(Oct 21)

At around 8 PM, all the soldiers that were going to participate in The Grinch subjugation tomorrow met up at the city’s training grounds.

There, William explained the plan to all the soldiers (excluding some details) and things were all ready for tomorrow.

The city released news of a disease spreading through the city as William had planned.

Everything was prepared.

All we needed to do was wait for tomorrow and execute the plan.

We did everything as discreetly as possible so The Grinch or anyone not involved wouldn’t get suspicious.

Let’s just hope everything goes well.

I’m at peak condition.

My body is warmed up, and ready to fight.

And I’m totally calm… too calm... like the calm before the storm.

I feel a strange sense of peace, which contradicts what will happen tomorrow.

I’m not sure what will happen tomorrow, but I am ready.

(Oct 22)

Last night, I had a…. very weird dream.

I was in a dark space, of pure pitch blackness and yet at the same time I could feel my body floating through this void.

It was a lucid dream; I could look around and I was aware that it was a dream as I was experiencing it.

Even for a lucid dream though, it was hyper realistic, it felt as if I was actually there… most lucid dreams are very vague and blurry but for some reason my dream was clear and vivid unlike anything I had ever experienced.

My dream started off normally, with me just walking around in darkness but then suddenly, I saw my wife in the distance.

She was smiling at me and I approached her happily, but the moment I got near her, she collapsed.

Her body dropped to the ground as her limbs fell apart and started bleeding.

Her corpse morphed and broke apart. Her stomach exploded open, and her insides and organs flew out of her.

She looked exactly like the corpses that I saw before from The Grinch attacks.

I didn’t even much time to react before everything disappeared again and darkness engulfed me.

But the darkness left as quickly as it had arrived, and my vision returned to reveal that I was in an unfamiliar house, sitting in a chair with my daughter Gabi on my lap.

I looked down at her, remembering what happened just a few moments ago and realized something bad was going to happen.

Gabi smiled up at me and fell asleep on my lap.

Looking around, I was in a quiet cozy warm room, and after brief moment of silence, I felt peaceful once again. I had quickly forgotten what I saw with my wife.

That was when suddenly I couldn’t control my body anymore and I felt my body transform into a dragon.

Gabi woke up and stared at me, who had transformed into a full-grown dragon and she just looked at me in horror as I picked her up… and ate her.

I woke up right after.

This baffles me, I have no clue what caused this. Why did I suddenly have this kind of nightmare?

Just yesterday, I was perfectly fine. Calm and mentally stable, preparing myself for today, The Grinch subjugation.

So I’m not sure why I had this nightmare, and why did it feel so real?

Was I under stress? I felt fine, great even. Was I subconsciously stressed and unaware of it? I’m not sure.

This entire morning, my body felt sore, my bones were stiff, a minor headache and there was something strange with my dragon essence that I can’t quite put my finger on.

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It was as if… my dragon blood is warning me of something or knows something that I don’t…. but what is that something?

This could not have had happened at a worse time, on the day of The Grinch subjugation. God damn it.

I’m going to try to forget about the dream. I will not lie, I am a bit bothered and confused by it, but I won’t stress over it.

I feel a bit better now after drinking some water and seeing my wife and Gabi sleeping well and alive.

It’s like 4 in the morning, so I was a bit sleepy but I forcefully woke up my brain by injecting dragon essence into my head to clear up my mind.

I’m going to go meet up with William now, I left a note for my wife when she wakes up to let her know I’ll be gone for today and to stay indoor. I’m not sure when I’ll be home or when I’ll be done, but it might take until late at night.

Afterall, William’s plan for capturing The Grinch is just a waiting game for The Grinch to show up.

William said to arrive at 5, so I need to leave now if I want to make it on time.

I’ll update what happens in my journal later.

.

I geared myself up in my best armour that I had, which was my elite soldier armour set that the kingdom I used to serve, gifted me after 10 years of service as a soldier.

It had been a long time since I wore this suit of armour, and it brought back a lot of nostalgic memories of the time before I got my dragon powers.

I grabbed the wyvern blade that Mona forged, and William gave me and then left my house. I headed straight to the cemetery and met up with William.

“Good morning Anthony… today’s the day.”

William greeted me, but his face was droopy and he looked tired.

It was a little bit before 5 in the morning, so it was to be expected.

“You good there, William?”

“I’m fine, I haven’t had my morning coffee yet. I’ll slowly wake up.” And then William started the operation.

The soldiers who participated were divided up into groups and sent into the city to patrol as planned.

I was to stay at the cemetery to release my dragon essence to lure The Grinch and help fight The Grinch if/when it does show up.

There are several other people who are also here at the cemetery with me like William, a couple other soldiers and even Sven whom I completely forgot about.

I recommended Sven to come to the city after the assassin attack because his abilities would be useful, but I kinda… forgot about him…

“Anthony! How you doing?”

“Oh, fine. It’s nice to see you again.”

“Yeah… you, kind of… forgot about me. You told me to come to the city and help you guys, but then you didn’t meet up with me and just completely left me alone here by myself.”

I felt like an asshole, I did tell him to come here and I didn’t even show him around or anything.

“Sorry man, I was… distracted by recent events. Things happened.”

“I understand… The Grinch, huh? I come to the city for the first time and the first thing I hear about is a psychotic green serial killer running around.”

“Speaking of which, you’re participating in The Grinch subjugation?”

Sven nodded and pointed a small badge on the chest area of his uniform he was wearing.

“I’m a commanding officer, I joined the military from your recommendation and got promoted.”

Sven… was promoted. He was a commanding officer… already.

That means he technically has a higher position of status than me, whom was still just an ordinary soldier.

“Haha! That means I’m your superior! From now on, call me Commander Sven!” He said arrogantly with a smug on his face.

We joked around for a bit together before we eventually got serious again.

“I was promoted due to my ability to mind read and to be able to telepathically communicate with other people. Even if I’m not a good fighter, I’m extremely useful for relaying and retrieving information. I was able to prove myself capable of becoming a commander and leading a small squad of soldiers. That’s why I was asked to help with capturing The Grinch. I was going to refuse, until I heard you were also partaking in it as well, so I said, screw it, I’m in!”

Sven was never a good fighter, but he’s smart, and his abilities just work very well with his personality. He makes a great leader.

He’s participating in The Grinch subjugation, not on the front lines like me or the other soldiers but he’s going to operate from the back and ensure the plan goes well.

If anything goes awry or if any information such as The Grinch’s position is available, Sven will be the first to know and he will inform William to make adjustments to the plan which he will then relay back to the soldiers.

My confidence in the plan is now reassured even further, the two people I trust most (Sven and William) are participating and both are very competent.

Oh, and that reminds me.

I was curious earlier and asked William where Briggs and Mona were because I didn’t see them but apparently they aren’t going to help or show up.

“What? Briggs and Mona aren’t going to help us take down The Grinch?? But they’re strong, Briggs is powerful! He’d be able to nearly guarantee the success of our plan!”

“I agree as well… but the king doesn’t. Don’t forget both Briggs and Mona are royalty. They have an image to keep, and they can’t waste their times by personally helping us in person. Plus, I’m confident even without them, we can succeed.”

So no Briggs and no Mona.

Even so, I’m still confident. We can take down The Grinch.

We just need to wait for The Grinch to show up.

Sven left me to go to his position a couple hours earlier and right now, William, a small group of soldiers and I are hidden in an underground room below the cemetery. When The Grinch appears, we will blow up the ground and ambush from below.

.

It’s currently 8 in the morning. No signs of The Grinch yet. Based on the time, I’d say my wife is just waking up right now. I wonder how she’s doing, hopefully she isn’t too worried for me.

She’s safe at home, and Gabi is too. I don’t have to worry for them, nothing will go wrong. The Grinch will be captured.

Let’s hope for the best.

.

I’m kind of bored. I’m doing some basic mental exercises and stretches but still no sign of The Grinch. It’s 12 in the afternoon, so several hours have passed. The Grinch will appear… right?

.

4 PM, still nothing. I wonder what Gabi is doing. Maybe she’s playing with the magic stones I got her for her birthday.

My wife is probably reading some book, or maybe cooking dinner.

Can’t wait to get this over with and spend some time with th- wait…

I feel something.

Every single hair on my body is standing up right now.

This is it. I can feel it.

The Grinch.

It’s approaching.