"Welcome back, Koga. I've missed you." I heard a voice say from the corner of the room. Blinking back the darkness a few times, I was back in that cold, dark dungeon. 'Guess that hoping that this dream wouldn't happen again is a futile endeavor,' I mused briefly before looking over at the source of the voice and saw it was Mathios with a massive grin on his face.
"What do you mean, welcome back? It's the first time I've been here." I lied, looking defiantly into his eyes. I wasn't going to give that bastard the satisfaction.
"We both know that's not true, Koga," Mathios said, walking towards my chained body. "I'm here to pick up where I left off last night. Think of this as a sneak preview of what's going to happen when I get my hands on you. Death is going to be preferable, I promise you."
My eyes naturally went to the same place that she was last time. A lone figure along the wall, shrouded in the shadows, met my gaze. Her features weren't fully defined, and I knew who was chained up.
"That's right," Mathios said, pulling a dagger out. I started to thrash against my chains, desperately trying to save her. Closing my eyes and trying to center myself, but couldn't feel the natural flow of magic. I was powerless. Powerless to save Ana, powerless to save her, and helpless to save myself. My eyes snapped open, and I saw Mathios put the dagger to her throat. The chains of the restraint were fighting me at every yank. The only thought going through my head was, I have to save her.
"It's okay, My Love. We will find each other outside of this cursed place." I heard the shadow say. The voice was distinctively hers, but it wasn't. It didn't have the same clarity that Anas' screams had the night before. Her voice sounded like she was doing an impression of someone doing an impression of her. It threw me off enough to blink, and when I opened my eyes, I was lying down on the floor of the cabin again.
I groaned softly and rubbed my eyes. With my eyes closed, I felt the hum of the earth beneath me and lost myself to it. That nightmare had taken more out of me than I had thought. The fact that this was the second time in two days wasn't good. I need to determine what is going on. I didn't normally dream when I was asleep. From my grandfathers' journals, neither did he, and when he did, it usually wasn't a good thing.
Starting with what I know is the first step: I was trapped in a dungeon with Ana and Amelia. Mathios had captured us, and it made me sick to my stomach. I couldn't use magic. Amelia was off, though. I couldn't make out her face, and her voice was wrong. That difference couldn't have been a coincidence. I felt my thoughts going in several different directions, and trying to connect the dots wasn't getting me anywhere.
'When the answer is just out of reach, and nothing makes logical sense, the simplest solution often involves magic.' The words of my grandfather echoed through my skull. His advice brought me comfort because the dream was magical. Then I could impose my will on it. I don't know how Mathios has access to dream magic, but it was worrying. I let my mind be still and focused on my breathing. Worrying about things that I couldn't change was going to get me nowhere.
When I reopened my eyes, I felt better. I looked over towards the kitchen and saw a coffee press. I smiled widely and got up. It had been days since I had a cup of coffee. I walked over to the cabinets and started opening the doors.
"Looking for something?" Yrak said behind me after a few minutes of searching. I didn't even hear him get up. These nightmares were making me lose my edge. That was his plan; he wanted to torture me in my dreams so that when I'm awake, I start getting sloppy, make mistakes, and miss things.
"Coffee," I admitted defeat and sat down at the table with my hands on my head. Although I was reluctant to admit it, it was a good plan. Mathios had been clever, that is for sure. Now, I have to figure out how to make sure he fails. His plan was beginning to work.
Yrak chuckled and opened a cabinet over the coffee press that I had missed entirely. He grabbed a glass jar filled with a brownish-black powder, or, as I like to call it, My Morning Juice. He opened the press and just dumped some of the powder into the bottom. After he walked over to the wood stove, he grabbed a kettle from the top. He came back to fill the coffee maker with the hot water. Yrak grabbed three cups from one of the cabinets I had left open and closed the door.
"You're just as useless as Justin was without coffee in the morning. Now, if there was no coffee, he was fine, but if he knew that there was some and could get it in the morning. Straight useless. Luckily, he got the last watch anyway, and I usually got the watch before him, so I made sure there was coffee for him when he got up." Yrak said, pushing down on the top of the press. As he did, the cabin was soon filled with the delightful aroma.
He poured a cup and handed it to me. "Go wake Ana. An hour after she's up, we leave."
Taking a sip of the coffee, I could feel the hot liquid wipe away the mental cobwebs from the nightmare. I had to talk about my night to everyone before we left. Yrak probably wouldn't get visited, but I don't know if Ana would. She probably can break out of the spell, but she doesn't have the experience to use that ability. I walked to Yraks' bedroom door and knocked on it. "Ana, Time to wake up. There's coffee ready."
I heard her groan a response and walked to my spot where I slept. Picking up the book, I felt it start to pulse with what I could only describe as excitement. It knew it was getting closer to the rest of the books, and it missed them. I picked up the Library and placed the book back inside. That's another thing that concerns me: how alive these books seem. Grandfather was right to study these books.
I slung the strap around my shoulder, and I was ready to be off. Hearing the door open, I looked back. Ana was standing there in front of a made bed. She rubbed her eyes with her hair all disheveled, with the look of someone who could have slept 20 more years. It seemed that she enjoyed sleeping in a real bed again.
"Good morning, everyone. Hope everyone slept well." She yawned, walking over to the cup Yrak had poured for her. Ana stood there for a moment, taking in the aroma of the black liquid.
"Fantastic, we leave in an hour," I said, sitting down at the table next to Yrak. Ana sat across from him and looked at me.
"I'm excited. It actually feels like we're on an adventure." Yrak and I both looked at each other and laughed.
"Ever since I kidnapped you, you've been on an adventure," I said, rolling my eyes at her.
"So, the rumors about you are true, then. I heard that there was a sorcerer who burnt down that town, killing several innocent people," Yrak said, looking at me with a cold stare.
"Now, there's a good explan-" I stopped and winced in pain when Ana kicked me.
I almost took up my bow to stop you. Then I heard your name. I couldn't kill my friend's grandson. Justin lost his way and found his way back. I can help you find yours, too." Yrak smiled sadly at me.
"So, your duty to your friend is stronger than your duty to the nation. My grandfather sure chose interesting traveling companions. I suppose my judgment isn't much better in that regard." I winced again when Ana kicked me.
"Don't get me wrong, if you weren't my friend's kin. You'd be 6ft in the ground. I killed a man for abusing a horse in front of me. Your actions drove me to the same level of anger I felt that day. I have no qualms about killing those who wrong others." There was that cold stare again.
"Let's go before this conversation grows more sour. We have plenty of time to reconcile why we did what we did at the time at a later point." Yrak stood, grabbed a bucket of water, and walked over to the fire. He threw the bucket onto the small flame, and the hiss of water hitting the fire and the hot logs filled the room. I stood as well, finishing my coffee as I did so.
I heard Ana's chair move as I walked over to the sink. I dunked my cup into the basin of water and placed it upside down on the mat on the counter. I turned and saw Ana with Yraks, her empty cup in hand. I grabbed them and did the same. I wiped my hands on my cloak and turned around. Ana had a slight smile on her face; her eyes told me that kidnapping her was the best thing that had happened to her in a while.
"There is one more thing I need to tell everyone before we leave. Ana already knows parts of this, but Yrak doesn't. I'm being hunted by one of the survivors of that town, and he has made it his life's mission to take me down." I said, not looking at my feet.
"I'm not surprised by this information; that's usually how that works," Yrak said.
"Well, it gets worse. Mathios recently got access to dream magic and has been in my dreams for the past two nights. I don't know exactly how he gained access to it, but he does. He plans to torture me in my dreams so I get careless and he manages to get his hands on me finally."
"That is concerning, Koga, but I do have a spot of good news for you as it happens. It seems that Mathios has his hands on one of the books from the Library." I blinked a few times after hearing those words. Of course, he has one of the books. A sense of dread started to fill the pit of my stomach. Was there a letter with that book? There was a letter with the two I had. It only stood to reason that there was. When did he find this book? How long has Mathios known that my grandfather is Justin Thyme?
"How is that good news, Yrak? In fact, that could be some of the worst news I have ever received. The person who wants me dead has one of my grandfather's books, who may now know my real identity."
"Well, at least you know where another one of the books is," Ana said, looking at me with a soft smile on her face.
"Good news, bad news. You'll get that book and figure out how to break the spell. Are we ready to head out?" He said, standing before the door. Yrak had Cala-Leigh on his back. I walked past him and opened the door into the morning light.