Chapter 43 – A New Mission & the Shadowed Secret

The East City guild hall was unusually loud that morning. The clatter of weapons being traded, the chatter of merchants haggling over prices, and the banter of adventurers comparing battle scars all mixed into a lively background hum. The wooden floorboards creaked under the constant traffic.

Zareen stood before the mission board, his finger tracing one of the freshly pinned scrolls.

> **Mission: Stop the Harpy Attack in the Misty Mountains.**

> *Objective: Eliminate 30 harpies.*

> *Reward: 60 gold coins + guild reputation points.*

“Harpy hunting…” Zareen murmured. “Flying monsters are always tricky. I can cover the support from below, but the rest is up to you three.”

Sari appeared behind him, leaning casually against the board, her chain weapon coiled at her hip. “Relax,” she said with a grin. “I’m an expert at making things fall into traps. Harpies won’t be a problem.”

Across the room, Doni puffed out his chest. “And don’t forget me!” he said, grinning from ear to ear. “If we’re talking about shooting flying targets out of the sky, I’m basically a legend.”

Zareen raised a brow, half amused and half tired. “Right… a legend.”

But what caught his attention was Yuna. She stood silently in front of the mission board, her gloved hand resting on the scroll for a long time as if weighing something invisible.

“Yuna?” Zareen called softly.

She turned to look at him. For a moment her expression was unreadable. Then she nodded once. “We’ll take it.”

The decision was final.

---

### Journey to the Misty Mountains

Their journey took them through the outskirts of East City, across a winding dirt road and into a dense, mist-covered forest that stretched all the way to the base of the mountains.

The air grew colder the higher they climbed. Dew clung to Zareen’s boots, soaking through the fabric. Every step made the ground crunch softly. A thin layer of fog swirled around their ankles.

Sari walked ahead, humming a cheerful tune that seemed oddly out of place in the otherwise quiet forest. Doni, on the other hand, spent most of the journey talking—mostly about himself.

“You know,” Doni said, twirling an arrow between his fingers, “I just learned a new skill yesterday. It lets me shoot two targets at once—without even opening my eyes. Pretty impressive, right?”

“Uh-huh. Very impressive,” Zareen replied absently.

Sari snickered and turned back to glance at them. “Zareen, are you actually listening, or just pretending to listen?”

“Not pretending…” Zareen said truthfully. “I just don’t know how to respond.”

Both Sari and Doni laughed, and for a brief moment, the tension of travel melted away.

But Zareen couldn’t ignore the fact that Yuna, who was walking just ahead of them, had turned her head several times to glance back at him. Her gaze wasn’t sharp like usual—it was searching, thoughtful, as if she was trying to solve a puzzle that only she could see.

Each time he caught her looking, his heart skipped a beat.

---

### The Harpy Attack

By midday, they reached a steep cliffside overlooking the valley below. The wind howled, carrying with it a faint, high-pitched sound.

Then came the first shriek.

A black shape swooped down from the sky, followed by another, and another. Harpies — dozens of them — dove from the misty clouds, their dark wings cutting across the gray sky. Their faces twisted into feral snarls, claws glinting in the light.

“Formation!” Yuna’s voice rang out like steel.

Zareen immediately raised his staff. “Barrier Circle!”

A lavender dome of light flared around them, anchoring into the rocky ground beneath their feet.

Sari darted forward, tossing a pair of poisoned daggers with a practiced flick. “Stun Shot!”

Two harpies shrieked in surprise as the poison numbed their wings, sending them crashing onto the rocks.

Doni planted his feet, pulled his bowstring to the limit, and grinned. “Rain Shot!”

A flurry of arrows shot into the sky, raining down on the incoming wave of harpies. At least five were struck mid-flight and tumbled downward.

Above them, Yuna leapt with terrifying speed, her blade glowing with dark energy. She sliced through the wing of a harpy that tried to grab her mid-air, sending it spinning into the ground.

Zareen’s voice remained steady as he called out support spells. “Defense Up! Regen! Extra barrier for Yuna!”

The battle was chaotic — wings, claws, and feathers flying everywhere — but with every coordinated strike, their enemies fell one after another.

And then the air seemed to tremble.

The Harpy Matriarch appeared.

She was easily twice the size of the others, her feathers a striking shade of blood-red, her talons gleaming like polished obsidian. With a piercing cry, she dove straight toward them, the wind pressure from her descent almost knocking Zareen off his feet.

Sari reacted first. Her chain lashed out like a viper, wrapping around the Matriarch’s torso. “Chain Bind!”

“Target locked!” Doni shouted, pulling back his bowstring with all his strength. “Meteor Rain Shot!”

The sky lit up with fiery trails as dozens of flaming arrows rained down, striking the Matriarch’s body and forcing her to crash-land on the rocky ledge.

Yuna didn’t hesitate. She sprinted forward, her sword a blur, and with a single decisive strike, she severed the monster’s head.

The mountain became silent once again.

---

### Rest After Battle

The four of them collapsed onto the rocky ground, catching their breath.

“Hah… that was perfect,” Doni said, grinning from ear to ear. “Did you see that? My skill was amazing!”

Sari snorted and patted Zareen’s shoulder. “Don’t get too full of yourself, Doni. We would’ve been shredded if it weren’t for Zareen’s buffs.”

Zareen rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. “I just… did my part.”

But Yuna remained silent. She was sitting a little apart from the others, her sword lying across her lap, her gaze fixed on Zareen.

Not a glare. Not even her usual cool stare. Something softer — but heavier.

Zareen felt an unfamiliar weight settle in his chest. *Why does she keep looking at me like that? What is she thinking?*

---

### The Shadow

Night fell by the time they returned to East City. The streets were quieter now, lit only by oil lamps that swayed gently in the breeze. The sound of distant laughter from taverns mixed with the faint clop of horse hooves.

After parting ways with Sari, Doni, and Yuna at the guild, Zareen decided to take a slower route back to the inn, letting the cool night air clear his head.

But then his staff began to hum softly, faint vibrations running through the wood.

He stopped.

The alley beside him was unnaturally cold, mist curling along the cobblestones. And there — at the far end — stood a shadow.

It wasn’t just a person standing in the dark. It *was* the dark — a silhouette shaped like a man, but with no face, no features, only an outline.

Zareen’s breath caught in his throat. “Who… are you?”

The shadow didn’t answer. It merely stood there, motionless, as if watching him.

And then, as suddenly as it appeared, it melted into the mist, leaving nothing behind but silence.

Zareen clutched his staff tighter, his heart hammering against his ribs.

*What was that…? A monster? A spirit? Or something tied to me?*

The city no longer felt as safe as it had a moment ago.

For the first time in a long while, Zareen felt the weight of the unknown pressing down on him — as if the world itself was whispering that his secrets were far from uncovered.