The reformed clerics decide to stay in Carriton at the temple and learn the ways of the god Samhien, who is still working to heal Caldus' grievous injuries. Meanwhile, the other adventurers decide they want to follow the Maximals and help with their journey, as the main party seems interested in gathering whatever reward may come from saving the life of the countess.
The Maximals load up their ship and travel to Falleen, taking with them their human allies. Brash is initially unhappy with the prospect of the strange machine, and Scythe makes a deal with him: if he wants to ride his horse, he can do so, and the Maximals will meet up with him at their destination. However, Scythe instead picks up the horse with the ship's tractor beam, forcing Brash inside and making him an unwilling passenger. Before traveling to the new country, they take the ship above the lower atmosphere, and Paladyne sends an emergency transmission to Cybertron detailing the ship's location and survivors. Then, he breaks the interstellar com module so that the Predacons cannot find the Maximals' ship and do the same.
Estrella, the party mage, is from a town outside of Falleen, called Ridel, where elves and humans have set up a settlement. The party decides that the ship should land there, so that the Maximals' camp is not to close to Falleen palace. When the White Star lands, Brash becomes indignant. He is upset that Scythe lied to him, and perpetuated an action which caused the fighter's horse to give out in fright. He challenges Scythe to a duel, which he is sure he will win. Scythe insists on riding on Hulk. Since Brash no longer has a horse to ride for a mounted duel, Paladyne volunteers. As the rules state that the fighters will both dismount when one is unseated, Paladyne throws his rider immediately, and Scythe, deprived of the benefit of his much stronger drone, loses the fight.
The party opts to gather rumors in Ridel, and the Maximals move on to Falleen palace, which sits in a lovely town surrounded by bridges and flowers. There, they meet the young king of the country, Lorimar. Lorimar tells the story of how the countess, his sister, was kidnapped from the orchard behind the palace. He offers the Maximals any resource he can to aid them. However, he cannot take a direct hand in the search, as he made a promise that he would not be involved so long as Vertoss continued to send proof that his sister was unharmed. He says he does not trust the magical proof they provide, but since they have promised that the Countess Collette is "preserved" in their care, he has to take them at their word, since she has not been found.
Shadowraith, Paladyne, and Scythe search the palace looking for clues. They discover that the princess was a former knight, but failed at her training. However, she was still adventurous, and known to sneak out of the castle regularly. When she was abducted, she was not on castle grounds. Since the event occurred over a year ago, she is very difficult to trace. Hawthorne eventually offers some help by showing the Maximals where Vertoss keeps most of its political prisoners: either in a series of towers to the north, where the dark knights train, or abandoned cemeteries to the south, where jail cells have been built. The Maximals also do a thorough analysis of a now-defunt magic object; the lump of metal used to deliver the initial ransom message to the king. Skystrike determines that it is far more likely that the semi-precious stone comes from the south, near the swamplands.
When the Maximals return, Scythe decides to get his revenge on the now-sleeping fighter that humiliated him before. He sneaks into the adventuring party's inn, and abducts the knight, then ties him up in the center of town. The adventuring party forgives Scythe for the incident, as if nothing else, it was an amusing interlude.