Grimm opened his mouth, but any words were smothered by a cavernous yawn. It was plain the lad had further questions to ask, but his fluttering eyelids spoke of incipient exhaustion.

Doorkeeper decided to spare Grimm any further details; whatever Thorn's eventual decision concerning the boy might be, there were more pressing matters to which to attend.

"Now, Grimm, I think it must be well past your bedtime. There's a pallet in the corner, and I think it would be best if you had some sleep after your long journey. It's been a very busy day for you."

The effort of Grimm's long climb up the mountain path now seemed to take its toll, and Grimm allowed himself to be bedded down. As soon as his head touched the pillow, the exhausted child was asleep. Doorkeeper covered him with a blanket and spoke a small, simple charm, painstakingly memorised some decades before, to ensure that the boy slept well. He wiped some sweat from his brow, for even the simple spell of Calm Repose, one of the first Minor Magics taught to lowly Neophytes, had cost him no little effort.

Grimm slept fitfully. In place of the familiar sounds and smells of the smithy, the distant clangs and jangles of pots and pans drifted into his sensorium. From time to time, his legs twitched, as if he were still trudging up the long mountain path, and he began to dream.

He saw Granfer Loras standing before him in his smithy clothes, teaching him the names of plants and animals. Now, Granfer had made a kite for him, and he laughed with glee as it flew into the air.

The wind howled and the clouds turned dark; in sudden fear, he turned to see Granfer Loras in silk robes, the normal, close-cropped, blue smoothness of his pate replaced by a long shock of white hair. Lightning played around his brows, and his expression was stern and frightening. Grimm turned to run, but he found himself confronted by a large group of chanting, jeering mages, each one bearing his grandfather's face and expression. They grabbed him by the shoulders and dragged him to a makeshift gallows, laughing as they did so…