A few days later...
Debbie was in the gym, cranking out some big deadlifts with Kahlil. The TV was on in the background showing a recorded Axe Throwing contest somewhere in Scandinavia.
"I'd love to have a go at that!" Debbie exclaimed between sets.
"You are dangerous enough as it is!" Kahlil replied with a chuckle.
"You can use your girl power over at the farm shortly. I ordered a pallet of assorted feminine hygene products from the wholesaler, they should be delivered this afternoon. If you could sign for them and get them stashed away, that would be brilliant. It's possible a couple of cases of Slovakian MREs that Stevo ordered might come as well, although they might not arrive until after the weekend. "
"Yes boss, whatever you say boss!". Debbie winked at Kahlil, gripped the bar, and pulled 200kg powerfully off the floor. It rose easily past her knees, and was soon locked out without any problem.
Kahlil took a sip of his powerade and glanced towards the door in time to see two men walk in. Unusually for people walking into a gym, they were wearing smart charcoal grey suits. The taller of the two was carrying a briefcase. Very odd. Kahlil approached them, keeping his face as neutral as he could.
"Can I help you gentlemen?" He asked with a fake smile.
"Kahlil Johnson? Can we talk somewhere in private? Oh, and if that is Debbie Andrews, ask her to join us perhaps?"
Very interesting, thought Kahlil, they knew his full name, and Debbie's. They look like lawyers, although the second guy had remained silent so far, and had the air of a bodyguard about him. He waved Debbie over, and they all found seats except for the silent suit, who stood by the door looking inscrutable.
"Allow me to introduce myself, I am Mister White. I work for a department of His Magesty's government that doesn't officially exist. We are aware of certain events that are forecast to occur soon, and we are aware that you are making preparations for these events. Unofficially, I can tell you that you have the government's full backing. We are ourselves also making preparations, and when the time comes we will support your efforts, as we hope you will support ours. Officially, as I don't exist, I was never here, and this conversation didn't happen."
Mr. White stood, shook hands with Kahlil and Debbie, and turned towards the door. Just before he got there, he stopped.
"I'm level seven, but I get the feeling you are both... Higher?"
Kahlil and Debbie both nodded. Mr White smiled, and both he and his silent colleague left the gym.
Debbie turned to Kahlil, "That was surreal!"
"Spooks!" Kahlil replied. "At least we now know the authorities are on the clock, and have people with skills like us ready to fight back."
"We just confirmed to them that we exist too. I mean, they obviously already knew somehow, but that conversation didn't leave any doubt." Deb pointed out.
"I wonder if we will get any help?" She added.
At that moment, both Debbie and Kahlil realized that Mr. White had left his black leather case on the floor next to his chair. Kahlil raced outside, but the government agents were long gone. He walked back into the office to find Debbie standing by the desk, case in hand.
"He didn't leave it by accident, I'm sure. We should open it." She said, a questioning tone in her voice.
After a moments thought, Kahlil nodded his agreement, and Debbie opened the case, it having been unlocked already.
Inside the case there was an large envelope, a black cloth pouch with a drawstring, an old Nokia cellphone, and a handwritten note. Kahlil reached for the note, and read it aloud.
"Please use the enclosed as you see fit. If you need to contact us, call the number saved in the phone, ask for Mrs. Smith. That will get a message to me that you need to meet. Someone will come to you within 24 hours."
"Very cloak and dagger!" remarked Debbie, as she opened the envelope and pulled out several bundles of fifty pound notes.
"There's at least a few thousand here, maybe more."
Kahlil opened the cloth pouch, inside were five gold coins of the type used in the other world. He showed them to Debbie, who smiled widely!
"Great, now I can get a better weapon, I am tired of this mace!"
"You and Stevo can take two coins each to buy equipment, I will take the last one to save for a rainy day." Kahlil said whilst passing two of the coins to Debbie.
"Come on, I'll drive you to the farm, then I will pop to Drebun and bring Stevo up to date, while you deal with any deliveries."
About twenty minutes later, Kahlil walked into the inn "Stevo's surgery", he thought to himself with a grin. Stevo was sat at the counter, nursing a mug of something, whilst playing a game of what looked like draughts with one of the serving girls. Indeed, the inn seemed very quiet, there were only another two customers apart from Stevo, both looked like merchants passing through, who stopped for a decent meal.
The serving girl made a move, taking two of Stevo's counters, and it was obvious he was going to lose when Kahlil sat at the next seat and ordered a bowl of soup. Stevo graciously admitted defeat, and the girl disappeared to bring Kahlil his meal with a smile on her young face.
"How's it going K? Any news from home?". Stevo asked, sipping his drink.
"We had visitors, On His Magesty's Service, indeed."
"Oh shit! Are they suspicious about us? I guess you are here, so they didn't cart you off in chains at least!"
"More than suspicious Stevo, they know everything, and offered their unofficial backing. They even left us some goodies! These are for you." Kahlil placed two of the gold coins on the stained wooden counter and slid them to Stevo discreetly.
"So James Bond is on our side? Cool!"
"Buy yourself something useful, I get the feeling there might be more in the future."
The girl returned with Kahlil's soup, a chicken and vegetable broth that smelled amazing. Stevo quickly asked for a bowl himself as Kahlil dipped a piece of bread in the soup and started eating happily.
Stevo and Kahlil sat in companionable silence, enjoying their hearty soup, when they became aware of shouts from outside. Moments later Gregoor burst in, breathless and sweating.
"Skeletons, dozens of them! They are heading for the village! We need to stop them!"
After the briefest of glances between the two of them, they were on their feet and out of the door, accompanied by the two merchants, one of whom had a wickedly sharp looking cutlass, the other armed with a club similar to Stevo's.
By the time they got to the edge of the village, they could see at least twenty, possibly thirty, skeletons shambling towards them. They were mostly armed with rusty swords, but Stevo's noted a couple of clubs and a mace wielder in the crowd. He sent a blast of his shocking spark towards the nearest skeleton, it convulsed for a few seconds, falling to the ground, unsteadily getting back to its feet, before being finished off with a mighty blow from the club-wielding merchant.
The brawl was on in earnest now, Kahlil's sword a blur as he cut through one, two, three skeletons. His movements like a ballet of destruction.
Gregoor was busily cleaving bony limbs and smashing skulls, his face a mask of determination.
Stevo, although not a front line fighter, was moving around the fray, landing hits as he went, and stunning the occasional enemy with his spark.
The group had been joined by a couple of the villagers, including the Smith, who obliterated the skull of one skeleton with a swing of his heavy hammer.
The skeleton's numbers were shrinking steadily, soon there were only a handful remaining. The fight had not been bloodless however. The cutlass wielding merchant had a horrific looking cut to his upper arm, it hung limp as claret dripped from his fingers. His colleague lay lifeless, face down on the grass, a sword embedded in his back.
Gregoor dispatched the last Skeleton with a kick that sent it flying towards Kahlil, whose sword decapitated it expertly.
Stevo grabbed the injured merchant, sitting him propped up against the wall of a barn, and poured a healing potion into his mouth. The bleeding stopped immediately, and Stevo examined the injury whilst he waited for his mana to recover enough to cast a heal. Moments later, he cast his healing spell, and the merchant thanked him repeatedly for his help, before spotting the remains of his colleague and faltering.
"He was a good man, his family will be devestated."
Kahlil and Gregoor had joined them, Kahlil replied that the dead merchant had fought bravely and with honour. Gregoor handed the now almost recovered man a few coins to give to the Widow of the deceased, the group moved slowly, exhausted and coming down from the adrenalin spike of combat, towards the inn where they would unwind.
