“I will dwell on this concern,” Fren said, turning to pace two strides that took him several feet away. “That injury should have been impossible, but clearly it is not. Dreams can be breached, but not in a way to cause physical damage to you or your soul without your consent?”

“I’m sure I didn’t give it consent.”

Fren nodded, knowing I was skilled enough to recognize if I had. “Did you allow its control over you?”

“No, I—” I paused, considering the fear I’d felt. This dream had been more realistic. I’d been conscious, able to cast spells, but unable to awake. I knew the daemon had gotten to me at some level in order to manage it. “I showed fear, at the end. There was no way I couldn’t with what the daemon was able to do.”

“We need to train more, so you can resist,” Fren said, returning to stand before me.

“—Even with that, it shouldn’t be able to do this. We’re clearly missing something,” I said, knowing from my tense shoulders I was getting too heated and Fren didn’t deserve it. I knew I was frustrated at the truth of his words, despite years of training, I’d been a little more casual the past few years and now I had a problem I wasn’t ready for. I hated anything I didn’t have the power to confront head-on, or that was mired in half-known details.

“Cal, do not neglect to forge yourself.”

“I’m not. I haven’t.” I said, feeling my anger come right back even though a part of me knew he was right. “I work on new spells, my artificery, cleansing and purifying my core all the time.”

“Once or twice a week—”

“Fine,” I said, throwing my hands up. “I’ll train more but I don’t see it helping much with this. It’s a literal daemon in my dreams.” I groaned knowing Fren would hold me to it. But the truth was, I was scared. I had been pretty lax with training since ‘graduating’. But I had bills to pay, a store to run, a life to try and live. I’d missed too much already. Plus, wasting my time with training wasn’t saving people from actual threats. With the strict training regimen I’d had during high school, then the three years of supplemental training, history, and spell theory after, I’d basically been continuously busy and worn thin until becoming a full-fledged wizard. I’d wanted a break, a little time to see what I’d missed, to make friends and enjoy life again. I’d figured a little time taking things easier was in order. But now… Now I needed to be stronger, and I wished I hadn’t wasted so much time.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

“Did you complete your task?” Fren asked, eyes growing wide. He was very expressive, even when he was simply in a plant body and not his current humanoid simulacra.

“No. Whatever attacked the hikers—If it was a creature from our side of the street, it wasn’t around anymore.”

“It moves quickly. It hungers,” Fren said with a nod. “But you are unsure about its being?”

“Yeah. The site was too old, too disturbed. Plenty of death energy ramped up with fear and anger. I know it killed its victim, but I couldn’t get a clearer picture.”

Fren had been the one to warn me about the danger in the woods weeks ago, but the forests were always full of danger, both magical and mundane. His ‘source’, literally the Boise National Forest, while helpful wasn’t very specific. I hadn’t thought it needed my attention until more details were released in the paper.

“More will die unless you halt its path.”

“I know, I know,” I said, hoping to stop the sadness in my friend’s voice. He hated any loss of life. “I just panicked. I need to get off whatever this Daemon’s radar is, so I can get along with my life and focus on stopping this threat killing people in the woods.” I didn’t mention fighting or killing the daemon. Neither of us did. That was far, far out of my current league and skill.

“It has been six months since you had the first dream,” Fren said.

I hadn’t realized it’d been so long. The first had not been much more than a vivid nightmare. Something I’d idly mentioned to Fren after coming back from backpacking. I liked to tell him probably more than I should because he literally had no one else to interact with… well, no one else human. Fren had perfect memory, remembering details and dates far better than I would ever manage. The dreams had grown increasingly real, increasingly terrifying, and now I knew they were getting literally dangerous. What would another six months bring?

I shivered, “It hasn’t found me here. We know the wards work.”

“Are your independent wards faulty?”

“Hell no!” I said, but I was beginning to doubt it myself. Something was getting through. At Fren’s penetrating stare I relented, “Okay, okay. We can practice those later too.” I didn’t really want to. Fren’s training could be nearly as horrifying as what the Daemon was dreaming up for me. Plus, I was still shaken up enough from the morning that I didn’t want to jump into training right away.

“A seed given all, has the weakest roots,” Fren said in a singsong voice.

“I’ll do it. But I was planning on going to Rex’s today, for physical training.”

Fren gave an eager nod, then looked side to side conspiratorially, “Return quickly. I have a gift for you.”