There was a knock at the door.

  “You kids want some lunch?” It was Mr. Williams.

  “Sounds good,” Toshie said. “If we’re allowed.” She stared at Navarin.

  “No problem with me,” Navarin said as she got off the bed. “Coming, Goblin?”

  The three followed Mr. Williams downstairs. Despite the restaurant being fairly busy, a table was set aside for them.

  “Made you some tomato soup and grilled cheese,” Mr. Williams said with a smile. “The cssic cure-all.”

  Toshie smiled as she sat down. “Thanks. Sorry for taking up a table when you’re so busy.”

  “Nah, don’t you worry about it. I can afford to take care of you.”

  Toshie bit into the grilled cheese and nearly cried from joy.

  Around the time they finished eating, Sally and Yrlith returned with plump, overstretched bags.

  “How much shopping did you do?” Toshie asked.

  “Well, the important purchases were made in a few stops,” said Yrlith, gring at Sally. “But someone wanted to do some personal shopping.”

  “Let a girl enjoy herself,” Sally said. “I haven’t been here since I was a kid. The shopping here is pure delight.”

  “She’s got good taste,” piped in Elena.

  “See? At least someone’s on my side.” Sally brought the bags over to the table where Toshie was.

  “So what’s the pn?” Toshie asked.

  “Ask Brot. He gave us the shopping list.” Yrlith plopped a sack in front of the Goblin.

  “Ooh, you found Wyrt of Westerbrook!” Brot said with excitement as he opened the sack.

  “What does that do?” asked Toshie.

  “It tastes real good,” Brot said as he popped the root into his mouth, chewed, swallowed, and continued looking through the bag.

  Yrlith and Sally looked shocked.

  “Did we go snack shopping for you?” Yrlith said, offended.

  “Well, you were already doing the shopping,” Brot said, digging deeper into the bag. “Can you bme me? I have been away from home for years. My Mission has been sidetracked about eighty different ways since I met you lovely dies. Now, I am preparing to do an exorcism. A snack did not seem like a big ask.”

  Toshie, Sally, and Yrlith each looked at one another.

  “Sorry, Brot,” Toshie said.

  “No, no, no,” Brot said, so deep in the bag only his feet poked out. “I am not trying to get your pity. It has been a long trip, which only seems to be getting longer. If we do not enjoy ourselves when we have the chance, when will we?” Brot crawled out of the bag, holding three bulbs.

  “Ah, now here is what I needed the most! Mr. Williams, would you be so kind as to mince these three and boil them into a paste?” Brot handed over the bulbs with a smile. “Our dear Hero shall eat them! This concoction shall put her into a deep sleep!”

  “But nothing happened the st time I slept.” At least, Toshie thought so. Her dreams had been vivid tely.

  “Ah, you did, but you did not see the dream,” Brot said, settling himself back into the chair. “For I fear a Dream Eater has taken root inside you, Great Hero.”

  “A Dream Eater?” Yrlith asked. “Aren’t those…”

  “Rare?” Brot finished her sentence. “Yes, and dangerous. Well, deadly. That our dear Hero survived offers us two possible scenarios.”

  “And what’s that?” Sally asked as Brot began digging back into the bag.

  “One moment, please,” Brot said as he poked through the various vegetables and roots. “Ah, here we go. I knew you would find everything I needed,” he said as he pulled out three blue carrots.

  “I will need you three, yes, you too, Master Navarin,” he called over to the Dark Elf, who had been doing her best to ignore the group. Brot was not in the mood for any nonsense. He waited for her to walk over to the table before continuing. “I will need you three to each eat one of these.” He handed them each a carrot. “Not yet,” he warned. “Once our dear Hero has had her yummy, yummy (I am so sorry, but it will not be yummy),” – he tried to whisper the st part to everyone except Toshie – “paste, the hunt shall begin!”

  “Hunt?” asked Navarin.

  “Oh dear me,” said Brot, frustrated with himself. “It is so easy for me to forget not everyone knows what I know. You see, the Dream Eater, well, it could have started in any of you. It could even have been me! Unfortunately, it was our beloved Hero! See, it is a living curse. It starts, well, for any number of reasons. But like any one of us, it is born. And like any newborn, it hungers, and, as you can assume, it hungers for dreams. But unlike a newborn, it knows how to py with its food. Well, I am sure some newborn animals py with their food.”

  “Brot, slow down,” said Sally.

  Brot took a deep breath.

  “My apologies. Think of it like a spiritual parasite. Where it comes from, we do not know, but when it is formed, it first takes form in what happened to the poor Hero st night. She wandered around, thinking herself awake but in a dream state.”

  “That doesn’t expin how she ended up in the basement,” said Mr. Williams.

  “Well, yes and no,” said Brot. “If this was a simple Dream Eater? No, she would not. She would have walked around until someone snapped her out of it. It must be so powerful that it is warping the space between the dreams and reality.”

  “What?” everyone said in unison.

  “She became a ghost for a moment, I suppose,” said Brot. “That is where this all gets fuzzy for me. Because, well, she should be dead.”

  Toshie fell back in her chair. “Could it be because I’m a Stranger?” she asked.

  “It could be! I am afraid Dream Eaters are rare enough that the study behind them is limited, never mind their effects on Strangers. That is why this is all so exciting for me! Well, terrifying, my dear Hero, but exciting as well!”

  “Can you get to the point, Goblin?” Navarin was tapping her foot.

  “Ahem, yes, my apologies. The paste I have asked Mr. Williams to prepare shall make our Hero unconscious. With these roots and my magic, if there is indeed a Dream Eater cursing our Hero, I shall be able to put the consciousness of you three into hers. After that, it’s a simple matter of defeating the Dream Eater.”

  “Simple? How do we defeat a Dream Eater?” asked Sally.

  “Oh, you know, fighting, magic, bravery, and the like. It might even sense you do not belong in the dream and come after you. I believe you will figure it out,” he smiled at them.

  “You’re serious.” Navarin rubbed her temples.

  “Well, yes. I am not sure why I would not be?” Brot popped another root into his mouth and chewed. “I suppose this would not make for a good joke. Would it in your world, dear Hero?”

  Toshie blinked.

  The yummy, yummy paste Brot had prescribed was one of the most disgusting things Toshie had ever eaten. How some roots managed to taste like rotten fish in a milk sauce, she never wanted to know. Thankfully, the paste did what Brot said it would, and she was unconscious in seconds.

  Navarin and Yrlith carried her up her stairs and id her in the bed. Brot continued his instructions.

  “I will need you three to lie in bed with Master Toshie and eat the root I gave you earlier. Yes, it will be a tight squeeze, but this is a matter of life and death. On my mark, I want you to all chomp down on the Dream Root. What a convenient name, no? Anyway. Please give it a good chew and close your eyes. Now.”

  “Brot, are you sure this is going to work?” Sally asked.

  “Not at all,” he frowned. “I am afraid you might die.”