The Consumption of Magic (Tales From Verania 3)

“I told you not to call me dude!” he said shrilly. “You will refer to me as Randall and nothing more!”

That reminded me of something I’d always wanted to ask him. “Sidebar.”

“We don’t have time for a side—”

“Why don’t you have a wizarding name?”

His eyes widened. His face paled.

And then he turned and left the labs, robes trailing behind him.

I didn’t see him for the rest of the day.

I DREAMED that night of a blizzard.

I was in the Dark Woods, but I wasn’t alone.

Ryan said, “Hey. There you are. I missed you.”

I said, “I’m so glad you’re here with me.”

He smiled and took my hand.

We continued walking through the forest.

It was night, but the moon and stars were hidden beneath low, thick clouds. The Dark Woods were quiet; the only sounds were the crunching of the leaves under our feet.

“Where are we?” Ryan asked.

“I don’t know,” I admitted. “I don’t think I’ve been here before.” That didn’t feel quite right, but everything was unfamiliar. For a brief, terrible moment, I was sure we were on the same path I’d taken to see the Great White for the first time, but there was no moving mountain ahead of us. Just the trees.

“This is a dream,” Ryan said, sounding amused. “I’m dreaming of you. Gods, you would make so much fun of me if you knew that.”

I stopped. He looked back at me.

“What?”

“You’re dreaming of me,” I said slowly.

He rolled his eyes. “Dream you catches on about as quick as real you does.”

“Ryan. Where are you right now?”

He looked around. “Standing in the middle of trees.”

I almost smacked him. “No, you dork. In your travels. With the others. Where are you guys?”

“Oh! Tarker Mills.”

My eyes bulged. “The home of the truth corn? Are you out of your damn mind! What if they try and capture you again!”

“Kevin ate the cult leader, remember? Everything is… mostly back to normal here. They weren’t very happy to see us again, but then Kevin growled at them, and they were nicer.” He shrugged. “You know how he gets.”

“Shit,” I breathed. “I think this is real.”

“What? This is a dream.”

“Ryan, I need you to listen to me. Right now, I’m in Castle Freesias. Asleep.”