Of the many stars that glittered above Iaredin, there were some stranger than others. Theo had a lot on his plate. He had the migration and the tournament to consider. Yet there were times when he wanted nothing more than to go off and do something else. Something different that helped segment the endless roll of days that led to an inevitable change. With enough stuff lined up for future completion, he was taking some time for himself.

Some shining stars in the void were the souls of people locked away, waiting for reincarnation. Theo wasn’t sure of that mechanism. His thought was that Death handled all the souls within their immediate area. But some clung to the fabric of darkness, bound there by some magic he couldn’t understand.

“What about you?” Theo asked, floating closer to one star. The closer he drew, the more it appeared as a small glimmer of light rather than a star. “Where did you come from?”

The star twinkled back and Theo frowned. There was some amount of recognition in there, but he didn’t want to interact with it. The last time he had, the soul had fallen to Iaredin. Apparently, Tresk was watching the exchange from somewhere on the mortal plane.

“That star is dreaming,” she said. “You can go jump in their dreams.”

Theo’s brows creased more as his frown deepened. “This was a curiosity. I don’t think digging further is a good idea.”

“Bzzzt. Wrong. Dreamers answer questions like crazy,” Tresk said. “And I don’t think you’ll disturb the stasis of that soul. Feels stable to me, anyway.”

Theo grumbled, leaning close to the star. His nose almost pressed against the shimmering surface. He had awoken earlier than normal that morning and had gained a pleasant view of the stars. This star had spoken to him, shining in a way that drew him in. Perhaps it was instinct, or simply some energy signature he couldn’t truly understand, but this one called to him. The others, floating around in the void, certainly had an allure.

“Help me out with it,” Theo said, feeling how eager Tresk was to move forward with this venture. “I wanna talk with this star.”

“Ah, yes. A totally normal thing to say. Okay, hold onto your butt I think this should work.”

And it did. Immediately and violently. Theo felt himself being ripped from his body, as though he was being forced to fall asleep and thrust into a strangely blank dream. That lasted only for a moment as he was propelled into an oddly familiar landscape. The alchemist’s mouth dropped open as he spotted the landscape of a world he never expected to see with his own eyes. He had to remind himself that it was a dream of Earth, and not the real thing. It was a vision of paved streets and bustling cars, people walking here and there without a care in the world.

“The air isn’t poison,” Theo said with a laugh. “That’s novel.”

“Hey, hey, hey!” an angry voice shouted from the crowd.

Theo watched a short guy, maybe four-feet-tall with a pudgy belly and a ridiculous outfit. He had a pointed hat with a wide brim, tattered robes, and a wooden staff topped with a glowing gemstone. He looked so out of place in the city…

“Dream trespassing,” the man said, hands on his hips as he stood in traffic. The cars simply passed through him, or swerved around if they could. “Ya gotta leave me. I’m not done doing my little nap.”

“Nap?” Theo asked, looking around. He would never pretend to be several steps ahead of other people, but at least he picked up on that small hint. “Wait, you’re here on purpose?”

The little guy looked around with a shrug. “Yeah. Gotta stick to the plan, right?”

“What plan?”

Narrowing his eyes, the would-be mage leaned on his staff. “Elrin didn’t send you? Is he still on ice?”

“Not on ice. He’s very much running around and doing… things. I really don’t know what he’s doing.”

The man grumbled, squeezing his staff and turning away. The traffic cleared and all the pedestrians vanished from the road. “Means something went wrong. He should’ve awoken his warriors by now. What’s the moron thinking this time? Is he soloing gods again?”

Theo blinked a few times. “Does it count if he has the tiger with him?”

“Yeah, pets don’t count.”

“Then, yes. He’s kinda been soloing gods.”

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Mumbling to himself, the man paced back and forth. Theo picked out a few phrases here and there, something about the new plan being the old plan and needing to adapt. Eventually, he looked up and gawked at the alchemist.

“Oh. Awkward. My name is Howd. Yes, like ‘how’d.’ Shut up. I know. Real name was Chris, but we took some pseudonyms when we crossed over to Iaredin during the war.” Thrusting his chest out, he tapped the butt of his staff into the ground. “Here’s the deal: I’m gonna need a runner. Me and the other warriors are all in stasis, dreaming so Leon doesn’t find us.”

Theo snapped his fingers. Leon used to be Death, but now Kuzan was. “Speaking of awkward…” he explained what had happened with the shuffled gods. Howd’s mouth dropped open, and he slapped his face a few times.

“Oh, great! We put a more evil guy on the Throne of Death? And what the hell is Elrin doing!? Smoking fat cigars on some beach with a few hotties?”

“I didn’t say anything about hotties,” Theo said.

“Yeah, but that’s what he’d do. I know him.” Howd took in a deep breath, eventually releasing it as raspberries. “‘Kay. He doesn’t do stuff without at least the idea of a plan, so he knows what’s going on. Guessing you’re undetected while doing this stuff… Maybe not from the System, but from the gods, right?”

Theo nodded. “Correct. They can’t tell what I’m doing. Not now, anyway. But that’s just for now, we’re expecting a change soon.”

“Yup, I’m aware. I’ve got a message for you to take to him,” Howd said. “You ready? Got something to write with?”

“This is a dream,” Theo said, gesturing around to the older version of Earth with a laugh. “And how am I supposed to find him? He never answers my calls.”

Howd gave him the thumbs-up. “I got you covered. Now, open your ears. This is important.”

***

Theo arrived in a snowy landscape, fresh from the dreams of someone he had just met. For a moment, he thought he had stepped foot into the domain of the System. Instead, it was a normal tundra, stretching in all directions with a blanket of white. The sound of the surrounding storm filled his ears, the Coat of Rake barely able to keep back the constant driving flurries. He forded a path through the snowdrifts, wrapping his arms around himself as he searched.

Why Howd knew Elrin would be here was beyond Theo, but he wasn’t about to doubt the little guy just yet. He scoured the area, only finding anything interesting as he extended his senses outward. A faint energy lingered in the distance, through a mound of snow. It would’ve obscured Theo’s vision, but the sheet of snow falling on his head was enough to do that. After he climbed over the snow, falling and feeling as though he would suffocate along the way, he felt the tower in the distance.

Theo stood atop the mound of snow, tripping as he made his way down and marveling. It didn’t even look like the Iaredin he knew. Sure, the Toora would’ve taken refuge in a place like this, but for it to exist north of Tarantham City was a shock. He heard a voice calling from below that broke him from his thoughts. The alchemist shook his head, stumbling down the hill as he approached the base of a crumbling tower. He ducked inside before the storm could rip away any more of his warmth.

“Cold enough for you?” Elrin asked. He crouched near a magical fire, warming his hands and shaking his head. Trevor was nowhere to be seen.

Which meant he was nearby.

Before Theo could say anything, Elrin rose to his feet and pulled his cloak tightly over his chest. “I doubt your senses are to the point where they could find me here. Which means someone told you this is where I’d be.”

Theo thought about his next words carefully. He didn’t think Elrin was one to lash out for no reason, but with the circumstances as they were… He wasn’t interested in taking chances. “I poked around. Perhaps in a place I should’ve left alone, but I spoke to Howd.”

Elrin scoffed, a smile crossing his features. Theo could barely see them under the flickering light of the fire. “Yeah, that makes sense. Trust a guy like that with a secret, and you’re bound to run into problems.”

Theo pursed his lips, pointing at Elrin. “Why here? Of all the places for you to bide your time, why here? This tower was important, wasn’t it? Or maybe there’s a power you’re siphoning off I can’t really understand.”

“You’re being more thoughtful than normal,” Elrin said with a shake of his head. There were a few hairs in his immaculate bun that were loose. They swayed as he moved to the other side of the fire. There he paced. “You’re incredibly helpful because you don’t really ask questions. Are you bored, or something?”

“Kinda,” Theo said with a shrug.

Elrin’s smile widened. “During the war, Kuzan staged a few attacks from here. The first attack was the easiest, but it brought the most fear. He assembled his monstrous army in Calet, starting from an abandoned city lost to time and the snow. I came here because during that march, there was one place they flowed over like a river over a boulder.”

“This tower?” Theo asked, taking a closer look at the stones that made up the structure. They didn’t look special to him.

“I hid out here a few times. Me and Trevor. We launched pre-emptive strikes on the orcish army, thinning their numbers. The funny thing is, during my time, this tower had a shard. The location has since shifted to account for the new World Anchor, but I can still feel something left behind. It feels like a piece of myself the System just couldn’t scour clean. A low-rank adventurer who was picked by the shards.”

“Now look at you,” Theo said, gesturing generally to the man. “You’re a powerhouse.”

Elrin barked out a laugh. “Wait until you see the rest of us.”

“Anyway… Howd had a few things to say about his situation.”

“Was it the fact that he couldn’t wait a week?” Elrin asked, cocking his head to one side. “Or that he forgot I told him our timetable?”

“No, he didn’t include that in his message. Just something about him being bored in his dream and that he’s ready to ‘rock and roll.’”

“While I appreciate you delivering the message, I won’t need help with this matter.” Elrin looked upon Theo as though he was viewing a lost puppy. He was obviously in a pensive mood. “It would be a shame for you to waste your trip, though. Come, I’ll show you some local flowers that grow beneath the snow.”

“How does that work?”

Elrin offered a sly smile, jerking his head to the side. “Come on. I have more than frozen flowers to show you in this region.”