Toshie opened her eyes.

  She smelled smoke.

  ‘Bacon? No. Something’s wrong.’

  She looked out the window. The moon was shining down. She peeked through the door’s keyhole to see a fire blazing in the hallway.

  “Shit! Everyone! Wake up! Fire!”

  There was no response. She ran over to Brot and gave him a shake. He mumbled something about eggs and sausage.

  “Brot, you gotta wake up.”

  Nothing. She realized Sally and Yrlith were missing. She grabbed Brot by the collar and pulled him out of his bedroll. Ignoring his mumbling, she yelled at Navarin.

  “Fire! Come on, wake up, you drunk! This place is burning down!”

  She gave Navarin a big shake. She sat up, projectile vomited all over Toshie, and fell back into the bed.

  “Oh fuck, what did she eat?” Toshie ran over to the window and flung it open. Maybe there would be some hay under the window, right? Nothing. Still holding Brot’s collar, she gave him another shake.

  “Brot! Come on! You got any flying magic or something?”

  Silence.

  “Wake up, Brot!” Toshie could feel tears welling in her eyes.

  ‘Where are Sally and Yrlith? Are Mr. Williams and Elena safe?’

  She looked out the window. Townsfolk were gathering around the blazing restaurant.

  “Hey, up here!” she shouted at them. “We need to jump! Can you catch us?” They ignored her. “Useless! Everyone is freaking useless!” She turned around to see if Navarin had at least woken up. “Navarin, come on! Get the fuck up!” Toshie whacked her shoulder until she stirred.

  “Why won’t you let me sleep?” Navarin pulled the sheet over her head.

  “Because we are going to die! The building is on fire! Sally and Yrlith are missing! Get up, or you’re going to die!”

  Navarin moaned and threw the sheets off the bed. She flung the door open and stood in front of the blazing fire. Without saying a word, she pointed her palms at the fire, and a gust of air burst from her fingertips. Toshie looked to see the entire hallway was now covered in ice.

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  “Happy now?” Navarin said as she turned around to flopped back into the bed.

  “We have to check on Mr. Williams and Elena! Also, Yrlith and Sally are missing! Come on!”

  Toshie pulled Brot into the hallway, and, using her sword as a makeshift cane, she dragged them down the hallway to what she assumed was Mr. Williams’s room. She knocked on the door. No answer. She yelled. Nothing. She opened the door. The entire room was coated in ash. She slipped inside, calling out for the couple. No response. No bodies. She hoped they were safe.

  “Where are we?” Brot was awake.

  “Brot, can you go make sure Navarin isn’t sleeping again? I’m going to head downstairs.”

  “What? Okay,” Brot said and headed back to the guest room. “Master Navarin!” She could hear him calling out as she made her way down the icy hallway to the staircase. The door at the bottom was shut, and the fire had damaged the stairs. She grasped the handrail, took one step, and plummeted straight through the staircase.

  Toshie’s ass hit the dirt floor hard. There was no light whatsoever.

  “Brot!” she called out. “Can you hear me?” No response. “Sally?” Nothing. “Yrlith?” Not a sound. “Navarin?” Complete silence.

  Toshie had an idea. She snapped her fingers, and a small ball of fire floated above her fingertips. The light spread throughout the room, and Toshie gasped.

  She was in a cellar. There were wine caskets, bags of potatoes, vegetables, and other storage. And in the middle of the room were the bodies of Mr. Williams and Elena. Only the bodies. No heads. The dirt floor was soaking up their purple blood.

  Toshie screamed. She ran over to a ladder and climbed. When she reached the top, she placed her hand on the hatch. It was cool. She pushed it, but it wouldn’t budge. It was locked.

  “Help!” she screamed. Open up! Please! Help!"

  “The hell is going on down there? Is that you, Toshie?”

  There was the sound of someone fumbling with the lock, and the hatch opened. The light of the restaurant’s lanterns illuminated Sally’s face.

  “Why are you down there?” she asked as she offered a hand to pull Toshie up. When Toshie was finally out of the cellar, she looked around. Yrlith was sitting at a table snacking. Sally looked confused. Toshie put her arms around Sally and sobbed.

  “They’re dead,” Toshie said. “Mr. Williams and Elena are dead.”

  “What?” Sally led Toshie to the table and had her sit. “You sure about that? We saw them go upstairs a few minutes ago.”

  “But their bodies… I saw their bodies in the cellar. Their heads were… And there was the fire.”

  “A fire? What are you talking about? We snuck down to steal a snack… Was that an hour ago, Yrlith?”

  Yrlith nodded, her mouth full of some pickled vegetables.

  “That old couple heard us come down here. They helped us get something to eat and went back upstairs. There was no fire. Everything was quiet,” she said. “Until you started screaming.”

  “Brot and Navarin are upstairs! The hallway was on fire! We have to go check on them!” Toshie dashed to the door in front of the stairs. She opened it and saw the staircase as it had been when she had gone upstairs earlier.

  “No way…”

  She ran up the undamaged stairs. The hallway was untouched. The only fire was a small lamp still lit by the door to the main bedroom.

  “Navarin! Brot!” she yelled and ran down the hallway. She threw open the door to the room. There was Navarin spread out on the bed and Brot curled up at the foot of it in a bedroll. Both were sound asleep. Toshie ran to the window, which was now closed. She threw it open and looked out to the street. There was not a soul to be seen. She turned around and saw Mr. Williams standing at the door. “Are you okay?” he asked.

  Toshie screamed.