“Looks like you weren’t bullshitting! This is so cool!” Wraith said.
Freeze. Hold on just a moment. Before I continue, there’s something you need to know. Remember how in the beginning I said that I’m a nerdy dude but can pass for totally normal in a crowd? Well, Wraith is the exact opposite. On the outside, he looks completely normal but oozes nerd when he starts talking to people. He had coal black hair and broad shoulders. He was actually a pretty good looking dude and in better shape than I am but only because his fitness goal is to go on Ninja Warrior someday. Whenever he would go out to a nightclub, he had no problem approaching women and they’d be interested at first. It was only when he started talking about rescuing Princess Zelda or defending the use of Ewoks in film that he’d start to lose them. Continue…
“Wraith, what are you doing here?” I asked.
“Figured I’d come take a look. You made all this sound so awesome that I just had to see for myself. Can’t let you have all the fun can I,” he said, as Anabel stood beside him, “oh, man. This is so wild. This is the colonial chick, isn’t it?! And that's the goth one! Can I have whichever one you don’t want?”
“They’re not collectibles!” I scolded.
Emily stood up and asked, “Eric, you know this person?”
“Yeah, that’s my friend Wraith.”
“This is the Wraith you told me you were friends with?” she said with disgust.
“Well, his name is actually Ernest Weathers, but he’s insisted he go by Wraith since we were teenagers.”
“Hey! I told you, I’m in the process of getting it changed legally,” he stated after dropping his bags and began messing with something he probably shouldn't have.
“I’ll take his things to a guest room,” Anabel offered as she tried to pick one of them up but struggled due to how heavy it was.
“Whoa, what the hell did you pack?” I asked.
He knelt down and unzipped the bag she was pulling. Out poured a collection of tabletop roleplaying books.
“I figured they might be of some help for us. Ya know, when we go down the well,” he said.
“You thought GM guides would help fight real life Devils?” I retorted.
“Master Noble? How does your friend know about the well?” said Higgins.
"Well, umm, I've been texting him since I got back from Bristol”, I responded hesitantly.
“You what?!”
“Hey, I was losing my mind not being able to tell anyone what’s been going on. I couldn’t bring myself to tell my ex-girlfriend but me and Wraith have shared everything since we were kids. Besides, he wouldn’t tell anybody.”
“Well…I uhh, haven’t told anybody that would believe me per se,” he remarked.
“Wraith, you didn’t! Who did you tell?”
“Relax, Eric. It wasn’t anybody IRL. I just might have mentioned on a few forums I frequent some hypotheticals. You know, to try and figure out how something like this would be possible or where the stones and well originated from. But I swear I didn’t say where we were located or use real names. Just my screen name.”
“You literally insist on people calling you by a screen name in your day-to-day life.”
“Master Noble,” Higgins interrupted, “your family has kept the details of the well a secret for generations. A tradition your father continued for more than a quarter of a century. And you’re telling me that you broke that legacy through a text message?! That’s such a millennial thing to do.”
“Relax old man, it'll be fine. I don’t plan on ever telling anymore for real for real,” said
Wraith as he extended his hand to shake, “by the way, you must be Higgins?”
“Yes, Reginald Higgins, pleased to meet you.”
“Oh, that’s right. I should introduce everyone formally," I jumped, “this is Anabel Townsend and Detective Emily Grimwood.”
“Pleasure to make your acquaintance ladies.”
Anabel had begun trying to drag his bags upstairs again. I interjected, “Wraith! Help her. Anabel, you can stop. This fool can carry his own bags since he decided to bring a bunch of unnecessary stuff anyway.”
“I…have a request, Eric,” asked Emily.
“Yes?”
“Would you mind if he stayed in the third-floor room?”
“Why does it matter?” I asked.
“Because I’d at least like a little warning that he’s coming from the creak in the steps if he tries to come downstairs in the middle of the night.”
Wraith was totally distracted at this point and didn’t even hear her covert insult at his creep factor. Funny, she was worried about a creep.
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.
I took over Anabel’s spot in trying to carry the bags with Wraith up to the third floor. As we went up the steps, I asked him how long he was planning on staying.
“Oh, you know, at least until we kill a couple of Devils.”
“What?! Don’t you have a job you have to go back to?”
“I quit. I don’t plan on going back to that when I got a friend who’s a multi-millionaire and has access to a magic well to other worlds. Besides, pizza delivery jobs are a dime a dozen. I can always go back to one if I outstay my welcome.”
“If? Also, I think it’s great how you’re so forward about taking advantage of your friends,” I said sarcastically.
We reached the attic rooms and started sitting his stuff down.
“Still. I’m really glad to see you,” I said, genuinely, as we reeled it in for a hug.
“So, what’s the situation? I need an update. Why do you look so busted up?”
“It’s a really long story and I’ll tell you after dinner. But in a nutshell, I keep getting my ass kicked in the Sword and Sorcery world.”
“Now that sounds right up my alley,” said Wraith, reminding me that he was a bigger D&D nerd than I was.
“Are you sure you wanna jump right in? I’ve been training a lot in a short time and even I haven’t been ready for it?”
“Yeah, it’s no problem. I’ve got stamina and some know-how. Just let me know when you’re ready and we can go.”
“Okay, there’s something I need to do first and it might take a couple of days. But that’s fine, because I need to teach you something before we go. It might come in handy.”
* * *
After dinner, I started teaching Wraith how to use Thieves Cant Basic. I wasn’t sure if its need would come up but I figured any skill I could share with him might help. Higgins, reluctantly, started making preparations for my special plan. The following night, he drove Wraith and I down to the bottom level of a parking garage in London.
“This is awesome! I love how you’re basically typing in a cheat code right now,” Wraith said, as we got out of the car.
Across from where Higgins parked was a shady looking black limousine. He stayed in the car while Wraith and I got out and met four equally shading looking men in trench coats. The leader was a man with red hair and glasses. Each of us carried a suitcase. We sat them both down on the hood of the limo.
“You’re sure you don’t need to know what I want this for?” I asked the red headed man. “As long as you have the money,” he said, “then it’s no questions asked.
I popped open the briefcase and revealed 35,000GBP. He reciprocated and opened his briefcase, revealing a brand new MP5 submachine gun. It would’ve been cheaper if this had been in America, but this was the UK and at least it included three hundred and sixty rounds of ammunition.
He added, “Are you sure you know how to use this thing?”
Before I could answer, Wraith said, “oh, yea.”
Of course, he did, this guy played more video games than Fred Savage in The Wizard.
We took each other's place standing in front of each case while our entourage looked on, and the man said,” pleasure doing business with ya,” as we both snapped our cases closed and walked away.
* * *
The next day, we suited up and got ready to head down the well into Callist. I wore my chainmail and respective duds while Wraith opted for gray sweatpants and a solid blue t-shirt. I took a satchel strap and clipped it to the handle of the briefcase so I could carry it over my shoulder. I was only gonna use this thing when I really needed to. Even with the twelve magazines it came with I knew ammo would be scarce…no, impossible to find after I ran out.
Higgins shook hands with us both and wished us luck. Both of the girls came up to me one at a time, hugged and gave me a kiss on the cheek each as they wished us luck as well.
“Where’s mine?” Wraith asked.
Anabel stayed respectfully quiet, but Emily crossed her arms, closed her eyes, and said, “you’re lucky I don’t smack you on your way out for trying to spy on me in the shower.”
“I got lost! It's a big house.”
It was amazing. Emily was a nympho and Wraith was still like kryptonite to her.
As we climbed over the well ledge, Wraith poked, “so when's Stephanie gonna find out about the girls?”
“Not for a good while. I don’t want her to get the wrong idea. Besides, I’m still not ready to show her all this.”
Wraith held my shoulder as the stone started to glow and after a few moments we disappeared and then reappeared in the desert spring.
“Here, we have to climb up this rope to get out. Oh! I forgot to mention, I’ve got someone helping me and they may be up there waiting for me to get back,” I was talking about Arduwan, who I didn’t mention before that way Wraith didn’t bring her up to the other girls.
I started climbing up first and it took me a minute, but once I got halfway, Arduwan started pulling me up like she had before. Once I got out, I looked down and saw Wraith start to climb. He scaled the entire distance in like eight seconds while barely using his feet!
“Holy crap! You really have been training, haven’t you?!”
“I’m a certified member of the Obsidian Ninja Clan,” he boasted.
I just shook my head as he finally noticed Arduwan standing there, glistening in the sun.
“Whoa! Who is that?! She is a real looker! No wonder you didn’t tell Anabel and Emily about her. She’s a fox!”
“Careful Wraith, she’s royalty. She’s Queen of the Barbarians,” I noted, in hopes that Arduwan wouldn’t be set off by Wraith's antics. Of course, I felt all the same things about her, but I didn’t have the nerve or the poor judgment enough to say them in front of her. But he was right about not telling Anabel and Emily. Arduwan stood there just looking confused.
“Oh, sorry, I should introduce you two. This is Arduwan, we’ve been working together to take out Davol. Arduwan, this is…”
Before I could say another word, Wraith went over to her and began kissing her hand while on one knee and said, “A pleasure to meet you my queen. I am Lord Ernhest Weathers, ally of the House of Noble. Master of the shadows. Your eternal vanguard. But you may call me…Wraith.”
“Lord?”
Arduwan looked as though she was starting to blush. What the hell? I thought for sure this would warrant a look of disgust, if not a slap in the face!
I didn’t have time for this. I wanted to finish what I came here for. So, I asked Arduwan, “I was unconscious, did you kill all the Gnolls?”
“Yes,” she said, with embarrassment in her voice, “Eric, I’m sorry about what happened. It was so clumsy of me. Please forgive me!”
“It’s alright, you did the right thing bringing me back to the spring again,” I couldn’t stay mad at her. She meant well and was very self-conscious about everything. Plus, it didn’t hurt that she looked like a goddess.
“So, what’s the plan, Eric?” Wraith asked.
“Well first of all, I think we should head into Braytown and get you some suitable gear. After that, I think it’s best if we take a direct approach to dealing with Davol, much the way I did with Washington. There’s three of us now and Arduwan and I were actually pretty effective overall in dealing with small fry, if you don’t count the mishaps.”
The two of them agreed and I asked Arduwan, “Can you call a second horse? I actually know how to ride, and Wraith can double up with me until he learns how.”
“Of course.”
“Call a second horse?” questioned Wraith.
“Watch this,” I motioned.
Arduwan gave out her awesome ‘Call of the Wild’ chant again. Sure enough, a second horse came running up, this one was tan.
I mounted the horse and reached out to give Wraith a leg up while Arduwan got on the brown horse again.
“But can’t I ride with her?” he begged.
“Haha, I don’t think so,” I chuckled.