“So now what?” Amanda asked.

  “Now we wait.” Coal took a comfortable seat on the sofa, ignoring Jesse who sat at the other end of it and was eyeing him suspiciously.

  Amanda gave him a puzzled look but Coal just smiled back. His arms rested out to the side, completely relaxed. Casually, he glanced at his watch then he held up a finger.

  For a few seconds he just watched his watch and then he turned to Jesse. “I don’t suppose you could get me a glass of water could you?”

  Jesse scowled. “Get your own damn water.”

  Amanda raised her eyebrows at the kid’s reply but Jesse had his attention focused on Coal.

  “Very well,” Coal replied, not at all perturbed by the lack of hospitality. With a casual twist of his wrist a glass full of clear water suddenly appeared in his hand. He took a slow and indulgent sip and then he checked his watch again.

  Amanda glanced into the bedroom to check nothing had changed with Sirius and Kass, then she turned to Coal and crossed her arms.

  She was about to speak when he glanced her way and smiled. “40 seconds,” he told her.

  Then, still in no hurry at all, he put the glass down on the nearby side table, got to his feet, and walked around to the short side of the coffee table.

  Jesse and Amanda watched him with confusion as with another wave of his hand Coal moved the coffee table about a metre closer to the front door. Then he adjusted his suit jacket and checked his watch again.

  Amanda opened her mouth to speak and was once more interrupted as Coal started a countdown, “5... 4... 3...”

  He continued as he walked back around to the other side of the table. As he said the word ‘one’ a new figure appeared right in the spot where the coffee table had been only a moment before.

  The man was tall, almost as tall as Sirius, and just as wide-shouldered. Instead of dark black hair however, this man had fiery red hair, not that far from Amanda’s own colouring. His beard was a week past clean-shaven and his clothes were unusual. At first Amanda thought he was an aristocrat but his pants were too casual, and his shirt despite being obviously something expensive was far too loose and balloony for what most aristocrats generally wore. It was closer to the style the sorcerers preferred. Amanda couldn’t place exactly what he was. A warlock maybe? They often walked a weird middle-ground and tended to have less of a distinctive style. Or maybe he was just a regular witch playing at being an aristocrat and not quite hitting the right notes.

  “Grim,” Coal greeted him.

  Grim looked around. “Am I early or late?” he asked.

  Coal checked his watch for the 1000th time. “Two minutes late.” He smiled.

  “Damn!” Grim cursed. He fished about in his pockets for a coin which he handed over to Coal.

  Coal didn’t appear happy about it though. He frowned, glanced Amanda’s direction only very briefly, took the coin and pocketed it as if he wanted it quickly out of sight and mind.

  Amanda frowned. Had they made a bet? If so, it seemed Coal hadn’t wanted her to know about it. But what had they bet on? And how had Coal known when he was going to arrive? She hated that this all felt so planned out, like she was just part of some scheme and she was playing right into his hands with no way to avoid it.

  Grim sent a friendly smile her way. “Hello!”

  She returned it with a look that would have had all her kids immediately standing to attention and promising to be on their best behaviour. She was pleased when it appeared to work just as well on him.

  He widened and ducked his eyes slightly and then glanced to Coal for direction.

  Coal waved at each of them in turn. “Amanda, Grim, Grim, Amanda. And that’s Jesse.” He pointed to Jesse who had since gotten up from the couch so he could properly suss out this new guest.

  Grim held out a hand toward Amanda and cocked an eyebrow. His hand was steady but he was obviously unsure if she was going to take it.

  She did. His shake was loose but strong.

  Grim gave a satisfied smile, then offered his hand to Jesse who reluctantly shook it. Grim then glanced at Coal again. “So, where’s this weaver then?”

  Coal turned to Amanda. “Grim here is a dreamwalker. One of the best.”

  Grim gave her a cocky smile, a boyish demeanor completely replacing any signs of uncertainty.

  Amanda led him toward the bedroom and nodded toward the bed.

  With a more serious expression on his face, Grim walked past her and approached Kass and Sirius.

  Stolen story; please report.

  Amanda glanced at Coal, unsure about his plan but aiming to give a more confident look than how she felt. She had no idea if she managed to pull it off or not.

  Either way, Coal replied. “Trust me, there’s no one better.” In a much quieter voice he added, “That is the son of Gwendolyn the Great. I’d advise you not bring that up with him though.”

  Amanda frowned. She knew the name although she had never met the man behind it. Gwendolyn the Great was a living legend. An aristocrat who was known to have performed all sorts of feats of magic, spells and implementations not even the sorcerers could dream of pulling off. Even better, he’d been one of the rare generous sorts who had spent more time helping the regular people than seeking power for himself. Her own father had told her stories about him, about how he’d saved and entire town from a zombie horde or the time he’d single-handedly hypnotized a dragon to save someone’s pet dog. Some of them had probably be exaggerated but many had undoubtedly risen from truth. No other aristocrat had ever been able to best the man either. He’d been a true hero. Although, it had been years since she’d heard his name now.

  “Is he still around?” she asked Coal.

  Coal seemed surprised by her question and he simply replied with a brief nod, “He lives.”

  It was an odd sort of response to what she had asked but she didn’t press it. Instead she turned and watched the tall red-headed man as he assessed the situation. So he was an aristocrat after all. An odd one, but then, his father had been odd too. Not odd in the same way, odd more in personality than in dress. But perhaps this man was just as kind. Perhaps she had been to harsh and quick to judge when he’d first arrived?

  Grim knelt down on the floor next to Sirius and then he placed a hand on both of the sleepers.

  Amanda felt Jesse jostle his way between her and Coal. Gently she put a comforting hand on the kid’s shoulder. He didn’t shake her off.

  Sirius found himself in a forest without any leaves, walking along a winding path surrounded on both sides by hefty oaks. They were gnarled and twisted and Sirius could not be sure if they were dead or simply dormant. The path, if there really was a path, lay coated in mist. He only assumed it was a path because the earth lay flatter where he walked. Around him, small mounds hugged against roots that had torn themselves up from the soil. Despite the leaflessness of the trees, the mist kept his vision to only a limited range.

  The forest unsettled him, less because of its spooky nature, and more because it was not something he would have conjured himself. It suggested, that already, he wasn’t entirely in control of this place.

  But he pressed forward, focused on his mission to find Kass and bring her back safely. He wasn’t sure what the dreamweaver would do if he managed to pull her out. Would it try to hold on to her? Or would it simply flee in search of another victim. He knew it would be good to capture it but he didn’t hold out much hope for that and he wasn’t about to try his luck at taking one on. If he could get Kass and just get them both out that would be enough.

  Slowly he became aware of something moving in the shadows between the trees. At first he thought he was just imagining things. He caught a flash of something darting by out of the corner of his eye. He stopped and turned to look directly at it but found nothing there, and so he continued on his way. Until he saw movement again.

  Once more he stopped and tried to look for whatever it was in the less dense areas of the fog. Still nothing. It happened a third time and this time even though he could still see nothing, he knew he hadn’t imagined it.

  There were other creatures that lived in the world of dreams, things far worse than dreamweavers. For the most part he had been lucky enough to have only encountered a few of them so far. It was most likely that all he saw was simply the effects of the dreamweaver, a figment meant to scare him. But it was also possible that it was something entirely different and far more dangerous.

  Sirius kept moving and hoped it would not follow.

  But it wasn’t long before he could hear it getting closer. It sounded like something with four feet, moving fast alongside him. Still at a distance but nearer than before.

  He picked up his own pace and tried to ignore it.

  It moved faster.

  He slowed.

  It slowed.

  Every time he moved forward it moved forward with him. Every time he stopped it stopped.

  He thought about leaving the path but for some reason that terrified him even more than the creature in the mist.

  Finally he stopped and he turned to face it.

  This time it did not stop.

  The footsteps were growing louder. It was coming right for him.

  He braced himself.

  And then nothing.

  The footsteps reached him and they stopped. Nothing emerged from the mist. Nothing could be heard but the sound of his own breathing.

  Sirius stood still for several seconds until his breathing calmed. Then, with his eyes peeled open he continued on his way.

  Out of the corner of his eye a shadow moved. He stopped. It stopped. He gritted his teeth and then from somewhere among the trees he heard a voice. Kass’s voice.

  “Help!”

  Except it wasn’t Kass’s voice. It sounded like Kass’s voice but somehow he knew it wasn’t. It sounded right but it didn’t feel right, and it was coming from the direction he’d seen the shadow.

  “Help me, please.”

  Was he sure? He looked out into the mist. It sounded so much like Kass, and yet the hairs on his arms were sticking on end.

  He turned and slowly he continued down the path with no idea if he was even heading in the right direction. Then he heard it again. The feet and the voice.

  “Sirius, please!”

  “It’s not her,” he mumbled to himself, although he wasn’t sure how he knew. Except for the feet. Same direction as the voice. Why would she cry out for help if she was capable of moving?

  As he kept walking it kept following just out of sight. Adrenaline was pumping through his veins, his whole system felt on high alert. Finally sick of it he stopped again and turned to face it.

  The footsteps just stopped.

  “Come on!” he called into the darkness, desperate to have something to fight, instead of this awful feeling of waiting.

  But there was nothing. Only silence.

  More annoyed now than scared he started walking once more and once more the footsteps kept pace.

  Tired of the threat of attack hanging over him he turned toward the sound and this time he took a step off the path toward it.

  No sooner had his foot landed on softer soil than the footsteps started up again, heading straight for him.

  He didn’t wait. He moved toward it.

  Closer and closer it got.

  He’d half expected nothing to leap out from the mist again but he was wrong. This time it was something.

  A mimic, its skin blanche, its eyes white, its teeth sharp and primed, leapt right toward him.

  He took a swing at it. His fist collected its skull hard. At the same time he stumbled backward and fell onto soft soil.

  Rapidly he got to his feet. He’d hit it hard he knew and with his extra strength behind it. Nothing could survive that, and yet, he worried it had.

  Amongst the mist he could just make out a body.

  He got closer, struggling to make out any features. He couldn’t be sure, but it no longer looked like a mimic.

  As the mist around the figure cleared, he dropped to his knees and crawled forward in a panic.

  There, lying on the soil, unmoving with her head caved in, was Kass.