Karl Dies in this Book: Chapter 3

Upon seeing the little creature my immediate response was to point the Mare's Leg at him. It? I assumed it was male, if the gravelly voice was anything to go by. His? Fuck it, I'm going with male pronouns. His response was cover his fice with his little green hands.
"Away with your weapon, I mean you no harm!"
"Are you shitting me?" I lowered the pistol.
"Maybe, but you have to admit it was a good movie." the gravely voice switched to a deep baritone, his laugh echoing around the clearing.
"I don't get it?"
"Dammit, Karl." I put the Henry back into its holster. "So what's the deal here Billy Dee Yoda? Why drag us out into the middle of nowhere with an imaginary girl?"
"Well guys, it's like this, I need your help." The smooth, deep voice projecting from the little green man had a disturbing effect.
"With what?" Karl began looking around nervously.
"Darkness is rising and in the interest of balance every few years the powers that be pick a couple of random people to stand against it."
"What do you mean 'random people'?" I suddenly began wonder if I was dreaming or dead.
"Well you know how in the movies there's always like a prophecy or a chosen one on some shit? Well this ain't like that, you two, just happened to be in the right place and time."
"So do we get like titles, or magical powers, or cool weapons now?" I was in a state of excited and scared that is hard to describe.
"No weapons or powers but I can give you titles. How about you be the Viking," he pointed to me, "and you be the Spartan." Pointing to Karl.
"Well... I suppose that's better than nothing. So how are we supposed to push back the darkness?"
"The darkness manifests as human fears, the things that go bump in the night mixed with realistic fears. It's up to you to basically kill these fears while also finding four more warriors to assist you. Let's call them the Ninja, the Samurai, the Pirate, and the Muskateer." He ticked these off on his three fingered hands, cycling back through for number four.
"So how do we kill these fears?" I thumbed the axe on my belt absently.
"Same way you kill anything else, although powerful the fears are still physical beings. So, just use your imagination." His oversize brown eyes suddenly flashed to the trees behind me. "Like right now, gentlemen, meet the Rake."
I swung around, my flashlight sweeping the treeline illuminating a humanoid shop. The cigarette Karl had lit at some point fell from his open mouth.