And should the morning light find you,

  May it find you safe and sound

  For my love is forever all around.

  And if night falls, I'll be with you.

  Shaynen opened his eyes and felt the world swaying. A sweet voice singing nearby, it felt overwhelmingly familiar and yet so very alien. He sat up, a boy again. The sweet voice was coming from a woman nearby. She had golden sunshine hair, facing away and holding on to a thick rope.

  Standing fully, Shaynen could see the forested canopy he stood in was filled with platforms just like the one he was standing on. People that resembled ghosts were moving between them on rope bridges made of wood branches and vines. The woman’s soft singing stopped and Shaynen looked back at her. She was so familiar, so warm, and so comforting. Shaynen took a step toward her but froze as she turned. Revealing that she had no face.

  “Remember what I said?” Her voice said, more in his head than in the air around. “Nothing that’s dear to us is ever lost. It’s always there, remembered by our hearts. Always remembered in our dreams.” She played with her hair, but it faded in and out. As if her hair was covering something else. Something she was actually holding, something silver, something.

  Shaynen woke with Mayhem holding his wrist down, wrenching it painfully.

  “What are you doing?!” He said while shoving her off.

  “I was saving you!” She snapped.

  “From what? Where is it?” Jiit said, groggily rising from the opposite side of the room.

  “From whatever was attacking him in his dreams!” Mayhem yelled, rousing the whole party.

  “Nothing was attacking me!” Shaynen insisted, “I was dreaming of a woman… she.” He paused as he reached instinctively around his neck for something. But nothing was there. “She had something… something that I think I’m supposed to have.”

  “Something around your neck?” Kilek asked. “A necklace?”

  “Yeah, I think that’s it.” Shaynen said. “I must've lost it.”

  “What did it look like? If it’s in this room, we’ll find it.” Jiit said and jumped down from the top bunk.

  “No, I don’t remember what it looks like or where I lost it.” Shaynen said, shaking his head sadly. “I wish I did. It was something important. It had to be.”

  “Did the woman say anything? Did she tell you something?” Thunder asked.

  “Yeah, nothing that is important is ever lost. It’s always remembered in our dreams.” Shaynen said. He sighed and pushed his hair out of his face.

  “Do you remember anything else about her?” Mayhem asked, “Was she pretty?” Mayhem stuck her tongue out to tease but Shaynen cringed instinctively.

  “I don’t remember her, and she didn’t have a face!” He said, pushing Mayhem back. “She’s… she’s related to me somehow.”

  “Oh, that makes a world of difference.” Mayhem said. She stood up and went to get dressed for the day. “It really does. Dating relatives is gross.”

  “Has the first bell rung yet?” Kilek asked with a large yawn.

  The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  “Don’t think so.” Mayhem answered. “Why?”

  “Cause it means there’s still breakfast in the mess hall.” Kilek said. “I’m starved.”

  “You ate twice your weight last night,” Thunder said as she got out of bed.

  “And there’s room for twice more!” He laughed.

  “Don’t we have that teacher to find?” Jiit asked.

  “Can’t we do that after breakfast?” Kilek asked, getting his boots on.

  “After the teacher we have to investigate the Alchemist’s Quarter.” Jiit said, “And if we don’t find any leads there then we’ll be back to square one.” Shaynen got out of bed and ran a brush through his hair. Mayhem took the brush when he was done to brush hers.

  “What kind of leads are we looking for?” He asked as he put his hair up.

  “Literally anything. Could be subtle, could be obvious, there’s no way to know.” Thunder said as she shook out her fur. “But anything that strikes your fancy as something that isn’t normal.”

  “It’s in the Alchemist’s Quarters! Everything is not normal there!” Mayhem said, putting her hair up into a ponytail. “Especially after it exploded.” Shaynen snickered with her.

  “Well, there has to be time for breakfast,” Kilek said. “If we don’t eat, we might not notice the obvious. It’s basic biology.”

  “I could go for a cuppa joe.” Mayhem said.

  “A glass of milk and buttered toast wouldn’t go amiss.” Thunder agreed.

  “We should eat while we can, who knows where another meal this good is gonna come from.” Shaynen said. He looked in the mirror and saw the cloth he wore from the temple. It felt a bit odd to see it, and he wondered if it was still right to be wearing it. “What if we get a clue that leads us to more travel and we have to survive on hardtack and stale water? Better to eat good while we have the option.”

  “The boy knows sense!” Kilek called and ran over to him to clap him on the shoulder. “The kinda sense that you have to see.” Kilek, Mayhem and Thunder all surrounded Shaynen and looked at Jiit imploringly.

  “Oh, all right.” Jiit said with a grumbling sigh. “But can we make it quick?”

  “We will try.” Kilek said. The group readied themselves and then together they went down to the mess hall. Some students and staff were lingering around. Nursing coffee mugs and hanging heads over plates of eggs and toast. Books were just as plentiful as dishware on the table. With just as many heads hung over them.

  Kilek led them to an open spot in the table and they sat down. A page came over to them and gave them that mornings options for breakfast. It was eggs with bacon, toast and an option for fruit if it was desired. With of course an option for coffee, tea, or a seasonal juice.

  Breakfast went fast, with the party eating more than talking. Mostly due to Jiit’s urging. Once finished, they hurried toward the Religious teacher's classroom to catch her before her class. They hurried through the halls and found the social studies wing. Following the directions to a set of double doors. Inside the class room was a hobgoblin directing a page as she prepared for the class.

  “Excuse me, we’re looking for Madame Filchbach?” Kilek asked. The hobgoblin turned around. Her glasses made her eyes look huge and a little goofy.

  “You are the investigation party?” She asked. They nodded. She put everything down and turned to the page. “Ask my assistant to take over my class for a bit.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” The page said and ran off.

  “Come, come, come!” Madame Filchbach said. Opening a side door and gesturing the party to it. “I have been waiting for you since the Headmaster came down and told me you’d pay me a visit. I have so many questions. I summoned Xuliaga to my study to pick his brain and I just have so many questions. Did one of you really come from a temple? Which one of you was infected? Did it hurt? What was it like? How long have you been searching for the Antlers?”

  “Whoa, ma’am. One question at a time.” Kilek said. They walked into the side room where a little study was tightly packed. With the six of them inside it felt very cramped.

  “And we have some of our own that we would like to ask.” Jiit said. “I hope we can help each other.”

  “Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.” Madame Filchbach said, shaking her hands. She pulled out a stack of papers and a quill and inkwell. “Now. What to ask first…”

  “Can we start with the Antlers?” Jiit asked. “We were hoping you have more information than we do.”

  “Very possible. The Antlers sprang up around the eastern forests. That’s where they were first seen, with the nasty goop they leave behind named by those people.” Madame Filchbach said. “Which leads me to the first question, the Thuk-Chisudo. Who was possessed by it?”

  “I wasn’t possessed.” Shaynen objected. “It didn’t have an effect on me.”

  “Fascinating!” Madame Filchbach said. “I want you to tell me in every detail what happened. From bite to cleanse and I want no detail spared. I want every detail no matter how disgusting.” She popped the inkwell stopper and dipped the quill in. Looking at Shaynen with impossible eyes. Even wider with expectation and excitement.

  “Well, uhm. I guess I start with the manor.” Shaynen said slowly. Looking for help from the party who shrugged at him. With no help in sight, he told the story. Beginning to end.