If my alarm clock didn’t wake me up, she though to herself, scanning the room, Then what did? She yawned and blearily wiped her eyes. Whatever, she thought, sighing in exasperation, it’s not like I really wanted those full 8 hours of sleep anyways. Besides, I’m kind of glad I woke up. That dream I was having was kind of creeping me out.

She shivered as she remembered what she had been dreaming about before she woke up. In her dream, she had been standing in the ruins of a castle, watching as a young man made his way through the wreckage and towards the well that stood at the center of the courtyard. He pulled a vial out of a bag that was hanging around his waist, and poured a small drop of whatever was in it into the well.

Then the scene had faded and Iellia found herself in a small village in the middle of nowhere. A woman came running out of one of the nearby houses, her eyes wild with terror. A scream pierced the air, and another, and then another as the villagers began to flee their houses.