There are many ways for reality to push back against you. I cannot name them all, it would just add a few more so I wouldn't expect it. Remember while we are strong, reality is far stronger. A bear you do not want to wake up. -Antonio Ravnos

Lysan

The man who granted us hospitality is asleep, it's past dawn but he just keeps sleeping. I guess he doesn’t want to return to the hell his world has turned into. I spoke with my sister last night after the spell to let him understand us wore off. Something doesn’t add up, he said it was a weapon he used to kill the green skins, but he is clearly a mage.

He has strange ideas about magic. Foci and chants are just aids, no that can’t be right. They allow us to access the power of the divines. Well, my teacher once showed me a silent cast but explained that the chant was just in her mind rather than said aloud. Is that what he meant? Kythia is excited to try his idea for reversed blood magic and stayed up all night trying to get it to work. If he didn’t heal himself in front of me without a focus, chant or even a somatic component I wouldn’t even think about his theories.

My sister is still asleep, she needs her rest, warriors have much more physical need of rest after a fight. Lord Adrian rolls over in his sleep and I hear bones popping. The woman who set out our strange bedding yesterday walks over and says something, she is perhapse the ony human girl who is shorter than an elf of equivilent age. I don’t understand their language, seeing my confused look she motions something about eating and then points to my sister and Kythia. Is she offering food?

She starts to walk towards that place Lord Adrian cooked that weird meal yesterday. I get up to follow, her lord promised hospitality, she will not harm us. My guess was correct the woman brought me to the place where her lord prepared a meal last night. She motions me to cook some of the meat in that frost room. It doesn’t seem as cold as it was yesterday, does it need recharged with mana? The glass balls that gave light yesterday are dim, was their enchantment suppressed or did it run out?

I wish I had more mana so I could talk with these people. Lord Adrian seems nice, I wonder why he offered hospitality and then cooked it himself for women he just met? Is he desperate for a wife? Or are the traditions of this land different? Their clothes and buildings certainly are.

Lord Adrian’s servant and I finish cooking this strange meal. Its tasty I admit but why do they spend so much on spices for two such meals in a row? Also, why did his servant bring me to help cook? Does she think I am my sister’s servant? So many questions, even more when I see the servant giving one of the meals to the male servant. Lord Adrian treats his followers so well, how come he only seems to have these two?

The other human male is clearly a drunk, so he couldn’t be a servant. No lord would treat a drunken servant who didn’t even wake to defend his lord so well. A brother or cousin maybe? Kythia seems delighted with this strange meat inside of bread food. An effect from her magic or heritage? No, the other three humans seem to enjoy the food as well.

“Are you done thinking of why I like meat?” Kythia asks.

“How did you know?”

“You are always thinking too much, act more like your sister Talia. She doesn’t worry so much of why somethings just are.”

“No, my sister’s overthinking has saved us quite a bit in the past" sister interjects.

Thanks sister, I worry if I think too much. Maybe that is what Kythia means? “What do you think we should do sister?”

“Lord Adrian seems very kind to his followers. He cried most of the night when one of them died. The offer yesterday is worth considering, even though food and a place to sleep seems little, it is better than those nobles from Althae offered.”

Kythis nods, “he also shared a great piece of lore with us. He already thinks us as part of his house or he never would have told us about alternate ways to heal.”

“You stayed up all night over that, did you get it to work?”

“I think so, I got mana to turn into something that let me close some cuts. It wasn’t very efficient but it does work.”

I sit there surprised, that crazy idea on reverse blood magic worked! But he said that it was just a theory of his, if Kythia got it working overnight then shouldn’t Lord Adrian also know how to do it? Unless he isn’t a mage? No, he has to be one I saw that lightning blade and him regenerate himself; he is a mage. He clearly understands arcane theory so why did he say he doesn’t know how to do it himself?

“Any idea how he could know these things without being able to cast them himself sister?” Talia asks breaking my thoughts.

“The only way I can think of is if he doesn’t use mana for whatever type of magic he wields.”

“You mean like monks, and their chi?” asks Kythia.

“Maybe, even that has mana in it. He is a mage that is not limited by having to use mana. He has to be using something. The mana of this land seemed really weak when we arrived maybe his sect learned to cope without it?”

“That is just silly, mages are mages because they have mana inside of them.”

“What about those that gain the blessing of their element. One of the others students of my master does not need to use mana to control fire. It could be like that.”

“Then he is blessed by lightning and what life? That’s silly I’ve never heard of anyone managing to get multiple blessings. It’s just magic with an alternative power source. Or maybe he really just never learned the basics of blood magic.”

Talia interrupts the two of us, “regardless of what Lord Adrian uses to power his spells should we follow him? The last of our family died on the battlefront or were guards who died last night. We need to attach ourselves to a house or some other noble will take us slaves. I think Lord Adrian will treat us well.”

I hesitate for a moment, we don’t know enough about this lord. Kythia nods agreeing with my sister. I slowly nod as well agreeing to follow their decision, I hope that we will be treated well.

Bryan

Abagail wakes me up, and then passes me a burger that one of the elf? girls was holding. Adrian was right they aren’t our enemies. I turn to look for him, he is sleeping still. I guess running to kill those orc monsters was tiring, or maybe it was that stuff he was trying to hide?

Seriously since when was Adrian able to hold an electrified sword? I picked it up while he was cooking for the new guests but it was just a regular blade. He also suddenly stopped having a broken arm while he was cooking, how does that work? Is it like that goblin that threw fire at the school?

Adrian didn’t seem to be surprised when that happened, only confused. How did he get that gun into the school? Wait no, I saw him teleport that out of Tyler’s hand in the bathroom. I don’t think Adrian knew I was in there. I was about to go help him but then he had the gun in his hand. Once Tyler ran away he seemed to have a headache. Why, wizards don’t get headaches in DnD for casting spells, not is there anything like that in movies or books.

Maybe it’s because his stuff was real and movies are fake? What’s up with this crazy? Why can’t the world go back to being normal? Well maybe normal plus those elf twins, but they keep glancing at Adrian while he sleeps. Did he save their lives or something? There were a lot of orcs with bullet holes outside so maybe.

I set the my partially eaten burger down, and grab a water from the pile of drinks we made yesterday. Adrian really tore himself up last night after finding Tomas dead, I cried too but we don’t have time to really morn. I’m surprised Adrian didn’t start digging a hole for Tomas last night, like he did when he found his dog dead.

My eyes are watering, dammit I have to hold myself together. Adrian killed more of the monsters out of our group; he did all that could be done I should have been closer to Tomas or Jason shouldn’t have been passed out drunk.

“Are you ok?” Abagail asks.

“No, my friend is dead and the world has gone to shit.”

“I know, but we can cry when we are safe.”

“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean I have to pretend everything is ok.”

Jason rolls over, I can smell some vomit coming from him. Why did we even agree to let him come along? Next time he does something like this I’ll leave him to die.

“Bryan, I had a weird dream before a nightmare yesterday.”

“So, did I some grey blob no idea what I was doing there before it faded away after a few minutes. What was yours?”

“The same, also was I seeing things yesterday when I saw Adrian tazer an orc with a dagger?”

“I didn’t see that, but I saw lightning on the sword I was messing with when he used it yesterday.”

“None of this is possible, this can’t be real. Is Adrian a wizard or something, or have we both gone crazy?”

“I don’t know, he said one of the elf looking girls cast a spell yesterday as if it was something normal. Maybe it always was, that would explain to me why he never forgot to bring anything. It was always in his trunk or backpack. I’ll ask him when he wakes up.”

“He deserves his sleep, but it doesn’t look like he is enjoying it.”

I sigh and nod my head in agreement. This morning sucks, I guess I should get rid of the corpses before they spread disease to us. But maybe that doesn’t matter anymore, Adrian healed his own broken arm so what is a disease to him?

Adrian

I’m strapped to a bed, in some sort of insane asylum. There are wires attached to parts of my head that the ‘doctor’ uses to shock me every time I mention something that isn’t real. None of this is real. Too many things cannot be true in these events I see myself in.

No defense for mass murder, and only being sentenced to Saint John’s Mental Hospital. That’s a bullshit name. My dead friend telling me to accept what is actually real. Even my mom’s step dad showed up out of nowhere to tell the doctors of my love for books. He has been dead for years, the necklace I wear I found in his apartment. Of course, that is just one of my ‘delusions’ according to the ‘doctor’.

How can I get out of this mental trap? This is no dream, no dream would be so realistic, this skewed sure but not so pointed in one direction. Accept this as you reality, no this is fake. I’ve tried magic to bring me keys on the other side of the room, but as before it doesn’t work.