The meeting hall buzzed with murmurs as John Gary read out the assignments in his usual gravelly tone. Operatives in long coats shifted impatiently, some checking revolvers, others scribbling notes on thin parchment.
"Rose. You'll cover the east wards with Nathan."
She nodded, though her gaze flicked briefly toward Kael, a hint of irritation flashing before she masked it with a smile.
"Kim. Mortty. The two of you will investigate the famine and suicide reports in the southern outskirts."
Kael blinked. "Wait—"
Before he could protest, Kim bounded over, grin wide, his blond hair a little too bright under the lamps. He clapped Kael on the back hard enough to make him stumble.
"Partnered with me, huh? Lucky day for you!" Kim said, voice bubbling with energy. "Don't worry, I'll protect you. If things get tough, I'll even write a poem about your bravery."
Rose snorted. "More like a comedy piece."
Kim winked at her. "Jealous already?"
Her sharp glare promised murder. Kael wisely adjusted his hat and muttered, "This is going to be exhausting."
The carriage rolled southward, away from the bustling heart of the city. As the cobblestones gave way to cracked dirt paths, the scenery grew bleaker: houses with peeling paint, children in ragged clothes, fields gone to rot. The air reeked faintly of smoke and decay.
Kim, ever unbothered, leaned back and recited dramatically:
"A withered field, a hollow sky,
Where laughter fades and spirits die.
Yet even here, a flower grows,
In shadows deep, its courage shows."
Kael raised an eyebrow. "You do realize half the people out there are starving, right? Not the best audience for your poetry."
Kim grinned. "All the more reason to give them hope. Or at least a laugh."
Kael sighed and looked out the window. This man is either a genius or an idiot. Maybe both.
The village head, a gaunt man with sunken eyes, welcomed them at the entrance. His voice shook as he spoke.
"It began three weeks ago. First the livestock… then the crops… then people. They started hanging themselves, drowning in wells. Some swear they hear voices in their dreams."
Kael's stomach tightened. "Dreams," he echoed softly.
Kim asked gentle but sharp questions, balancing charm with authority. They toured the village: houses with boarded windows, an empty schoolhouse where chalk still marked unfinished sums, a well with flowers laid nearby like a grave.
Everywhere they went, Kael felt the weight of unseen eyes pressing against his skull.
By dusk, they had found nothing tangible. No ritual markings, no suspicious strangers. Only grief and silence.
"Let's rest," Kim said, clapping his partner on the shoulder. "Tomorrow, we start again fresh."
Night fell.
Kael lay on the creaking bed of their rented room, staring at the ceiling. His mind swam with whispers half his own, half foreign. Slowly, his body grew heavy, his eyelids leaden.
He dreamed.
At first, it was pleasant. A dining table. His family smiling, laughing, voices warm and full of life. For a moment, he wanted to stay.
Then he froze.
No. This isn't real.
The laughter warped into hollow echoes. The food rotted on the table, maggots crawling through the bread. His family's faces melted into blank masks.
Kael staggered up, revolver in hand. The dream shattered he stood in a forest drenched in moonlight. The trees groaned as though alive.
A rustle behind him.
Kael spun, revolver raised.
"Whoa, whoa!" Kim raised both hands, grinning. "Don't shoot! Unless you're trying to make me part of your nightmare."
"…Kim?" Kael narrowed his eyes.
Kim gave a little bow. "In the flesh or whatever passes for it in here."
Before Kael could question him, the air thickened. Vines slithered across the ground. A woman stepped forward, her body covered in writhing tendrils of green, hair cascading like living vines. Her eyes glowed faintly, dreamy and cruel.
"A Somnus," Kim whispered, jaw tightening. "Phase… six."
The woman's lips curved into a smile. Her hair lashed out, thorned vines whipping forward.
Kael fired bang! but the bullet slowed midair, swallowed by twisting green.
Kim darted forward, blade flashing, his voice ringing with a chant:
"The moonlight weeps, the dreamer wakes,
A blade to cut, a will that breaks!"
Steel met vine. Sparks scattered. Kim danced between lashes of hair, his movements poetic yet desperate. Kael covered him with gunfire, each shot barely holding the monster back.
But the woman was too fast, too strong. Vines wrapped around Kim's leg, dragging him down.
"Damn it Kael!"
Kael's mind raced. His eyes caught a strange shimmer in the trees a faint, narrow path of silver light. Instinct screamed at him.
He grabbed a rusted lantern from the ground and hurled it into the vines. Flames erupted, forcing the woman back. Her shriek rattled the dream itself.
"Now!" Kael shouted.
Kim rose with a roar, blade glowing with moonlight as he finished his chant:
"May the dream collapse, may silence reign
Let shadows fall, unbind the chain!"
He plunged his blade into her chest. The woman screamed, her form unraveling into mist.
The dream shattered.
Kael woke gasping, sweat soaking his shirt. Morning sunlight spilled weakly through the window.
Kim sat at the table, boots on the desk, munching on stale bread. He grinned. "You snore, you know."
Kael rubbed his temples. "We almost died."
"Almost," Kim said cheerfully, "but we didn't. Which means victory. Besides, you were brilliant out there lantern trick and all."
Kael sank back, unsure whether to laugh or strangle him.
Outside, bells tolled. Somewhere far away, a girl surrounded by cultists in white robes plunged into dark waters.
The world moved forward. And Kael's entanglement with it grew deeper.