Stergis was still furious over his last attempt to rid the world of those goody warlock morons. His last attempt did get rid of one but not all of them. He had tried lower level demons, to test out their abilities. That did nothing but failure after failure. That's when he pulled out the big guns of the dark side, a soul vampire. It took out the youngest warlock, that kid was just a pup. Stergis was still outraged that he hadn't ended all of them. He wanted to be rid of those idiots the sooner the better. He was already starting his next plan of action and his patience had become non existent. If this plan didn't work then he would have to go and slit their heroic little throats himself. He was going to spend the next few months working on a fool proof way to end them for good.

Not far from Stergis and his evil lair, there was another. A child of darkness working on a difficult and highly advanced potion. The dark sorceress Ravenessa was doing her ritual work. She had spent the last few hours perfecting a potion. It was a traveling potion, tired of the same old thing and wanted to get out of town for a few days, go somewhere different. She put the last ingrident into the potion bottle and swirled it three times . Then she began to chant the incantation.

"Hail to the darkness through time and space, take me from here to a far off place." Then Ravenessa drank down the potion, dropped the bottle and collapsed to the floor unconscious. When she regained consciousness the young dark sorceress didn't recognize her surroundings. This was a strange new place, nothing was familiar to her. It felt like she were in a dream-like state of awareness. 

It almost didn't seem real to her. This place was a little too different. The buildings in this village were as big as castles all of them. It was loud, people were running around as if their pants were on fire.The dark sorceress got up and decided to investigate this big village. The further she walked the more she knew she was lost and didn't belong here. She felt vunerable and frightened, like an average mortal. She hated feeling this way. She saw a lot of villages out roaming all over the place. They seem to speak English mixed with some weird jibberish she didn't understand. Ravenessa was a little reluctant at first but knew she had better talk to one of them, perhaps they could help her figure out where the potion had taken her.

               Perhaps one of them could be of assistance to her. Most people were kind everywhere. The first woman she spoke to was past the maiden age and had the mannerisim of a half wit mule. She tried not to lose hope and waited until another villager passed by her. The second person she spoke to was an older gentleman, a very nice fellow. She told him what happened to her. The gentleman gave her instructions to go to 1239 Broad street. He said they would help her get home.

She had no choice but to believe him, so she followed his instructions. She had to walk up a rather treacherous hill, it had taken her well over a half an hour. Once she reached the top of the hill she saw it. A large white building with a lot of windows. The address was 1239 Broad street, this was the place. There were people in little white coats walking around, she thought this was strange. However she was in a strange place so it must be normal for this place. The dark sorceress walked in through a set of glass double doors.

 She saw a woman sitting behind an elaborate desk. She looked as if she may be able to help. The womans' name was Helen Bach. She would call a doctor for her. Maybe doctor was the word for sorcerer here. She waited paitently as the nice woman took her to a room to wait for the doctors. It seemed like a long time to her only because this was unfamiliar territory. After what felt like hours, a doctor came to hear her story, again. She told it for the third time and the doctor left again. A half hour later two men in white coats came in with a magic little pill that was going to help her.

Ravenessa did as they asked of her. Once the magic of the pill took effect on her, the two men left but she hadn't noticed. She felt as if this were some sort of happy trance. Soon the dark sorceress was in a state of bliss. She didn't know where she was or why but she didn't care. All the others in this place were the same way, as if lost in a dream state. She stayed in a haze like this for days at a time.

                                     Meanwhile back in her home world the warlocks were having their morning patrol of the Nucandu forrest. The three of them were walking through the forest on a bright and gorgeous day. Everything was in full bloom, almost like a dream. It was a moment of serenity. After patrolling another half mile, Richard spoke up.

"So Daniel, how is your lady friend doing?" Richard asked with a smirk.

"Zeta is doing very well thank you." That was his only reply on the subject. The other warlocks let it go, respecting his privacy. In the last few days, there hadn't been much difficulty. There were a few spats between wood nymphs. The trolls and elves were at it once a week, that wasn't anything new to them. The lack of action was starting to get to Richard a little at a time. It had gotten a little too quiet for him. He craved action and adventure. It was almost maddening to him. As they were finishing up the forest patrol the three warlocks began to sense something strange in the air.

"Do you guys think it's a warning of some kind, or are we a little jumpy from the demon attacks a few months ago?" Jim asked the other two. They were silent but nodded in agreement with him that something wasn't right. For the time being they would keep a look out for anything suspisious from now on. They had circled the forest and needed to take a break, so Jim suggested his cottage this time. When they headed for Jim's a pair of little red beaty eyes was indeed watching them from the shadows. Richard didn't care what the other two thought, he sensed trouble. He just kept it to himself, but the next patrol he would pay closer attention.He followed the other two into Jim's cottage for a well earned rest.

Back in the dark lair, Stergis was fuming, due to his lack of progress in destroying the brethren. He had a plan that may work this time but it wasn't ready yet. He knew he needed to be paitent and this would be worth the wait once he got what he needed done. He needed this to be perfect, he wasn't dealing with anymore failed attempts. One way or another he was going to succeed. He didn't care how or even why, but this time he refused to let anything get in the way.Taking a deep breath, the dark sorcerer focused all of his energy It on his currently brewing plan of attack.

 Ravenessa was adjusting to life in the strange place and the magic pills. She and some of the others here went to the social room, where they let everyone talk and play board games. The room let in too much sun, it was painted bright white with huge glass windows. It was a nice change from the little room she stayed in. She tried to talk to a few of the others, but they acted like she wasn't there. She was getting nowhere with any of it. Slumping down onto the tile floor, the dark sorceress knew it was hopeless. There was nothing left for her to do. That's when a stout little older gentleman sat down near her and said hello in almost a whisper.

"I'm called George around here." He spoke soft and with a fatherly smile.

"I'm Ravenessa, the dark sorceress." She returned his smile.

"Ravenessa is it?It;s really nice to meet you. This place isn't so bad, but they keep you plenty drugged up." George leaned closer to her. "The trick is to act like your all dopey-eyed. The staff doesn't notice you." He winked at her and sat up straight.He said nothing for a long time and then he turned to her.

"So tell me, what happened to you?" George asked her with concern. For what felt like the millionth time she told him about the potion and how she woke up on the street. As she was explaining the whole thing to him she noticed something. He listened to her with close attention. He took her seriously. Her new friend George didn't laugh or look at her as though she were crazy.  Someone believed her. It wasn't life altering, but for now it was enough.

"The same thing happened to me." George blurted out. Then he got comfortable and began to tell her what had happened to him.

"Several years ago I was out in the forest and I tripped falling into a portal. Just like you I eventually ended up here."

"Where were you from?" She asked, intrigued by his story.

"I'm from the same place as you. Did you happen to notice that I'm extreamley short for a human?" He responded in a firm tone.

"yes, I did notice that about you." She replied.

"I'm not human, in our world I'm the mighty dwarf prince of long ago." He answered her, then wished to know more of what her life was like before she got here.

Back at the lair, Stergis was perfecting his master plan. It was time he threw those little warlock heathens a curve ball. He thought this would do it if nothing else. He began chanting in his dark circle of power, conjuring up something  fierce.

"Demons of anger and demon of pain. Bring forth the one that has been slain."

He repeated the chant until it had become like breathing to him. Once the spell had been worked he closed the circle and went over to his cauldron to watch his magic. He wondered how they would like this next little surprise. He let out a deep twisted evil laugh as he watched over the warlocks.