Constantine the Laughing Magician Presents; Life in the Real World

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Chapter 26: Well, That Was a Twist!

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~ High swingin' around just not your thing, Archer? ~

~Damn it, John! ~ More shots are flung at us as we rappel down into the city scape of Star. This time, my bloody portals need a fine tuning. That is the last time I ask a troll to aim the Star of Genecht (made up) at where I need to go just because of how tall e' is. Arrow hates me more than Bats wonders if I'd join up, but who's counting on friend or foe?

~This reminds me of a funny story –

~Not now, John! ~

Frowning, you'd like to think these Justice type leaguer's attitudes were less dismissive than my wit could uphold, well, you'd be right about that, if it had been at that time. Here in the present, I was still helping the folk to bake bread and plan a frontal assault on Dragul's fortress. He was a trafficking piece of shite, that one. I had to do, something! ~

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When the bread is all but baked and I've stuffed myself off of their wares, I sit and discuss what my mission was and what it is right now, including what they'll tell me I imagine about their own kind never volunteering to be livestock to these false demigods. In the story, there was no god, but clans they reiterate for us to only hear amongst ourselves. No spies, so we sit and munch and talk.

"The king told you this?" The woman fae scratched her head at me. "That is untrue. There must be a reason why, and it could very well be that same Count wanting what he requests. Absolute silence of our kind and your obedience could very well make it so."

"No, that doesn't add up at all. The dragons have their own story." Her partner tells us. "The dragons believe that human and fae are not warriors by right and thus they may do as they see fit because they can take to the air and the mountains. It is all about power!"

"And that is where the madness ends. We have to make a scene. Show them that you won't take it any longer."

"But how?" The lady fae breaks her warm crust and dips it into a fragrant, pungent oil. Olive, maybe.

"We cannot fight. There are none who would do just this?"

"What of the other creatures and beings?" I instead redirect this wallowing to a lighter point of view. "What about those who hate the two clans as much, or the ones that oppose then from within their walls."

"They are not alive anymore." The male fae holds the hand of his paertner. "Our, our sister was one, her son was taken and he is now livestock to the Count."

I thought back to the blood circle and the orgy – like appearance that I'd faced only a mere days ago. "Hoe old was he…"

"Too young for this, and the kings there do not also bite, they claim. The do terr –

"I'll do all I can." It's all official. I have to call the council outside of this realm to condemn the two to a fate worse than any undead."

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Zee's plight is far less, erraatic than mine. But for the record, can magi lose against dragons? I've heard of a wizard called Malchior from Knoll and his fairytale ending, but that's besides what I'm trying to point out. I let Zee go it alone, no back up. Some teacher than makes me then, right?

(Tt 03 reference here because we can! I would have loved to see the Murakami and The Batman versions of John (House of mystery Scooby doo modern version basically, in the tt03 universe with batman or Nightwing. Fans will be fans, sigh….)

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Zee crept further across the hill of rock and brimstone as she saw with her own eyes that it was an encampment, but the biggest difference being in how the last meal of the fodder or fae half – beings was…. taken to. Compared to Dragul, it was civil, like in Norse myth to a degree. People were cruel when it came to putting others in chains, but the fae Halflings, they didn't seem too keen on acting like they cared about much else.

"The next quarter is going to come, General Snee."

Zee held back a chuckle as the ears of these beasts were not as good, as sharp as smell. One flicked out a black tongue and turned its mighty head, on two legs like the council person in the castle of the Count, to her hiding place. She adjusted her clothing and, in a flash, the few moved into a offensive position around their head commander. "General? Sorry, I'm here negotiate the treaty –

"I know why you are here, other - worlder." How he said it made her nose prickle. And not from the smoke did he have her stuttering. Never, as the beast's tail swished to keep him aloft on two legs. Arrow – straight.

"The Count is in the wrong, as you have seen it. We fight for not what they believe, yet to free our lands as soon as possible."

Zee could scratch her chin to that, yet instead brought up a valid point. "Why did we get told that there was a war over the half – fae then? Why do you keep them here against their will, if you say that you are nothing like the guilty party."

"The Count told a story, so I shall add to his delusions." The dragon, for a dragon, spoke well. It's luminous green scales were evergreen and armored for battle. "The Fae beings fornicated with humans, and the humans were bitten by the ancestors who came to our home from the east. The Vampir do not belong, yet the Count was too as your world may call him, human."

"He was, and I'm glad you don't think we're here to cause trouble." She smiled at the massive beast as the hearty chuckle of a possible new ally made perfect sense NOT to get barbecued. Not before returning to her time, her earth. "The world you are in now, co – exists with the legends, yet the demi – gods of them, they are not. They too are fae, of a darker aspect from other lands who have left behind their rights of man to the Vampir. The trust in the fae long before they ever came, was decided by the council of the fire – born. Our ancestors were earth, river and mountain protectors in the past. Relics, while today, war rages. We must rise to reverse the cursed blooded ones' dispute."

"I think that what I saw…." Zee shrugged off her concerns a moment to add, "Was the way you treated the halflings here. They don't seem…well, unhappy. Why?"

"They, like we all, shall die to be freed from their chains." The General told her. "The half fae are divided with the bitten and the saved or salvaged. We are not working to enslave a people, little witch. We are the allies of the old order, and our intent is to kill the Count and bring an end to the Vampires cursed bloodline."

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In the castle, Liz had other plans, like tailing the council left in plain sight as her shadow followed them to the lower dungeons. Far, far, from plain sight.

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"The hunters have not found your magi, my Count."

"Damn, well? Keep searching!" Dragul was there, but he had a ritual to foresee to as the blood of the boy from the fated throne room made Liz's eyes widen. He was being sacrificed, but to what???

"This is the blood of the sick, the ill of fate. BE sure to cleanse it…be sure to make it whole…as one of the Vampir for eternity!!"

Here, she saw a cage of others, the half fae like the boy while the child screamed. Eyes turning back and going dim before fangs erupted from the boy's jaws. The tongue flicked out to taste his own blood as he was removed and a new, another victim. It was an old-fashioned conversion method. They were making the half fae, into Vampir!??

" Masster!!"

"Sirrre!"

Lordship, you are our savior!"

Savior!!

God!

Lord!

They praised him, blindly devoted and washed free of their past lives as what they were. It was barbaric, inane and far, far worse as Liz begged to contact the council of her world. She had no choice. The Count was about to count himself unlucky as her eyes soon blurred, a few pricks later….and into darkness she went.

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This is getting ugly but we like that, in fantasy. Ah! So, the rest is set but there is a twist! Why is Vlad turning his imprisoned cattle into Vampir? Why is the Dragon General actually trying to save the fae halflings?? Why is John still eating too much bread and sitting on his arse? All that and more, so find out!