Nightmares! That night I was plagued with nightmares. Turns out, leaving a light on didn't prevent me from dreaming. The type of scary dreams where I'm powerless to act and in hopeless situations. Dreams that grip you with fear for no reason at all. Similar to the ones I would get if I ran a fever when I was younger. I was unable to stop the dreams and unable to wake from them myself. The dreams had control and they would decide when they would wake me up.

Multiple times during the night, I would wake, my breath short and rapid, my arms and legs tensed up. Each time, I was on my back, staring at the ceiling, trying to get my bearings. I would turn to look at Karla sleeping in her own bed, hoping that she was having a better night than I was. Not wishing to wake her, I would just lay there waiting for the feelings of terror to fade. I think a walk would have done me some good, but I had promised Karla I would be there when she woke. All I could do was to calm down and pray for the morning to come quickly.

I was staring at the ceiling when Karla woke up. I was still tired but it meant I would lose the nightmares. "Good morning." I said as I turned my head on my pillow. She sat up in her bed and sighed with satisfaction. I guessed that I chased away her fear that I wouldn't wake again. She smiled warmly at me, then quickly pulled her legs to her chest and shyly turned away.

I changed out of my night clothes and headed to the door. "I'll order some tea, come down when you're ready." I said. I exited the room without another glance. That way, it gave her the time she needed to get ready without me being in the way. Getting dressed was just a few menu selections, but getting ready wasn't only about what armour you wore.

I ordered some tea, all the while trying to avoid making any comments on the total lack of coffee in this world. I was imagining the hostess offering me coffee but I had refused because I truly wanted tea. And that's why I was having tea that morning. If one tries hard enough, one can delude oneself on just about anything. But I was finding it hard to picture myself refusing coffee.

I was sipping my tea, lost in my thoughts: about coffee, about blackness, about Karla, when she finally came down to the common room. She descended the stairs slowly, like when someone doesn't want to start their day. She waved her fingers and lightly smiled without showing any teeth. She sat down in front of me as I poured her a cup of tea.

We sat in silence for a bit. Karla just sipped her tea. We exchanged shy glances, we both wanted to say something but it seemed hard to find a place to begin. Karla got up her courage and broke the silence, tentatively at first. "Wolf, how are you today?" she queried. Her tone was soft almost motherly. "I fine now, thank you." I replied. "I mean with all you've been through, are you going to be okay?" she worried.

"I'm good. Really! I got a lot of nightmares last night but there's no reason for them to plague me for very long. I tend to only dream about the most recent events in my life. As long as I don't dwell on what happened, and I keep myself busy, they should just fade away and become an unfortunate souvenir." I responded. "Don't worry about it too much. I'll let you know if it really starts bothering me." I assured. Karla nodded in response. "I throw the question back at you: How are you doing? Are YOU ok?" I asked

Karla put her cup on the table and held it with both hands. If I didn't know her I would have mistakenly thought she was warming her hands. "It's wierd you know. I'm so happy you're ok and at the same time I'm so mad. When something like this happens you want someone to blame. You want to get revenge or punishment or something. But there's no target, no creature, and worse of all: no reason." she grumbled.

I bent over the table to get her to look at me. Startled by my action she spilled her tea. "Oh dear, I'm so careless." she apologized. I gave her a quizzical look. "This isn't like you, Karla. You're acting all weird. What's up?" I urged. She rubbed her hands nervously before sighing "I'm sorry, I was happy you were okay and I didn't want to ruin the day just because of my frustration. I'm a poor actress, I guess." she admitted.

I picked up her cup and refilled it. I smiled wryly as I put it down in front of her. "Don't spill it." I teased. She pursed her lips for a moment. I was expecting a comment but she simply let it go. "So what happened while I was out? How did I end up back at the inn? It must have been difficult for you, but until you tell me how it was, it'll be hard for me to relate." I pleaded.

"I .. well you, you just collapsed out there on the moors. I heard you fall and stopped. I thought you had tripped, or got attacked again. But the way you were slumped over yourself, and on the ground, it didn't look like either. I tried to get your attention by shaking you. You're body seemed lifeless, like a rag doll." Karla recalled.

"'Oh no he's dead!' I told myself. I froze, waiting for the blue sparks, but they never came. 'Ok, maybe he's not dead. He just passed out.' I thought. I looked around madly. Paralysis is part of this game, so maybe you were paralyzed. But you hadn't been attacked. There were no other players in sight. My katana was out, I was terrified I'd have to fight on my own and protect you too."

"I couldn't stay there. I put my katana away and grabbed you over my shoulder. I didn't even think that I may not be able to lift you, but lift you I did. I backtracked the way we came in. I was bee-lining it to the abandoned farmhouse. I could see it, maybe two hundred meters away. I was going to make it. That's when something grabbed my leg and I tripped and I fell with you on top of me."

"A large toad had wrapped it's tongue around my ankle and was trying to pull me to it's gaping mouth. I was pinned to the ground by your body, but turns out it's what saved me from being sucked in. The toad couldn't pull me in and had to let go. I got out from under you, just as the toad tried a bite attack and it managed to grab you by the mouth. That gave me the few seconds I needed to retaliate. My katana was out and I attacked it from the side."

"I attacked as much as I could, taking quite a lot of damage, all the while trying to lure it away from you. When my health hit yellow, I ran to where you were lying and grabbed you again. I don't know how I managed to pick you up. Honestly, I think I half dragged you. I got to the farmhouse and burst inside falling on top of you. I picked myself as quickly as I could and drew my katana and faced the doorway."

"I stood there for who knows how long, but the toad had given up. I closed the door and collapsed next to you. You still weren't moving. I tried to wake you but nothing seemed to work: I shook you, I pushed you, I ... er ... hit you." Karla looked at me worriedly. "You were not responding, I was desperate to bring you back. I was trying anything I could." Karla apologized. I grabbed her hand and held it tight, and nodded.

Karla sighed and continued, "My health was low; yours wasn't very high either. I only had two health potion left so I shoved one into your mouth and I took the other one. That got us both back up into the green. I probably would have needed another to top off my health, but you had the other potions in your inventory. I couldn't get at them."

"The farmhouse isn't the safest place to be so I started walking towards town. I had to carry you, there was no other way. It was the most tedious walk I had ever done. I couldn't move fast and I was constantly afraid the mods would come too close to the road and attack. But it wasn't mobs I came across: I was concentrating on keeping you on my back that I never saw them coming."

"Get her!"