Everyone gathers back at the camp, and shares their stories. Karat reports that while on the trail, she was casually quizzing Leosin about what he knew about the dragon cult, specifically about Tiamat, as they had been hearing that name spoken quite often (especially the cultists using "Praise Tiamat's Glory" as a greeting, departure, or in between). Leosin says that he's not sure Tiamat is a real person; although people talk about what Tiamat wants, or what's best for Tiamat, he never hears about exactly where she is, or about her directly doing anything. Perhaps she is just a concept of some sort. He's still trying to figure it out.

Karat and Elbolin didn't spend long in Greenest because they were concerned about their friends being here potentially dealing with the cultists. The townsfolk mostly seemed to be rebuilding the town after the raid. So they just dropped Leosin off at the Old Greenest Inn, the same one where they stayed when after the raid. He really just wanted to get a bit of rest and recovery before continuing to investigate the dragon cult.

Bilbo, Black Barry, Hooflepoof and Elfo tell Karat and Elbolin what they saw in the cave, and Hooflepoof describes the bombing of the tent. He suspects that the woman in purple was Frulam Mondath, but it would be nice to find out for sure.

They are all concerned about the prisoners who remain in the camp, but it isn't obvious how to rescue them with all those kobolds, cultists, and drakes around. They are pretty sure they can't just waltz in there and grab the prisoners. They spend considerable time around the campfire considering each of their assets, possessions, and spells. They are almost out of ideas when Hooflepoof suggests one that might work, or might just be crazy: with potions of flying and invisibility and rope, perhaps they could swoop in and airlift the prisoners to safety. Last they saw, all the prisoners were chained together, so it shouldn't be too difficult to snag the chain and pull them up. They scratch through the math, and it seems like they probably won't be able to lift all the prisoners at once, but with a slight modification, they can - if they give the lifting job to the horses. Also they need some hooks to lower to catch the chains.

It takes a few hours of planning and preparing, during which Elfo takes a rest in order to restore his vitality and spells. Hooflepoof spends most of the afternoon fashioning a couple of strong loop-hooks from wood chopped from nearby trees, and attaching them to 15-foot sections of hemp rope to the saddles of each of the two horses. By late afternoon, the group heads out: Hooflepoof and Gourbain on the horses, and Karat, Elfo, and Elbolin (in cultist uniforms) along for support. They approach as close as they can to the raiders' camp with fairly little risk of being seen, and then Elfo casts Invisibility over the horses and Gourbain (with Hooflepoof not needing a spell because of his Cloak of Invisibility). They also dose the horses with Potions of Flying, Hooflepoof and Gourbain mount them, and they take off for the raiders' camp.

They find the prisoners engaged in cleaning up the mess around the large tent where the bomb exploded, and immediately dip down to try to catch them like fish on a line. It takes a couple of tries to snag the chains with the hooks, but they take their time and manage to get them hooked. As soon as they get the hooks attached, they start to lift them into the air and they find that they can't quite take the weight, because besides the prisoners, there are two dragonclaw guards attached at either end of the chains. Everyone is attached by cuffs on their feet, so they all turn upside-down and hang in the air with their heads down on the ground, and the horses can't quite take off.

Seeing this predicament, Hooflpoof jumps down, knowing that with his Boots of Striding and Springing, he should be able to jump back up on his horse. He goes directly at one of the dragonclaws with his shortsword, and in a couple of hacks manages to chop off the foot connected to the shackle. Then that end of the chain starts to rise, so he runs to the other end and similarly chops the other dragonclaw off the chain, and the rest of the prisoners lift off the ground as well.

He can tell where his horse is by the fall of the chains, but riderlessly, the horses start to rise pretty quickly and he's not sure if he can jump that high. Gourbain isn't sure what is going on down there, but he's gently urging his horse to rise. Hooflepoof makes the biggest jump he can, and manages to land on the horse, and yells out "giddyup, horses", and they both ride off into the sky. A few stones fly up from the slings of the more quick-witted kobolds, but they miss harmlessly. The prisoners, being dragged into the sky by their heels, have no idea what is going on.

The group had already agreed that they would proceed directly back to camp and meet Karat, Elfo, and Elbolin back there, so they fly back there as quickly as possible. They land in their camp, everybody has a good laugh about what a crazy plan that was - but it worked! - and they explain to the prisoners what just happened, feed them a good dinner, and tend to their wounds. They plan to leave for Greenest the next morning, but just before they all retire to their tents Elbolin takes a walk over in the direction of the raiders' camp just to see what is going on, and sees a stream of torches coming out the main entrance, spreading out, but heading in this general direction, likely following the direction of the prisoners into the sky.

Elbolin alerts everyone that the raiders will likely find their camp within an hour or two, and they decide to pack up as quickly as possible and head for greenest tonight. They are only a few minutes in that direction when they are intercepted by three guards and an acolyte blocking the trail.