Melissa Zolan had left the Durres Medical Center after her encounter with Sun Wyrn and went to visit her father. Brian Zolan was now in his sixties with poor health. Despite having founded a state-of-the-art medical group, he had never managed to find a cure for his own ailments. He now spent much of his time in his garden, trying to enjoy as much of life’s beauty as he could.
As Melissa walked into the small backyard, she found her father in his usual chair working at a raised garden bed clipping several herbs for replanting. He had an amazing talent for growing several rare medical grade plants that he had managed to propagate and even created a few hybrid species that proved to be very potent. However, getting them to grow in enough scale to be useful to the general public had always proven difficult to impossible.
Looking up Brian said “Ah Melissa! You are home early!”
“Hi daddy. It was a rough morning.” She took a seat near her dad and he rotated to look
Her father chuckled again. “gods, how would I know. I have never met him if he has. All I know for sure is the dragon corporation approached me and offered a sizeable sum, well over the value of my company, and offered to continue to pay me a monthly dividend. As I stated early I was already at a point where research was not going to get me any farther, and the dragon corporation seemed as close to fulfilling my promise to that monk as I was likely to come.” Melissa pondered this. “Did the monk say anything about how to recognize the dragon lord when he came?” “Why?” asked her father “You think the young lord of dragons has appeared in Durres?” “No, well…, No. but still… did he give any clues?” asked Melissa. Her father gave her an odd look and thought hard for a minute. “There was a point when he was using his needles that he said, “there is one greater than I with silver needles of midnight black, wrapped in gold and tipped with vermilion.”
Back near the Dragon’s Lair, Andrew dragged Celeana outside and was followed by her entourage. He was honestly a bit surprised the two guards had not stepped in when he grabbed her arm so roughly. “you two are not the best of guards are you?” he said. “We are instructed to not get involved in marital disputes.” One of them responded, with a wink to Andrew. Clearly, they did not mind seeing this child get handled by someone not afraid of her family. “Hmm, is that so.” Said Andrew slyly. Celeana just glowered. “So, HUSBAND, you mentioned food. I am hungry. where is there a good place to eat around here?” “I suppose we could find something. Though I will have to meet you there,” said Andrew. “O no you don’t.” said Celeana hotly Andrew was a bit flustered but just pointed at his bike as an explanation. “you don’t even have a decent car? Gah! To think you plan to live in the Dragon Lair and don’t even have a freaking car! Re
When they sat down, Andrew’s phone rang. Anika. “Hey there handsome. You miss me yet?” purred the sweet voice from the other end of the line. Andrew could see Celeana’s eyes narrow as she tried to listen in. “Of course. When will you be arriving? I will send Alexa or Roisin to pick you up,” said Andrew. “No, don’t bother, I will ride in. the weather is supposed to be nice,” replied Anika. “Well, be sure to talk to Alexa. She is currently with Raya and will have word for you.” “Well, that is new. Something I need to know?” asked Anika, weariness creeping in. “Miss Devos has come to visit,” was all Andrew said. “Devos?! As in Celeana? What is she doing in Placida?” demanded Anika. “Eating lunch with me apparently.” Said Andrew, doing his best to make it clear he was not alone. “What? She is there with you now? O, you poor soul. But seriously, why is she there?” “Apparently eight years makes the heart grow
“Well, the family has always had a hard time keeping track of you. Even with our resources, the army always kept you on the move. About five years ago you completely fell off the grid.” Celeana began. This made sense to Andrew, as that was shortly after the time he had bonded with Raya, and started his journey to becoming a god of war. The team had decided to start concealing their identities from the world once assassinations started. “Most assumed you had died, but then about three years ago we got the first reports of our son in law making a name for himself in Durres. My father had been told that you had some early connections with Durres, so this made sense to him. He and grandfather assumed you had been rotated home for a short leave for a period of time. They felt they confirmed this when other reports came in that you were again on the front in Warrington, and other stories of you being sent deep into Jerean territory. Those reports were always vague re
Later that night, Celeana was sitting in a hotel room on the Durres coast when a servant knocked on her door. “Come in.” The man who came in was one of her family’s top informants who had followed her to Placida. “My lady, I have the information you requested.” “Go ahead.” “After he left you, he was picked up by a car with a woman we know almost nothing about. Her name is Alexa but beyond that… she is estimated to be in her mid-twenties and only appeared here within the last three months. Before that, she has never been seen before in Placida, and as far as we know not even in Dragard. This man, Andrew left on a trip with another woman named Anika around that time, and when he returned it was Alexa that was with him instead. This Alexa has been here ever since. She seems to live in the room next to him, as does Miss Roisin. The Anika he left with has not returned to Durres.” “Quite the ladies’ man isn’t he. Well, we will see about that
The next day, a storm began to brew in the Durres underground. Lord Butcher was in town. When the news hit the streets that the Lord butcher himself was walking the streets, every gangster and brawler found a place to hide, knowing his reputation. Ten years ago, the butcher had come to Durres to set up a kingdom for his little brother, Maahes, and carved out a place for him within the underground. The butcher had only taken a slice, and left it for his brother to establish the rest, but those who had opposed the Lord Butcher taking that section had died violently. These days, the Lord butcher ran a major gang out of the Placida capital, Tiranë, with rumor that he also had ties to other gangs that worked the kingdom's capital itself. After such a deadly and bloody start, the Lord Butcher never thought anyone would dare mess with his brother. He had put him here in Durres partly to give him his own territory and to expand the family power, but also to get him away from t
When Andrew woke up and went to have breakfast with Roisin and Alexa, President Liam was waiting for them. “President Liam, please join us. I assume you have urgent news if you are here in person.” Said Roisin. “Miss Roisin, please feel free to just call me Liam. Please forgive me, but I need a private word with Mr. Andrew.” “Of course.” With that, Roisin and Alexa found a table in the dining room to wait for Andrew. “Sir, Maahes was taken to a hospital. I had men watch him. It seems his brother is now in town. The lord Butcher himself.” Said Liam in a quiet tone. “Indeed. Well, it was to be expected. The Butcher has come for his younger brother, the so-called god of war of Durres, Maahes. HA. Did he have any demands?” asked Andrew knowingly. “5o million, sir.” Said Liam. Liam knew he could not simply take out 50 million from company money even if it was available. To do so would be to admit guilt on one hand, and on the other, i
Soon, the underground was ablaze with news again! President Liam was selling off massive amounts of business! This was unheard of, but several in the underground had also heard about the 50 million dollar ultimatum issued by the Lord Butcher. Many assumed that Liam was quickly raising the capital to pay tribute so a big boss or had major issues and was running scared! People were amazed because it was not just the fast money-making business from the underground world but also gray world business and even some businesses that seemed legitimate were sold off in a hurry, often at a loss. There were voices of discussion everywhere about Liam. “wouldn’t you be scared? 50 million was the price on his head from the Lord Butcher. Does he have enough business to sell to raise that kind of capital? What if he doesn’t raise the funds? The Lord Butcher is going to have his head this time!” many people laughed at Liam in private thinking he would have to kneel and beg the l