Two drinks weren’t bad for Myles…

Four drinks weren’t bad for Mitchel…

Drinking and betting after their fifth drink wasn’t good for either of them.

It was a lesson hard learned, and how Myles found himself on stage at the Runner’s Sojourn, switching by the verse and singing along to the Runner’s Drinking Hymn with Mitchel, Verass the shopkeep from The Runner’s Item Exchange, and a Felkin in sunglasses that he didn’t quite catch the name of. They may not have known all the words, but they knew enough for the patrons to catch on, fill in the gaps, and join the fun:

Grab a drink and listen well.

Monsters roam and Divers delve,

If I can help it, I’ll wish ’em well!

Drink! Drink!

It’s not our way.

It’s not our path.

We’ll see them all when we get back!

Drink, Drink!

Pass the wine, pass the rum,

We’ll leave as the heroes of this run!

Drink, Drink!

Slay the beast!

Pass the Floor!

Then, we’ll all be ready for more!

Drink, Drink!

Who knows what the dungeon has in its deep?

I know what I’m going to do if I make it out on my own two feet!

So, pass the mead, pass the barrel,

Tell my girl I’ll make be back on the ‘marrow!

Drink, Drink!

Pass the wine, pass the rum,

We’ll leave as the heroes of this run!

Drink Drink!

The sun has come!

Time to get going,

We have to run!

Drink, Drink!

Pass the wine, pass the rum,

We’ll leave as the heroes of this run!

Switching off each verse, the group realized the song had more verses than any one of them knew, or they were just too far gone to care and began adding their own after the final. Myles knew enough to keep time and pace, but his mind sauntered in the mead as another drink came by.

He was quite happy the patrons drowned them out by that point.

Despite their drunken singing and the even drunker patrons, they stumbled into a bow before returning to their tables and eating the rest of their meal. One Myles thankfully didn’t have to cook. Warm bread with honey butter, hot stew with mystery meat, potatoes, and a little too much spice, and some glazed beef jerky may not have sounded like much, but he was more than happy to devour it all to settle his stomach.

From there, the evening was spent well as they sobered up, and Myles finally got his chance to talk to the [Merchant Errant] Verass that could speak with monsters. She really was a stick of a woman like Mitchel said with her hair, eyes, and skin all varying shades of brown but looks meant very little when your muscles could be infused with mana and magic. Apparently with her class evolution came new skills, too. Her evolved class could not only mimic language but fake the appearance of any species she was negotiating with for a cost of copper, silver, gold, or platinum rather than mana. A useful ability for any merchant, Myles thought, as any bias would play into her favor.

The Felkin’s name was Zara Ink, and as her name implied, she had the pattern of a nightcat throughout her hair and tail and dark skin to blend in as she hunted in the Nightwood, a forest dense with umbral mana that blocked the sun and stars. She was a [Silent Blade], an evolved [Rogue] class. Part of the team called the Silent Step, they did well for themselves, but they never took on anything too large.

Myles and Mitchel swapped stories with their friends and soon the night was upon them and their tab came due. There were no free drinks this time, but it had been a while, and most people were already moving on to the next big thing within Somniums or the business with Dane’s splinter camp of Lakefront. A walled city was already rising in the distance, and it made many of them a little more cautious with their coin and their words.

As the sun set across the wall, Myles and Mitchel made their way home. Mostly sober by this point, the topic of the night came up soon after they’d left the ‘proper’ limits of the civilized plaza.

“You ready for tonight?”

Myles nodded, sipping on some water he’d taken from the tavern with the promise to return the cup tomorrow. “Ready as we can be.”

“You sure that…”

“I told you, I’m fine with you sleeping on the floor of my room,” Myles groaned. “I wish you’d take the couch or the bed like a normal person.”

Mitchel gave him a winning smile as he said, as nonchalantly as possible, “When has any of this been normal.”

That infectious grin always got Myles, and he relented. “Fine. No complaints about the floor then, or Ashra will give you the boot.”

“She can try,” he laughed. “We’ve been sparring quite a bit, and she still can't get past me unless I let her.”

That was surprising. “You let her?”

He nodded, looking around as if she could be listening. “She’s willing to learn, but there’s only so much she can do against a fully armored opponent. She’s good, but I’m better.”

Myles let that sink in. He’d seen them fight, he’d watched her get clean strikes on Mitchel more than once, but now that he thought about it, the battles usually ended in a draw when Mitchel had to take care of something else. She spared constantly with those of the Clan’s team and had been progressing well to her goal of being a [Phantom Fist], but it nagged at him now. The others had caught up with her, and her progress was on par or slower than theirs.

Was it his fault for her slowing down?

Was he doing all he could to help too?

Was his dual focus slowing down Ashra and his other monster’s progress?

Mitchel snapped his fingers, bringing Myles back to reality. “You really need to stop doing that.”

“Sorry,” Myles sighed. “What you said just made me consider a few things.”

He gave Myles a noncommittal shrug. “Well, you can talk it out if you want.”

Well, they were just walking, so why not?

“Ashra’s been working hard towards being a [Phantom Fist], but it's been nearly two weeks of hard training and combat without much to show. Her gains were quick, but they’ve plateaued out. I’m starting to wonder if I’m part of the problem. We work well together, but if she can’t beat you or Dust…”

“The Foxkin right?”

Myles nodded. “Right, but she wiped the floor with the others of her race back in their dungeon, she held her own against the wolven, she even put up a decent show against the last floor boss, so…”

“You’re worried she’s reaching her limit?”

He didn’t want to consider that. “I’m worried it's on my end, not hers.”

They walked a little while longer in silence before Mitchel spoke. “I’m no [Monster Tamer], but all monsters have their limits. When that happens though, there's always a way around it if they’re young enough.”

“Like with Squishy.”

Mitchel cringed a bit. “You need to give her a better name, Myles.”

“I know, but she likes it,” Myles admitted.

“Try harder,” Mitchel offered before continuing his thought. “Still, I don’t think it’s one-sided. You two are like rain and wet. I really can’t see one of you without the other. You haven’t fought alone except for their dungeon where you arguably had her soundly beaten once you stopped trying to be her friend.”

The memory of his all-out strike wasn’t hard to call back. Even he’d surprised himself, but wielding everything he had to try and help her was what he’d been taught. He couldn’t live with himself if he didn’t. When he put everything else out of his mind, the plan was almost obvious, but it had worked.

Was that because she’d underestimated him, or was it because he’d outclassed her?

It gave him a lot to think about as he arrived only to have Squishy jump at him and hug him into the ground.

***

Sleep came easily that night despite the extra occupants in his bed.

As his world flickered from the waking world of Somniums, Myles was greeted by Ashra, Squishy, and Nod. Checking his hands, they were his once more. Thankfully, the ring did as advertised.

“So, everyone knows the plan?” Myles asked.

Ashra and Squishy nodded, but Nod did not. “I could not hear you from where I was.”

Myles feared as much since he hadn’t felt Nod’s presence within the opal. “Remind me to recall you before we leave tonight.” Nod gave him the affirmative, and Myles began. “We’re going to forge a link to Mitchel’s dreams, wake him up, and repeat the process over the next few nights.”

“Seems like a simple plan,” Nod said.

“Simple works best,” Myles agreed.

“Still feels too easy,” Ashra commented. “Nothing is ever easy for us.”

Myles smiled. “Then it wouldn’t be us, would it?”

Ashra’s nose twitched, and Myles felt her amusement. “That is true.”

“Yes,” Squishy added happily. The fact her arms were formed into bladed took a little away from her enthusiasm.

He made a note to explore her abilities further in the future, but for now, she was an asset and a force to be reckoned with. So much had happened he hadn’t gotten around to it, and with the memory, he’d had lately, it wasn’t something that he could ignore.

Still, time was a commodity now.

From his inventory, Myles produced the Bridge Key. Unlike the other items he’d called from the real world, the bridge key didn’t cause him any pain as it arrived in a soft fade into the palm of his hand. The cube of crystal wasn’t all that large or heavy. It was no larger than an apple and glowed with a gentle internal purple light with his heartbeat. The warmth of it was comforting, but unlike most magic items he’d come in contact with, there was no trigger, no mana funnel, no engravings, nothing to indicate how he should use it.

So Myles being Myles, he did what he thought was best and just willed his desire into the object. There wasn’t an interface prompt, but Myles felt something as his will encountered the item’s aura. As it tried to make a connection, his mana was stopped cold and something came back along with it. The feeling itched the back of his mind as if asking him a question he had the answer to but was having trouble remembering. It felt like a simple question, something he should have known easily, so he did what his instincts told him to and agreed with whatever it was asking. When nothing happened, he looked at the cube and extended his mana out again. This time as his will met the aura of the bridge key, all the plans he’d made for a simple, easy trip shattered as soundlessly as the sky above him.

Before he even could react, his monsters were at his side as the fractures in the purple afternoon sky widened. Pieces of the sky itself fall and vanished into mist as they got closer to the island, leaving dangerously wide gaps of nothingness in the sky.

Through their links, Myles could feel Ashra’s concern, Squishy’s amazement, and Nod’s… expectancy at the turn of events. The dream ripper expected this? How could he have possibly known?

Nod, what’s going on?

“You’ve shattered your dream’s domain and opened yourself up to the greater world,” Nod answered nonchalantly. “Did you not realize this would happen?”

No, Nod. I didn’t know this would happen!

“Oh.” There was a pause as the sky fell all around them before Nod spoke again. “How did you expect to leave your dream then?”

How am I supposed to know? Magical bridges seemed the most likely!

“They are, but I assumed you knew the rules of this world.”

A large cloud bank of the sky fell on Myles’s team, engulfing the group with the scent of lavender and cream before just as quickly dispelling as the cube continued to pulse softly.

You assumed wrong, Nod!

Nod sent him the equivalent of a shrug. “That’s not my fault.”

The fractures grew wider, opening up the small purple sphere of dreams to a world of darkness and stars of all colors twinkling in the unfathomable distance beyond. The world became noise as the rest of the sky fractured and rained down onto the world around them as shooting stars of mist and fog until all that was left of the barrier was a memory.

The bridge key pulsed in his hand warmly, and the island quaked violently again before the world seemed to settle into its place among the countless stars of the world of dreams.

Myles was left looking out among the countless stars in awe. The sky had always been a wonder to him, full of light and things he’d never understand without the instincts of a celestial mage or a greater mind than what he had, but even now with a stronger Will and perception Skills aplenty, it awed him still. He was so small compared on a scale that didn’t even care he existed, a single star in an endless sea of them. Some of the stars were distant and cold, others violently flaring and absorbing others, and still others moved like shooting stars, but the ones he was most interested in were the five spheres as softly glowing as moons orbiting his own in slow, steady turns.

Feeling light-headed, Myles had to sit down. Nod joined him a moment later as a cool, oddly-scented air blew across the island.

Sensing no danger for the moment, Ashra let her guard down to stare into the sky of the dreamscape, picking up Squishy and placing her on a shoulder to get a better view.

No one spoke, and even the wind had died down to allow them a chance to enjoy the moment before the cube warmed and a voice chimed softly.

“What is your destination? You have five local dreamscapes, thirty-three open dreamscapes, and one thousand, nine hundred, thirty-three other compatible dreams within bridging distance. Would you like recommendations?”

The voice wasn’t exactly dismissive, but it wasn’t welcoming either. He could imagine the five local dreams, he did have five other members of his team. The other number, one thousand, nine hundred, thirty-three, was that the rest of the Runners that hadn’t achieved the lucid state? He imagined so many less of them, but the battle with Shardking felt so long ago. Even with the expanded options, the plan hadn’t changed.

As if his words were a siren call, the voice chimed again.

“A bridge has connected to your dreamscape.”

Why did he keep tempting fate?

Taking a moment to think, Myles did the only thing that made sense when an unknown force began pushing against him.

“Ashra, Nod, Squishy, we have company.”

Myles didn’t want to leave his dream unattended. He didn’t want to know what someone could do to it if he wasn’t around or what sort of effect that might have on him when he returned, but they couldn’t just wait to be found either.

“Ashra, can you leap and see where the bridge connected?”

No sooner had he asked than she blasted herself into the sky. Just as she had against Minerva, she used a second burst of force to send herself higher into the air and a few smaller flashes to stay there as she scouted. He had to admit, the control she had of her momentum was astounding.

He could practically feel Ashra’s hair stand on end as she released her ability and came back to the forest floor. She pointed towards the way Myles was facing before getting back enough of her breath to speak.

“They’ve already found it. The bridge is just out of sight in the direction you came from.”

So near the bed? Closer?

“Did you see who it was?”

She nodded. “A small army.”

Sket.

Myles looked at the bridge key in his hands and wondered if fight or flight was the better option at the moment before the foliage began to rustle nearby. He didn’t blink or question what was coming as he summoned his dough and staff and bore the usual pain that came from doing so here.

As eight pounds of dough circled him and his monsters took their positions once more, the breakpoint of the army showed itself as a small woman with hair like the sunset broke the tree line, floppy hat, sundress, freckles, and all.

“Sindra?”

Myles balked as Sindra brushed herself off, gave his team a look, and smiled brightly. “Good evening, Myles! Mind if we join you?”