ULTRAMagic Prelude

Chapter 2

Dreaming was an interesting experience for Blood-Wraith. At first he thought he had been woken up early, but then it became clear that he was somewhere else. He found himself floating in a sea of clouds that billowed and shrunk. They were all gray and rumbled every now and then. A rhythmic droning could be heard, yet it had no obvious source. He tried to move forward, but nothing changed. And interacting with the clouds was like grasping at air. It felt like something was supposed to be there, but Blood-Wraith woke up before he could figure out what that thing was. A tad annoyed, he sat up in his bed.

"I was wondering when you were going to wake up," Dragoslava remarked, sitting in a chair near the beds.

"Did I leave the tower last night?"

"I don't think so. Why? What's the matter?"

Blood-Wraith thought for a second, then began talking about his experience. "It was so odd and foreboding...foreboding? Um, I'm not sure how to describe it, honestly."

"To me it sounds like you had your first dream" Dragoslava replied as she rummaged through a bookshelf.

"What's a dream?"

"Read this when you get the chance, it has everything you need to know in it..."

Blood-Wraith studied the book he had been handed. "The Dream Realm and the Complexity of Dreams..." He quickly skimmed through it. "So I was in another realm last night?"

Dragoslava nodded. "Yup, and a pretty odd one at that. Now come, Desislav has got breakfast ready."

Back at the dining hall, the tall satyr was waiting patiently by the same trolley from before, rhythmically tapping his hoof. This time there was pancakes, eggs, toast, bacon, and drinks ready to be served. Happy to see Blood-Wraith still around, Desislav sat both of them down. It was nothing fancy, just a basic breakfast to wake everyone up. Plus he did not want to overwhelm the juvenile entity given how young he was. Regardless, Blood-Wraith was fascinated by how different the food was from the stew. He did need to be taught how to use a knife and fork, but was able to quickly get the hang of it.

"Pancakes aren't the most typical breakfast food if you ask me, but they're one of my favorites, especially with homemade syrup," Desislav pointed out.

"So Blood, we're not going to head to the planet you found quite yet" Dragoslava announced, then ate some bacon.

"Why's that?"

"I haven't quite figured out how to get there yet..." It was easy to tell she was a little disappointed.

Desislav chuckled. "Well, you could always consult that Corentin person. Rumor has it that he stayed in the city."

Dragoslava gave him an incredulous look. "How in blue blazes did you find out about that?"

"Who's Corentin?" Blood-Wraith cut in.

"Oh, he's just a self-professed scientist that vanished one day... more of a mad scientist if you ask my parents" Dragoslava explained. "I don't trust him and we don't need him. I got a demon on the horn who can take us there."

This caught Desislav's interest. "So you're using Necromancy? I always wondered how that would work in a place like The Unlight. Earth makes sense, but the Unlight?"

"The thing is that I tried to use Alchemy to build a craft, but it didn't work out the way I thought it would."

"Heh, maybe you should ask you-know-who..." Desislav noticed the slight glare Dragoslava was giving him. "Ahem, yeah, that-that stuff can happen."

Dragoslava exhaled as she facepalmed. "I love it when things refuse to work... So anyways, Blood-Wraith, we are going to head out to another location I scouted out. It's called The Great Stone Lake."