword.

"Well, what do we have here?" a woman asked. She was also an axolotl, presumably his wife. She was larger than anyone else in the room.

"I remember you. You were that guy who attacked me at the Bizarre Bazaar." the man said. He kicked the sword away.

Drake spat a bit of blood. "Yeah, and did you think I wasn't going to go after my friend?"

The axolotl man pulled back Drake's hood. "Hmm... never seen anything like you before..."