“Who were they?” Alexander asked.

“Spirit summoners. Pieces of shit, and a waste of time. Let’s not spend another breath on them,” Morticous said. “Let me tell you why you’re here. There’s a merchant that will sell us a wand with very high mana regeneration. It’s the only thing the wand is capable of doing, but it’s all we need. It’ll cost you all of your coin, but it’s worth it. Also, you’ve got to be quick.”

“Why?”

“The merchants here have restrictions on what they’re allowed to bring in and sell. They can only bring in a certain amount of items. There’s only one person that brings this wand in, and he only brings one each cycle.”

Suddenly, Morticous pulled Alexander into the alleyway. Anybody getting pulled like that was going to experience a swirling brain, and Alexander didn’t have the time to recognize what happened until the shadows of the alleyway spread out to cloak them. Morticous brought a finger towards his lip and glared at Alexander, who couldn’t piece out why his trainer acted this way.

Alexander tried to figure out what, or who it was that had made his master act this way. He kept his eyes glued to the street, which was barely visible through the shadow cloak. After a few seconds he saw two people, one girl and one boy. They were human, except for the large eye on their foreheads, twitching in every direction. They were covered in moon-white clothes, coupled with a thick black belt and black boots.

After a while Morticous spoke up. “The tower admins. Their egos are huge and they’re never worth the effort. Avoid them.”

“What were they going to do?”

“Waste my goddamn time. Now enough of that, let’s go to the merchant.”

Instead of walking back to the street, they walked deeper into the alleyway. It was completely empty, or at least, to Alexander’s sight. Morticous spotted a few figures staring at them from the roofs. But he couldn’t quite figure out what they were. Identify only showed question marks. All he had to go off was his sight, and all that told him was that they were tiny, red, and had wings. Demons? No, that would be impossible.

Morticous stopped and pushed the brick wall to his left. Nothing happened. He pushed and patted it at different spots, but once again nothing happened. He twirled his fingers, and a blue mist seeped out of his palms and covered the wall.

“They’ve moved the goddamn entrance. We’re going to have to enter through a more popular entrance.”

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Morticous set off, with Alexander pushing his wheels as quickly as possible to hurry along. His trainer took lefts and rights at seemingly random intervals, until they found themselves in a crowded alleyway. Of the perhaps 40 people there, each one looked dangerous, and each one stared at Alexander. Their eyes were cold and judgemental, and Alexander knew that they couldn’t have walked through the alleyway so simply if not for the presence Morticous had.

It appeared to be a dead end, a large brick wall blocking the pathway. On it, a large wooden gate had been painted. Morticous walked up, and punched the door, making the wood crack and giving them a large enough hole to travel through. In the space the wood had broken off, Alexander saw movement.

They marched in, and when Alexander glanced backwards to try and spot the gate, he couldn’t see it. The entire atmosphere had changed. It was colder and much darker than before. When he looked up he saw dirt and roots hanging down. They seemed to be standing on one of the main roads through what appeared to be a small town. There weren’t nearly as many people walking through it, and those who did, did so sparsely. They were all robed figures, and emitted a sense of danger that could not be ignored.

“Wait here. I’ve told one of my friends to come help you.”

That was all Morticous said before disappearing. The act alone made Alexander feel very naked. It was clear as day that he did not belong here. Whilst the others were dangerous, he was the opposite. He couldn’t cast any spells, and he was horrible at fighting, already being crippled at the start.

Psst, he heard somebody whispering, yet at the very same time, felt the distinct feeling that it was coming from far away. Psst. Right here. No, not there. In the alley to your right. Right there! Do you see me? He noticed two glowing red eyes in the darkness. Come here. Let’s have a chat.

“Hey kid!” He heard a loud, powerful voice, and glanced backwards. The man he spotted there did not fit his imagination. He was tiny, barely as tall as Alexander on his wheelchair. He carried a small dagger on his back. Circular glasses stood on his large pointy nose. “You seemed pretty focused. What were you doing?”

“I was looking at…” When Alexander glanced back towards the alleyway, he didn’t see one. The alleyway had disappeared, and been replaced by brick wall. His brows bent downwards. “I swear there was an alleyway right there.”

“Ha, somebody must have been playing a prank on you. Anyway, Morticous told me this was urgent, so we can’t stand around here talking for too long. We’ve gotta go get your item. Ohh yeah, by the way, my name’s Arthur. I’m a death knight.”

A death knight! Alexander couldn’t believe it. He couldn’t picture a more innocent and threatless man than the one standing in front of him. Morticous called him his friend though. So he must be somebody.

“I’m Alexander, Morticous’s student. He still hasn’t taught me any spells,” Alexander said.

“Don’t be discouraged,” Arthus said as he grabbed the back of Alexander’s wheelchair, and started pushing him. “Morticous is a clever guy. He knows what he’s doing. Did he tell you were he was going?”

“No. He just left.”

Alexander felt the uneven ground as his wheelchair shook and bounced. To his side, uninterested merchants stood. They weren’t nearly as loud as the ones above, yet their wares looked much more exotic. He saw swords with multi edged shapes and handles with gems and bright colors.

“One more thing kiddo. While we’re here, you’d be smart to stay close to me.”