Disclaimer: I do not own anything dealing with WWE or any song lyrics that is used as a muse. I also do not own the rights to any products or persons mentioned in the story as well.
Warning: There is harsh language and adult themes as well as Slash between some of the characters (mostly M/M).
Chapter Four
Ish stood in front of a punching bag as she slowly breathed. Her eyes were closed as she focused her mind and body. When she opened her black orbs, a fury of blows made contact with the bag followed by a couple of kicks.
Here I stand, helpless and left for dead.
Close your eyes, so many days go by.
Easy to find what's wrong, harder to find what's right.
With one good kick, the chains holding the bag broke and the bag went flying five feet back. She stared at it before going to retrieve it. She placed new chains on the hooks and hung the bag back up.
"What's wrong?" Nadia asked.
Ish stared at the bag and said, "What makes you think something is wrong with me?"
"You're up at like five in the morning punishing a punching bag for something it didn't do."
Ish sighed and replied, "Just thinking about my cousin."
"I'm sorry for your loss."
"I feel more sorry for his child."
Nadia stared at her. "I didn't know he had a kid."
Ish nodded. "At least, he can continue Joshua's line." She turned to her friend. "We Dragon-kind are a dying race. There's only a few hundred or so of us left."
"I know. Since dragons are extinct..."
The creature shook her head.
"What?"
"Dragons aren't extinct."
"What?" Nadia furrowed her eyebrows.
"They left this realm for the Shadows," Ish replied as she studied her friend.
"The Shadows?"
"There are many realms that you humans don't know of...magic using humans anyways. You just think of this realm...the human realm and the Veiled Realm."
"The Veiled Realm?"
"The supernatural realm."
"But there's the Soul realm, the Fae realm, the Divine realm, and the Infernal realm."
"There's also the Shadow realm."
Nadia just stared at her.
"The Shadow realm is not a dark place like the name sounds. It's a place for orcs and elves and dragons...all the creatures from the stories of old."
"Wait...what?"
"Yeah." Ish smiled. "There's a lot that you don't know."
"Does anyone else know?"
"Not many...only the elders."
"Figured old farts would know."
Ish cut a look to her friend.
"Just saying."
The Dragon-kind shook her head. "Have you found anything yet about Falend?"
"Nothing."
"You know...you could always ask Cody."
"Who's Cody?"
"Her employer. He has some Nature magic."
Nadia thought about it. "How much Nature magic?"
"Enough to pull her out of the tree to allow the Guaritori to heal her. However, leaving Falend there would be the better choice."
Nadia smiled broadly. She hugged her friend. "Thank you."
Ish watched as her human friend ran out of the homemade gym. She shook her head and went back to working out.
…
Evan replenished the baked goods case with more cookies that he had baked when he first got in. He wiped his hands and smiled at his work. His cheesecakes came out just right and were chilling in the back freezer.
"You did a great job," Cody replied.
"Thanks," Evan said. "So...what do you think Ted and Renee are talking about?"
"Not sure, but they've been in there for going on an hour." Cody leaned against the counter. "So...how the hell did you get Undertaker to bring you to work?"
"He offered."
Cody cocked an eyebrow. "Seriously?"
Evan nodded.
"Wow."
The door opened and Taker entered.
"Hi, big guy," Cody greeted.
"Hi," Taker greeted back. "How's work?"
"Slow," Evan answered. "Did you get all the stuff you needed to get done?"
"That I did." The older man smiled and looked around. "So what time do you get off?"
"In a few minutes," Cody replied.
Ted and Renee came out from the back, laughing.
"Thanks for coming by," Ted replied. "Since Falend will be out for a few weeks, we're going to need someone to help out. Seeing how we're getting busy, we might be able to keep you around when Falend gets back."
"I'm sorry to hear that she's been so sick," Renee replied.
"It happens." Ted looked over to Taker. "Hey, big guy. How's it going?"
"Well," Taker replied.
"Oh, Renee, you've met Cody, my partner. This is Evan and there's another guy...John," Ted replied.
"I'm Mark," Taker replied.
"He's one of our best customers," Cody added.
Taker just smiled.
"Nice meeting you," Renee said.
He nodded. "I'm going to look around until you're ready to go, Evan."
The smaller man nodded.
The bell rung and John entered. He smiled at everyone. Then, his eyes zeroed on Taker. "Hello."
"Hi," Taker greeted. He shook John's hand. "I'm Mark."
"Nice meeting you." He looked to Renee.
"John, this is Renee, our new hire," Cody replied with a smile.
The blond nodded as the bell rang causing everyone to at the door. Cody's jaw dropped as he took in Nadia.
She ran her fingers through her short hair. "Hi, I'm Falend's sister."
"HI!" Evan greeted. "It's nice to finally meet you."
Nadia smiled. "Thank you. Um, I haven't heard from Falend in some time and I was wondering if anyone has seen her."
John furrowed his eyebrows. "I thought someone came and picked her up."
Cody and Ted cringed inwardly.
"They did," Mark replied, "but she put up should a fuss and ruckus that I went ahead and took her."
"She did?" John asked.
Mark nodded. "I came to town to get some supplies for her." He turned to Nadia. "If you want, you can follow me to my house. I'm a doctor."
Nadia smiled. "That would be very great."
"I'm going to go and clock out," Evan said.
Mark nodded and led Nadia to his car.
"So, when do I start?" Renee asked.
"You think you can came by around six tonight?" Ted asked.
"Sure," she replied. "Thanks for hiring me."
"Not a problem."
"Bye, guys!" Evan ran out of the door.
"He's sure in a hurry," Renee nodded.
"He's worried about Falend," Cody replied.
"Were they close?"
"She taught him how to bake," John replied as he placed his apron on.
Renee nodded. "I guess I'll see you at six, big guy."
John nodded.
The three watched as she left.
"Really, Teddy? Really?" Cody questioned.
"We need the help," Ted replied.
"Wow, Falend has a sister," John said.
The couple nodded.
"Odd that she didn't know Falend was with Mark."
"Maybe they're not close," Cody offered. "I'm not close to my brother."
"You have a brother?" John asked.
Cody nodded and went to the back to do some receiving.
"Do you have any siblings?" John asked Ted.
"Yeah, but they disowned me when my parents did."
John stared at him.
"Because I'm gay."
The larger man nodded. "I have four brothers."
"Wow."
Both men stood around for a bit before going back to work.
…
Alicia lay in bed feeling guilty that she wasn't doing anything. She wanted to go and do something, but Kane made her stay in bed. He wanted her there when he got back instead of running around, preparing for the upcoming battle and possibly getting sick or exhausted. He wanted her well rested.
The door opened and Kane stepped in with a tray of food.
Alicia sat up and smiled. "You didn't have to bring me lunch in bed."
"I wanted to," Kane replied as he placed the tray over her lap.
She smiled and dug in. "This panini sandwich is really good."
"I'm glad you like it. I didn't know what to make you for lunch."
"You really didn't have to make me lunch."
"But I wanted to."
She smiled and continued to eat. "Why didn't you make yourself anything?"
"I'm not hungry," he replied. "I just wanted to take care of you."
She shook her head.
There was a knock at the door.
Kane grumbled and got up. "What?"
Drew looked up at him and replied, "Taker's back."
"Kay?"
"Looks like he bought a visitor."
Kane furrowed his eyebrows and looked to Alicia. "I'll be right back."
"I'm coming with you," she replied as she put her tray to the side. She climbed out of the bed and went to Kane's side.
The three went to the stairs and looked over the railing as most of the house joined them.
"Taker never brings someone here," Vickie stated. "What is he thinking?"
Show shrugged his shoulders.
"Taker never leaves the house," Jeff replied.
"He did this morning," Matt said.
The brothers looked at each other and smiled.
The door opened and Taker entered with Evan and Nadia. Everyone just stared at her. Matt smiled and straightened up.
"Falend's sister...cousin...relation of some sort..." Adam offered.
"Older sister," Nadia replied. "Where is she?"
Everyone remained silent.
"Follow me," Alicia said as she bound down the stairs.
Nadia smiled and followed after her. The group followed as well. They got to the tree that first held her. Alicia looked to Nadia.
Nadia smiled and went to the tree that really did have her. "She's here actually."
"What?" Evan asked.
"She was moved," Nadia replied. "This tree is older and well suited to take care of her."
"What the hell is going on?" Randy asked as he walked up to the group. His eyes settled on Nadia. "Who's she?"
"I'm Nadia, Falend's older sister," she answered.
He nodded. "Are you here to help her?"
"I can't...but one of you can."
Everyone looked at each other.
Nadia smiled. "Someone that knows Nature magic."
"None of us knows any kind of Nature magic," Vickie said.
"Yes...there is," Yoshi replied. "Cody knows a little bit."
"But does he know enough to help?" Morrison asked as he took off his sunglasses.
"Just ask him," Nadia replied.
"All right, someone give him a call," Taker replied. "If we can wake her up, we have another fighter for this war."
Ish stood in the shadows watching everything. She shook her head and sighed, knowing that Falend needed time to heal on her own.