Selena was bored. She looked at Tanniv, the champion who had recruited her and he seemed to be deep in conversation with Tamara. The others were lounging around, either making conversation or reading something or in Victor's case, sleeping. Selena wondered how he could sleep at a time like this, but then, he was Victor after all.

Selena looked at her chat. Marcus had replied to her hello. She smiled. Marcus Blank. Now that guy was an enigma if there was one. He had talked to her about his arrival on Una, his loss of memory and his general life as an adventurer. Selena had found it fascinating. He, however, did not seem as interested in her as she was in him, was he?

It had been two weeks since they had met in Treedos. And now Selena was back with her team on Urtor. Urtor, the dull, gloomy landmass, the land of the undead.

It was always dark in Urtor, the sun shrouded by an artificial cloak which always left Urtor swathed in darkness. Even the moonlight was shrouded. The undead required such an environment to thrive. The flora and fauna of this landmass was different then the rest of Una, adapted to the shroud so that they could survive.

Very few species other than the undead lived on Urtor. Even the resident species, Umaru, were found in less numbers on Urtor. They lived on the outer edges of the landmass where the effect of the shroud was not as prominent.

Selena was tired, standing, waiting for Tanniv and Tamara to make a decision. She sat down, leaning over the trunk of a dark tree whose bark was smoother than barks of normal trees. She did not know its name. She did not care.

Selena looked at her chat with Marcus again. It seemed that he was doing well, taking a break from all the adventuring. He and Kyrie seemed to be visiting every town in Artorios after Kyrie was satisfied with her positioning in the arena at Treedos. They had already gone to Galados and after ranking first, it seemed that they were going to Frodos.

Selena wondered whether she should pursue Marcus. She had given him various hints that she was interested in him. He, however, had either not gotten them or he was genuinely not interested in her. She wondered which it was. Maybe, the next time she met him, she would ask him out directly. Maybe that would help.

Tamara called everyone. It seemed that they had made a decision. They were on a quest to find out the source of demons popping up all over Urtor. The demons actually found the conditions that the undead live in good and they thrived on this landmass. This meant that the demons on Urtor were stronger than they would be on any other landmass.

As Selena and the others approached Tamara said, “Alright. We are splitting up. Groups of five. We need to comb this forest and we need to comb this forest fast. The demons are definitely coming out from a location in the forest. We are close. I can feel it. Tanniv and I have decided on the groups to be formed. Listen carefully.”

Selena listened to the division. Tamara, Shania, Thalia, Tim and Selena were the first group. The second group was Mikhail, Vladimir, Ivan, Victor and Artemis. Figures. Tamara and Tanniv would not split The Bloody Hounds. The third group was Tanniv, Kenirath, Duranos, Shadra and Clio. Tanniv’s group had all the feliurs together. The last group was Garun, Sylvianna, Hestia, Erato and Athena.

Selena wondered about the logic of selecting such four groups, but Tamara did not give her much time.

“Alright”, said Tamara, “Form in your groups fast and start searching. My group would be searching North while Tanniv’s group would be searching South. The Bloody Hounds plus Artemis would be searching East while the final group would be searching West. Cover as large an area as you can. Any questions?”

There were no questions. The four groups disbursed and started to walk in the directions they were assigned. In their group, Tamara led the way which was expected. Following Tamara was Shania, keeping a close look at their surroundings. Thalia was the center, walking calmly as possible. She had her wings folded as they would hit the trees if they were unfurled. Tim flitted in and out of the shadows, at least, that is what it looked like to Selena. She brought up the rear, her shortbow in her hand, acting as the rearguard.

Selena looked at the map. Tamara had marked the area that their group was supposed to search. They were in the Durnhold Forest. It covered a large area in the central part of the landmass Urtor. The landmass was dark and gloomy while the forest was darker and gloomier. Selena hated his major quest and wanted to be done with it as quickly as possible.

Selena realized she had gotten a message from Marcus. A reply to their conversation. Selena quickly messaged him that she was busy for now and would message him later. An ‘ok’ came as a reply. Selena was not sure whether Marcus was actually okay or not that their chat conversation was abruptly interrupted. She sighed. This was not the time to dwell on Marcus. She needed to have her head in what they were doing. No distractions.

Tamara made them walk to the Northmost part of the forest. It was then they took their first break.

“Alright”, said Tamara, “We have reached the starting point of our search. Bring out your maps.”

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Selena was confused. Starting point? What the gork had they been doing till now? Taking a stroll in the gorking gloomy forest? Still, she brought her map out in front of her.

Tamara said, “We have walked in a fairly straight line to reach this point. I know we have been searching but we have not found anything. However, walking in a straight line was never the plan. Each of the groups has gotten a search pattern which Tanniv and I devised. You will be seeing yours… now.”

Tamara pressed something on the display in front of her and Selena saw her map being populated with lines and arrows. The search pattern of the Northern quadrant of the forest was populated on Selena’s map.

Tamara continued, “We take a break for about ten minutes. Then we start with the search. We shall be taking breaks every two hours except in unprecedented circumstances, in which case I will be taking point, and you will follow my commands. Is that clear?”

“How is that different from how it normally is?” asked Tim.

Tamara glared at him, and he simply shrugged, “You always take point or command. It is natural. You are one of our leaders after all.”

Tamara gritted her teeth and said, “Tim, you know I need to know that everyone is on the same page. That would mean reminding everyone time and again that I am in charge. Please do not take this as an insult. It is just that lack of vigilance causes premature deaths. Which I do not like.”

Tim nodded and did not say anything. No one had anything to add either. Ten minutes later the group started their search in the same formation as before. Two hours later, they had found no signs of demons, or the source of their origin and it was time for their break. Tamara told them to rest for fifteen minutes but keep watch. Selena was not tired with walking, but constant surveillance was wearing her out.

“Hey Tim”, said Selena, “You there or hiding in the shadows.”

“I am here Selena” said Tim, causing Selena to jump a little.

“I thought we told you not to continue doing that.”

“And I said no.”

“You are a gorking prick.”

“I doubt that is why you called me. To call me a prick.”

“No, I want your opinion on something.”

“I am honored.”

“Don’t be a gorking wiseass.”

“And deny my nature?”

“If that wouldn’t be much of a bother for you.”

“Now who is being a gorking wiseass?”

“Still you.”

“Are you going to get to the gorking point?”

“Why yes Tim. I am. I wanted to know your opinion about this major quest.”

Tim looked at the others. Tamara was not resting and was patrolling the parameter. Shania and Talia were sitting some distance away from Selena and Tim and whispering something that Selena could not quite catch. She was sure that the others could hear them though.

“Truth be told, I a gorking tired”, said Tim, “The quest isn’t bad, but it is this landmass that is disconcerting. No sun and a gloomy feeling all around. It isn’t gorking natural.”

“Well”, said Selena, “It is for the undead.”

“We are not the undead, Selena.”

“I have observed that yes. But it is not the landmass that concerns me currently. It is this quest. For some gorking reason, it is rubbing me the wrong way.”

“How so?”

“We all know that the demons use a portal of some sort to appear from wherever they are to Una. However, they do not have a fixed location. A limited amount of demons teleport in an area and terrorize it till some adventurer or non adventurer puts them down. However, here we have this forest as the source of demons even before the major quest of demonic invasion plagued Una. That does not make sense to me. If I have read Marcus’ notes correctly, then the major quest concerning demons 500 years ago was a disaster and the game masters kind of decided not to have a major quest with demons again. A decision which they went back on as is evident. However, what about the demons here? Why were they not sent back to where they came from? The undead who gave us the quest did not tell us the whole story. Something is missing. A part of a puzzle. I am sure of it and this is troubling me.”

Tim looked at Selena with a bit of concern and then said, “Do not worry. If it is part of the quest, we will figure it out. After all, we are formed of adventurers with varying intellect and strength. Talk about this. To Tamara. See what she has to say. I know she would rather tackle a problem by bashing it, but if you are concerned then she could help. Maybe.”

Selena snorted. Even Tim was not confident of Tamara’s help. Maybe Selena should have talked with Tanniv regarding her opinion on this major quest before they had split up. Their resting time was up. Selena thought she would talk with Tamara during their next break.

They moved forward in the same formation as before, their path as marked by Tamara was clearly visible on their map. Before long they came across as small clearing in the forest. Selena considered that odd. The trees were not that close in the forest but there had been no clearing till now.

She pointed it out to Tamara who led them to the clearing. There was nothing in the clearing, no grass, no trees and only flat ground made up of ashy soil which was present in the entire Urtor land mass. Tamara bent down and touched the ground. She stood up and rubbed her fingers, some dirt slipping out of her grip.

“There is something”, Tamara started to say but the next moment a runic formation glowed beneath the group.

“Move”, shouted Tamara and started to communicate to others.

Selena started to move but then suddenly there was a pulse of magic, and she was floating in the air. The others were floating too. There was a lot of shouting, flailing and cursing. Tamara and the others seemed to be either calling someone or sending some message.

Selena reacted automatically as she was lifted up. She saw the dark gaping below her and she sent a message to the first person that she could think of.

As Selena was sucked off into the dark hole, she prayed that her message had reached Marcus. It contained only one word.

‘Help’.