Standing once again at the four-prong fork in the tunnel, they peered down the second tunnel. Its dark depths were unseen due to the darkness. The small lantern lit only what was directly around them, but nothing else. Due to the cave worms, they kept their weapons out. Ready to fight against more creatures hiding in the tunnel's darkness.

As Drake looked into the dark tunnel, he hoped that they wouldn't come across any more beasts. Although all of the level one beasts were easy to deal with, they were on the clock. They needed to get the quest done as quickly as possible. They had a lot of tunnels to search and not very much time to do it.

Drake pulled up his ascension quest counter that counted down the time continuously to see how long they had left. They had to remember that if they didn't finish in time, they would fail the quest; with failure, only death awaited them. They had to get moving and find everything they needed to activate the podium so that they could obtain the Master spell book. It took a long time to find the Chamber of Knowledge, then hours to reach the end of the first tunnel. He could tell that it was already late. He just didn't know by how much. He was already exhausted, and his stomach grumbled in hunger. He didn't want to stop to eat, though; there wasn't enough time.

{Timed Quest: 03:38:12:19 remaining}

"We have just over three days left. It's hard to keep track of time down here," Drake complained quietly. That explained why he was so exhausted and hungry. They had kept moving, not willing to stop as they continued looking for what they needed to complete their quest and gain access to the master spell book.

Because they were underground, they didn't know when the twin suns rose or fell, making it impossible to keep track of time.

A sudden image flashed through Drake's mind. It was Ruby who wanted to give him an update. She was showing him the men who had surrounded the camp. She and her hive had kept them contained, not willing to let them go until the quest was complete. Ruby had indicated that she was afraid they would try to follow them, or go back to town and cause more trouble, before Drake and his cohort completed the quest. She wasn't taking any chances.

Drake smiled, thanking her. She was doing a good job and appreciated the precautions she was taking to make sure they completed their quest and stayed as safe as possible. Even she knew it was timed.

Drake sent her feelings of appreciation, then turned his attention back to the tunnels.

"I think we have to keep moving. We don't have a choice, we just need to look faster," Mike declared in a whisper. He knew that if they cut it short, even by a little, they would die. "We should go as far as we can until we're too tired to continue."

With agreements all around, they headed cautiously down the second tunnel.

"I think either Chad, Renn, or I will find something in this tunnel. If I'm seeing this correctly, then each tunnel represents one of us. I think the beasts we fought earlier came to deliver Ruby's key. She wasn't part of the cohort when we started. It had to get to us somehow. That, and she is too large to fit inside the tunnels."

They all nodded, grunting in agreement as they rushed down the tunnel, looking for anything hiding beneath the soil of the walls, floor, and ceiling. The tunnel was much shorter. Like the other tunnels, there were no holes or other passageways in the tunnel. It was a straight shot, all the way until the tunnel's end.

As they ran, there was no sign of beasts, and nothing unexpected happened. It was completely devoid of life. There was only Drake and his cohort.

When they reached the end of the tunnel, it opened up into a tiny chamber. It was only two feet wider than the tunnel itself. They scanned around them, their eyes glowing brightly using their magical vision, but found nothing.

Renn had leaped off Drake's shoulder and started scanning the floor, running around sniffing and squeaking softly as the others searched the walls and ceiling. When they had finished with their surroundings, the cohort began to look around on the floor, looking for something that might be hiding there. They didn't find anything. That was until Renn started hissing, trying to get their attention. They looked toward the sound of her hiss. She was in the exact center of the tiny chamber, sniffing frantically around in a small spot on the floor.

Drake looked down at her, watching as she circled the small area. When she finally found what she was looking for, she began to scrape at the floor with her little claws. After several minutes, A glowing red key with a green tip could be seen peeking through the dirt as Drake and his cohort watched.

This was confirmation of what Drake had been thinking. Each one of them would need to find a key. That included himself. He could tell that the little key he had received in the last quest was not the one he needed. He needed to find another one as they searched the tunnels.

Once the key Renn found was fully revealed, she took it into her mouth and jumped back onto Drake's shoulder. There were only two more keys to search for: one that would glow white for Chad and one that would glow green for himself.

Drake gently took the key from Renn's mouth and added it to the one he had in his pocket that was Ruby's. Renn couldn't really communicate if she had a key stuck in her mouth. He needed her to be able to warn them if she sensed anything. Not only that, she couldn't defend herself if her mouth was full. She needed her needle-sharp teeth so she could fight back if there was an attack and she needed to defend herself.

They scanned the small chamber a second time to make sure that it was empty, then headed back out toward the entrance where the four-prong fork was. Because of the lack of time and the fact that they didn't need to recheck for keys, they began jogging. Their feet were pounding on the hard dirt as they made their way to the end of the tunnel. It vibrated the tunnel, but only subtly. They were in a hurry; they still had another tunnel to search.

"Do we want to do the last tunnel next? That way, we can go directly to the three-prong fork. We already know that one of the tunnels is the Chamber of Knowledge. All we have to do is go through the other two. We can look in the short tunnel leading up to the chamber, but I think we should leave the tunnel leading to the Chamber of Knowledge for last." Mike suggested.

Drake agreed. The fastest way was exactly what Mike was suggesting. They were short on time, and who knew how long each tunnel was. The first one took nearly a full day. They kept moving, trying to reach the split where the four tunnels were located.

They were lucky that nothing came to stop them. However, as they ran, an eerie feeling came over them, forcing them to slow down and walk. The atmosphere around them thickened, and the feeling of dread followed.

Walking now, they looked around them, with the little lantern held high, trying to see the way. They saw nothing. Drake attached the lantern to his belt and then pulled out his Master staff. He let the large crystal glow to help light the way. They still saw nothing. He decided to keep it lit. He didn't like what he was feeling. By the look on the others' faces, they didn't like it either.

"We need to keep moving," Drake warned them. "I don't like this feeling. Be prepared to fight… just in case."

Chad and Mike nodded, pulling out their swords as they cautiously continued toward their destination. The powerful energy in their swords glowed faintly as they made their way through the tunnel.

They scanned the tunnel with every step they took. Renn hissed in agitation; she felt it too. Drake asked her to send him images if she knew what they were feeling, but there was nothing to show. She didn't know what it was either.

They kept going, cautiously keeping track of their surroundings. Their eyes glowed brightly, watching for danger. There was nothing; only the eerie feeling that something was there and the feeling of dread that followed.

In the end, nothing came at them through the darkness. The eerie feeling remained, never fading, not even a little. It was letting them know that there was something or someone in the tunnel with them.

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