"Prepare a carriage."

"My Lady, where are we heading?", the steward asked.

"Elven Forest."

She had been having the same annoying dream constantly and a solution was required. Sure she was a witch and all but her expertise wasn't in the area of divination.

The elven forest had one way to find out what this reoccurring dream she had meant.

Her name was Jaro, born from within a death flower. All knowledge she had already came with her including her name. No origins of any sort so she had to find her way in this world all by herself. Otherwise known as an old ghost. She had heard people use the term to an extent and understood what it meant.

She lived in the world of humans but she really didn't like to associate with them and preferred the dark forest to be her home, after all it was where she was born.

Anyway, apart from humans in this world there also lived other supernatural creatures as the humans called it. It was a very good name to describe the werewolves, vampires, witches and all the rest. They didn't live in the dark forest like she did because she wouldn't share with them. In ancient times as far back as three to five thousand years ago the supernatural beings have tried to trespass and she made a note to warn them every time they crossed her boundaries.

Eventually she had agreed to give them the outer part of the forest while keeping the inner part for herself. It was a huge region and a little sharing wouldn't kill her. But it didn't mean she wouldn't kill anyone who crossed over to her side. For now they respected it but any unfortunate soul that crossed over, there was always going to be a need for body parts and fluid for a new experiment.

Going to the elven forest was like kicking her out of her comfort zone which she highly disliked but it was necessary if she wanted to have a good night sleep. She didn't require sleep but she liked it a lot.

It required that she had to cross the outer part of the dark forest and then head into the elven forest. It is just a part of the outer side of the dark forest that was assigned to the witches and elves.

Honestly she hated mixing with them in every way. The witches mixed in pretty well with the humans but the elves couldn't because of their looks and so are forced to stay within the elven forest. The werewolves lived towards the south and the vampires the northern part. The two races could easily mix in with the humans to an extent.

The great thing about living in the inner part was the privacy it provided. Over time, the supernatural races have forgotten her existence and instead wrote myths about her. Including the boorish story about a war. If you asked her, she would scoff about it. It was true that there was a war and she was there but she didn't cause it. It wasn't her fault that they were fighting for territory within her own land. They were even lucky that some scattered groups of different races survived.

She had sworn not to interfere with their matters so it didn't matter if they ended up killing themselves.

Suddenly there was about and the carriage came to a stop disrupting her thoughts.

The coachman reported:

"My Lady, the road is blocked and the carriage can't get through."

Blocked? How could it be? The roads were always clear and free of obstructions whenever she traveled. Thinking back the last time she traveled was maybe a couple hundred years ago she didn't really remember and didn't care too.

"Blocked by what?"

"A car...rather a vehicle." He had to switch words since she wouldn't understand.

A vehicle on the road! Unbelievable!

"Don't you know that this road was made just for me? Who dares to use it?"

She really should have used a teleportation device and avoided all this.

"What do we do?"

Right now she doesn't have the time and energy for this. The faster she got to the elven forest the better for her and her sleep.

"Since they have decided to block my way. You wait with them. When you are done, meet me at Witch’s Tavern."

She gave an order while mumbling incessantly. She was chanting a quick teleportation spell.

It would get her close to the witches but she would have to be in werewolves territory for at least two days. The dark forest was that huge and she didn't have the updated geography of the Witch’s Tavern. Maybe the town might not have the same name or the entrance would have moved. Consequences of being shut in for centuries.

A bright light flashed within the confines of the carriage signaling the completion of the spell and she was immediately transported to the boundaries of the werewolf territory.

One of the first things she noticed was the overwhelming boundary spell surrounding the outskirts of the territory. It was a clear sign of a very powerful spell caster. Maybe a high Priestess may have laid the boundary spell for this werewolf pack. Her work wasn’t cheap, the pack she landed in must be a very wealthy one. Wealthy pack meant a very powerful pack which meant bad news for her.

The teleportation spell she used was low level magic and any creature with a good spell book or potion could easily perform it. She didn’t want to waste whatever little power was left in her before she found the half elven witch she was searching for.

For a moment she was stuck wondering if she could just waltz into werewolf pack territory and cut her journey by half or walk around the perimeter of all things werewolves increasing her stay in the dense forest.

Choosing the former option, she thought: “What is the worst thing that could happen apart from the werewolves thinking that she was a rogue or some lost human. Maybe not a lost human. No sensible human being would willingly tread into the dark forest where they could die at every turn.”

Taking out a few potion tubes, she changed her elaborate outfit into a more reasonable and comfy wear. Pairing it with a set of elegant riding boots coupled with gloves. All that was left was for her to find the nearest path into the werewolves territory and out the other side.

*********
At a guard post within werewolf territory

"Finished rounds for the day, time to head home for dinner. Mark will be taking my spot soon."

"Okay no problem. Greet Jules and the kids."

"Will do."

Looking behind his friend Eric noticed a figure taking a leisure walk through the forest.

“Hey, see that woman?”Eric tapped his friend to get his attention.

The both of them stared at the woman with a different style of clothing who appeared to be searching for something.

How did a strange woman walk past the boundary markers without alerting them at the guard post?

Even when other creatures passed no matter how insignificant they were always on the alert.

The two werewolves carefully observed the strange woman using their sharp vision to their advantage taking note of her every move.

They watched her reach into somewhere on her person and pull out something that resembled a glass bottle. The strange woman threw the glass bottle on the forest floor and with a cloud of gray dust she disappeared from their sight.

This act immediately put Eric and the other werewolf on high alert. A strange woman just walked into werewolf territory without alerting the guards and now she has suddenly disappeared under their watch.

Suddenly,

“Good day gentlemen. I seek to find the fastest route through your territory.”

She appeared right behind them with a cloud of gray smoke. It was moment of shock before the men recovered from what they had just seen. Her disappearing act at least confirmed one thing.

This strange woman was a witch.

Witches were not unheard of but it was hard to see one especially in werewolf territory. They mostly had business dealings with vampires, elves and other supernatural creatures but hardly with the werewolves. This was because the werewolves believed that they were the children of the moon goddess and are directly blessed by the goddess, so they didn’t require the mythical powers of the Witches Tavern.

“And who might you be?”

Eric was curious. The first thing he had observed about the woman was her sense of style and now up close he could really see what she was wearing. The entire ensemble had a pair of matching gloves with a fabric styled umbrella and a seemingly gold painted hand fan.

Coupled with her very obvious crimson colored eyes that could drown you in them if you stare long enough.

“Jaro of the Royal Family.”

‘When was the last time anyone remembered something of the royal family?’

That was the thought process of the two men. The Royal Family were myths that only existed in books read to the children by the pack's teacher Anna.

“Nice try, rogue. There is no Royal Family around these parts.”

Eric laughed and signaled to his partner.

The strange woman was obviously a rogue. Rogues were known for their unmissable red eyes whenever their rogue wolf was in control.

Apparently these men don’t believe her. If only she had just a bit more power left in her, she would have turned one into dust to teach the other to appreciate the sort of powerhouse that she is.

“I am Jaro. And if I repeat myself again you will die. Where is the fastest route out of here?”

Right now she was getting angry and seriously contemplating on getting rid of them.

Eric and the other werewolf stared at each other giving silent signals to attack the rogue at the same time.

The attack wasn't much of a surprise.

What was happening to people of this time?

Back then even the thought of her name brought the strongest creatures to their knees and now a few dogs have the guts to attack her.

Right now she was feeling exhausted and didn't want to fight even when her hands were screaming for the feel of hot blood splashing on them. Tossing a sleeping spell into the air, the two werewolves were caught off guard mid transformation and tossed into a deep sleep. 

 

She honestly regretted using that spell. It was a very quick sleeping spell she had refined from the regular one capable of making even the most powerful being enter into a dreamless sleep.

 

Now two more problems arose. One, she couldn’t find her way around werewolf territory without a map or help and two, she had just knocked off the help she found after wandering around for hours. She couldn’t wait for this nightmare called magic exhaustion to be over. 

 

Using an interspatial bag she packed up the two men and continued her search.