Tempted though you are to experience some pigeon aerobatics, common sense prevails. You tell Dizi, in firm and precise language, that loop-de-loops are not an option for today’s flight.

“Ha! I was just messin’ with you. Wouldn’t be a good idea with this basket full of passengers now, would it? Anyways, the landing’s coming up, so brace yourself.”

Dizi swoops through a canopy of trees, and you clench your eyes shut once again. You clutch two fistfuls of feathers as branches and leaves whiz past your face.

A moment later, you are in the clear. Dizi sets the passenger basket down and lands with a graceful series of flutters. You slide off Dizi’s back, landing somewhat less gracefully on your now jelly-like legs, and the other knights clamber out of their basket.

Val gives you a nod. “Cool. You didn’t die.”

You find yourself on a small patch of dirt with a muddy tunnel to one side and a lake to the other. Bushes and trees surround the area, providing a border of shelter from the eyes of any curious gods or hungry titans.

Rosaline gestures at the two wilted banners on either side of the tunnel entrance. “Golden laurels upon an ochre field. No doubt about it — this is the entrance to Solhill.”

Impressive. Dizi dropped us right at the front door.

“A’ight,” says Dizi. “Then I’m gonna take off then and grab some lunch. I’ll circle back in an a couple of hours to pick you lot up.”

“That’s fine. Two hours is all we’ll need,” says Alex. He turns to you. “Time’s a wasting. Give me my hat back so we can start our investigation.”

Oh.

“Where is my hat, Lemon?”

Oh no.

“Welp,” says Val. “Guess Lemon’s getting the ol’ drop n’ chop.”

No, not yet.

You explain to Alex, with a good deal of stumbling and mumbling, that you are very sorry, but you definitely had the hat right before the landing approach, which means that it must have come off in the descent, so it can’t be more than a short walk away, and again, you are very sorry.

“So,” says Alex.

So…

“So go fetch it, you fleabrain.”

Right, of course.

You scamper into the undergrowth, tracing what you think was Dizi’s flight path. You climb through a hedge, across a flower bed, past a magnificent willow tree, and soon enough, you find yourself in a grassy clearing.

This must be close to where Dizi passed through the tree canopy.

What do you do?