Stephan followed the guide's lead and ended up near an old well, presumably damaged by a recent fight. He looked down to see the end of it; it was an empty well and there were two prisoners there. He bent down closer and noticed two arrows stuck respectively at the knee of the tall man and the back of the short one. Their faces were contorted with pain. They were bound by the cords tightly, a bandage over their eyes, a piece of clothing in their mouth to stop any scream from coming out.
"What will happen in the morning?"
His eyes examined the surroundings and found a ladder purposely thrown away. He installed it then went down the well. He crouched and chose to remove the bandages around the eyes and then the garment in their mouths. Right at that moment, Stephan noticed the pointy ears and the long bushy beard of the short one and his wide body.
They coughed and moaned.
"Quickly, release us, my friend. The morning dawn is upon us and this well will awaken again," the elf man said.
"You are a human. Who are you? And how did you find us? Stop befriending everyone, you stinking elf. He could be sent by those mercenaries to put an end to us."
"No, you stop calling me stinking elf, you stinking dwarf."
"Since the dawn is upon us, how about we continue our conversation above? I have already spent quite the deal of the night next to my campfire. Let's go there! Can you walk with the arrows on your bodies?"
Once he undid the knots of the cords, the two wriggled like worms for a few seconds adjusting to their free bodies. The dwarf wanted to remove the arrow but Stephan stopped him, telling him it wasn't wise to let the blood flow without prior treatment. The two started arguing again over who would go up and choosing one of them was challenging for Stephan. He didn't want to offend one of them when they were both the trigger of the main quest.
Stephan looked around and found the dried body of a worm. As he looked around more, he noticed more of them and came to ponder about it. However, to help the two come out, he needed to use them. "Excuse me, dead worms. I will have to do with your disgusting bodies," with this, the dwarf and the elf stopped their argument and looked at Stephan as if he lost his mind. No one would talk to a worm-like that.
Stephan purposely chose two worms of different sizes, the one with the biggest worm would win and would come out first. The ladder was quite old and it could only help one get up, one at a time. He stretched his fists ahead asking them to choose.
The dwarf chose the left while the elf chose the right. Stephan opened his fists and revealed the right one as having the biggest worm. The elf rejoiced and raised his head proudly then climbed out of the well. The dwarf followed climbing slowly because of the wide body and the heavyweight. Some planches cracked under his feet.
"Seriously! It seems I had to go first since I am lighter. Now, it's gonna be harder to get out," Stephan put two hands on his hips and looked up at the dwarf still climbing, moaning from pain.
The elf made fun of the elf. However, soon his eyes noticed the first rays of dawn. "Quickly!" he shouted back at the dwarf. "Quickly, you stupid dwarf! You will kill our savior."
"Stop it! I know how to go ahead. The pain is just unbearable."
Stephan kept his eyes on the dwarf as he almost arrived. Then his instinct told him to immediately look at the ground. The worms that were dead a moment ago were turning alive and plumper. The well started filling with many worms coming out from the dirt. "What's this?"
"Grab the ladder, friend. We will pull you up," the elf waved at Stephan to quickly work.
The apprentice gazed at the ladder that the end of it was swarmed with worms. It seemed the well was filled starting from the edges then the middle. The elf told him to jump and grab the ladder whatever the cost. The dwarf pushed the elf aside and started hitting the ladder making the worms fall down. Right when the worms almost reached his feet, he grabbed a broken part of the ladder tightly, praying he wouldn't be buried between those worms. The dwarf and the elf then yanked him back as fast as they could.
"Seriously, what's with this well?"
"It's a flesh-eating well. The worms just start eating your flesh slowly and cause you to die slowly. Thank you for saving us, friend. I am Agandaur Sylra. I am glad to make your acquaintance," he shook Stephan's hand energetically. "I would have given you ten golds for helping me stay alive but my purse was taken away."
"I am Stephan Lancaster, a wanderer. I was running away from a horde of goblins and an ogre. If it wasn't for the sea serpent lands, I would still be running."
"Everything happens for a reason, my friend. You were supposed to help us. It seems that fate still favours us."
"And I am Gillibrian Uridi, as you can see I am a dwarf and I hate that elf. If it wasn't for his naïve call, we wouldn't be in this situation in the first place."
Agandaur bowed his head, ashamed. He moved his attention to the arrow on his left knee. They still had their armours but no weapon with them, no satchel either.
"So how did you end up this way?" asked Stephan, genuinely curious. Dwarves were known for hating elves.