As it so happened, doom didn’t actually come for us. I would have perhaps felt foolish if I could feel anything other than the dull throb of lack of sleep clouding up my head.

My aching eyes looked between the window, where the first rays of daylight were seeping through, and then to the elf in bed. Despite taking the view that we were way off the mark about an ambush, she had been unable to sleep. The both of us had remained quietly in position, on edge like we were in a trance.

The feeling that the other Guardian user was nearby had faded in the very early morning, but I still felt something was wrong. Not knowing was aggravating me. It didn’t seem reasonable that they would have gotten cold feet over making an attack on us. There was too much at stake and…

It was just a single word through my chat messages that filled me with life once more.

[Ruby: MAX]

I vanished from the room, appearing in the lobby of the tavern across the street. Both Ruby and Wolf were there. Both seemed exhausted.

“Max,” the goblin repeated, worry on her face. “I can’t wake Fiona.”

We said nothing further, partly because I didn’t have the brain space for anything lucid, and she led me toward the room. Wolf stayed put, mostly because the staircase wasn’t built for someone as wide as him.

Up to the next floor and then around into her open room. The fighter was still bundled up in the blankets. Still breathing. After only knowing her in the armor she usually wore, seeing her in basic nightwear was odd. Took away all that bluster, made her seem human. Vulnerable. The scars did indeed run down from her face, past her collarbone and under her sleepwear.

More important than that, however, was the icon I could see over her head.

My eyes switched to the goblin, who had circled around to the other side of the bed. “Did you sleep last night?”

She shook her head, looking equally as odd in a nightgown. “Stayed up late to work on my alchemy, and then couldn’t drift off.”

I nodded and went to the Guild chat.

[Max: Report in.]

[Ren: Here.]

[Wolf: swww]

[Ruby: Here.]

[Quinn: awake^]

[Tanya: Here.]

I waited for five more seconds, but no further replies came in. Sure, it was early in the morning. Far earlier than people would usually be up. I was beginning to put some of the puzzle pieces together, and didn’t expect to see anybody else reply in the near future.

“I think it’s a curse,” Ruby complained, “but I can’t figure out what.”

“It is. I can tell you exactly what.” I gave her a grim smile as I explained.

[Unbroken Slumber]

[Soul-linked Curse: Target remains in a permanent state of sleep until the caster cancels the spell. Caster cannot cast any other spells while Unbroken Slumber is active. Targets become immune to Sleep if they are currently awake when the spell is cast.]

A trap.

I worked the taste of reality through my mouth. Something that was meant to incapacitate all of us. I was sure that whoever cast the spell wasn’t going to just let things go, and couldn’t attack us without breaking the spell. That meant they wouldn’t be working alone… and either went for backup once they realized they had missed a few people, or felt they had all the time in the world to bring a proper assault down on us.

“So we’ll have to find and kill the caster to get rid of it?” Ruby asked. She looked half tempted to go and find some goop to smear on the sleeping fighter.

I removed a scroll of [Dispel Curse] from my Inventory and held it out. It turned to ash, but the icon remained over Fiona. “Short answer, yes.”

This was a problem, as it meant that most of the Guild was now out of service. Vulnerable to attack. I found my eyes drifting around the room as I tried to piece together something that made sense. A plan? The exact nature of how the curse caught us up? My gaze eventually fell back onto the pensive goblin. It was time to lead.

“Stay put, we’ll communicate over chat,” I told her. Before she had the chance to nod, I was away. Now atop the roof with the sunrise painting me a warm reddish tone.

A dove landed beside me before Ren replaced it in a flash. “What’s happened, trickster?”

“A sleeping curse. I believe it affects the area of this town. Possibly some manner of runic or arcane trap that had been set. Those who were sleeping will forever sleep. Those who weren’t, cannot.” I put my arm around her as we looked out to the shifting hues of the sun illuminating the sky.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

She grunted and leaned her head on my shoulder. “We have to kill the caster, I take it?”

“Got it in one, moonflower.”

Ren took a deep breath and sighed. “Then next you’ll say we have to go find them, but we can’t leave the sleepers undefended. Wolf would need to stay behind, but I would say that he doesn’t have a way to protect people from ranged. You’ll tell me that I should stay and you’ll hunt the caster down, and I’d object, telling you that I am a better tracker and have a sniper rifle. You’ll insist that you go anyway, out of some dumb duty to keep me safe. I’ll resent you for it, but ultimately accept your plan. Then, I’d kiss you like this.”

She pulled me in tighter, gripping the back of my neck as she kissed me deeply. She moved away and scowled.

“I’d call you a dickbag and tell you I love you. You’d better come back to me in one piece, asshole.”

I opened and closed my mouth a few times. “Oh. I’m always impressed with how much we are on the same page. Here.” I held out a scroll, which shimmered as I pressed it against her. “This teleport is bound to wherever you are. If I get into any trouble, I’ll be back in your arms in no time.”

“Hmmm.” Ren held my face between her hands. “You aren’t going to say it, but there’s a chance the caster is retreating to Candlekeep. As big as your ego is, you still want the whole Guild to go against the Crimson Shadow.”

“I’ll leave as soon as the caster is dead. I know my limits.” While I smiled, her eyes tried to read more pages of my mental diary.

“So full of bullshit,” she murmured. “Come on then, Max. Get this show on the road.”

I swung my eyes away from her and into my Guild chat.

[Max: Everyone who didn’t report in is likely in a coma state.]

[Max: We need to move everyone into the tavern.]

Consolidating all our soft targets made them both easier to protect as well as putting them at greater risk of being deleted by an explosion or similar. It was less trouble than having everyone split around, especially as I needed to get everyone on the same page.

After nearly an hour of hoisting the guild members around, the six of us who were still awake—and now even more exhausted—were gathered in the bar area of the tavern. Devoid of any System-created other than a rather perplexed barkeep who was ignoring our conversation entirely.

I rolled out my aching neck, half wondering if I’d just drop to the ground asleep as soon as I stepped out of this town. No, I could endure. I turned my eyes to the fateweaver.

“Tanya, I want the proximity detection idols up. All of you need to focus on the defense of the sleepers, while Ren will scout from the rooftops. At this stage, anything that approaches will be killed on sight.”

I didn’t need to ask Quinn and Tanya what they had been up to, where they had missed the cutoff point for staying awake. The notion of it being one of her idols held no weight once I saw their disheveled appearance and sheepish way they had answered my sole probing question.

Not that I didn’t trust them, but I was still antsy about leaving everyone here. Between Ren and Wolf, there was little I felt they couldn’t handle. Plus, even if they got out of their depth, one message and I would be three seconds away from appearing back here. Not perfect, but it’s what we had.

That said, there wasn’t a face in the crowd that wanted me to leave. While they each carried heavy bags under their eyes, it was I alone who held the weight of the group’s fate. Some ego involved, sure. But I was certain one of them was about to crack and relent to the fact that I was the…

“Fine,” Tanya sighed and rubbed her eyes. “If there’s any one of us who can bullshit out of any dire situation, it’s you. That doesn’t give you the right to be reckless with your life. Understand?”

I looked amongst the gathered group for a glance of sympathy, but it was a hard sell. The toughest crowds just meant I’d need to try harder to win them over. I gave the fateweaver a bow.

“Trust me,” I replied, “I have no intention of meeting my end just yet.” Thankfully, I managed to reel myself away from filling that sentence with a few stage-show references.

“A lot of people depend on you right now,” Ren added. She had her arms crossed and had been simmering away behind a very valid scowl. To my benefit, I had also managed to withhold the statement that I thought she looked cute when mad.

The exhaustion was making my brain and tongue a little loose and frayed, however. The reason for her renewed ire wasn’t due to my vanishing act, unfortunately. We’d already made the decision on the roof, and that was deal was settled. The trouble had climbed back out of the grave once she realized that I wouldn’t have the protection of her aura.

An aura that protected me from Trauma, alongside some other important status effects.

Now she was certain I was going to return a bloodied pulp.

A little pessimistic if you asked me, which she most certainly didn’t. Her glare remained the second most effective, as Wolf wasn’t happy about my solo adventure either.

But what was I to do? We were fortunate so many of us were night owls. A version of me from a little while ago might have left Ruby with the others and taken my Party to defeat the Lady in Red. Even if something bad would happen to the sleepers. Now I was a little more audience-centric and hated the idea of further needless loss of life.

At least for those allied to me. Candlekeep would soon be snuffed out by my hand.

We said our goodbyes, my time up. I needed to try to cut the caster off before they got too far away. Candlekeep seemed like a valid route of escape, but they might have holed up somewhere else.

I stepped out into the daylight, and Ren appeared in front of me. Before I could say anything, she put her arms around me and pulled me into a hug.

“You’ll be without my Oathwarden protection when you’re gone,” she said softly. “Don’t forget you promised not to break my heart again.”

I held her. Who would have thought the grumpy foil to my suave charm back on the starting island would become such a natural part of my everyday life? I had spent most of the time moving the catatonic guild members trying to think of a way that we could go together, but it was too risky. We were putting the others before our own selfish desire to never part, and I hoped that the System respected that.

“Do not fret. The show cannot run without the full cast. I will go to any length to return to your side.”

She leaned back and gave me a peck on the nose. “No need for melodrama, trickster. Kill any fucker in your way, and then do the opposite when you get back.”

By the time I returned, it would be our turn for sleep while the others watched over us. Best-case scenario, our plans had been delayed by a day. Worst-case scenario… well, I wouldn’t think about that.

Ren moved away, and I gave her what I hoped was a convincing smile.

Although some part of my heart ached, I jumped up into the air, landing atop my summoned patron sword as if it was a hoverboard.

With a tip of my hat, I flew away from all my friends and safety. It was time to hunt.