After having dinner, Velvet said goodbye and went back to the hotel to take a shower and sleep.

She was tired, and the food, while strange, was actually really good. T’s opinion may differ.

Well, actually, she had ‘dinner’ again, but just took it to feed the All-purpose worms. She had already paid for the food, after all!

Too bad the hotel didn’t have roasted snakes.

C said it was from a temporary shop, right? I should visit it before it goes away…

“Hyde, are you eating well too?” She hadn’t been woken up in the middle of the night by the munching sounds, so she was worried that he wasn’t eating anything.

“I can stay a week without eating, I don’t feel like coming out with him so close.”

“Him?”

“The owl. It’s a devil.”

“You mean Ud-”

“Don’t say his name. Not even on your mind.”

“Okay. But a devil? Not a demon?”

“That’s what I said. It’s a bit stressful.”

“Why didn’t you tell me that before?”

“I didn’t notice until you grabbed him.” Hyde sounded a bit annoyed with that, even when he knew it wasn’t Velvet’s fault this time.

“Ngh, I didn’t want to… But wasn’t C just manhandling him like nothing? Also, how’s that no one has tried to eat him?”

“Devils are on a whole nother level than demons. I would like to see a mage try. As for the manhandling thing… maybe they are friends.”

“Oh, I didn’t know mages and demons could be considered friends. Baraviodos didn’t seem too sad about Iren’s murder.” Velvet seemed to think a bit. “Are we friends, Hyde?”

A few seconds of silence followed the question.

“H-y-d-e.”

“More or less?”

“Would you be sad if I died Hyde? At least sad enough to cry?”

“I cannot cry, I am a spider.”

“Well, I’ll be the bigger pers- living being and say I’ll be sad if a mage ate you. Sad enough to take revenge in your name.”

“Okay.”

“Cmon, say something more!”

“Are you feeling lonely, Velvet?”

That made her stop for a bit. “Maybe, I’m still not used to the mage’s way of life. I miss Casrey.”

“You can always go back.”

“But I don’t want to. Not now, at least. I want to know why I have that dream every night, and what happened ten years ago.”

“I’m sure you will.”

“Hm.”

Velvet spent a few minutes looking at the ceiling, unable to fall asleep.

“Oh, Hyde?” She didn’t know his sleeping habits, but she was pretty sure he was awake.

“What?”

“Do you want some All-purpose worms to eat?”

“I… Yes, give me some.”

Velvet turned around and left the bed, going to her hat and putting some worms close to the ribbon.

A thin spider leg, blue and black, decorated with golden star-like specks poked out, taking the worms in silence, making them disappear between the shadows.

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“Thank you.” Hyde said.

“You are very welcome!”

“Go to sleep now, you have a gathering with mage hunters tomorrow.”

“... I had assumed I didn’t have to go.”

“Just don’t get tracked like an idiot. Know your enemies.”

She sighed, going back to bed, making sure to pronounce the next syllables very clearly. “Goodnight!”

“Goodnight.”

…

Something was wrong in the dream.

She realized that upon falling asleep and finding herself there. Velvet looked around, to everywhere that wasn’t pitch dark.

Everything looked and felt the same, but the feeling of something being different didn’t disappear.

As a knowledge mage, even a misplaced hair would trigger some reaction. Even then, she found nothing.

The chained man looked the same as always.

After checking everything she could, it clicked. The way her skin crawled, that sense of something wrong.

Something was looking at her.

The realization made Velvet freeze. Being used to always being alone there, it felt as an invasion of privacy, as if whoever was there with the chained man and her, wasn’t supposed to be there.

“You don’t belong here.” She said.

It was wrong.

Her heart started beating so fast, her ears thumped.

Something moved in the dark. She didn’t see it, she felt it.

I need to wake up.

The fastest way was screaming Andras name. Even if she got corrupted, it was better than-

“Andr-”

A finger pressed against her lips. It was cold, but made her body refuse to move.

“Shhh…” The thing in the darkness said. Without removing the finger, it started slithering its body towards Velvet.

A deep breath of air, not taken by her, caressed her cheek with a frozen coldness. As if that thing was inhaling air to speak.

Do not talk to me! She wanted to scream.

But her body refused to do so.

“Y…”

A sharp pain erupted in her chest. She screamed, kicking that thing.

And then she hit air, a different type of air. Something fluttered away, posing itself on a black staff.

Velvet gasped, her throat unable to take in air.

“A panic attack.” Someone said.

Sniffing, she dragged her hand on her cheeks, feeling them wet. Someone was speaking, but the only thing she could hear was her heart beating like crazy, as if it was trying to escape her chest.

Curling in a fetal position on the bed, she tried to take deep breaths.

Inhale.

Exhale.

She went on visualizing things she remembered. The feeling of her leather gloves when she put them on, the smell of Madam Dorna’s perfume, the act of filling a pipe for Viroa.

Slowly, she calmed down, becoming able to breath with relative ease. Tears still ran through her face, but even that was stopping.

“Can you hear Udulluay?” The owl had waited until she calmed down, staring at her.

“... Yes.” It was then that she noticed the bleeding. Four deep claw marks had broken her shirt and pierced her skin.

That was what woke her up. She caressed the wounds with gratitude, before noticing Udulluay looking deeply at her.

“You weren’t waking up.” Velvet heard Hyde’s voice. “Not by words, at least.”

“I wasn’t able to.” She tumbled while going to bandage her wounds, her head spinning.

“A nightmare.” Udulluay said. “You didn’t go to the shop Udulluay told you about.”

“It’s open now?” It was the middle of the night, but Velvet didn’t feel like falling asleep again.

“No.”

“Hm. Hyde, can you stitch these wounds? Or do you not feel like coming out with Udulluay here?”

“Pick the hat and keep it close to your chest.”

“You better not get blood on my hat.” She did as told, going back to lay on her bed.

“If you can have priorities, you’re half healed by now.” She closed her eyes, feeling the needle-like stabs.

“What was the dream about?” Udulluay asked.

Velvet didn’t want to answer that question, but the owl had probably saved her life, so he deserved some part of the truth at least.

“It was dark, and something was staring at me. Something that didn’t belong in my dream. Its presence felt like a real threat to my life at that moment.”

Udulluay kept silent at that.

“Did you call for someone you shouldn’t? Udulluay is feeling some remaining traces of a presence.”

“In my dream? I did mention Andras…” And that was day

“Not him. Udulluay recognizes Andras presence.”

Velvet then realized what could have happened. She had assumed there was no way for anyone else other than her to see that place. And since the only reaction from the dream had come from using Andras name, she hadn’t thought about the other.

Because there was someone that could appear anywhere when called.

“I also called for Lothrigern.”