20
Once again, the middle of the night found me opening my eyes. Only this time, instead of seeing the world as anyone else saw it, I was looking at it in my meditative state. I could see the soft glow of the others sleeping around me, the brighter light from the walls themselves and the spells I had spun to reinforce them, and brightest of all Mjolner beside me on my pillow.
I could feel something approaching the lodge through the forest. Not the Wild Hunt, at least not yet. This was a solitary thing, not human, not even natural. I sensed no mind, just a mission.
I sat up and blinked to bring myself back to the real world, but nothing happened. I was still in my magical meditative state.
Although it had gotten easier to reach this place through weeks of practice, I had never accidenta
