The sky flashed a blinding bright light attracting the gatekeepers' attention.

LifeStone Group Quest activated. Bonus group XP awarded.

Constantine and Lazarus read the message in the sky. He had done it! Valentine had come through. The Red Warlock made his way back to the Assassin and his wolf. The Thief would be here soon.

The two humans' sudden movement startled the Witch. As one, they had lifted their heads to the very empty grey sky, their anxious faces lighting up with hope and purpose. After a moment, the Spell caster had returned to the dark one. Now, they conferred in low tones. She glanced again at the sky wondering if she had missed something. There was absolutely nothing out of the ordinary there. She must be careful, the humans were more than they appeared to be. They had their own power and magic which she could not trace.

The atmosphere shifted as an electric Energy charged the air. Constantine was immediately on high alert. The Red Warlock automatically turned to the focus point of the gathering power, hands held up before him prepared for magical combat.

A small spinning fiery dot appeared. Red, orange and yellow sparks flew as it grew into a circular portal. Lazarus hastily gulped down a potion and drew his silver bow ready to shoot anything hostile that came through. Anya crouched growling; strong hind muscled bunched waiting for the right moment to pounce.

The Witch looked on unperturbed. She had seen this before.

Valentine and Kalthu stepped out of the blazing circle.

"Hey!! Don't shoot!! It's us!!"

"Stand down!! Stand down!"

Constantine powered down, just as Lazarus lowered his weapon. Anya relaxed in disappointment. She wanted to fight.

"Aiyayaiyayai! What is this? We sent you to get the Overlord's agreement and you come back with a whole horde?"

"Not a horde, just a few more bodies to help us along the way. A present from Jarrakg. I swear that orc fusses over his Commander Warlord worse than a mother hen."

Valentine grinned as leather clad grey warrior orcs stepped through the portal and into formation. Kalthu was busy giving instructions to his warriors.

"How many?"

"Only twenty. A small squad," replied Kalthu proudly.

When all had crossed safely, the fiery circle closed, vanishing into thin air. The charged atmosphere returned to normal.

"Umm, Thalasis' work," Valentine explained to Constantine's raised eyebrow and inquiring look. "I was soooo not going to port back and forth with these monsters despite the Overlord's orders. I would be dizzy for a week!"

"The Overlord only agreed to the Witch's terms if some of his warriors followed ... to help with the odds, you know. He though we would have a much better chance of ridding the lands of the Bello and securing the Life stone with these guys around."

"Rid the lands of the Bello?"

"Yeah, once we take the Life stone and the Witch is free, so will the Bello, be free, that is. The Overlord does not want a crazed monster rampaging through his lands killing randomly."

Constantine eyed the battle ready orcs. They were trained and ready for action. Yes, they would definitely be a big help.

"Is that o'kay with you, my Lady?" Lazarus addressed the Witch. He did not want the change in technical terms to void their agreement. She could open the Path and disappear, leaving them to their doom after all.

The Witch stood up and shrugged. "More will not make much difference." She had agreed to open the Path to the Bello and guide them' but she would not fight on their behalf. She was immune to the monsters and challenges within.

Lazarus gave a slight nod of thanks. She allowed the warriors to follow them.

"Ready? Then follow me!!"

Without warning, the Witch ran to the edge of the cliff and jumped headlong into the ominous grey mist. The swirling tendrils swallowed her thin dark figure immediately leaving no trace of the Witch.

"What the hell!!" Valentine yelled in shock. "Did she just jump? Tell me she did not just jump! She's gone!"

"Do we follow?" Kalthu asked uncertainly.

All turned to Lazarus for the next move.

The gatekeeper took a deep breath clenching his jaw. He secured his bow on his back and prepared himself for the inevitable. This might be the end of the quest and Lazarus but he didn't really have a choice. Seriously Simtrixx was testing him and his gaming instincts. Logic told him that it would mean certain death to jump, that there was nothing behind the mists except the unfinished maps and the possible deletion of his avatar.

On the other hand, a great game always had more, right? Surely, Simtrixx wouldn't just kill them all off for discovering their embarrassing secret. If his avatar was deleted, maybe there was some way to revive him, or at worst he would die and re-spawn back in the human realm, right? Right! He tried to convince himself. A Player really should trust in the Game ... then again, this was Simtrixx. He made up his mind in a split second whilst wild thoughts were still running through his mind.

"C'mon!! Follow her!!" The Assassin took a running jump and vaulted into the grey nothingness.

Shocked silence.

"Did he just do what I think he did?"

"He is as crazy as the Witch."

"He did not die! There is no explosion and ..." Constantine exclaimed, double checking his Friends list briefly, "... he has not been deleted?" His statement inadvertently turned into a question. What was this horrible blank grey?

Constantine had barely completed his sentence when Valentine and Anya leapt after Lazarus.

"CHOSEN!!!"

"I am not letting the idiot go alone!!" shouted Valentine before his voice was cut off by the heavy fog.

"Well, I wanted an adventure, yes? I wanted to explore the unknown, yes? I wanted to follow the mad Lazarus into Orcland, yes?" the great Red Warlock asked himself mockingly as he levitated into the air. He did on all counts but he did not want to die in order to experience it all! That Witch was crazy but Laz was insane. He was not going to jump into the unknown unprepared. Instead, he opted to float in, hands raised, charged and ready to blast anything that dared came at him out of the grey.

"Are you coming?" the Red Warlock asked over his shoulder as he hovered over the edge.

"Yes!" Kalthu answered, psyching himself up. His human friends were all lunatics. He was going to die, he though mournfully. He would have preferred fighting as he died like a true warrior, not suffocated by a thick cloud; but he had orders. He was to protect the humans and help them succeed their mission, however mad they were.

"WARRIORS!!" the Warlord shouted on top of his lungs and signalled his Captain.

"Hwarrr! Hwarrrr!! HWARRRR!!" the Captain yelled. "ONWARD!! FOR THE OVERLORD!!" Without looking backwards, the orc Captain ran across the short space and leapt into the unknown. His squad responded by saluting smartly, hefting their assorted weapons and started running. The horde stampeded across the ground. One by one, each brave orc jumped fearlessly over the rocky cliff, fully trusting their Captain and Warlord only to vanished from sight. Kalthu hoped he was not sending them to their doom. When the last of his warriors had disappeared, he took one last look around, licked his great chops nervously and ran after him.

-----

"Here we go," the Assassin psyched himself up.

Lazarus sprinted, throwing himself over the ledge on blind faith. C'mon Simtrixx, don't let me down. I'm counting on you to surprise me! Hopefully they would ... by not killing or deleting me.

The gatekeeper's feet touched scorching hard ground even as he was enveloped by a searing suffocating atmosphere. Ignoring his discomforts, he rolled and stopped in a half crouch, silver bow nocked and ready. Heat was seeping through the soles of his leather boots to slowly roast his feet. The bit of cloth touching the ground at his knee started to blacken.

When no threat met his bow, the Assassin hopped onto his feet, slapping at his thick fur cape. His cape had started smoking where it had touched smouldering bits of ground when he had broken his fall. The Witch's impassive expression greeted him as she watched his antics from a safe distance.

"Owww, hot!"

The Assassin sprinted the rest of the distance to the Witch. She was standing on a slice of barren land which seemed to be normal. Thank the Gods the air here was better. Lazarus gasped for breath. Ahhh, he was warm for the first time in ages. The heat felt good but the dry air was burning his nose and lungs. He kept his scorched fur cape on, the cold could return at any time.

Behind him, the ground started to shift and loosen.

"You are the firssst, dark one. Very good, but alone you will have almossst no chance of ssuccesss," she said. "Will your friendsss follow?"

Sensing something, Lazarus turned to look back at the spot he had come through earlier. Small mounds were pushing themselves out of the loosened earth. Something was trying to claw itself out. Above it, Valentine and Anya appeared and landed on the spot he had barely vacated. Valentine had his sword out even as he found his balance whilst Anya righted her body for attack.

Lazarus waved them over urgently. "Here! Hurry!"

When they saw Lazarus, they immediately made a dash towards him.

"Laz!! Owww, owww, OWWW!"

"Val! Anya!" Lazarus called his friends. "Over here. Where's Constantine?"

"I think he is shepherding the orcs over," Valentine sniggered out of breath. "Man, it's really hot here."

"No need for that, Kalthu is doing a great job by himself." Constantine said as he appeared from the mist. "Quick, move! Out of the way! Incoming!!" he yelled just as the first orcs arrived.

"INCOMING!!"

Hastily everyone moved to clear the space needed for twenty one hulking warriors orcs. There was a disturbance in the mist before the horde materialised. The Captain appeared first. After him, body after body started hurtling out of the blank gaseous mass.

"Move. move! Aiyayayai! MOVE!!" cried Constantine urgently. "Make way for your comrades!" It would not do if their allies crushed themselves even before they started on the main quest. That would be a disaster, not to mention embarrassing.

Hearing the familiar Spell caster's voice, the quick witted Captain immediately took charge even as he found his bearings, stowed away his weapon and headed for safe land.

"KOVOK! Move it! Land on your feet!" he bellowed.

"Constantine! Captain!! Look out!" Lazarus yelled as he loose an arrow. It hit a vague shaped creature which was just about to swipe an unsuspecting orc warrior. It staggered backwards falling over. The nearest warrior immediately hacked it to pieces until it exploded. Constantine blasted another clearing the area.

The two gatekeepers stood guard while orcs started coming through.

"You two! Stand over there. You, here. Protect incoming warriors," the Captain instructed. Pointing to the narrow strip of bare land on the left of the Witch, he instructed each orc coming through. "Over here. FORMATION!!"

The horde responded in trained military precision. The warriors were surprising agile for their large size. They landed haphazardly in battle mode growling, with weapons drawn ready to strike at anything remotely threatening. A word from their Captain had them racing towards him and scrambling into position. The misshapen shapes were kept at bay by four of their comrades and the two gatekeepers. Valentine had gone over to the Witch to guard her, much to her amusement.

"I do not need protection from the field dwellersss human. I come and go as I pleasse."

In a short time, all had re-grouped under the Captain's command. Kalthu was last to emerge, rightfully taking rear guard. He ensured no one ambushed or followed them from behind. He landed with a loud thud, swinging his battle axe at possible unseen foes. The Warlord quickly checked his surroundings and ushered his warriors to safety.

"Warlord!"

"No one was lost in the miserable mist or the burning land?"

"No Sir!" his Captain saluted smartly as he answered.

"Good."

Dozens of sad looking creatures now stood at the clear boundary between the barren land and the burnt land. They had been awaken by the intruders but could not cross into the safe zone.

"You are all ssafe here," said the Witch, "at least for now."

All turned to the Witch who was watching them calmly.

Valentine frowned realising something which had been bugging him "So-ooo you are saying all this blank grey is not unfinished maps? It's deliberate?"

"Yes, it does seem the case," Constantine confirmed. "I was suspicious and checked it out. The blank grey was not really blank at all. It had digital texture and minuscule shadings. The maps here are actually finished ... but only just recently, I think. Simtrixx must have pulled all-nighters for who knows how long."

"What does that mean?" Valentine asked the suddenly geeky sounding Warlock.

Lazarus watched as Constantine directed his next question to the patiently waiting Witch.

"Correct me if I am wrong, but this, this thing," he waved dramatically at the swirling mists behind him, "it is all one huge doorway to the Bello's Path, yes?"

The Witch smiled creepily. "Yesss human, that isss correct."

"Aha, AHA!! HAH!" Constantine crowed in triumph. "I am right!! I am amazing! I have discovered an epic secret. The mist is the door! We now know the secret of the nasty grey mists, yes?"

"Wait a minute." Valentine said in confusion. "Are you saying that the way to the Bello is through the mist? Then we could have come here when we first came to the orc realm?"

"What?"

"You know, at the foot of the Portal Mountain. There was this grey mist surrounding the whole green orc village. Oh my God! We could have saved so much time," the Thief exclaimed. "If we had done that, we could have finished the group quest already."

"That iss not true human."

"Why not?"

"All who passsesss through do come here but you would have failed in your endeavour."

Kalthu growled. "Explain what you mean. Despite how they look, the puny human ghost lords are not weaklings."

"Umm, thanks?" Valentine muttered, unsure if he should feel insulted.

"If you had come here immediately upon your arrival to our realm, you would not have known about the anazzosh or have the Warlord'sss help ... and neither would you have met Thalasis. Without her words to me, I eould not guide you. You would have failed misserably," she concluded.

The Witch was not intimidated by the belligerent Warlord. "In our hisstory, many have come through. There were ssome accidental cassesss where creatures blundered their way in and there were ssome foolissh onesss who came on daresss," she gestured at the various pathetic creatures at the borderline. "Why do you think none ever returned?"

The Warlock stared back at her. What she said was irritatingly true. None who had entered the mists ever came back, at all. They just disappeared never to be found again. "Tell me."

Just then a horrible howl sounded in the distance interrupting the series of wet grunting sounds coming from the creatures.

"Becausse," she said calmly and pointed to emerging shambling shapes , "they all turn into those."