One Favor Leads to Never Ending Requests

  Constantine and I stood on top of a grassy hill overlooking the plains. In the distance there was a small grouping of round tents where people on horse back were riding out to hunt for food and scout.

  We had been traveling around the area for several days without seeing anyone. Heading towards the camp in silence I recalled why we were traveling together in the first place. For the last five years we traveled together after I saved him from a secret organization in India. In order to get as far away as possible we travel north outside of their reach.

  [ It has been an annoyingly long time together... ] As we drew closer I sensed something weird from one of the tents. It was coming from the largest tent in the group and the most heavily decorated. “…”

  “Hey! Who are you?” I turned to look at a very tan dark hair man holding a bow coming towards us. Constantine’s eyes flashed at the aggressive behavior of the man.

  “...Hello, I was wondering if it would be possible to spend the night here. And if possible to know where here is.” I smiled as innocently as I could. The man looked at us with a bit of suspicion.

  “… Follow me.” He turned and led us to a large tent near the middle of the camp. The inside was a conferrable home. The floor was covered in fur making it soft on the feet and help keep it warm on this cold fall day. There was a fire in the center lighting up the area and silk hung around the tent adding color.

  An older lady came up from the other side of the tent to great us. “Welcome visitors. You have traveled far to make it all the way here. Where do you hail from?”

  “To the south in a very warm region.” I lied through my teeth. Constantine just smiled and said nothing.

  The older lady just stood silently for a moment looking at Constantine’s eyes. “… I see… Shakuni you may leave.”

  Shakuni bowed his head and left. When the flap closed the old lady turned back to us. “Are those red eyes natural?" She was staring intently at Constantine.

  "... Yes."

  "Please follow me.” She led us out the back and headed to the largest tent at the edge of camp. This one was very different from the others. The floor was covered in fur like the other one but this one was from a bear. The walls were covered in silk and gold ornaments. A screen cut the room in half allowing for privacy. The screen depicted Shangri-La with the immortal fruit.

  “Ania I have some people for you to meet.” She turned around “I did not think that I would see another. Please talk to Ania she needs to meet people like you.” With that she left.

  A short woman came out from the other side of the screen. She had bright red/yellow eyes and wild red hair. She was dressed in a beautiful red and yellow flowing dress. “…Why Hello… I’m Ania.” She smiled.

  Constantine spoke first. "Hello... I'm Constantine and this is Amke...."

  Ania's eyes light up, "Are two also Dragons??"

  "What?"....

  I awoke to the light sound of snow hitting the window. Constantine, Juliana, and I stayed up late talking about what to do about the Zombie out brake, but in the end we could only go so far. No one held enough information to come up with a suitable plan. I needed to go find Nicolas Flamel. This meant traveling all the way to Turkey and hoping that he was still there.

  [ Sigh… I had hoped so much that I wouldn’t have to see him… ] I got out of bed and got ready for the day. Constantine had said that he would send Jared with me. He wanted his son to meet that lunatic and that it would give him a bit of worldly experience. [ Pfft… He just wants a brake from King Heart’s wrath ]

  Finishing up I headed down to gather Jared for the journey.

  ———————————————————————————————

  (Lisa Pov)

  It had been two days since Kaz left Shadow Wood for his ‘vacation’. Nothing much has changed in that time. If anything it would be that my work load has increased. The ‘Resident’ that was meant to take over for Kaz is completely useless. It just sits there and does paperwork all night. It doesn’t do inspections or check for any problems in town that were not reported.

  It vexes me to no end. This means that the inspections and problem solving was left to me. Not to mention that last night It left to see Calle De Los Muertos leaving all the paperwork to me. [ Ridiculous slacker! ] My eyes squinted in annoyance.

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  I signed my way through stacks of papers that were left over from yesterday. The front door banged open as Badru came sprinting in. “Lisa! Where is Kaz?! I need to speak to him!”

  Deliberately setting down my pen , I gave my full attention to the frantic sphinx. “Kaz is out right now.” Bardru stood there dumbfounded.

  “He’s out?”

  “That’s right. I do not know when Kaz will be back, but I can take a message.”

  “…” He just stood there as if lost.

  [ Irritating! ] I looked back at my work. There was no way I would finish all of this if I kept being interrupted.

  “Can I ask you a question?”

  My eye twitched but I plastered on a smile. “What is it?”

  “… Do you know where I can find some nature spirits?! I don’t think the species really matters as long as they can read in the language of nature.” Bardru was beside himself in anticipation.

  “If you go into the Park and ask a tree I’m sure that one will be able to help you.”

  “…What?” Badru tilted his head in confusion. I turned back to my work.

  “Ask a tree." I continued writing as I spoke, "It will help you if it is about the language of nature. However you have to get on their good side. They can be very picky about who they talk to.”

  Badru just stood there staring at me in silence. I gave in to the stare after two minutes and glanced up. “Is there something else?”

  “... Would you be willing to take me down there and introduce me to the right tree?” He smiled with his ears forward and eyes looking up as if begging. […Brat ]

  I cut my eyes, “Of corse. Just give me a second.” Summoning my Crow, Eitilt, I asked him to deliver the new papers to the ‘Resident’ then to inform me if anything happens. “Lets go.” Badru and I headed off to Kaz’s forest.

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  Character List

  SpoilerKaz - Mayor of Shadow Wood

  Self proclaimed 'Green Spirit'

  'Embodiment of forest'

  Past names: Mor, Amke

  Terrry - Necromancer

  Cause of the Zombies

  Kaz's Assistant

  Babysitter

  A Bosh

  'Resident' - Lives in a crypt

  Friend of Kaz

  Farries the Dead to the Underworld

  Replacement Mayor

  Lisa - Cat Sidhe

  Kaz's secretary

  Has a crow familier

  Ali Baba - Witch

  Twin Sister to Baba Yoga

  'Alba'

  Baba Yoga - Witch

  Twin Sister to Ali Baba

  'Bayo'

  Jasmine - Leader of the Water Fae

  Van - In control of the Power Plant

  ....'Human'

  Dirk - Employees of Power Plant

  Golems (created by Van)

  David Baker - Mayor of Redroad

  Human

  Missing

  Inta - Ali Baba's daughter

  Usor - Ali Baba's Son

  Clara - Little girl from National Park

  Living with Kaz

  Wood Elf

  Akuji - Wizard

  Head of Magic clan

  Kraken Family - 3 in total

  Live in the pond

  From Chaos dimension

  Badru - Head of the Library

  Sphinx (Cheetah variety)

  Seth - Alpha of Werewolf Pack

  Tasked with investigating Zombies

  Constantine Dracul - Lives in a Castle

  In the Court of Life

  Husband to Juliana

  Juliana Ann Dracul - Necromancer

  Terry's Master

  Wife to Constantine

  Dragon

  Jared Dracul - Son of Constantine and Juliana

  Chasing Viola

  Viola Heart - Daughter of the King of the Court of Life

  Being Chased by Jared