We returned to our camp, and Arild replenished our wasted supplies by going out hunting and foresting.
While Lloyd and I went looking for caves, Anna started making something to help us trap and kill the wraiths.
As Lloyd and I wandered through the forest looking for the mouth of a cave, I thought back to the village.
I was curious about how it burned down and was reluctant to ask Lloyd, not wanting to bring back any uncomfortable memories for him.
Now, I felt more comfortable asking him. "Lloyd, how did your village burn down?" I asked him, stopping him dead in his tracks.
He turned slowly towards me with a sad look and held up his book. "This is both a blessing and a curse," he sighed as he told me how the village had burned down.
"The master blacksmith wanted a hotter fire, believing that the hotter the fire, the stronger his work would be.
So he came to me looking to make the flames hotter. At first, I refused him, but he and the other villagers had been so kind to me, so I wanted to repay him.
I showed him how to make what Emperor Nero called Greek Fire. I told him it would never extinguish unless you used sand and dirt to kill the flames.
He began using it for his work and was amazed by it until it got out of control. The other villagers tried to help by throwing water on it, but that only worsened it.
Eventually the flames grew out of control and engulfed the whole village trapping the villagers.
I hid while everyone was trapped in the village square screaming while they burned alive," he told me his story while wearing a sad look.
As I listened to his story I could feel great sadness and regret from him but some details didn't match up, but I didn't want to ask him because I didn't want to push him too far.
He clearly wanted to forget about that incident, so he asked me about our world to change the subject.
"Can you tell me more about your world? I would love to hear about the place Emperor Nero came from," he asked me about my world.
I started telling him about our world, beginning with some of the technology I took for granted.
As I told him about appliances like microwaves, refrigerators, and stoves, he quickly revealed that this world already had such things.
"Wait a minute, okay? Tell me about what technological advancements the empire has made, starting with Emperor Nero," I told Lloyd now, excited that we might not have to live like it's the sixteenth century.
He told me they had technology similar to ours, minus the phones, computers, smart tv's and the internet.
He said that while Emperor Nero greatly improved the empire it wasn't until two hundred years ago when a traveler came to the empire and quickly rose to power, marrying into the imperial family and becoming Empress.
She introduced new laws and technology that focused on bettering life for the commoners taking after Emperor Nero by caring more for the common folk.
He continued to describe the empire, revealing many similarities between it and my world until we found what we were looking for.
I approached the cave mouth and listened in to see if it had any residents. It was hard to hear them, but I did; there were many wraiths sleeping down there.
I was still trying to figure out how to get one without alerting the others, but Anna and Lloyd said they had that covered.
We started heading to the cave and returned to camp to check on Anna's idea's progress.
Her idea was simple, but that didn't mean it was easy. She wanted to rig the cave entrance to collapse, letting out only one wraith while burying the rest.
She planned to implement this idea by using a drill to make holes around the mouth of the cave to compromise its integrity and build a frame to hold it up until they needed to collapse it.
When Michael and Lloyd returned to camp, Anna was frustrated trying to make a drill tip. She could make the rest of the body for the drill as it was just a simple hand crank, but the drill head was more challenging and complex.
She was trying to make one out of stone since she had no metal to work and kept breaking the stone whenever she wanted to shape it.
Tired of working in the Stone Age, Anna grabbed her gear and returned to the village.
I had free time, so I decided to work out a bit. I hadn't worked out since we first came here because there was so much to do and so much happening.
As I started stretching, Lloyd asked me what I was doing. I told him that I was preparing to do some physical exercises.
He started squirming around, hesitant to ask me until he blurted out, "Can you show me how to do them?"
I was amused that he wanted to get in shape and saw no harm in it, so I started instructing him.
As I instructed him on the most basic exercises, he was like a fish out of water. His form was all over the place, and he would tire out after a minute when he finally corrected it.
After we finished our workout routine, Lloyd passed out in a puddle of sweat and lay on the ground.
I kept going after Lloyd passed out and tried doing my usual workout. It was awkward since I didn't have weights, so I just went for a higher rep count doing push ups and sit ups.
It wasn't until Anna returned that I stopped working out. That was strange for me. I was confident in my stamina and endurance but barely broke a sweat.
Running back and forth yesterday made me tired more easily, yet my workout felt like a warmup today.
I put my hand over my heart over where the mark was expecting to feel my heart pounding away but I could feel it beating as if I was just sitting down, and it felt cool to the touch.
As I tried to understand why it was easier for me today than yesterday, Anna called me to begin operation 'catch a wraith'.
Now that the drill had been completed, we all set off toward the mouth of the cave and began our work.
Arild and I focused on making the frame to support the entrance so it didn't collapse on us as we worked.
Lloyd and Anna focused on preparing the cave to collapse by drilling holes in the weak points.
Arild and I would stand by to destroy the frame collapsing the cave.
After a few hours, we finished and waited for night to fall.
We could hear the wraiths waking up and approaching the cave entrance as night fell.
When we saw the first one come out, we destroyed the frame, collapsing the cave.
The unlucky wraith quickly turned towards Arild and dashed towards him.
It was about to rip his throat out until I grabbed it by its ankles and pulled it away.
I felt more vital than ever, so I stopped dragging it and threw it.
It flew through the air like a rag doll and smashed into a tree, splintering it and causing half of its branches to fall.
Before I knew it, I was in front of the wraith, and instead of using my holds or grapples to break its limbs, I chose to strike it.
I was hammering away at its face as teeth and blood flew everywhere. It tried to slash its claws at me, but I caught its arm and pinned it against the tree.
I was now punching the wraith, embedding its head into the tree. My mind was blank, and I only thought of the fight until the wraith's head finally caved in.
I backed away, letting it slump to the ground in a pool of blood. I was breathing heavily, and my hand was numb, covered in blood to my elbow.
My ears were filled with the drumming of my heart drowning out Anna as she called out for me, trying to snap me out of it.
Arild quickly rushed towards the wraiths' bodies and started preparing the blood to give pseudo marks to everyone.
As Anna tried to bring me back to my senses, Arild began giving the pseudo marks to everyone.
It was a simple process of cutting the mark on the skin with a blade covered in the wraith's blood.
After he gave everyone a pseudo mark, the cave's rocks started shifting.
The wraiths had already begun to dig themselves out while everyone tried pulling me back toward the barrier.
I stood in a trance, feeling like the fight with the wraith wasn't enough. It was too short, too easy.
I started walking towards the cave, ready to greet all the wraiths about to pour out.
Anna, Lloyd, and Arild held on to me, trying to pull me back towards the barrier but failed. They were leaving drag marks on the ground, and I was now pulling them towards the cave as I kept walking.
Eventually, they let go. Anna was reluctant to let go, but Lloyd convinced her to.
They ran back to the barrier, desperate for a head start against the wraiths, leaving me to my fun.