Tara ehe cil Hall and, with her heavy boot, kicked a chair that stht in the middle of the grand room. The wooden piece of furniture flew away from her as if it was scared of the angry ranger and broke into pieces from the tact with the wall. The new leader of Mountain View was having the worst day of her life. That’s not how she expected her promotion to py out.

  Just a few days ago, she would have been happy to get her ander's job ahe rangers. Now, he was dead. And his superiors were dead. And she had to govern this cursed by the undead settlement.

  First, Garrick removed all cil members from the game and killed a few rangers who disagreed with his as food measure. , this uhing decided to kill Garrid a few mers. tally, that meant that the whole and structure was now ent. Besides her and that tool Korin. And after st night's fiasco, she was the st person standing. Nobody would take Korin seriously anymore.

  A man ran into the hall, his hair messy and sweaty. Not seeing anyone else there, he approached Tara.

  "Where's Korin?" he said. "I have a report for him."

  "Korin... he is irrelevant," Tara said. "What do you have? Report to me."

  The maated. "But I have my orders!..." he protested feebly.

  "Elder's beard!" swore Tara. "Do you want to join the people on the tral square? Or would you like to help me rebuild this town?"

  "Ugh... Well... Alright..." the man mumbled. "We explored the tunnel. It appears that only people from Korin's team have known about it. This is one of the reasons it took so much time to find the entrance. Most of them are still out of it."

  "Are they all alive?" asked Tara.

  "Yes," said the ranger. "But our medics are unsure if they will regain sciousness."

  "So, what about the tunnel?" said Tara.

  "It leads to the southern forest," the man said. "There are footprints inside. Ahe exit. But it has rained heavily sihen and the paths in the forest are a mess. It's hard to say where those two went."

  "You are sure there were only two of them?" asked Tara. "Who was it, that Li? Korin's enfant terrible?"

  "Yes, our trackers firmed there were only two of them," firmed the ranger. "The uhing and Li... the traitor. One of Korin's men also substantiated that."

  "So, why are you here and not there, scouting the forest?" Tara asked. "We are losing time!"

  "We wao firm with the leadership before taking the steps," the man said. "I hoped that Korin has already recovered."

  "Don't you worry about him," Tara said.

  She called for her aide to ehe cil room. "Give this man a few mers. We o find where Li and this undead beast are heading. And make sure that Mountain View is protected against them."

  "Yes, ma'am!" the aide sigo the ranger, and they left the hall.

  "And that's what I have to deal with!" Tara facepalmed and moved closer to the long table. Just a few days ago, it seated all the Elders of their town. All the important people were dead. There was no oo pass on the knowledge. She'd have to figure out everything on her own.

  Tara khat Elder Jorin had a special experiment with the undead. He never did anything fgles and should have had some pns of his own. But this was a secret well-kept by the cil. Almost nothing has leaked beyond the walls of this unweling room.

  "Ah, Jorin..." Tara sighed. "What did you know about the undead? Why was this beast so important to you?"

  "Brenna!" she called for her aide. "Brenna! e over here!"

  "Yes, ma'am?" the ranger said, returning to the cil hall.

  "I need a different room," Tara said. "I 't focus in this pce. Is there something fitting my ation?"

  "We'll figure something out, Elder Tara," Brenna said. "Give us one hour. Anything else?"

  "Have you found the list of cil didates?" Tara asked. "They had to have it. Some of the Elders were... hm... quite old and I know they vetted repts."

  "Yes, we have it," Brenna said. "There are representatives of the traders, artisans, and farmers on that list. But also some of the rangers, including you."

  "Good, when my new office is ready," Tara anded, "bring it there, along with the other things. Is Korin on that list?"

  "No, ma'am," said Brenna. "It doesn't seem the Elders sidered him worthy."

  "No surprises there. He isn't the brightest one. As we see," Tara paused for a moment. "Do we know his whereabouts?"

  "Yes, he's drinking ale at the pub right at this moment," Brenna said. "Do you want him summoned here?"

  "No, arrest him and take him to jail," Tara said. "I see you are surprised. Why? He allowed himself to be ambushed while on patrol duty. And has almost lost four of his men to this undead beast. He should be happy we are n him for spiracy with that traitor Li. Yet."

  "Yes, ma'am!" the aide said. "Anything else?"

  "Schedule time for me to interrogate him," Tara said. "We o know if there are any other hidden tunnels he knows about."

  She paused, took in the massive room, disheveled tapestries and banners on the walls, and the whole state of the order.

  "Bring me some tea," Tara said. "And something stronger as well. I have a long day ahead of me. And this town is a mess."