Richard partly woke up. The plane ride was getting rougher. He didn't open his eyes, but a terrible thought rose in the back of his head; something bad was going to happen.

He moved in his seat, opened his eyes and looked around. The airplane around him looked...wrong, somehow. Warped. The carpet on the floor of the airplane looked worn and faded, the seats looked like they'd lost all color, the air itself looked darker than it should somehow.

A voice came from the intercom. “This is the captain speaking. You are going to die. All passengers need to be seated and buckled in. You are going to die. We are going to make an emergency landing. You are going to die...”

Richard reached out and touched the airplane seat in front of him. He heard the wind shrieking past the window, and could feel hail tearing into the airplane’s engines.

I CAN SAVE YOU, PULL YOU INTO ANOTHER WORLD. YOU WILL BE MY HERO...WAIT...NO. YOU ARE NOT THE ONE.

“I can help!” Richard screamed. “I can...”

FORGIVE ME. I CAN NOT HELP YOU. YOU ARE NOT A HERO.

The air in front of Richard shimmered for a second, then returned to normal. Richard could see the airplane starting to crumble around him, massive holes opened up in the floor somehow.

The stewardess calmly walked down the aisle of the airplane, causally walking around the holes in the floor. Richard looked up at her and saw that the right side of her face was blackened and corrupted, her lips pulled back on that side, revealing sharp teeth. She half-smiled with the side of her face that was still covered in skin.

“Would you like coffee? Soda? A way out of here?”

Richard froze in his seat.

“If you stay here, you are going to die. Your gods are not going to help you now. But if you join us, we can still save you.” She reached out a thin, boney hand, skin strangely wrinkled and withered, long uncut fingernails were grown out inches past her fingertips and curved into talons.“Take my hand. It is the only way.”

Richard drew back. “No!” He reached forward and slammed the base of fist down onto the back of the seat in front of him where there was supposed to be a portal, a way out...

Richard woke up, sitting bolt upright out of a deep sleep, the word “No” still on his lips. It took him a second to orient himself and remember where he was, lying on some blankets on the floor of Harry's farm house. It was still dark out, and Evelyn was looking down at him from chair where she'd been sitting. He glanced around, and it looked like he at least hadn't woken up anyone else by talking in his sleep.

He sighed, and decided he wasn't going to get back to sleep, so he carefully got up and quietly walked over next to Evelyn. She'd moved her chair over by the window to a place where she had a good view of the path coming up towards the house and was clearly taking her turn on the watch.

“Bad dreams?” she asked quietly.

He nodded and sat down next to her. His heart was still racing from the dream.

They sat there quietly for a while, with Richard just looking out the window and thinking.

“I'm going to go and take a quick walk around the outside of the house. Want to come?”

Richard nodded, and they walked outside.

As they walked around the house, darkness lit only by dim light of the quarter moon and the dim light coming from the house, Evelyn spoke quietly. “I was afraid that I'd left you to die in the forest.”

Richard waited for a minute, not sure how to respond. “Us separating was the right move. We wouldn't have been able to avoid them if we'd stayed together.”

“I know, and it sounds like you were fine on your own. But I didn't know that you would be.” She paused. “It felt like I was leaving you to die, lost in the forest on your own, to save my own skin. I felt like a coward.”

They walked some more, in the quiet darkness. Finally, Richard said “The dogs were after you, not me. I felt like I was the one being selfish, letting the dogs chase you while I hid. I wanted to go back and protect you, especially when I saw smoke, but I didn't.”

She looked at him, and in the dim light, Richard could see a faint smile on her face. “Maybe we both just need to have more confidence in each other. Tell you what. Next time we get in trouble, trust me to be able to take care of myself, and I'll trust you to do the same. Deal?”

Richard smiled. “Deal”. She reached her hand out, and he shook it.

After they finished walking around the house, not seeing anything of note, they went back inside. She went back to her position by the front window, and he sat back down next to her. He felt surprisingly comfortable around Evelyn, for her being someone he had only met a few days before, and they sat there quietly and watched the sun rise.

A few hours later, after everyone else had woken up and Harry had cooked up some oats and eggs for everyone, Richard and Jehan walked back to town to try and investigate to see if they could learn more about the summoner.

As they were approching the town, Jehan turned to Richard. "Do you expect to find the summoner?"

Richard snorted. "Hardly. He may have fled town, or maybe he just found a deep hole to hide in. He certainly wouldn't be hanging out near the spot of the attack; I'm sure he just sent those things after us to distract us and cover his escape. Maybe we can find a clue though, or talk to someone who saw what happened."

Jehan nodded. "Good. I hoped you were being realistic in your expectations."

As soon as they got into town, the first place they went was the inn. While the guards had left and the bodies were gone, the place was closed and was still a mess. A couple of people were inside cleaning up, and there were still blood stains on the floor.

Alana recognized them immediately. “Jehan! Richard! I was so relieved to hear you two made it out ok. And I heard you helped kill those things that attacked?”

Jehan nodded. “Yes, and we're trying to find out more about what happened and where they came from. Did you see what happened here yesterday?”

“I heard some yelling down the street, someone said that monsters were coming, and everyone started running outside and yelling. Everyone went pouring out of the inn into the street, saw what was there, and turned and ran. I did the same thing.” She shook her head. “If I had stayed in the Inn and barred the door, it might have kept those things out, but I wasn't thinking. I just wanted to see if there was actually something there, and once I did, I just ran.” She paused. “Most people got out of the Inn before the monsters got to the door, they weren't moving that fast. A few people didn't make it, or just didn't go when they had the chance.”

“Did you see where they came from?” Richard asked gently.

“Yeah. They came from around the corner, from that alley over there.” She pointed. “They were moving in a group...I expected them to break apart and start chasing people down, but it seemed like they all just wanted to get inside the Inn for some reason.”

Richard nodded. “Did you see anyone down there? Anyone come out of that alley later?”

She shook her head. “I didn't see anyone coming from that direction but the monsters.” She paused. “You know, it was really strange; there were other people in the street screaming and running from the monsters in all directions, but the monsters ignored all of them, and just came straight for the Inn instead of chasing them. I wonder why.”

Jehan spoke up. “If anyone else strange comes around the Inn asking about us or anything, please do me a favor and let me know. The city guard think those monsters might have been sent to kill me, personally.”

Her eyes grew wide, and she nodded.

Jehan spoke more quietly. “Or if you just want to talk. This was not your fault, Alana. You did the right thing running away from those things.”

She nodded again, tears in the corner of her eyes. “Ok. Thank you Jehan.”

Richard quickly asked. “Oh, one more thing. That narrow street they came from, do you know what's down there?”

Alana nodded, and started speaking while clearly holding back tears. “It's (sniff) mostly the back entrances to stores, and a few older homes. Oh, and I think there's a back entrance to a warehouse down at the end of the alley.”

“Thank you.” Richard paused. “Our...friend, Red, was relieved to hear you were ok, she was worried about you.”

Alana smiled. “Good. The guards were trying to tell me that she was the one who summoned the monsters, but I knew she wouldn't do that. Right?”

Jehan nodded slowly. “I can promise you, she was not the one who did this.”

She breathed a soft sign of relief. “Thank you. I'll tell you if I hear anything else.”

After leaving the Inn, they walked down the street towards the alley that the warped men had come out of.

“Do you think the guards already checked this area out?” asked Richard.

“I'm sure they did. Still, maybe we can find someone who saw the attack. Later, after we've checked things out ourselves, I'll talk to the guards and see what they found.” Richard nodded, and walked towards the mouth of the alley. Looking down it, he could see that it was quite narrow, only barely wide enough for two people to walk down side by side. The buildings on both sides were made of brick and stone and were pretty unadorned; it was clear that for most of them this was a back entrance, and not one used often. A fair amount of trash was lying on the ground, some of which looked like it had been left there some time ago. At the end of the alley was a larger set of reinforced double doors, likely leading into that warehouse.

Jehan looked down the alley and nodded. “Yes, they must have come through or out of one of those buildings. Maybe we should go walk around the block and go to the front entrances of these stores, ask of any of the shopkeepers on this street saw anything.”

Richard nodded. “That's a good idea. I want to walk down the alley and take a look to see if I can spot any signs of where they might have been. Probably won't see anything, but it might help me to get a better idea.” He paused. “If you want to go start talking to those shopkeepers, I'll catch up in few minutes.”

Jehan nodded. “That might be a good idea. They might be more willing to talk to me if I was alone anyway, I know most of the people who run these shops. Just be careful, and if you do find any trouble shout for me, all right? I won't be far.”

After they separated, Richard walked slowly down the dirty alley. It was darker back here, with only a little sunlight coming in from above. Richard looked at the doors as he walked past them; most of them looked to be locked and some were chained shut. It looked like most of them had not been used in a long time. He didn't see any sign of them having been disturbed recently.

As he got towards the end of the alley, he noticed that the double doors going to the warehouse at the end of the alley were open slightly. He walked up to them, cautiously. Feeling nervous, he raised his hand to knock on the door, but the door opened just before he could.

A truly beautiful woman stood in front of him, with several armed men standing around her that looked like merchant guards. Something about her appearance was so stunning his brain stuttered to a halt for a moment. She was tall, with pale skin and black hair, wearing a light blue low-cut shirt that highlighted all of her curves, and a shorter skirt then he'd seen anyone in this world wear, one that showed off much of her legs. For a second, he thought she looked a little older than he was, maybe a woman in her late 30's or early 40's, but he blinked and got a closer look at her and she looked younger, more like someone his own age. She looked right at him, stunning green eyes locking with his, smiled, and she whispered something he didn't hear.

“I said, can I help you with something?” She repeated, a twinkle in her eyes.

“Oh, I, um.” Why am I acting so fuzzy-headed? I feel like I'm a teenager meeting an attractive woman, I haven't been like this for years. “I was investigating the monster attack down at the Inn, and was wondering if anyone here, um, might have, um seen anything?”

She smiled again. “Oh, how fortunate. We are also investigating that. We are here with the city guards, trying to investigate the monster attack.”

He blinked and looked around. Something is wrong. “Those men around you, they're not...wearing city guard uniforms.”

She laughed softly. He looked back at her, and she seemed to be lazily tracing a pattern in the air with her index fingers. “Yes, they are. Look again.”

Richard looked back at the men, and they were wearing the uniforms of the city guard. Of course, they were, they always had been.

Hadn't they?

She smiled at him again. “Why don't you come inside, and we can...talk.” The word “talk” was said in almost a sensual way that seemed to hint at more, and it echoed in a strange way in his head.

Richard walked inside the warehouse and let them close the door behind him. She was standing in front of him, with five or six city guards (city guards? a part of his brain was confused for a moment) standing around her. He was in a warehouse, with oil lamps burning. There was a strange smell in the air, and some kind of...circles drawn on the floor?

“Don't worry about anything you see in this warehouse. We've already investigated, and it's not important, it's not relevant, it doesn't matter.”

He nodded. “You already investigated, and it doesn't matter. I understand.” They were the city's investigators, after all, and Richard felt he trusted this woman.

She pulled out a piece of paper and a charcoal pencil and started writing. “So, if you don't mind, I'm going to ask you some questions about the monster attack.”

“Of...of course, that's fine.” Richard stuttered a little bit.

“So, who are you, and why are you trying to investigate this?”

“My name is Richard. I was at the Inn when the monsters attacked, and I want to find out who summoned them.”

She laughed softly. “Oh, you're that adventurer who was in the inn with the priest, right? I heard about you, you two were the ones who killed the warped men. Who was the priest you were with again?”

“Jehan.” Why am I telling her all of this?

“Jehan, was he the one who cast the spell that found Velithar”?

“...Velithar?”

“Oh, you didn't know his name, did you? The summoner.”

“Oh.” Richard paused. “Oh, no Jehan wasn't the one who cast the spell, I was.”

A man (one of the...guards?) standing behind her said in a harsh voice “Lillian, why are you telling him all of this? We can't afford to kill him here, it'll attract more attention.”

She laughed. “Don't worry. We need to know how much this young man knows and who he told, and he won't remember any of this anyway.” She leaned forward and touched Richard on his forehead with her index finger, gently tracing a pattern on it. “Our young friend Richard here feels like he only has, what, maybe 5 Wisdom? Is that right Richard?”

“I have 4 Wisdom. Well, 3.6 really.” He answered her question calmly. A strange warmth was flowing through his head, it was a mix of both desire and a strange fuzzy sensation that reminded him of being drunk, and he was no longer thinking about anything.

She laughed again. “With a wisdom that low I could leave our young friend here charmed for a week without putting any more spells on him than I already have, and he wouldn't break free of it, and afterwards he would never remember anything except what I wanted him to remember. Which is good, we might need him to help clean up this absurd mess Velithar made. I still cannot believe that Velithar was foolish enough to summon abominations in the middle of the city.”

The man shook his head. “Well, you know Velithar. Any excuse he can get to do...his thing. And you know the Duke will never let him do it on a scale like that in our own cities.”

She shook her head. “Anyway, not important.” She turned back to Richard. “So, you cast the spell that found Velithar, but you didn't know his name? What did you find out about him?”

“Only that he was a corrupted mage, and a corrupted summoner.”

She nodded. “And how many people have you told about this?”

“Well, I told...” some part of Richard's brain stumbled, and he tripped over his words. For some reason he didn't want to tell this nice lady about Evelyn. Why? This wonderful lady was clearly just trying to investigate the monsters like he was, in...this warehouse, wearing that skirt...

SOMETHING IS WRONG! a voice in the back of Richard's head screamed. The same part of his brain that first noticed that something was wrong with an equation he was working on, that sensed that there was a mistake in his math somewhere, usually long before he could identify what mistake was, was screaming at him that something here was not adding up.

“Richard, are you around?” a voice called out from down the end of the alley.

“Who is that?” Lillian asked.

“Oh, that's Jehan, the priest. We're investigating this together.” Richard said.

Lillian frowned. “You'd better go back to him, then. We'll continue this conversation at another time, love.” She leaned towards Richard and kissed him on the lips. Her finger traced a pattern on the back of Richard's neck as her lips gently pressed against his, and a bright white light blasted through Richard's brain that erased all thought for a moment. The part of his brain that was already starting to doubt, that had noticed an error and was trying to identify it, was silenced. She pulled back after a moment and leaned over to whisper in his ear.

“All you are going to remember is that there were city guards here already investigating the warehouse, and there is nothing interesting here. You will not remember me, but next time I see you, you will happily enter back into my thrall and do what I say. Won't you, pet?”

He smiled. He knew she had just whispered some romantic proposal into his ear, although he couldn't quite remember what it was she had just said. “Yes” he said anyway.

She smiled. “Good. You'd better get back to your priest friend now.”

Richard nodded, and turned around and walked back out of the warehouse. They closed the door behind him, and he walked down the alley towards Jehan. Richard was in a really good mood for some reason, although he wasn't sure quite why.

“Anything down there?” Jehan asked.

Richard shook his head. “There were already some members of the city guard in there, investigating the warehouse. They didn't find anything important. There isn't anything interesting there. There isn't anything interesting there.”

Jehan gave Richard a strange look, and Richard realized he'd just repeated himself. That was strange. I wonder...is something wrong?

No. There is nothing wrong. There were only city guards there, and nothing interesting. A part of his mind responded back to him, like repeating a catechism.

Something about the thought seemed off to him, like it wasn't quite right somehow, but he couldn't figure out what. Anyway, it probably didn't matter, he knew it wasn't anything interesting or important.

“Did...erm, did you find anything out from the store owners?” Richard asked Jehan as they walked down the street.

“No, none of them seemed to see anything...”

As they walked away, part of Richard's brain kept circling back around, trying to find the part of the equation that didn't quite add up, but he didn't pay much attention to it. Whatever it was, it clearly wasn't important.