Who's there?", a husky voice asked from inside the house.
"Man!, it's your old pal Ash", said Ash with a grin.
There was a pause, then a few noises, the unbolting of the door and then it was slightly open, a large set of eyes - owl-like, staring at their faces. The door was open more widely and the figure behind the door said:
"Come on in".
Ash and Rhett quickly entered the house, the man closing the door and bolting it very quickly.
The place was quite stuffy and it smelt like something one hadn't opened in a while. The ceiling was brown in colour and in the middle was a white fan which had become brown from dirtiness.
"Sit down", the man said pointing to the wooden chairs set facing each other.
Rhett and Ash complied and sat on the chairs, their heads moving sideways as they examined the place. The man smiled, revealing a brown set of teeths and jumped into a chair. He was fat, beardless and carried a wrinkled face, one that definitely would have survived many battles.
"Ash my good man", he said. "What brings you to this version of earth?, and who's your pal".
"That's our new king," began ash. "The king of the dragon slayers".
The man whistled. "Woah, you guys finally had a king?. I'm surprised, did he match the dragon slayer's prophecy".
"He slayed an ice dragon right in our faces!", exclaimed ash.
The man whistled again, he now faced Rhett. "You slayed an ice dragon and now you're king of the dragon slayers?".
Rhett shrugged. "I guess".
The man applauded. "Then you ought to be at your kingdom, ruling".
"The ghost slayers attacked", blurted Ash.
That sentence made the man curse under his breath.
"Those sons of a-", he paused. "So you guys used the well and you came here?".
Ash nodded in the affirmative.
Rhett looked surprised. "How do you know all this?", he asked.
"I was once the hand of the former king", said the man. "Actually, my name is Therion".
Rhett had to gap and ash only stared at his feet, his face indifferent, then quickly he turned to rhett.
"I guess he'll tell you the story".
"Long ago", began Therion. "I was once the hand of the king of the dragon slayers, king lochan. We used to battle in a stadium as commanded by Slayerious. We won and were victorious, well, not until our king went to pee one night without the protection of a guard. He suddenly vanished but I suspected the king of the ghost slayers had abducted him and killed him or something like that but they denied. And then, our village fell apart and out of depression I entered the well and came to this world to live in".
"What about Slayerious, isn't he or she lord of the Slayer's domain?. Why didn't it help".
"Oh Slayerious. The entity is only active in making us suffer, so when we slayers fight ourselves, he does nothing".
Rhett shrugged. "Oh' kay. But now that they have invaded the kingdom and we enter the well to this world, how do we go back".
Therion stood up. "You want to go back?, to that tattered, good for nothing world. Why don't you stay here".
Rhett gave out an inconvenient laugh. "This place is far worse. It's more dilapidated and inhumanly to live here".
Therion gave out a weird laughter, one that made Ash uncomfortable. For all he and rhett knew, therion was now behaving like a psychopath.
"Only if you go outside", therion said fiercely. "Inside, you're safe and-".
"Lonely", Ash interrupted. "C'mon therion. This isn't life. You'd die of loneliness here, I mean, spending the whole day without speaking to anyone and dreading to go outside because of monsters".
Therion suddenly paused and looked at them in the eyes.
"Where do you guys intend to go?", he asked.
Ash couldn't answer this because he didn't know where they would go.
"I know of a friend who would help us", Rhett said.
Therion clapped his hands together and then rested them gingerly under his chin.
"You know the big clock?", he asked them.
Ash nodded slowly. "I guess".
"It's made of bricks", therion said. "So get on it, hold the edges and climb, then, at the back of the clock is a wrist watch. You'll have to look for it well before you'll be able to see it", he paused.
Rhett stretched his face forward. "Then?"
"Break it to pieces and then a portal will appear, which you must enter quickly and it'll take you to the slayer's domain".
Ash and Rhett quickly stood up in unison, Rhett extending his right hand to therion for a handshake. Therion stood up and smiled at rhett, and then said with a wise smile:
"I can't shake you, m'lord. In the ancient dragon slayers tradition, a former hand of the king is rebuked to shake the current king after at least a decade. And frankly, it's been almost five decades since the last last king vanished".
Therion went to the door and unbolted it, then smiling he slightly bowed:
"Goodbye my king, till we meet again".
Opening the door quickly, Rhett and ash brisky leapt outside and they heard, together with the bolting of the door:
"Be safe, I hope you don't encounter monsters!".
The wind outside was sharp and tense and rhett and ash shivered as they went up the sidewalk, rhett hands in his jacket, removing the sword he had hidden there.
They walked near the walls, their faces hard and quite unruffled.
Ash quickly broke the silence. "Where do you intend we go when we get back to the slayer's domain? Won't you love to go back home, back to earth?".
Rhett smiled and with a hard and determined face he stared at Ash who was for a while startled by the boldness.
"I have no home on earth. I am now king of the dragon slayers and as my duty, I must be there for them. But now there's no body to be there for, even if they still remain, it's few. Now, I must go back, ask for help from Dhamsel and avenge the dragon slayers kingdom. Even though it means slaying the lord of the slayer's domain, Slayerious!".
Ash was shocked, this was the first time Rhett became king (even though it hasn't reached a week) that he was as bold and determined as he was now and to be frank, ash loved it.