“And where are you from?” the man asked.
“We’re from a very far place…” Mike answered.
“Interesting.
What race are you?
Because from the ones I know I’ve never seen one that had ant antennas” the man joked.
A vein bulged on Anna’s forehead because of the man’s stupid joke.
Mike noticed and calmly answered: “Well, they’re our ears actually.” The man turned his head slightly while showing a surprised expression.
“Your ears… How interesting and rare at the same time.
I’ve never seen anything like it” he commented.
While Mike, Dave and the man kept talking, Anna walked up to Zak, who was sleeping on sacks of potatoes, and fixed the coat he was using as a blanket.
“From here to a nearby village, how much would it be on foot?” Anna asked.
“Eh… well, on foot it would be like ten hours.
And by then it would already be night and a lot of monsters would have attacked you.” Anna stayed silent while analyzing the situation.
Somehow, even if they ran, it would take nine hours, and besides they weren’t superhuman to run without getting tired, worse still with Zak asleep.
“Calm down, miss!
From here you’ll arrive safe and in just four hours” the man added smiling.
“Right…” she murmured.
Mike walked up to Anna, leaving Dave talking with the man, and whispered in her ear: “Hey, the man who by the way is called Damian won’t stop asking me your name.
Should I tell him?” “What?” Anna frowned.
“Why would this man want my name if he’s just giving us a ride?
Don’t tell him, just change the subject.” “Besides, what kind of man is called Damian?
It sounds like a villain’s name,” Anna thought.
“Okay” Mike agreed.
Mike moved back to the front of the wagon and rejoined the three-way conversation.
Anna sighed, clearly irritated, while thinking about how absurd all of that was.
But it was necessary: Zak’s arm wound still hadn’t closed properly and they needed him stable to be able to get back home.
She lay down in a corner and closed her eyes to calm down and rest a moment.
The hours passed… “Anna” echoed in her head.
She slowly opened her eyes.
It was Zak, who was already awake, although his expression still showed signs of tiredness.
Mike and Dave were behind him.
“We arrived, miss Anna” Mike added, clearly excited for some reason.
“We arrived?” Anna asked while sitting up.
“Yes!” Mike said, getting out of the wagon right away while the sunset filtered through the exit.
The four got out and the sunset hit them.
But what left Dave and Mike most shocked was seeing so many different races.
“Look, Mike!
That’s an elf” Dave exclaimed pointing at a group of elves that were coming back from what seemed to be a mission.
Did you know this text is from a different site?
“Look, dwarves!” Mike pointed.
Where he was pointing you could see an open-air forge where two dwarves were hitting hot metal with heavy hammers.
Anna, not putting up with it anymore, gave them two hits on the head, clearly angry.
“Can you stop pointing at people like they’re weirdos!” she replied.
“Ouch… yes, I get it now” Mike said.
“Where am I?
I fainted but… what kind of dimension is this?
Am I dead?
I doubt it, but…” Before Zak kept thinking, a strong headache hit him from trying to remember so much.
“I told you not to think too much” Anna said.
“Now we’re going to look for a place to spend the night.” Anna didn’t take even thirty seconds to find an inn.
Not because it was pretty, but because it was the only option with common sense in that kind of situation.
A sign hung crooked: “The Lame Cat”.
Below, someone had crossed out “Cat” and written “Rat” with charcoal.
“Perfect” Anna murmured.
“Follow me, I already found a place!” she ordered.
The young men looked at each other while Zak followed Anna without thinking.
When they got to the inn, Anna went in first.
Inside it smelled like burned meat and old dampness.
The heat from the fireplace hit Zak’s face and, for a second, he forgot the tiredness.
Behind the counter there was a woman with grayish skin and pointed ears, with hair that reached her shoulders.
She didn’t bother to get up.
She just looked them up and down, like someone who evaluates if they’re worth the price of water.
“Rooms?” she asked without preambles.
Anna nodded.
She looked at Zak slightly before addressing the woman.
“We need one.
Real bed.
No sacks.” The woman clicked her tongue.
“I have one free.
Two copper coins per night.
Payment in advance.
And no magic inside.
If you ruin the bed, you pay by washing sheets for a week.” Mike opened his mouth, probably to ask if they accepted barter with bad jokes, but Dave covered his mouth in time.
Dave walked up to Anna and handed her two copper coins.
“Where did you get them?” Anna asked.
“I foresaw this would happen and, on the way, taking advantage that there was a group of adventurers drinking, I managed to find two copper coins lying on the floor.
They probably fell from them.” “Well thought” she commented.
Anna walked up and left the coins on the table.
They weighed more than they should.
“Made of pressed bone” the woman said, biting them one by one to check them.
“Good.
Room three.
Upstairs, second door on the left.” Zak leaned on the wall, with his hand on his temple.
“Tell me there aren’t more elves coming down stairs” he said in a low voice.
“I don’t know” Anna answered.
“But if there are, don’t point at them.
And don’t think.
You already know what happens.” Zak closed his eyes for a second.
“Okay… No thinking.
Just… sleep.” They went up the wooden stairs that creaked like they were complaining.
The room was small, cold, and the bed had a stain that Anna preferred not to investigate.
But it had a door that closed.
Anna dropped Zak carefully on the mattress.
He didn’t complain.
He just murmured: “This isn’t comfortable… “I know” Anna said, taking the coat off him carefully.
“But for today it works.” Mike and Dave stayed in the threshold, looking down the hallway as if they were waiting for something to attack them.
“Hey, Anna” Mike said.
“Do you think this place is safe?” Anna stayed still.
“I don’t know.
But if it is…” She grabbed a thick wooden stick that had been thrown in the room.
“We’ll be ready.
Now close the door.” She closed it.
The sound resonated too loud in the silence.
Downstairs, someone started singing in a language that had no vowels.
Zak had already fallen asleep before Anna covered him with her own coat.
“I want to go out… it’s still just getting dark” Dave replied looking through the window.
“Do you realize this is another dimension?” Anna answered coldly.
“The chances of dying are very high.
This isn’t a game.” “Mmmm… I’m going with Mike” Dave replied.
Mike, who was looking around the room, turned immediately.
“Huh?
Mmmm… going out to explore doesn’t sound like a bad idea, even though danger is never zero.” Anna squeezed the wooden stick, sighing bitterly.
“If you go out, you go out alone.
I’m not going to go pick up your bones, but either way be careful.” Mike swallowed.
Dave smiled anyway.
Both left the room while Dave seemed clearly happy.
“Alright, where do you plan to go?” Mike asked.
“I don’t know… to explore?” “That sounds good.
Remember: don’t wander off much and let’s avoid trouble” Mike added.
“That works for me” Dave answered.
They walked through the hallways, went down the stairs while still hearing the weird singing in the background.
They got to the main entrance where they saw a couple of adventurers drinking and singing at a table, while the same woman from before served them more beer.
They kept going, avoiding staying longer there.
Once outside, they breathed the fresh air and observed the sunset that was already giving way to the moon in the sky.
They walked a good while seeing all kinds of races they had never seen.
People who didn’t have antennas seemed weird to them, but they decided not to give it much importance.
After a moment of walking they got to a forge that had a sign outside: “Weapons sold for one copper coin”.
Both looked at each other briefly before Dave spoke: “Too bad we don’t have more money.” “You sure?” Mike took three copper coins out of his pocket.
“Where did you get them?!” Dave asked.
“I found them lying around when we were leaving the inn, on the floor” Mike commented.
“You know you’re a little thief, right?
You can’t go around picking up drunk people’s money.” “You never know when you’ll need something.
That’s why you always have to be careful.
And since we’re going to be traveling between dimensions, it’s always better to be prepared.” “You do have good logic.” Without more, the two went in.
The smell of molten iron and the sound of constant hammering welcomed them.
A dwarf was hammering iron on one side of the shop, while on the other there was a pile of weapons and, in a corner, weapons in a wooden box that said “1 copper coin”.
The dwarf looked at them slightly and kept on with his forge.
Mike went up first and examined the weapons.
There were daggers, swords and axes.
“I like this one!” Dave said while grabbing an axe of considerable size with a reddish wooden handle.
Mike looked at him slightly before taking out a big dagger.
“I choose this one” Mike said, pushing the dagger.
Dave let out a snort at how absurd Mike’s weapon seemed to him.
“Seriously?” “Yes.
Well… we have one copper coin left.” “Should we take a weapon to miss Anna?” Dave asked.
“Good idea.
Finally you’re using your brain.” Right away he took out a light and very colorful sword.
Then they walked up to the counter where the dwarf had already positioned himself.
Dave deposited the three copper coins.
The dwarf received them calmly and said: “Thank you for your purchase, young men.” They left the forge while noticing how the kerosene lanterns were being lit, illuminating the night.
Everything pointed to them returning quickly, but… A guard appeared running while ringing a bell: “A monster attack is happening!
All adventurers are needed!” But before he kept running, a big monster similar to a werewolf appeared and, in one bite, ripped half of the guard’s body off.
His legs fell to the floor in a pool of blood.
“Wha… what is that…?” Dave asked, clearly paralyzed by what he saw.
Mike grabbed Dave by the shirt and ran without thinking.
It wasn’t the time for questions.