I was dreaming.

My dreamscape was a sunlit forest. I sat down before the campfire to pray and meditate.

I had found that doing so in dreams helped me connect with my God on a deeper level. I felt His presence gracing me, and a feeling of peacefulness permeated my spirit. I did it again! I quelled my excitement to avoid waking from the dream.

In waking life, we had been escorting the merchants and were close to our destination. Nothing untoward had happened so far. I had just finished wandering around while astral projecting, where I had taken an excursion to check our surroundings with different eyes, and was now back again inside my dreams.

AnHelm shared Encouragement through the connection. I felt grateful.

I would never have imagined to be able to directly commune with AnHelm, The Spirit of Virtue! I had yet to tell Namrick and Grastel. Nothing of this would have been possible without Allen.

Because I thought of him, Allen walked in from behind the trees, he was holding a dish with steaming ravioli and tomato sauce. I could even smell them.

“Your favorite,” He said, setting the plate down before me. “Ricotta and herbs with secret tomato sauce.”

I grabbed a bite, despite knowing it was just a dream. I was a little disappointed it didn’t taste like anything. Perhaps I had to pay more attention to the flavor next time I ate them, so I could bring the memory inside the dream.

“I killed the Demon Lord, by the way,” Allen said of a sudden.

I looked up at his face, he looked completely serious.

I scoffed. Allen had warned me that dream characters say the weirdest things. “Sure you did,” I responded, a knowing smile forming on my lips.

The whole concept was so absurd that I couldn’t help but think it funny. We had a very long road before us before we could even consider challenging an average demon on our own.

Even the weakest demon was twice as strong as a human.

I took a deep breath and restored my concentration. I didn’t want to summon that monster from that time.

Out of the blue a thunder echoed in the air and the sky turned dark. I looked around, the dream was trying to distract me.

I focused my attention back to the campfire and dragged my hand across the ground. The physical sensation stabilized my presence in the dream, making it more vivid.

“Ellin,” Allen caught my attention. I faced him again, this time he was bound in chains, his eyes were closed.

AnHelm projected Worry. Strange, this was a dream, I had nothing to worry about, especially with a God watching over me.

“Tell Violet,” Allen muttered. “Danger.”

I stared at him a moment more. I was trying to smooth out a growing bad feeling, without succeeding.

“Allen, is that you?” I asked. This reminded me of those unsuccessful times we were trying to enter each others’ dream without direct contact.

Suddenly he opened his eyes and jumped against me, grabbing my shoulders despite the chains restraining him.

“Ellin!” He was yelling. “Ellin! Ellin!”

I woke up with a start. My heart was beating fast.

I blinked, confused. Someone was rousing me. I struggled to to clear my vision. It was Namrick.

“Ellin! Wake up, quick!” He hissed loudly, while giving my shoulders another shake.

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After a breath to collect my thoughts, I sat up, alarmed. The smell of grass filled my nostrils, I felt a little drowsy, this was not a dream. “What’s happening? Are we under attack?!” I whispered worried.

My hand found my staff in the shadows. The sun had began dawning outside.

“I don’t know,” Namrick said, peeking out of the tent. “We heard a loud sound in the sky but it wasn’t a thunder…” He left.

I quickly tightened my armor and joined everyone outside.

Namrick, Grastel, and others were peering up at the starry black sky. It was next to impossible to see anything in the darkness surrounding us.

The stars were brimming brightly on a clear sky. I could see no movement.

“I heard something!” Hissed Yusdrolir, catching our attention and pointing a direction.

“Who’s there?” Namrick yelled. “Show yourself!” He put up his guard, gazing quickly from tree to tree. A rustling sound, getting closer.

I prepared myself.

A silhouette of a woman, approaching. I blinked twice. Archmage Violet?

“Uh?” Namrick hesitated, recognizing her as well. “Archmage?” He lowered his sword.

Our other companions broke into a confused murmur.

The woman looked straight at me, with her pale icy eyes. “You,” She said, pointing an accusatory finger straight in my direction.

“Me?” I asked a tone too high from usual. Why is she pointing at me? What does she want?!

“The Kingdom requires your assistance,” She declared walking closer and closer. I instinctively stepped back.

“Uhmm… I’m on a quest?” I complained weakly. Is this a dream? Why is an Archmage here?

Grastel and Namrick shot me a confused look. I understood, I was confused too.

“No time to explain. You’re coming with me.” The archmage said with finality.

Before I could react, she wrapped her arms around me. I left my staff fall in the surprise, a sinking sensation, and a moment later we were flying high up in the sky.

“AAaaaahhhhh” I felt myself scream in sudden panic. My limbs tried to move on their own but her hold was stronger.

Then everything was moving very fast and my hair went all over my eyes. The roar of the wind was deafening.

“AAaaaAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHhH” My scream was buried beneath the fury of the wind.

And I passed out.

----------------------------------------

I opened my eyes in an unfamiliar room. I was lying on a comfortable sofa. I blinked twice.

Of course, I told myself. It had just been one of those pesky false awakenings. Completely had me fooled! Haha.

Though, my senses were telling me otherwise.

No, I just need to wake up proper. Haha…

“Good, you’re awake,” A female voice stabbed me from behind me.

I twitched and twisted my head.

Archmage Violet.

It hadn’t been a dream!

The wall beside her sported a huge hole, making for a bizarre sight.

“Wha? Wa- What? What?!” I stuttered suddenly wary. I didn’t know where I was. Had I just been kidnapped by an Archmage?!

It all looked so unlikely that my mind still was still on the fence whether this was reality or dream, even though I knew I was fully awake.

“I already wasted too much time and mana in order to track you down and bring you here,” She said, piercing my eyes with her own. “Every breath counts.”

She walked closer and I shied back, pressing myself against the soft material of the sofa.

“What’s happening?” I asked half cry, half yell. "Why did you take me?!"

“Lady Ellinoria, your friend Allen is captive in Demon territory,” She said. “I need your assistance to deliver an important message.”

“Huh?” I said, my mind going blank.

What was she saying? Allen was back in Valarest, safe and sound. Wasn’t he?

Violet closed her eyes and massaged her temples.

“A few days ago,” She said. “Your friend unwittingly joined a surprise attack into the Demon Lord’s palace in the Obsidian Citadel...”

“Huh?”

“... Unfortunately, due to an act of sabotage, aimed toward another enchanter, he remained behind and ended up finishing off the Demon Lord before being captured by the Demons.”

I heard the words, but my brain failed to understand the meaning.

Surprise attack? Finished off Demon Lord? Captured?!

I stared with my mouth open.

Violet sighed. “I need to confirm. Can you contact Allen Smith through dreams?”

I squirmed under her unblinking stare. How did she know? Had Allen talked about our dream experiments?

“N-no, Yes!… M-Maybe?” I stuttered.

Then it dawned on me. The Allen in the dream earlier hadn’t been just a mere dream…

“I-I dreamed about him,” I said, my chest feeling heavy. “He said he had killed the Demon Lord. Tell Violet. Danger?” I hastily relayed what I had dreamed about.

Would I able to get a full message across, though?

Violet exhaled slowly, closing her eyes to think for a short moment.

“What do you need to send a message?” She asked.

“It would take time… I need to fall asleep.” I answered meekly under her oppressive gaze.

“That won’t be a problem,” she said curtly. “I can put you to sleep in an instant.”

Right, Allen had told me that she had done something similar to him. He called it sleep torture.

Only now, my mind was starting to clear and take in the gravity of the situation. Archmage Violet would not go this far for a joke. In fact, rumors said Violet had little to no humor at all.

“A-Alright… But it’s not like speaking directly,” I said. " What do I have to tell him? How will that help?"

“You must tell him two things…”

What she said next made even less sense.