Karl Dies in this Book: Chapter 4

When I say this thing was humanoid I mean it  had two arms, two legs, a torso, and head on top. The similarities stopped there. The fingers were clawed, with the index being exceptionally long like a velociraptor from Jurassic park.
Where the eyes should have been two holes of extreme blackness seemed to absorb the light around them. A mouth full of shark's teeth and a flat nose rounded out the face. Completely hairless, its skin looked like it was constantly regrowing, all pink and peeling in spots.
The feet were normal but most unnerving of all, it completely lacked any sort of junk. It resembled a burn victim Barbie doll. Upon realizing it had been spotted the thing shrieked and tore off along the tree line.
"So how are we supposed to," I turned to the troll only to discover he had disappeared, in his place a seven leaf clover, "for fuck sake."
"What? Oh, shit." Karl was in the process of lighting another cigarette by now.
"Karl I don't suppose you brought a weapon?"
Unsurprisingly he shook his head and held out his hands apologetically.
"Of course not, here take this." I handed him the Mare's Leg.
"And what am I supposed to do with this?"
"Best case scenario is not die." I drew the Freyr and removed its rubber edge protector, reminding myself to get a proper sheath at some point.
Now I had a choice to make; keep my flashlight or use the Ka-bar as well. Two I don't know how to fight, oddly it never came up in daily life, so I definitely don't know how to fight blind. So I swept the woods looking for the creature, which thankfully made plenty of noise as it moved through the brush.
In not so good news it was insanely fast. I discovered this as it came flying out of the trees straight at me, knocking away my flashlight before I could react.
It must have also nicked my hand because a sudden burning sensation bloomed out from the back of it. The choice made I grabbed the knife in my left hand, holding it upside down with the blade forward. Terrible for fighting, but I wanted it for defense.
Karl fired two shots after the Rake, both missing. I gotta admit at this point things looked bad; eight rounds of 22lr, a combat knife, and viking axe were all that stood between us and a fear personified.
I considered what fear this thing might have come from when the damn thing started whispering my name in a child's voice.
"Roddy." Coming from several places at once.
The stars and moon had gone, some ways away my flashlight pointed at nothing in particular, otherwise darkness reigned supreme. So I did the only thing I could think of, I closed my eyes and did my best to listen.
From my right Karl fired twice more into the trees, surprisingly the second shot brought a howl of pain.
Unfortunately the damage must have been negligible because I immediately heard the thing rush past me to tackle Karl. I heard a grunt and the sound of him hitting the ground, a second lighter impact probably my Mare's Leg. A gleeful sound resembling a child's laughter if played through a hell filter came from the thing.
Hoping Karl was protecting his face and not wanting to waste the opportunity I charged towards the laughter, lunging the last few feet like a wrestling spear. My shoulder and right arm hooked a fleshy torso and I quickly thrust the ka-bar into the things back.
At this point I was forced to let go and roll away, doing my best not to axe myself at the same time. I came to a stop a few feet away and immediately stumbled to my feet. Silence.
"Karl?"
Nothing.
Now I began to wonder who a had just tackled and stabbed.
"Karl!?"
...
I ran for the flashlight, nearly going face first as my toe hooked a gopher hole.
"KARL!?" I swept the clearing with the light.

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.

Karl Dies in this Book: Chapter 2

Karl's lifted Jeep wobbled and whistled through the night as I glared out the window. Why was I glaring? Probably because Karl had shanghaied me into being his wingman, so he could be the hero for the pretty girl.
See Karl is also pretty, he is not however blessed with an excess of common sense. Which is why whenever he has to do something dangerous he brings me along. Finding things might be our expertise, but not dying is my specialty.
"So how long has your brother been missing?" Karl was shouting because the Jeep had no doors or a roof on it.
"He was in the backyard a few hours ago, playing by the trees. When I went to check on him he was gone but I found his shoe by the woods."
"Why wouldn't the police help you?" I gave Karl a death glare as I turned to listen.
"Because... I never went to them. If my parents found out they would kill me, or kick me out."
I felt a pain develop behind my left eye but we pulled into what I assumed was Krista's driveway before I could say anymore. It was a big, fancy house in a big, fancy neighbourhood borded by trees. Krista led us around to the backyard and showed us her brother's shoe. I shone my flashlight back and forth across the treeline.
Ever seen every horror movie set in the woods ever? It looked exactly like that. I hooked the Ka-bar to my hip, slid the axe through my belt, and loaded the Mare's Leg. I briefly considered shooting Karl, stealing his Jeep and going straight home but decided against it.
Instead I shoved the lever action into the holster across my back and started off into the woods. It didn't take long to pick up the kid's trail, the spongy forest floor mad, tracking easy. The thick underbrush also helped but made movement arduous.
I frequently looked behind to make sure Karl and Krista were still behind me.
Karl was dressed in a t-shirt, jeans, and skate shoes; already his arms and shoes were scratched to shit. Krista in a tank top, yoga pants, and those Toms shoes that look like slippers wasn't doing much better; to her credit she never complained.
In my Truspec 24/7 pants and heavy button down shirt I was protected from scratches, didn't do shit went a stick came out of nowhere and nearly gouged my eye out. I was becoming thoroughly pissed of with this trip when the trail suddenly stopped right before a clearing. I turned to tell the other two and cursed.
"Fuck!"
"What?" Karl turned, "fuck."
Krista was gone, not like fallen behind gone, but straight up gone. Like she never existed, both her's and her brother's tracks had disappeared.
"Karl."
"Rod."
"I'm gonna shoot you now."
Before I could react he stepped out into the clearing, forcing me to follow. In the center of the clearing sat a lone birch tree, disappearing into the black sky. At the bottom of this tree sat a little, green troll dressed in a burlap sack.
"Been expecting you, I have."

Karl Dies in this Book: Chapter 1

It was a glorious Sunday night, the kids were in bed, house was clean, I had a drink in one hand and a remote in the other. From the arm of the couch beside me came the dulcet tones of Stewie Griffin singing William Shatner's version of Rocketman.
"Who the hell?" I picked up the phone, "Shit."
"it's him isn't it?" Came my wife's acid voice from the other side of the couch.
The "him" she referred to was Karl, my best if regularly absent friend. Karl was single, in shape, attractive, rode motorcycles, and undeniably trouble. My wife Eden would often lament that we were bad for each other.
Karl usually only called if it was important, and answering was usually a mistake. This time would be no different.
"Hello?"
"Rod, you busy?"
"I'm enjoying a relaxing Sunday, why?"
"I need your help with something."
Now this in where I should have hung up. When Karl needs my help you can bet it won't involve moving furniture or vehicle repairs. It involves things that will most likely piss my wife off and get the both of use killed, not necessarily in that order.
"And what sort of help do you need, Karl?"
"Don't worry about it, I'm outside your house just grab your kit and come out."
The disconnected tone rang in my ear and I put the phone down.
"He wants you to go out doesn't he?"
"Unfortunately, and, he's already outside."
"The two of you are going to get killed, you know that right?"
I groaned and lifted mysery up from the couch, gazing longingly at the drink I had poured. "Probably, but if I don't go he'll definitely die."
"Well I'm going to bed, don't wake me up if you make it home." And like that she was gone into the bedroom.
"Love you to I mumbled as I grabbed my "kit" from the laundry room.
This actually entailed a CRKT Freyr axe, KA-BAR USMC fighting knife, and a Henry Mare's Leg in 22lr. I grabbed a SOG Dark Energy flashlight as well. This is why my wife is convinced we're going to die.
Karl's Jeep sat outside idling so I threw on my hiking boots and a scarf and I was out the door.
"Sup buddy, this is Krista."
Krista was pretty no denying that, with oversized blue eyes, black hair, a recent spray tan, and nice teeth.
"Her brother got lost in the woods behind her house and the cops won't help her so I figured we could."
"Please, I don't know who else to ask." Tears welled at the corners of her big blues.
Now, you might wonder why some random girl would be asking for help from the two of us. Well, Karl had the brilliant idea to post on Facebook about how the two of us were quite good at finding things, especially in the woods. Now we got calls all the time to find random shit, this was first person request though.
"Well Krista, you're in luck, finding things is our expertise." The click of my seatbelt closing my sentence before Karl's Jeep tore off into the night.