The silence inside the small riverside house lingered for several seconds after reality returned.
The candle near the table flickered weakly, its flame struggling against the cold breeze that slipped through the warped wooden boards.
On the floor, Jonas Calder lay unconscious.
His breathing was shallow but steady.
Standing in the center of the room, Elias Vale slowly lowered his hand from the wall where the dream-door had existed moments ago.
Now there was nothing there.
Just ordinary wood.
No ripples.
No faint circle of dream-energy.
No whispers.
But Elias knew better than to trust appearances.
The Sea of Dreams never erased its traces completely.
It merely hid them.
He turned his attention toward the fisherman.
Jonas stirred slightly on the floor.
His eyelids twitched as if trapped inside a nightmare.
Not surprising.
Having one's mind forcibly used as a doorway between worlds was not something the human brain handled gracefully.
Elias crouched beside him.
He placed two fingers lightly against the man's temple.
Closing his eyes, Elias extended his awareness.
The silver thread of dream energy within his mind responded immediately.
A faint ripple spread outward into Jonas's thoughts.
What Elias found there was chaos.
Fragments of dream imagery drifted through the fisherman's mind like broken glass floating in dark water.
Black rivers.
Endless spirals.
Hundreds of watching eyes.
But beneath those fragments was something deeper.
A scar.
A thin crack within Jonas's psyche where the dream-door had been forced open.
Elias frowned slightly.
The Collector of Echoes had been careless.
Or perhaps it simply did not care what happened to the human whose mind it had used.
Elias withdrew his hand.
Jonas groaned softly and rolled onto his side.
His eyes fluttered open.
For several seconds he simply stared at the ceiling, confused.
Then memory returned.
He jerked upright suddenly.
"The door!"
His gaze snapped toward the wall.
But it was gone.
Jonas looked back at Elias with wide eyes.
"What happened?"
Elias remained calm.
"It closed."
Jonas's breathing quickened.
"Closed?"
"Yes."
The fisherman rubbed his temples, clearly trying to steady himself.
"I… I remember seeing something."
Elias said nothing.
Jonas swallowed nervously.
"There was a… a shadow under the water."
His voice trembled.
"And eyes."
He looked at Elias.
"A lot of eyes."
Elias gave a small nod.
"That would be accurate."
Jonas stared at him.
"So it was real?"
"Yes."
The fisherman leaned back against the wall slowly.
He looked both terrified and strangely relieved.
"For a moment I thought my mind had finally broken."
Elias studied him quietly.
"You're not insane."
"That's good to hear," Jonas muttered.
"But I'm guessing the alternative isn't much better."
Elias stood and walked toward the wall again.
Even though the doorway had vanished, faint traces of dream energy still lingered in the wood.
Like the smell of smoke after a fire.
The Collector of Echoes had closed the door, but the connection between the dream realm and this place had not completely faded.
Which meant this location could become unstable again.
Elias turned back to Jonas.
"Have you experienced anything unusual in this house before the whispers began?"
Jonas thought for a moment.
Then slowly nodded.
"Yes."
"What?"
"Dreams."
Elias waited.
The fisherman rubbed his chin nervously.
"About a week ago, I started dreaming about the river."
"That's not unusual for a fisherman."
"No… but this wasn't normal."
Jonas glanced toward the window where the dark river flowed beyond the docks.
"In the dream the water was black."
Elias remained silent.
"And there were shapes moving under the surface."
Jonas shivered slightly.
"I could never see them clearly."
"But they were huge."
Elias crossed his arms.
"And then the whispers started."
Jonas nodded.
"Yeah."
"At first they just said my name."
He paused.
"But after a few nights… they started asking questions."
Elias already knew the answer.
"They asked if you could see the door."
Jonas looked surprised.
"How did you know?"
"Because that's how these things work."
Elias walked to the table and picked up one of the charcoal drawings scattered across its surface.
The sketch showed a massive spiral descending into darkness.
At the center of the spiral was a cluster of small glowing eyes.
"Your dreams were used to build a connection," Elias said.
Jonas frowned.
"A connection to what?"
"The dream realm."
The fisherman stared at him.
"You mean that place we just saw?"
"Yes."
Jonas leaned back slowly.
"That thing in the water… what was it?"
Elias considered the question.
Then he answered honestly.
"A collector."
Jonas blinked.
"A collector of what?"
"Memories."
"Dreams."
"Fragments of thought."
The fisherman looked disturbed.
"That sounds… bad."
"It can be."
Elias set the drawing back down.
"But it's not necessarily hostile."
Jonas stared at him.
"That thing used my brain like a door!"
"Correct."
"And you're telling me it might not be hostile?"
Elias gave a small shrug.
"It could have done far worse."
Jonas opened his mouth to argue.
Then stopped.
Because Elias was right.
If the creature truly meant harm, Jonas likely would have died long ago.
Still, the fisherman looked deeply unsettled.
"So what happens now?" he asked.
Elias walked back to the wall.
"The door is closed."
Jonas sighed in relief.
"But the scar remains."
The fisherman froze.
"What does that mean?"
"It means your mind is still connected to the dream realm."
Jonas paled.
"You're joking."
"I rarely joke."
Jonas stood up quickly.
"So that thing can come back?"
"Possibly."
The fisherman began pacing nervously across the room.
"I knew it."
"I knew this wasn't over."
Elias watched him calmly.
"Relax."
Jonas turned sharply.
"Relax?!"
"You're telling me an ancient nightmare monster might come back and crawl through my brain!"
Elias shrugged slightly.
"That's unlikely."
Jonas stared at him.
"That's supposed to make me feel better?"
"The creature achieved its objective."
"Which was?"
"To speak with me."
Jonas blinked.
"Oh."
Silence filled the room for a moment.
Then the fisherman sighed heavily.
"So this whole thing wasn't even about me."
"No."
Jonas sank back into his chair.
"Great."
Elias allowed himself the faintest hint of a smile.
Jonas shook his head slowly.
"You know… a few days ago my biggest problem was fixing my fishing nets."
"And now I'm apparently a gateway between worlds."
"Life changes quickly."
Jonas stared at him.
"You say that like this happens all the time."
"For me, it does."
The fisherman rubbed his face again.
Then he looked at Elias seriously.
"So what do I do now?"
Elias thought for a moment.
Then he walked toward the door.
"You move."
Jonas blinked.
"Move?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because this location has already been marked by the dream realm."
Jonas frowned.
"You mean it's dangerous?"
"It could attract other things."
The fisherman's eyes widened.
"Other things?"
"Yes."
Jonas jumped to his feet again.
"I'm moving tomorrow."
Elias nodded.
"That would be wise."
Jonas hesitated.
Then asked quietly:
"And what about you?"
Elias paused at the door.
"What about me?"
"You're just going to walk away from all this?"
Elias looked back at him.
"The dream realm is vast."
"Encounters like this are only the beginning."
Jonas swallowed.
"So there are more things like that… Collector?"
"Yes."
"And worse."
The fisherman looked pale again.
Elias opened the door and stepped outside.
Cold night air drifted across the docks.
Behind him, Jonas spoke one final time.
"Hey."
Elias stopped.
"Thanks."
He turned slightly.
Jonas looked tired but sincere.
"If you hadn't shown up… I think that thing would've driven me insane eventually."
Elias considered that.
Then gave a small nod.
"You're welcome."
He stepped onto the dock.
The fog had grown thicker.
The river moved silently beneath the wooden planks.
Somewhere far beyond the waking world, deep within the endless tides of the dream realm…
The distant awareness of The Lucid One stirred again.
Watching.
Curious.
Because its chosen Sleeper had begun attracting the attention of other ancient beings.
And the game within the Sea of Dreams had only just begun.