Toshie’s scream had woken up Navarin, Brot, and even Elena, who still had her head attached. Toshie brought them down to the celr, where no bodies were found. They were now all sitting around a table, Toshie clutching a mug of herbal tea, trying her best to expin what she had seen.

  “I want to say it was a dream,” Mr. Williams said, “But that doesn’t expin how you got into the celr.”

  “We didn’t see her go down there,” Yrlith said.

  “Well, I didn’t. You were so busy with those pickles, you could have missed her,” Sally teased.

  “It is time to be serious,” Brot interjected. “If Toshie saw events that did not happen, even in a dream state, something or someone maniputed her mind and body.”

  “Maniputed?” Toshie asked, “You mean someone’s controlling me?”

  “Well, I believe saying you are cursed would be more accurate.”

  “That’s not better,” Toshie said. “How do we know I’m not still under the spell now?”

  “We do not,” Brot continued. “We can only hope, I suppose. Sorry, I know that does not help.”

  Toshie took a sip of the tea. It was warm, sweet, and strange.

  ‘Is Mr. Williams or Elena poisoning me? Is it one of them?’ She looked at her friends.

  ‘No, no, no,’ she thought. ‘You can’t let paranoia get to you. Keep it together, Toshie.’

  She put the teacup down on the table. “So what do we do?”

  “First, you get some sleep,” Brot said. “Master Navarin, I suggest you let Master Toshie have the bed.”

  Navarin grunted.

  Toshie slept until noon. Strangely, she did not dream. When she woke up, Brot was in the armchair reading the book he borrowed from Navarin.

  “Are you feeling any better, Master Toshie?” he asked with a smile.

  “Did I do anything strange in my sleep?” Toshie asked.

  “No, not even any mumbling. But you avoided my question.” Brot was keenly aware that Toshie did not feel well. But hallucinations of dead bodies are not a good omen.

  “I feel weird. Like I haven’t slept for years,” Toshie stood and stared out the window. The town of Waterlink was bustling.

  “Where’s everyone else?” she asked Brot.

  “Master Sally and Master Yrlith are shopping. They said they wanted to help Mr. Williams since Master Navarin decided we’d be here for a while. I also need a few things.”

  “What happened to leaving soon?” Toshie was confused.

  Brot shrugged. “Master Navarin is not happy that you are cursed. She says heading out to sea with you in this state is bad luck. I agree, but I dare say if you were not the Hero, she might have killed you.”

  “How kind of her,” Toshie said, staring out the window.

  “How kind, indeed.” Navarin entered the room. “Considering you’re postponing my pn by a significant amount of time.”

  “So why don’t you kill me?” Toshie was unsurprised Navarin had listened in.

  “You’re the Hero,” Navarin said with a shrug. She recimed the bed and began cutting slices off what looked like an onion. “And the Dwarf Princess is fond of you.” She put a slice in her mouth and chewed. “So if I want her to be useful, I need you. Aren’t you lucky?”

  Toshie had been lucky. A bit too lucky. Perhaps that was all the part of being the Hero. Ignoring the curse, of course.

  “So, do you know anything about curses?” Toshie asked.

  Navarin sliced off another bit of onion and ate it from the knife.

  “Nothing,” she said while chewing. “Not much for Magic.”

  “But you can use Ice Magic,” Toshie said.

  Navarin stopped chewing.

  “How do you know that?”

  “I saw you use it st night.”

  “You did not.”

  “Okay. You did it in my dream? My cursed state? Whatever. The hall was on fire, and I saw you bst it with ice.”

  Navarin began chewing again.

  “Interesting.”

  “What’s so–”

  “Give me a minute.” Navarin finished off the onion. She sheathed her bde and stretched out on the bed. This was the most rexed Toshie had seen her. It was weird.

  “Goblin,” she finally said.

  “The name is Brot,” the Goblin replied.

  Navarin sighed. “Okay, Brot. You’re a Priest. What do you know about Soul Magic?”

  “Soul Magic is not to be trifled with.”

  “Yeah, but what do you know about it? Can it make people do what our Hero did st night?”

  “It can do almost anything.” Brot slid Navarin’s book into his bag. “Of course, it would take a strong wielder to make Master Toshie see what she saw. Which is strange, now that I think about it.”

  “What’s so strange?” asked Navarin.

  “Let us suppose you have that power. You could make someone do anything. Why not make Toshie kill herself? Or any of us? Why tease her with fake fires and visions of beheaded friends? And how did she end up in the celr without anyone seeing her go down there?”

  “So are you saying it’s not Soul Magic?” Navarin hadn’t even bothered to lift her head to speak to Brot. She was staring at the ceiling.

  “It could be someone who does not know what they’re doing,” suggested Brot. “Someone with tent powers? But why Master Toshie?”

  “Who cares?” offered Navarin. “But if we’re being followed, we need to take care of them before we set off.”

  “So we stay another night here, where whoever is doing this knows where we are?” Toshie thought this idea was ridiculous.

  “Of course,” Navarin said. “How else are we going to catch them?”