Chapter 1: Chapter One

"Oh Corvus, most beautiful of all creatures," I conjured flowers with a snap of my fingers and sank to one knee. He turned his head to look at me disdainfully. "Accept my humble apology for I see now that you are the most brilliant of things." He lifted his head proudly and accepted the praise. He hopped onto my shoulder and nuzzled my ear. I stood to finish the poison. Stir till blue and add the essence of the soul... I read out of my book. I did as it said and it slowly turned clear. I held up a mason jar and filed it with the poison. I grabbed a sharpie and wrote on the lid, Nit Poison; DO NOT TOUCH. I plopped it in the box on my desk and tied it with twine. Clear liquid dripped from my hands and burned whatever it touched, but I was unaffected. A perk of being a Yaga, poisons don't do much. I wiped the stuff off of my hands and dropped the melting towel into my pot. It hit the remaining poison and dissolved instantaneously. I started writing a letter for the person who requested the poison, warning them of the dangers. I don't usually mess with people in the government but this was an exception. This lady -whose grandmother had done business with my grandmother- had sent a letter by pidgin. She explained that she had married an awful man and he threatened her children if she told anyone. She wanted him out of the picture and her grandmother had told her to contact Baba Yaga if anything went wrong. I was more than happy to help her, anyone who threatened children will suffer my wrath. So I concocted the Nit Poison, a poison that will corrupt and kill anything that touches it. It also has the pleasant side effect of sending the victim to heck. I don't hand out these things willy nilly though, I was only sending enough to kill one person, and I explained that in the letter. I signed and sealed it and handed both the box and letter to Corvus. He put the letter in his mouth and grabbed the box with his feet, then flew out the window. I watched him go. This would be the last time I saw him for a while, he liked to see what happened and report to me. I always recorded the entire thing in a notebook. My notebooks almost filled an entire bookshelf. My Gran had died when I was 11, leaving me to run the family business all by myself. I would have tried to contact mom and dad but Gran raised me and never told me if they were dead or just jerks and left me. I watched as Corvus flew into the setting sun. He disappeared from view and I walked over to my bed. That poison had required me to stay up for three days, stirring and adding ingredients. I was tired, for once in my insomniac life. My head hit the pillow and I fell asleep.