Kirrin was having a bad dream again. He had been having them a lot recently. This time he was finally back home again, but nobody recognized him. He felt himself moving forward slowly as if every step took great effort. In the distance he saw his mom and dad walking, holding hands with his sister between them. She was swinging back and forth and even from here he could hear laughing.

He tried to run to them, he really did, but everything just moved so slow. He tried yelling out to them that he had been cured. That he could come back again and they would be all together and happy. He yelled and yelled but no one heard him.

The nightmare ended as soon as it began. He suddenly found himself bolt upright in his cot. Calling it a bed would be an insult to beds everywhere. He looked around his room. His long lost uncle didn’t have a lot of room for him. The room was small, badly lit and damp. The walls were made of bare stone. The room didn’t contain much. It had a cot, a small desk with a chair and a dresser. It was also clearly an old boiler room. He had figured this out pretty early due to the massive boiler next to the cot.

He hoped he could leave soon. His uncle had been getting more and more excited so he must be close to a breakthrough. He had no idea what was wrong with him, but his uncle had been very concerned. Talking about his uncle, it was quite late for him. Normally he was here first thing in the morning with some new medicine for him. Kirrin was very impressed that his uncle was willing to work through the night for some nephew he had never even met before. Kirrin just hoped this one wasn’t so bitter. The last one had been terrible, it tasted of green and purple, though he supposed medicine wasn’t meant to taste nice.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

When the door finally opened, his attention was pulled to a completely new person walking into the room. She looked very different from the old man who had been treating him. Maybe he had hired an assistant? She certainly looked like a professional. She was dressed in a rather plain looking suit and tie. Any other observation was immediately stopped as he saw a brooch containing a single gemstone. A magic focus! She has to be a wizard, maybe she can help my uncle. Maybe I can go home! The words flew out of him before he even had a second to process that he had started speaking.

“Miss? Did my uncle send you? Did it work? Can I go home?”

She seemed to pause for a second and looked at him with sadness.

“No, I’m afraid not. But don’t worry, when you wake up you’ll be safe.”

Wake up? What does sh…. His thoughts slowed and he felt himself falling back into sleep. As his eyes closed he felt himself relax. He saw the woman walk towards him as her gem shined a nice calming blue. He just hoped there would be no nightmares this time.