When I awoke in the dim light of the late autumn pre-dawn, I found myself lying on my back, Avani curled up against me, my arm wrapped around her shoulders and her arm flung over my stomach, still sound asleep. Dylas likewise lay sound asleep, spooned up to her with an arm draped over her waist. Still worn out from the day before, I closed my eyes and had just started to doze off again when suddenly Vishnal bounded into the room.

"It's morning, Princess! Time to get up!" he called out in his eager, cheerful voice as he first tended to the fire, building it back up for the day. He trotted over to the bed, then stopped and blushed furiously at the sight of the three of us all asleep together. "Oh! Uhh... a-am I interrupting anything?" he stammered.

"Just our blissful repose," I yawned. "Let us sleep, Vishnal, would you please? Your beloved Princess is still recovering from yesterday's injuries." I closed my eyes and started to drift off again as the young butler slipped back out of the room, quietly stammering an apology for disturbing us.

Soon afterwards, I was startled awake by Avani as she suddenly clutched me tightly, her nails digging painfully into my side, apparently in the throes of a nightmare. She whimpered, and as I looked over at her, I was startled to see tears streaming from her tightly closed eyes. She mumbled incoherently, shivering as if cold or frightened. Suddenly she gasped and shoved against me so hard I was nearly pushed out of bed, and she moaned "No, Bhima, don't... please... not..." before beginning to sob in her sleep. Then she sat bolt upright, screaming "Rishi!" as she awoke, staring blankly with dazed, unseeing eyes.

Dylas jumped and sat up, startled out of his sound sleep, and I put my arms around her and attempted to soothe her. "Hey, it's okay now. You were having a bad dream. Shhh, you're okay," I whispered as I held her and stroked her hair as she sat, rigid and shaking at first, then gradually relaxing as she awakened.

"What the hell happened?" Dylas asked, bewildered and still half-asleep.

"Avani had a nightmare," I explained. "What was it? Do you want to tell us about it?" I asked her.

"I... I don't know. I don't remember it. I remember being terrified, but not why," she replied, still looking confused but no longer quite as frightened.

"Who or what's 'Rishi'?" Dylas asked, stifling a yawn.

"Rishi?" she repeated. "I don't know. Why do you ask?"

"You were yelling it—that's what woke me up," Dylas replied, looking at her in surprise. "Don't you remember?"

"No... I don't remember saying anything," she replied slowly.

"You also mentioned someone named Bhima before that," I added. "Does that ring a bell?" She just shook her head, looking troubled. "Hmmm... interesting," I said, giving her a thoughtful look.

************

Dylas suggested that he make breakfast for us, and I proposed that afterwards, we take Avani to see Jones to be sure she was mending satisfactorily. We dressed, then Dylas went to cook while I sat on the sofa and held Avani in my arms to cast a healing spell on her. It took a few repeats before she began to look like herself again, and by then Dylas was bringing breakfast out.

He looked at us as he set a couple of cups of coffee on the small table in front of the fireplace, and asked, "Why do you hold her like that to heal her? She doesn't often hold people when she heals them. Does it work better that way? Or is your magic not as powerful as hers?"

I grinned, and said, "No, as far as I know it doesn't make any difference. I just want to hold her, that's all." Dylas snorted and stalked back into the kitchen as I laughed at Avani's reddening cheeks.

Dylas had cooked a quick breakfast of hot cereal for Avani and himself, though he'd thoughtfully grilled some squid for me instead. We sat all together on the sofa before the fire, eating our breakfasts and sipping our coffee. We all seemed to be in a pensive mood, and it was a quiet meal.

Afterwards, I cleaned up in the kitchen, giving Dylas a chance to be alone with Avani for a few minutes. When I returned with more coffee after I'd finished, they were sitting together on the sofa, his arm tightly around her shoulders—protective as always, perhaps even a trifle possessive. I refilled their cups and mine, washed the empty coffee pot, and then joined them.

After we finished our coffee, we left for the clinic. Jones examined Avani carefully, and pronounced her fit, with only minimal ill effects that should be gone within a day or two. Then when he had completed her examination, I brought up her nightmare and the names she had cried out in her sleep. Jones found that as interesting as I had, and he asked some questions about exactly what had happened in the explosion. He sat and thought for several minutes, absently tapping a pencil against the desk at which he was seated.

"It's possible," he said finally, "that the explosion and the subsequent blow to your head were enough to jolt some of your memories free. But I'm at a loss as to why so little and only in your subconscious. I'll do some research, but I've never heard of anything quite like that before. Meanwhile, as always, I suggest you don't fret about the past. Focus instead on the here and now. You're young—you have your whole life before you. It would be a pity to wake up one day and find life had passed you by while you were busy looking behind, wouldn't it?" Avani nodded, and Jones continued, saying, "You know, those are pretty unusual names. If you wanted, I would think Arthur could make some inquiries on your behalf, trying to track them down."

Her eyes widened, and she vigorously shook her head, saying, "No, I don't think I want to do that." He looked at her, surprised, and she explained, "You see, I don't remember those names or the dream or anything. But whatever it was that I dreamed scared me so badly that I still feel my blood run cold whenever I try to remember. So... I don't think I want to find them, for now at least. Maybe someday I'll get my memory back, and then I might feel differently. But for now, I think I'll try my best to let go of the past. That's what everyone always advises me to do anyway, isn't it?"

************

It took a few more days before Avani was fully recovered from the explosion. Dylas and I continued to sleep with her each night, as she seemed to feel more at ease when nestled between the two of us. No more nightmares plagued her sleep, however, and after her injuries had healed, she gently kicked us out, saying that she needed some time to herself to think. She never lost sight of her goal of retrieving the rune spheres and saving Venti, and now she was ready to plan her next moves, it seemed.

As he shouldered his rucksack in preparation to return to his own room, Dylas asked Avani if she'd like to go out with him on a lunch date the next day. She absent-mindedly agreed, though I had some misgivings—she didn't seem to be really paying attention to what he was saying. Dylas didn't appear to notice, though, and took off with a smug look on his face. I shook my head and shrugged as I grabbed my pack and followed him through the back door. Back in my room at the inn, I quickly immersed myself in a translation I'd been working on partly for Arthur and partly for myself—a book that had intrigued me as soon as he mentioned it to me, as it was written in the old script and illegible to most in this present day.

I was hard at work on this translation the next morning when Avani stopped by. "Hey, Leon. I want to train up some of the younger, more able-bodied townsfolk to assist with the town's defense if needed, and I wondered if you'd be willing to lend a hand? I could particularly use help with the magic-users. Those would be Arthur, Kiel, Meg, and Dolce. How about it?"

"Hmmm...," I said, looking up from my work. "Well, I am a little busy, but I can probably spare you a few hours... if you feed me dinner tonight," I said with a mischievous grin.

"Don't I always?" she replied, drily amused.

"Okay then, who's first?" I said, standing up and stretching.

"Kiel needs the most training, I think, so let's start with him if he's available. I'll need to see what gear he has—he's almost certain to need some equipment. Luckily I have a storeroom full of weapons and armor. Shall we track him down?"

We found Kiel nearby, on his way to the inn from Porcoline's restaurant. He enthusiastically (maybe a little too enthusiastically) agreed to join her, and we took the shortcut through her garden to her rooms, where she soon had him outfitted for battle. "I want you to focus on learning, rather than fighting, so keep close to Leon so you can observe him in combat," Avani instructed him as we left through the same door.

"Where are we going?" I asked her, curiously, as she stopped in the middle of her garden, near a massive gourd.

"Nowhere," she said with a mischievous grin.

"Huh?" I said, confused.

She laughed, and gesturing at the gourd, she said, "Remember the raccoon demon? This was his gift to me: a field dungeon seed. I've grown a magical dungeon right here in my backyard—and it changes each time I go in, too. Perfect for training, don't you think?"

I was intrigued—I'd never heard of such a thing before. I looked it over, noting that it had a large opening in one side from which faint screeches and howls emanated. "Ready?" she asked, grabbing her dual swords. "Let's go!" And with that, she plunged into the opening, Kiel and I close behind her.

The dungeon consisted of winding paths and clearings populated by an odd assortment of monsters, ranging from little woolies and cluckadoodles clear up to the final monster of the fourth and final level—a greater daemon. Kiel kept close to me, as promised, attacking only the weaker opponents. Even so, he took some near-critical damage on a couple of occasions, as he himself was still quite weak. I was sure a few days under Avani's tutelage would improve his condition, though.

Afterwards, we returned to her rooms, where she grilled some fish for me, cut a slice of cake for Kiel, and tossed together a salad for herself. As we were sitting and eating and discussing the day's training, Avani's door suddenly banged open. Dylas stalked in, eyes blazing as he saw the three of us eating together, looking up at him with startled faces. "Dylas? What is it? What's wrong?" Avani said, rising to her feet, her brow furrowed with concern. "You look absolutely furious—did Doug do something again?"

"I waited for you," he hissed through clenched teeth, "for four fucking hours. Then I spent another six hours trying to find you, thinking maybe something must have happened to you, since you never showed up for our date. I searched everywhere for you—in the town and all over the plains. I was worried, dammit! And now I finally find you here, with your other loverboy, after you went and stood me up!"

Avani turned white, and said, "Date? Did we...."

"You don't even remember? Damn it all, Avani, I thought you were better than that!" With that, he turned on his heel and stormed out, slamming the door behind him.

Avani stood there, stricken and pale, shocked by what had just transpired. She turned to me, tears gathering in her bewildered eyes, and quickly sat down. She buried her face in her hands, saying, "I don't remember having a date with him—not at all!"

I put my arm around her, saying, "I'm sorry, Avani. I had completely forgotten myself, or I'd have said something this morning. Dylas invited you to lunch before he left last night, but you were so preoccupied that I don't think you even heard him. You just sort of agreed in that distracted way people do when they're not really listening—but he didn't notice that you weren't paying attention. I am sorry, truly I am."

She shook her head, tears running down her cheeks, and said, "No, Leon, it's not your fault. I'm sorry, but I have to leave now. I have to find him—I need to get this sorted out. You two can stay here as long as you like—help yourself to anything in the refrigerator." And she rose and ran out the door.