Crashing down

The gazes of Black Forest and Domenico met. The old wizard stood up and proclaimed:

"You truly brought me someone from another world, knight. I have never seen someone exhibit such a mindset."

"Does that mean that you will...?"

"Yes. You have earned the prize for the research of my spell. Come hither, I will provide it to you."

Elbert observed as the knight counted the amount of money received with a scale. He said aloud:

"They both look happy the summoning worked. Perhaps my new existence is a source of joy for others."

Domenico, the bag of coin and Elbert left Black Forest's residence. The knight spoke to the summoned youth:

"Well, since you helped me achieve my goal, the least I could do is house you. Accompany us to our hotel. I will book a room for you."

The monks let out noises of incredulity:

"Ehhh?!"

"What?"

"Master, he's such a bore!"

Elbert expressed gratitude to his benefactor:

"You shouldn't have. I would have been fine with dying of hypothermia in the streets. Yet, since you invited me, I will stay with you."

Domenico burst into laughter inappropriately. He then excused himself:

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! It's just that you are so committed to the bit that it's unbelievable!"

Elbert repressed his true feelings and thoughts. He wanted to say that he was being totally earnest, but it would have been socially unacceptable, so he held back his tongue. The knight chuckled and repeated the "punchline":

"Dying of hypothermia... Ha ha ha!"

The company moved through the city once again. Elbert saw Domenico making out with the bag of coin. This disturbs me deeply., he thought. He then turned to the closest monk. The robed individual jumped a bit, unnerved. Elbert attempted to break the ice with the human beings who saved him from death in a sense. However, his lower moral development caused him to offend them with his opener:

"So, what's your portion of the bounty?"

The monk opened his eyes very wide and replied:

"I beg your pardon?"

Elbert made his point clearer, unaware that the monks were just as understanding as him:

"Erm... how do I put it? What is your salary?"

The monk next to him stared at him utterly terrified. Elbert rubbed his fingers together and spoke:

"Money."

A different monk spoke his mind:

"We made a vow of poverty. The only person who benefits monetarily from the bounty is Mister Aldobrandini... Mister de LaVey... the master."

"What? That's so unfair."

Elbert uttered. He tried to justify his stance:

"You do all the work, he shows up at the end and he takes all the credit. What a racket!"

The monk next to Elbert defended his worldview:

"Black Forest is the person who laid the groundwork. We merely followed the summoning ritual step by step. And the master procured all our needs while we gathered the necessary resources and magical items. We are more than happy to dedicate our lives and further the plans of our Lord."

Elbert noticed the monk twiddled his index fingers as he spoke. His inner monologue said the following: Stimming. This poor fool is autistic. I shouldn't pick on retards, so I will pretend to lose the argument.

"It is as you say. I apologize. It was not my intention to lead you astray from the path of your God."

Elbert looked at the sky, satisfied. His cognition flared up: I'm such a good person. He smiled. But his joy was short lived. He spotted an odd glean in the firmament. He immediately ran with his initial hypothesis. Holy shit! A war plane. A bombing is underway!

He broke formation with his company and ran aimlessly around the town, shouting:

"Bombardment! Stay in your basements! Don't come out!"

The townsfolk looked at him as if they were trying to solve a level 1 crossword, so slightly confused, but more entertained than anything else. Elbert's brain came up with a plan: Now that I have warned them, it is time to ensure my own survival. He entered a building he picked at random. It was a lower income house. There were seven kids and one marriage sitting on the ground next to a cauldron. Elbert tainted the house with his contemporary presence. He circled all around it. He couldn't find the room he was looking for. He turned to the inhabitants. The patriarch stood next to him. Elbert reasoned. He must have got up while I wasn't looking. Elbert opened his mouth:

"The basement! Where is your basement? I don't want to die!"

A little girl innocently asked:

"Mommy, what's a basement?"

Elbert freaked out. His whole world was crumbling down above him. He engaged in cognition: These buildings lack basements?! Then, the casualties in the town will be numerous! I must shoot down the plane. But how will I even—

Elbert couldn't think anymore because the man of the house struck him down with a well delivered punch. Elbert temporarily regressed into a lower animal, afraid of the apex predator. When he heard what the alpha male had to say, he regained higher order thinking.

"Get out of my house."

He didn't need to be told twice. He left the residence in a hurry.

Owing to his erratic behavior a crowd of onlookers formed around him. But Elbert had to worry about the plane. He racked his brains trying to figure out how the bombing could be stopped. A lightbulb powered up in his mind. That's it! Black Forest is a wizard! I'll tell him to strike the plane down with a mighty fireball spell.

He pushed through the crowd only to find out Domenico standing in his way with his arms crossed. The knight spoke:

"Tsk tsk tsk. You've been a naughty boy."

Elbert tried to explain the rationale behind his rash actions:

"Look! Over there! A plane!"— the young man pointed at the glean he saw in the sky, now bigger and brighter. Domenico shook his head and debunked Elbert's theory.

"That's not a plane. That's a bolide."

Elbert's eyes practically flew out of their orbits after learning this information. The situation was worse than what he had imagined by orders of magnitude. Elbert asked, completely out of his marbles:

"What do we do now?"

The monks kneeled down and put their palms together. Domenico persigned himself and spoke to a higher being:

"Lord, may the heavenly fire take us swiftly. Lord, have mercy on our souls."

Elbert remained steadfast in his disbelief until the very end. Fools. I am enlightened by my own intelligenc—.

The rock that came from the heavens exploded above the town. The tremendous release of energy engulfed the surrounding area. There was no brick left unturned and no vegetation survived the event. The celestial happening caused hundreds of casualties, the most cited of which being the great scholar of magic Black Forest and the nobleman Domenico Ramazotti Aldobrandini de LaVey Amundsen. No records remained of the man who clowned himself while trying to warn everybody of the danger.

The end.