Finally Heroes

Chapter Eight

                "Ben!" Mal called out, waiting for her voice to finish echoing down the hall. She'd been shouting to him since we reached the castle, but so far, there had been no response. In fact, the castle had fallen strangely quiet. From the few times I came here, I recalled servants bustling about, cleaning and preparing food, while Belle and Beast were usually dashing from one room to the next, with little time to stop and say hello.

Dude rushed ahead of us, his nose pressed to the ground as he tracked some sort of scent. While the most likely explanation would be Ben, it could have been any number of people. Thought I more wanted the assurance my friend was safe, for Mal's sake and peace of mind, it would be better if we found Ben.

"This way," Dude encouraged, turning a corner and leading us down another carpeted hallway.

"Ben could be asleep somewhere," Mal sighed, throwing her arms up a little. She tried her best not to show frustration when it hit, so her visible annoyance was a clear sign of just how distressed she was.

"Or turned to stone." Almost immediately, Evie slapped her hand over Celia's mouth as the rest of us turned to stare at her.

"Okay," Evie whispered.

"Ben!" Mal shouted again, clearly growing more panicked after Celia's suggestion.

"I got a scent!" Dude informed us, sounding proud of his accomplishment. "Very pungent cologne. Easy to track. Follow me, people!"

That had to be Ben. The overwhelming smell that came off that man when he passed by was enough to make my eyes water. I really had no idea how Mal put up with it.

"That's great, Dude!" Carlos looked so proud of his dog. The smile on his face was infectious, and I soon found myself grinning as well, despite the grim scenario around us.

"FYI, I give great cuddles, too." I furrowed my brows a little and started to blink rapidly, something I knew I did when a curveball was thrown into a conversation.

"Really?" Gil sounded so mystified by the concept of a loving animal. "I never had a pet growing up. Well, except for the elk head in Dad's man cave, but that wasn't—"

"Hold up," Uma interrupted, stopping everyone in their tracks.

She traced her finger along some strange marks scratched into the wooden panels on the wall. They almost looked like claw marks, which was further supported by the old map of Auradon that had been cut in half. with part of it now on the floor. Curious, I stepped a little closer, pressing my hands against the indents in the wall. After a few seconds, Carlos pulled me back a little and pointed to the markings.

"Uh... Any chance this was already there?" he asked, his voice crackling a little out of fear. I reached up and squeezed one of his hands, attempting to reassure him. Defeated, Mal looked at both of the walls, seeming more confused than ever. Not that I blamed her.

"And follow me." Dude tried his best to draw our attention away from the potential that whatever this was could have been sent after Ben.

"Ben!"

Dude led us all the way to the armory, a room Jon had said on multiple occasions was off-limits. However, I think an exception could be made in this situation. Besides, it's not like Belle or Adam, or one of the guards, would come to shoo us away.

"Stay here, okay?" Evie whispered to Celia as the rest of us dispersed to check the individual suits of armor. Maybe he had ducked into one to escape from Audrey? Although, that would take quite a bit of effort, and make a significant amount of noise, so it didn't seem like the most logical solution. Still, when you're running from something, anything is better than being out in the open.