Earlier…

Reiss had predictably fallen asleep earlier than he intended. Well, in all honesty, he wasn’t sure how exactly he slipped into the fell world of dreams so abruptly. A throbbing reminder in his head had been constantly going off as he was reading, telling him to wake Ginger up before he resigned for the night.

The dwarfish dragonling always entertained the approach of slumber on his own terms. But not today.

He was in Proin, reliving his magical day with his father, eating sweets, talking about how the first few Strides at school were going, talking about his halfling friend. Even for the small dragon, it was nice to relax and not bother with homework, with reading, with Professor Mara’s harmful glare whenever he (Reiss) asked him when he’d get a new hammer. (He’d destroyed the last one during Professor Lyall’s exercise.)

His father, as always, was a very good listener. He retained everything his son said while adding little bits of information about his own days at work. The most he ever sprouted without being prompted was how the Conservative Union was growing legs – strong legs. Their movement as a faction was growing terribly influential through the support of old heads – ancient members of the general dragon populace. They were so close to getting their first Eternal Mandate on dragon-kind passed.

“At this rate, the Bureau will have to pass the mandate just to shut them up. Though, I’m not sure the President will give in without consulting people like Antia first for support. The first Eternal Mandate will change the curriculums of all dragon schools, after all. Oh, sorry. You probably know Antia as Principal Phoenix, don’t you?” Reiss heard his father say.

It was a strange feeling, reliving this moment. It was vivid. A part of the dwarfish dragonling was aware that he had heard all this before – a few days ago, no less.

He had been about to respond the same way he did before, when…

“Hey! Hey, little imp! Wake up, for Argent’s sake!”

Reiss’ eyes shot open. The lights above stung his eyes and he squinted.

“Ah…” he groaned. His head was throbbing. He might have been hit on the head with a bat.

When he turned from the light, he saw a figure standing over him. The instant he spotted the straw hat, he knew who it was.

“Get up. We don’t have much time,” Ira said, whacking Reiss on the arm.

“What the…!” Reiss frowned when his palm tasted the cold floor. He was not his bed. As he stood, he looked up at the bunk bed to his left, then at his top bunk, and then at Ginger’s. It was empty. “Why was I on the floor? Where is Ginger? What’s going on?”

Ira sighed.

“Well…” he said and gestured towards everything around them.

When Reiss looked, he felt a glacier form in his stomach.

“Oh no.”

Many of his peers were lying on the floor, or hanging oddly from their beds. It was clear that some of them had simply collapsed on the floor while they were going to their beds or to the study. Some were still in their uniforms, slobbering on them in their deep sleep.

The idea stuck to Reiss’ mind at once, but he wanted to deny it.

He turned to Ira sharply.

“It was Ginger,” the gatekeeper said firmly. “I assume he’s shared a lot with you, hasn’t he?”

“But... but I was… How did he… Where’s…!” the small dragon fumbled over his words, jerking in place and turning.

“I’ll explain, but first, tell me the beds of each of the imps on the floor,” Ira said as he looked around.

Reiss caught on swiftly. He didn’t waste a moment. Ira nodded in approval. The boy was sharp.

Ira snapped his fingers and the boys on the floor were cradled and lifted up by sleek films of his Kardia. Reiss hardly sensed it at all. Ira laid every single dragonling on their bed and then beckoned Reiss out of the dormitory.

Before Reiss, who convinced himself this wasn’t the time to geek out over the older dragon’s skill, could ask, Ira explained.

“As you can imagine, my job is to keep watch for outside threats on the wall. I believe I do the job competently,” he said as they reached the study. He wore a deep frown. “I spotted Ginger walking out of the Frost Mount’s Tooth. I immediately thought about what he told me – about the sleepwalking. I had just rushed towards him when I felt a wave of weakness like I was so exhausted after working without rest for centuries and would have loved nothing better than to go to sleep. It grew stronger the closer I got to him. So I backed away, ascertained the range it began to take effect, and watched. The range is damn big.”

“Range?” Reiss said, startled. His eyes played pinball in his sockets. “Is that what happened to Professor Alexandros back then? But… I was with Ginger that time and I didn—”

“Well, Ginger hadn’t refined his Kardia back then, had he?” Ira said as he pushed away one of the dragonlings sprawled over the study room floor with his foot. He couldn’t help but click his tongue. What was he to do with the imps in here?

Meanwhile, Reiss was massaging his large forehead. He couldn’t parse what he had just heard.

“So where’s Ginger now? Did you just leave him?” His face turned pale. “Did he put Madame Agathe to sleep too?”

“No, Agathe is fine. But like last time, Ginger avoided her somehow. While sleepwalking, he seems capable of sensing threats to him above a certain threshold. I’m a bit hurt by that, actually,” Ira said. He set some of the sleeping students in the chairs and had the distracted Reiss tell him where the beds of the others were. He started with those from Reiss’ dorm room. “I might have to alter their memories later,” he said with a complex face.

He took a moment to scratch his clean chin and hum, thinking. Then he beckoned Ginger towards the other dorm room while levitating the students who belonged there. They seemed more dead than asleep.

“Why are you so calm about this? This is really bad! Where is Ginger?” Reiss suddenly snapped as they entered.

Ira fixed him with a sharp look.

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“Hey!” a voice called to them. The two turned to find Vassilis standing among the bodies of other students sleeping on the floor. “What’s going on here?” There was a scarcely-seen look of fear and confusion on his face. He was even sweating. If Reiss didn’t know any better, he would have thought the boy had seen a naked ghost.

“Oh, you woke up on your own?” Ira said, a surprised look on his face. “You’re the imp from the Avecsalot Family, aren’t you?”

Vassilis meant to say something else before nodding at the question. He stabbed Reiss with a questioning look.

The dwarfish dragonling paled. He wasn’t sure what to say. Would he have to tell Vassilis of all people that all this had to do with Ginger? It had been a secret that even Caron didn’t know about.

Ira glanced at him and saw all he needed to see.

“Something unprecedented has happened,” he said to Vassilis before gently laying down the dragonlings from the study. “Do me a favor, would you? Tuck these little imps into their beds. I’ll tell you what you need to know after I return.”

Vassilis and Reiss had the same reaction. The former’s was a little fiercer.

“What?” Vassilis flared. “You’re not going anywhere until I find out why… why I suddenly fell asleep and dreamt about my mother!”

Ira reeled, as did Reiss, and even Vassilis himself. He was surprised he was even saying it. Heck, he was surprised that it had happened.

“What’s the significance of that? We all dream about our mothers,” Ira said with a raised brow… and then his eyes narrowed. “Unless…”

“I never dream about my mother, alright!” Vassilis barked and then he withered. “I just don’t. Something seriously wrong happened here. You have to tell me.”

Ira pinched the bridge of his nose while Reiss looked at Vassilis as though he had never quite seen what he actually looked like before. He never dreamed he’d ever see the dragonling so vulnerable. When he thought deeper about what Vassilis said though…

‘Wait. I dreamt about Dad. That’s not really rare, but maybe…’

“Fine. Come along with us then. We’ll sort this out when we get back,” Ira said, disrupting Reiss’ thoughts. He turned to leave the room.

Reiss dived for him.

“But—” he cried with desperate eyes.

“There’s no time for petty rivalries, and the last thing I need is for the Avecsalots to hound me for tempering with their child. So he’s coming along,” he said, prying Reiss’ hand off his shorts.

Vassilis, confused and angry followed after the two.

“I can imagine the Avecsalot imp isn’t among Ginger’s favorite playmates,” Ira said as they left the dormitory and turned to Reiss, who was struggling to keep up with the pace. “Besides you, is there anyone else Ginger really feels strongly towards? I’d have thought that sloth girl is one, but she seems more like an acquaintance.”

Reiss grimaced. He understood at once why Ira had been willing to take him along.

“She’s… she’s our friend. Her presence would help,” he said against his bitter, petty emotion.

“Really?” The doubtful look Ira gave him said it all. The gatekeeper knew a lot more than Reiss thought. He had good eyes.

The dwarfish dragonling remembered that day during the Breather… how Caron had looked all harassed.

‘Good grief…’

The trio had reached the Waiting Furnace when Ira looked up at the ceiling. He must have been seeing things the boys couldn’t.

“Wait here,” he said to them and then he stepped into the Waiting Furnace and vanished behind its wall.

An awkward silence brewed between the boys. Neither knew what to say for a while.

“This has something to do with Ginger, does it?” Vassilis said. It was barely a question.

Reiss couldn’t look at him. He couldn’t verbally confirm it either. He nodded.

“Of course it does.” Vassilis wore a frightening scowl and balled his hands into fists.

Reiss knew at once the dark conclusion the prestigious dragonling had come to, but before he could counter it, the Waiting Furnace opened to reveal Ira and the dozing figure of Caron.

The redhead snapped awake when she saw Vassilis and Reiss together.

“What? What’s going on?” she said, dumbfounded.

“Not now,” Ira said as he pulled them all towards the stairs. “The Waiting Furnaces are tagged after your curfew. Using them is like ringing a bell for Agathe. She’ll be here soon.”

“Then why did you use it?” Vassilis asked, frowning.

“Because – and of course you wouldn’t know – no dragon can use powers beyond a certain level in the Tooth. And also, I want Agathe chasing a ghost. We can’t involve her in this. Not yet,” he said and then he seemed to realize something. “Hmmm. Fishy. Little Ginger also avoided using the Waiting Furnace.”

Ira picked up his pace. He was rather fast even while pulling them along. At some point, all three dragonlings stopped making contact with the winding stairs because of how fast he was moving.

Soon, they had exited the Frost Mount’s Tooth, and Ira only grew faster from there. In less than a split second, they were standing by the entrance to the school. The box-shaped, gateless entrance revealed things outside.

The three dragonlings took the time to puke, drop to the ground, or grab the wall to refamiliarize themselves with what sweet stability was like.

Caron was the first to find her bearings. She blinked a dozen times and wobbled before facing Ira, who was looking past the bridge outside the walls.

“What’s going on?” she demanded.

Reiss steadied himself after her.

“Ginger...” he said before his cheeks inflated. He swallowed something he wished he hadn’t.

“What about Ginger?” Caron frowned.

“He went to the Beginner’s Den,” answered Ira as he turned back to the trio. His eyes fell on Reiss. “Like last time, I think he visits places that leave any impression on him when he sleepwalks.”

Reiss’ eyes went round in realization.

“So, that’s why you weren’t in a hurry…” he said. The others only grew more confused.

“Last time?” Vassilis said.

“Sleepwalks?” Caron gaped.

Reiss ignored them.

“But… How would he get there?” he asked, almost terrified to know the answer. “The Beginner’s Den is past the Moolber and the mountains.”

Ira scratched his neck.

“Well, about that…” he said, and he pointed at the sky. “He got there the same way you did during the Breather.”

***

Present time…

A semblance of relief washed over Ginger when he saw the four. He was even glad to see Vassilis. It was a miracle that he even managed to see them all through the horde pulling and pushing against him. He reached a hand towards them desperately. Tears nearly fell from his eyes.

“Please! Please, Reiss! Help me! Get them away from me! They are hurting me! They won’t leave me alone! They won’t let me go!” he cried.

Reiss felt something catch in his throat. The color drained from his face as he gaped. Ira’s grip on him grew tighter, telling him not to rush forward recklessly. He wished he could have shirked it away.

How could he leave Ginger like this for a second longer?

He bit his lips, trembling. His voice failed him the first time, but not the second.

“G-Ginger. You’re alright. It’s going to be alright,” he said, scarcely believing it himself.

“Please, Reiss! I can’t do it! They want me to-… Arghh! Please!” Ginger shrieked and Reiss felt tears run down his cheeks. He wanted to look away, but he couldn’t. He had to be the one to speak to him.

“There’s nothing on you, Ginger. No one is hurting you. You’re alright. You’ll be alright,” he said almost too softly.

It was hard to say it. It was hard to see it.

Ginger was scratching at himself with his fingers and nails while wriggling and roiling on the ground like a dying worm. He strangled his neck and pulled at his face, biting at his limbs and…

The look Caron had on her face was darker than she could have imagined. She felt her hands tremble. The nightmare she was seeing in front of her eyes… It was bleaker than her own. It was bleaker than anything she knew. She felt ashamed that she had thought she had the worst of it among dragon-kind.

Vassilis failed to mask his disgust. He drew a step back, unable to compute or sympathize.

Ira merely narrowed his eyes at the scene ahead. They were close to the range he had ascertained earlier – where the weakening effect from Ginger began to take hold. Unfortunately, it was hard to tell using any Pieyro he knew. He had to use his own body to tell. He hesitated. If he miscalculated and fell asleep, leaving the children here untended…

As he agonized over this, a figure burst forward at breakneck speed.

Ira could have stopped her.

He was glad he didn’t.

Caron streaked towards Ginger, and nothing stopped her. Nothing resisted her.

She had him in her arms before she could justify the drive that pushed her.

Ira sighed in relief. The instant he let go of Reiss, the dragonling rushed towards Ginger without hesitation too.

There was a desperation in his sprint. His heart collapsed, relieved and unsettled when he reached Caron and Ginger.

The latter was no longer screaming. He might have never been crying for help at all.