Tara entered the Council Hall and, with her heavy boot, kicked a chair that stood right 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 contact 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 look like.

Just a few days ago, she would have been happy to get her commander's job and lead the 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 council members from the game and killed a few rangers who disagreed with his actions for good measure. Next, this undead thing decided to kill Garrick and a few more rangers. Coincidentally, that meant that the whole command structure was now non-existent. Besides her and that tool Korin. And after the last night's fiasco, she was the last 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 man hesitated. "But I have my orders!..." he protested feebly.

"Elder's beard!" swore Tara. "Do you want to join the people on the central 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 come to consciousness."

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

"It leads to the southern forest," the man said. "There are footprints inside. And near the exit. But it had rained heavily since then and the paths in the forest are a mess. It's hard to say where these two went."

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

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"Yes, our trackers confirmed there were only two of them," confirmed the ranger. "The undead thing and Lila... the traitor. One of Korin's men also confirmed that."

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

"We wanted to confirm with the leadership before taking the next 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 enter the Council room. "Give this man a few more rangers. We need to find where Lila and this undead beast are heading to. And make sure that Mountain View is safe from them."

"Yes, ma'am!" the aide signaled to 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 one left there to pass the knowledge. She had to figure out everything on her own.

Tara knew that Elder Jorin had a special experiment with the undead. He never did anything for giggles and should have had some plans of his own. But the Council held this secret well-kept. Almost nothing has leaked beyond the walls of this unwelcoming room.

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

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

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

"I need a different room," Tara said. "I can't focus in this place. Is there something fitting my new station?"

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

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

"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 commanded, "bring it there, along with the other things. Is Korin on that list?"

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

"No surprises there. He isn't the brightest one. As we can 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 put 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 not trying him for conspiracy with that traitor Lila. Yet."

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

"Schedule time for me to interrogate him," Tara said. "We need to 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."