Only 1 In 5

     “Hello Citizens of Shadow Wood. I have a couple of announcements to go through today. However first a warning. The building that was built against the wall is no more. That area is now a restricted zone. If you go into the building your lives are forfeit. You have been warned.

     Now on to some happier news. Due to all the ‘events’ that have occurred recently we have decided to move the Skull Ball Tournament up to this weekend. It will be held all day Saturday and Sunday with the final two teams facing off on Sunday evening. Those who wish to put up stands and sell wears please come to the Town Hall to register and pick locations.

     Please remember that this is a friendly tournament and those that brake the rules will be punished. The rules are as follows: No sabotage of equipment or stands, espionage is only acceptable until the tournament begins, all forms of hypnosis is banned, no personal equipment is allowed it will be provided at the stadium by staff members, curses are not to be cased at least a day before the tournament all the way until it is over, and lastly there are to be no intentional murders.

     The Necromancer will be there to help when someone does die but all intentional murders are banned. This is not the time to go and kill your enemy as you will be subjected to the tournament punishment and have to pay the revival fees. If you do feel the need to destroy them please wait until after the tournament like the rest of us. The rest of the rules will be posted on the bulletin board the day of the tournament, and it will also be stated before the matches. More information will be released later in the week. Look forward to it.

     Lastly new information was received today about the Zombie horde. Not all of the Zombies are in fact immortal! Only about one out of five are. This means that the other four will die when you destroy them instead of regenerating. With this new information it was decided that teams of around five people will be sent out to go clean up the area. These teams will go out and patrol around destroying as many Zombies they can.

     If you are interested in volunteering please meet at the Town Hall tomorrow morning. There will be a briefing and then forming of teams. We are waiting for your arrival.

     Your Local Leader

     Kaz”

     Leaning back in my chair, I thought about who I should have as the referee this year. “Sigh..” [ Let’s have Kígyó do it. ] Slamming the legs of the chair back down I walked through the door of my office. Lisa was sitting at her desk making a list for the Skull Ball Tournament. “Lisa, I’m heading out for a while.” She held her hand up in acknowledgement without taking her eyes from her work.

     I walked down the sidewalk headed to the eastern part of town. If you were to compare this town to human ones you could say that this was the ‘sketchy’ part of town. Roads weren’t as well kept, the buildings were coated in graffiti, and broken or boarded windows  could be seen on almost every house. It gave off all the signs of a dangerous area to be avoided.

     However if you knew a little bit about this town you would realize that this was just caused by kids. In fact upon taking a closer look at the graffiti you would see things like: ‘Blake was here!’ or ‘Nar loves Kara!’ on the walls. There was also the occasional rune or magic circle. You would also realize that the residents of this part of town can’t be bothered to fix or clean the buildings. As a result it ended up becoming ‘that area of town you don’t go to’.

     I walked up to a house on the end of the street that was noticeable different from the others. Yes it still had broken windows and the door was wide open but it was clean. Not a speak of graffiti could be seen anywhere on the house. Walking through the door you could see that the house was empty with layers of dust. I walked through the house heading towards a metal door at the end of a hallway.

     A glowing inscription appeared on the door. ‘I exist everywhere and at all times. I fade in and out but never vanish. I am your friend and your worst enemy. However if you say one word I’m gone.’ [ Sigh, why is it always a riddle? ]

     “Silence.” A latch clicked and the door opened to reveal stairs spiraling down into darkness. Placing on the inner wall I slowly made my way down.

————-

Clara POV

     I was shifting my weight impatiently in the chair. Why can’t class end faster. While drawing circles in my note book I sighed and laid my head on the desk. Grandma said that I have to live with her for a while because Kaz was going on vacation and wouldn’t be here. But can someone go on vacation right now? I mean wouldn’t they die like everyone else? This is the only safe place, right?

     Images of my time in the forest flashed before my eyes. Mommy with here beautiful moss green hair and eyes pulling me through the forest as we ran. “Run Clara. Quickly.” Blood flowing down her arm as we ran. “But Daddy is…” “Daddy is fine. He will meet up with us later.” I could hear crashes and screams coming from behind me. Whipping my eyes I tried to focus on the path in front of me. “Ah…” Mommy fell and was being pulled off to the side. “Mommy!” “It’s fine Clara. Just run to town. You’ll be safe there.” She let go of my hand while smiling. “Go Clara I will see you there.” Her hands were leaving claw marks on the ground as she was being drug back. “But…” “Clara! You will run to town now!” Her face grew angry. On instinct I began running.

     Trees and rocks flashed past me as I ran as fast as I could to town. Reaching the edge of the forest I saw the town. [ Now I can meet up with Mommy and Daddy again! ] Running to the town I froze. Fire. There was fire and screaming everywhere. Watching I saw a woman running bare foot from people behind her. “Ah!” With a scream she fell onto the ground with her foot bleeding. “Nooo!” The people behind her jumped on her and began ripping her to shreds. “Nooo! Help me! Whaaa!”

The people swarmed her. One of them pulled off her arm and fought with others ripping it into pieces as they ate it. “Ugh….” The woman’s face turned to me. I watched tears and blood fall down from her eyes. “He…lp…” One of the people froze and turned in my direction. Our eyes locked. “Gruragh!” More eyes turned to face me. Then they run in my direction. With a start I ran as fast as I could to town.

     While running through the ally ways I somehow lost them. Crouching I tried to catch my breath. Hearing a sound behind me I darted through the door beside me. It was dark and quite. Locking the door I waited for my eyes to adjust. The room was a kitchen. A large sink, several stoves, and many cabinets filled it. Looking around I saw lots of fruit and vegetables on the floor. Glancing over to the corner of the room I saw a metal door standing open giving off cold air. Slowly I made my way towards it dodging the stuff scattered all over the floor.

     Once in front of it I looked inside to see a large man eating something. Trying to get a better view I bumped into the door making it creak. Whipping his head this way he spotted me. In his hand was a little boy missing several pieces of flesh. “Ah…”Grabbing the door I slammed it shut and locked it. Banging noises could be heard on the other side of the thick metal. I backed up and slid down the wall clutching my legs to my body. Trying to stay as quite as I could. After a while the noise stopped. Tears flowed down my face as I rocked trying to calm down. I spent two days in the building before I heard noise again.

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

     Sitting on the floor eating a carrot I heard the sound of water flowing. With a start I looked over at the sink to see that it was off. Getting up I followed the noise to the door leading to the front of the building.

     “Is this everyone?” (?)

     “Yes, no more human are in this town.” (?)

     “Did we only need to get the humans?”  (?)

     “I guess.” (?)

     “Why do we even need to gather Humans?” (?)

     “I don’t know. Why don’t you ask Ceannard when we get back.” (?)

     The voices began to fade passed. Glancing back at the room around me I ran outside to the voices. “Please, please wait!” Three men turned around at my voice. “Please take me with you.” One of them looked at his friend.

     “I thought there where no more humans in this town.” (?)

     “Sigh, It seems I was wrong.” (?) 

     “Come child. We will take you with us.” (?)

     I walked up to them and we made our way into the forest on the other side of town. After a while we came upon a group of people huddled together. We walked up to the group.

     “Now if you all could follow me.” (?) Walking further into the forest we reached a glowing portal. I tilted my head. Why is there a portal here of all places. “Now please enter the portal after me.” (?) 

     One of the men walked through the portal. Everyone hesitated until finally someone went in prompting the others to follow. Looking back the way I came I entered the portal. Grass and trees filled my vision. We had entered another forest. However this one felt more deep and ancient. A man walked out of the forest and talked to the three men that brought us here.

     Clearing his throat he spoke. “Everyone, welcome to Shadow Wood. I am sorry to hear about your homes. However we of Shadow Wood hope to provide sanctuary. If you would all follow me I will show you where you will stay.” 

     Stay? I will be able to stay here? Is is safe? Who is this person? Raising my hand I asked one of my many questions. “Ummm… Mister what’s your name?” His mossy green eye fixed themselves on me. Just like Mommy’s. He’s smile brightened his face.

     “My name is Kaz. I’m Mayor of this town. If there are no more questions please follow me.” I nodded my head. I am safe. This man spoke no lies. He somehow doesn’t feel human. He smells of trees and earth. Just like home.

     “Clara I know you are bored but please pay attention while in class.” I looked up at the instructor. Her long nail was tapping on her desk as she looked at me. “If you have the time to be bored then that means that you already know this subject, no?”

     I flinched. “I am sorry I will pay more attention.”

     “Very well.” With that she turned back to the bored. [ Sigh, I want to meet Kaz… ]

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     Sorry for the lack of updates. I had a run in with life. Which is annoying. Anyway hope you enjoyed chapter 31.

Spoiler :

Kaz - Mayor of Shadow Wood

             Self proclaimed 'Green Spirit'

            'Embodiment of forest'

             Past names: Mor, Amke, Raul

             Can create Green Men and trees

              Redirect Magic

              Violent tendencies...

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

                        Door to the Underworld

                        Controller of Shadows

Lisa -  Cat Sidhe

             Kaz's secretary 

             Has a crow familier  named Eitilt

Ali Baba - Witch

                    Twin Sister to Baba Yoga

                    'Alba'

                    Inta is her daughter 

                    Usor is her son

Baba Yoga - Witch

                        Twin Sister to Ali Baba

                        'Bayo'

Jasmine - Leader of the Water Fae

Van - In control of the Power Plant

            ....'Human'

            Alchemist

Dirk - Employees of Power Plant

             Golems (created by Van)

David Baker - Mayor of Redroad

                           Human

                           Missing

Clara - Little girl from National Park

              Living with Kaz

              Wood Elf

Akuji - Wizard 

              Head of Magic clan

              Looks like a little kid

Kraken Family - 3 in total 

                               Live in the pond

                               From Chaos dimension

                               Baby Loves Ice Cream

Badru - Head of the Library 

                Sphinx (Cheetah variety)

                 Translating Kaz's Book

Seth - Alpha of Werewolf Pack

             Tasked with investigating Zombies

              Loves animals (especially fluffy cats)

              Ching is his Wife

Constantine Dracul - Lives in a Castle

                                           In the Court of Life

                                           Husband to Juliana

                                           Vampire

Juliana Ann Dracul - Necromancer

                                         Terry's Master

                                         Wife to Constantine

                                         Dragon

Jared Dracul - Son of Constantine and Juliana

                              Chasing Viola

                              Half Dragon Half Vampire

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

                           Being Chased by Jared

Nicolas Flamel - Alchemist

                               1 of the Order of 9

                                Immortal?

                                Kaz's Stocker

                                Experiment maniac

                                Human?

Mori - Little girl dressed in white

             Terry's friend

             The Undertaker

             Has a Teddy Bear that walks and talks

Corey Einar - Elf

                          Lives in the Hidden City

                          A cross between a Light and dark Elf

King of Life - King of the Court of Life

                           Hates anything that is Undead

                           In a feud with the Shadow Assembly

Grisha - Wizard

                Only survivor of the wizard massacre

Jim - Old Leader of Hidden City

           Zara's Master

Zara - a Caazotz

            New Leader of the Hidden City

Nox - Vampire Leader

            Member of the Counsel