“I am Akki, Slayer of—”

“I know who you are,” said Angie. “Jayden told me.”

Jayden was lying on the ground, wearing a red flannel shirt and black leather everything else. His hair was dyed green. Angie stood over him, and despite her best efforts she was crying. Jayden wasn’t just lying there relaxing. He was collapsed and dying. His skin was pale, and his breath was short and gasping, and four long gashes ran down him, from left shoulder to right hip. He was bleeding out.

The terrain was a hiking trail in the middle of the woods. A red moon loomed overhead through the canopy, and the oak trees swayed in an eerie breeze. A wolf’s howl broke the silence of the night.

Angie twitched to attention. “The wolf. The wolf got him. You can fix him, right?”

Akki drew her blade. She eyed Jayden and didn’t answer.

“I’m Angie. Jayden told me you could help if ever I had a nightmare. This qualifies.”

“I would imagine so,” said Akki. “But the damage has already been done.” She motioned with her arm, and out of nowhere, a large cloth bandage appeared. She caught it before it fell to the ground. “That said, I can at least do this to stop the bleeding.”

They spent a long time getting Jayden to sit upright and not flop back to the ground. It seemed to Angie they spent even longer fashioning the bandage in its proper place around him.

“What’s wrong with your neck?” asked Angie, halfway through the task, because she’d seen the ugliness of Akki’s rotting flesh there. “Why don’t you bandage it?”

“This is the dreamscape, and I appear as I would in spirit. The damage runs that deep. In the waking world, it is bandaged, so to speak.”

The woods darkened around them, and another wolf’s howl sounded. This one seemed closer, louder.

“What if there’s more than one of them?” asked Angie as she adjusted her grip on Jayden. “Wolves run in packs.”

“That they do, but we must focus on the task at hand.”

When they were finished, Jayden was on the ground again, bandaged, and Angie was panting. She couldn’t tell if it were due to exertion or fear. Yet another wolf’s howl rang, a long way off.

“That’s three,” said Angie. “So far.”

“Do you fear the wolves?”

“Who wouldn’t? But I’m more afraid for Jayden. You think he’ll make it through? If this is a dream, why can’t it just erase itself? Turn time backwards so it didn’t happen in the first place?”

“An image, once in one’s mind, tends to stick. But you are the dreamer and have the most power here. If you can command it with your mind, you could theoretically reverse time here.”

Angie tried. She concentrated and focused and did all manner of things to get it to work, but it didn’t. “I don’t know why it’s not working.”

“It’s difficult,” said Akki. “More difficult than many people are aware. Even for vitalians such as myself, manipulating the dreamscape takes time and effort. Don’t be too hard on yourself for not being able to turn the imagery backwards.”

“But it would’ve helped Jayden. He’s still…” Angie leaned down, putting her ear by Jayden’s mouth. “Still breathing, but it’s shallow. How’d wolves end up in my dream anyway?”

“You said you feared them. Fears, like wolves, can run in packs. They compound on each other. A fear of being overrun can combine with a fear of being injured, for example. It seems that’s similar to what happened here.”

Another howl sounded, this one much closer than the others. Angie threw herself over Jayden, shielding him with her own body, on instinct alone. So close to him, her body responded with a pounding heart and a chilly sweat, the dread of losing him threatening to overwhelm her before the wolves could even get to them. She clenched her eyes shut and willed the wolves to go away, to leave the dream, but she was answered by another howl, far to the left. That settled it. They were being surrounded by fangs and claws. Danger was everywhere, just like wolves in real life.

In real life, Angie found wolves and their behavior fascinating. Maybe that’s why she couldn’t get them out of her subconscious.

“What do we do?” Angie turned pleading eyes on Akki. “I’ve been trying, but I can’t get rid of them.”

“We cannot flee, not with Jayden in the condition he’s in, so we fight.” Akki drew the sword at her hip. Its blade was black, and a hunger emanated from it as if it had a life all its own.

“It’s gonna be okay, Jayden.” Angie was crying harder now. She didn’t have a single fighter’s bone in her body. She’d spent most of her life running from her problems or complaining them away, not facing them head on. “God, I hope it’s gonna be okay.”

Jayden groaned but didn’t wake.

A growl sounded closer than any of the howls. It came from the underbrush of the trees to the left. Its voice was deep and menacing. Rustles in the leaves sounded like static. The wind blew harder and a chill befell Angie. She thought of all the times Jayden had smiled, laughed, helped her out at the bookshop where they both worked. He was the one who’d gotten her that job, and aside from a few creepy encounters, it was a good gig. It wasn’t fair that he was lying here dying now, dream or not. What was worse was Angie couldn’t help him. She felt useless.

“Come on, Jayden.” Angie’s voice was a shrill whisper. “You can pull through. I don’t know what else to do but beg for you to come back.”

“They’re coming,” said Akki.

A wolf walked out of the trees. It hunched its back, hackles raised, and bared its teeth at Akki. That one had come from the front, but there were more. They all exited the tree line and circled around Akki, Jayden, and Angie, displaying that the humans were surrounded.

“We’re gonna die,” squeaked Angie. She stayed down, grasping Jayden with all her might. “Jayden, get up.”

“I c-can’t,” said Jayden. “Not with you laying on me.”

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Angie put her hands next to Jayden’s face and lifted herself off of him. “You’re awake.”

“Barely. Why’s everything hurt?”

“The wolves. They got you.”

“There’s wolves?” He twisted his neck around. “There are wolves.”

“Don’t overexert yourself,” said Akki. “You’re still gravely wounded.”

“But we have to get out of h—ow!”

“Stay down.” Akki flourished her blade. “I shall handle the wolves.”

The first wolf leapt into action. It came at Akki full speed from the front, teeth showing, snarling. She batted it aside with more strength than someone of her physique should’ve had. A phantom claw, much larger than the wolves’, formed itself around the black blade, seeming to be an extension of the sword itself. The next wolf came from behind. Akki spun around and batted that one aside as well. It yelped and hit the ground on its side, then scrambled up and away back into the trees. The third wolf had been at Akki’s flank and now circled around to her back, but Akki kept turning, pivoting with expertly precise footwork, so the wolf couldn’t come at her from a blind spot. Eventually, the wolf grew impatient and attacked from the front. Akki stabbed instead of batted this time, and her sword struck true through the wolf’s neck. She grunted with effort and twisted. The wolf fell.

One of them howled from behind her, and she turned to face the sound. Angie and Jayden were in the way. Akki stepped over them to act as cover and glanced back just once, giving Angie a speculative look.

“I’m not causing this, am I?” asked Angie.

“We’re surrounded, aren’t we,” said Jayden. He started to push himself up, made an expression of agony, and fell back down. “Shit. I really can’t move.”

“Stay down,” repeated Akki.

The wolves had scattered back into the woods, but one stood before Akki, its canine visage somehow wary. It was a brown wolf, and had a scar over its right eye. Not a scar from Akki. It didn’t howl again. It just stood there.

“Seriously, what are we supposed to do?” asked Angie. “If this is my dream and I have the power or whatever, then how do I use that?”

“You must focus.” Akki stood at the ready, sword out and pointed straight towards the wolf. “Focus on what you can change. The easiest thing to influence in a dreamscape is the terrain. Can you imagine it being a different place?”

Angie made a frustrated noise. “What place? And what if the wolves come with?”

“Steady,” said Jayden, wincing. “Don’t make it any worse.”

Angie stared down at him. He was putting on a good front, but the fact was he was bleeding through the bandages. His chest rose and fell in quick little bursts, not the even, healthy breathing patterns Angie was used to seeing in him. She took his hand. She had to try and help. Terrified, she forced herself to close her eyes and kept Jayden’s hand in hers, squeezing.

She imagined the bookshop. It wasn’t a conscious decision, just the first one that popped into her head. She saw in her mind’s eye the checkout where she usually stood, the rows of wooden bookshelves stuffed with reading material, the comics section to the right of her cashier’s section. She focused on the display of fifty cent bookmarks next to the register until they were in perfect clarity in her mind. Hemingway and Mark Twain quotes stared back at her.

A wolf barked. Angie opened her eyes.

The setting had changed. They were in the bookshop now, with Angie leaning over Jayden behind the register, looking at receipt paper stacked underneath the table where customers couldn’t see. Akki was near the comic section, and in front of the Ninja Turtles display was the brown wolf.

“Very good,” said Akki with true pride.

“Great,” said Angie. “I brought the wolf here too.”

“I wouldn’t be too sure,” said Akki.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

The wolf growled.

“Jayden’s injuries aren’t typical of a wolf attack.”

“It happened too fast for me to see,” said Angie.

“Precisely. I don’t think that’s a wolf.”

The wolf lowered its head menacingly. Its bulk grew, hackles raised, and it transformed before them, limbs extending, teeth growing longer, snout pulling back further to reveal a snarling maw of death. Its eyes turned red, and its ears bent backwards in a show of aggression. It became a hulking figure, more bipedal than anything, and its front paws grew longer claws.

“A werewolf,” said Angie breathlessly. “How’d I get one of those in my nightmare? Too many movies?”

“It must be a symbol important to you.” Akki stood guard between them and the werewolf, sword ready. “Which is likely why it’s still here. Do you sense or see or hear any other wolves?”

Angie considered. Nope. The rest of them all felt like they’d left. She didn’t know why or how she knew that, but she did know it. With absolute certainty. Funny how dream logic works that way, that you can know without definitive proof that something is or isn’t there.

The werewolf launched into an attack. It lunged at Akki and swung its massive arm toward her ankles.

She danced out of the way but didn’t counter.

Jayden flinched. “Angie you gotta leave me. I’m not gonna make it.”

“No!”

Jayden flinched again. He repeated his exact words.

“I told you, no!” Angie pressed him down and stayed with him. “I’m not going to lose you. You’re stuck with me and I’m stuck with you and we’re both going to get out of this just fine. Somehow.”

“Ah,” said Akki.

“Ah? What, ah?”

“Your nightmare isn’t of wolves. It’s of losing him.”

“Well, duh! In real life I love wolves.”

“Then the path is clear,” said Akki.

The werewolf snarled and paced back and forth territorially. It tilted its head every which way, seeming to try and sniff out a weak spot in Akki’s defenses.

“You cover him and I shall slay the wolf.”

“No arguments here.” Even though she said that, Angie wasn’t sure Akki would be able to do away with something so large and monstrous. But if her job was to cover Jayden, she’d cover Jayden.

Jayden flinched and began repeating his words again. It was like her dream had put him on repeat.

“Shut up,” said Angie. “Let us protect you.”

Akki and the werewolf circled each other. Akki didn’t allow it too close, so it turned out to be more a half-circle than anything, and Angie splayed herself across Jayden, listening to his heartbeat, listening to him repeat himself. She took a breath, and before she could exhale the battle had begun again.

The werewolf came at Akki’s flank this time, and she spun out of the way quicker than Angie had ever seen anyone move before. The way she positioned herself was refined, every superfluous movement skipped so that only the essentials remained. Akki got behind the wolf and slashed at its tail, but it scrambled out of the way and rebounded, leaping at her. She ducked, dove, and rolled somehow without cutting into herself or any of the book displays, and was up on her feet in no time. She faced the werewolf and danced forward, jutting her sword out with stabs every step, in order to herd the werewolf back away from Jayden and Angie. Akki’s maneuver succeeded, and soon the werewolf was up on two feet, its back against the display of Young Adult novels, and the bookshelf that carried them was wobbling, threatening to fall over.

“Mind the merchandise,” said Angie automatically, then hated herself for being so retail-trained.

“Of course,” said Akki as if it were a normal conversation. She moved in and the werewolf tried to back up but couldn’t because the books were in the way. Akki put her sword at its throat. “Leave this dreamscape. Leave, and I shall spare you.”

The werewolf whimpered.

Akki stared.

With one final chuff of its throat, the werewolf wriggled sideways out from under Akki’s blade and scampered down a nearby aisle. Angie felt it leave the dream in a shimmer of senses that suddenly made her feel lightheaded. She flopped further down on Jayden.

“It’s gone,” said Angie.

Jayden wasn’t moving.

“Jayden,” repeated Angie. “It’s gone. Hey.”

He still wasn’t moving. Angie pressed herself up to look at his face. It was pale. She couldn’t tell if he were breathing. She put her ear to his chest and couldn’t hear his heart.

“No,” said Angie. “No no no no no. Get up! Jayden, come on! Up! Breathe!”

Akki sheathed her sword. She came and knelt by Jayden’s head, an expression of concern on her face. She reached out but Angie turned on her.

“Don’t! Whatever you’re gonna do, wait!”

“I was going to assist,” said Akki.

“Right. Sorry. I—”

“I understand.”

“You do?”

Akki put a hand on Jayden’s shoulder. “He isn’t breathing, is he?”

“No.” Angie started CPR, cursing with every compression. “Fuck. Shit. Hell. Damnit.”

After eons, Angie stopped. It hadn’t worked.

“Why,” she said, crying. “Why is it that whenever I find something I like it’s wrenched from me? What could the universe possibly be trying to teach me here?”

“Perhaps,” said Akki. “It’s not the universe.”

Angie sat on her haunches and watched Jayden’s corpse.

“Perhaps.” Akki rose and came over to put a hand on Angie’s shoulder. “I don’t have the answers.”

“If you don’t have the answers then why are you here?”

“You called me. I heard the scream. A vitalian answers the call.”

They sat there, watching, together yet alone.