“It’s where we are, of course,” answered Kay.

Sarah started to speak again, but Kay held up a hand to silence her. From outside, a bellowing voice was speaking to the surrounding townsfolk.

“I am Baelan, warlord of this valley and rightful ruler of Castle Greystone.” The man’s voice exuded confidence and authority – he was definitely some sort of lord. “I am looking for a boy named Kay. If you give me the wizard’s apprentice, I and my army will spare your village. You have ten minutes to meet my demands.”

“Would he really attack an entire village just to get to you?” asked Sarah.

She was answered by the cries of other people in the inn Kay had been staying at. “I know where the boy is,” shouted one man. “Someone tell Baelan to hold his forces! I’ll have this Kay to him in a minute.”

Kay gave Sarah a grim nod and a tip of his oversized hat. “It’s been wonderful meeting you, but I have to run for my life now.” Without another word, he tucked his spellbook under his arm, threw the door open, and started running.

“Hey, wait a minute!” cried Sarah, following after the boy. “You’re the only person around here I know!”

Without thinking things entirely through, Sarah followed after Kay. Her vague objection about running around in her pajamas seemed a minor problem all of a sudden. She stepped out of the room and onto a second-floor balcony that overlooked a rustic medieval-style inn. People scrambled about every which-way downstairs, and most of them were dressed in the same type of old-fashioned garb that Kay was – although none of them wore clothes that were quite as ill-fitting and ridiculous. A group of large men started to run up the stairs, determined to seize Kay and deliver him to the warlord. The closest thing she had to a guide was on the run, with no one to protect him. It occurred to Sarah that she could let Kay go and find someone else to help her understand this dream. But then, she wasn’t sure if she wanted to make friends with anyone who would turn a young boy over to an army without a second thought. It seemed worse than leaving someone in the shape of a frog for a full day.

“Where are we going?” Sarah barely had time to collect her thoughts as she and Kay dashed down the hallway, only a few paces ahead of the gang coming up the stairs.

“You can go wherever you want,” said Kay, “but I plan on getting out of here.”

The boy kicked open a door, and gave a sigh of relief when he found that no one was waiting for him on the other side. He stepped into the empty bedroom and ran toward the frosted window.

“He’s up here, and he’s got someone with him,” came a shout from the men outside.

Sarah ran into the room, slammed the door, and slid the bolt into place. “Great,” she groaned. “Now they think I’m with you.”

“Don’t worry,” said Kay. “Once I’m out of here, I’m sure they’ll leave you be.”

“And how are you going to get out of here? Is there some sort of invisibility spell in that book of yours?”

“Probably, but I haven’t really studied up on it, so it’s too risky to use. I’ve got another plan.” Kay made a few quick calculations on his fingers, and then picked up a stool next to the bed. Summoning all of his strength, he threw the stool against the window, shattering the frosted glass and giving Sarah a clear look outside for the very first time.

Even with the men outside trying to break down the locked door, the view outside was breathtaking enough to take Sarah’s mind off of the chaos around her for a moment. The sky was cerulean blue, clearer than anything she had ever seen in the cloudy and smoke-filled city. The houses of the surrounding village had thatched straw roofs, with stone walls serving as people’s fences. The land beyond the village – and it was a vast land – was green and wild. The grass grew as tall as Sarah’s knees, and the trees of the forest outside swayed without wind, teeming with all manner of unseen life. In the distance, a gigantic range of purple-gray mountains stood high on the horizon, like an impassable wall that kept the tiny jewel of the world safe from the outside world.

But all was not peaceful within the valley. The ground shook under the weight of what must have been a hundred mounted soldiers. The armored troops surrounded the town, bows and swords ready to strike as soon as their leader’s time limit was up. Riding at the front of the forces was a tall, dark-haired man with a long wispy mustache. He wore green metal armor, with a breastplate that shone brightly even from a distance. The warlord didn’t seem to see Sarah and Kay, but Kay immediately shrank down and tried to hide despite that fact.

“Is that Baelan?” whispered Sarah.

Kay gave a start as he peered out the broken window. He didn’t seem to have expected Sarah to actually follow him. “Yes, that’s Baelan. He’s been hounding me for weeks, and now he’s finally tracked me down.”

“He’s not really going to destroy this village just to get at you, is he?”

“Not if I get out of here first. He’s not about to waste the energy.” The boy peered over the edge of the roof, mumbled something to himself, and dove out without so much as a warning. A badly shingled canopy extended for a few feet just below the window sill. The boy slid down the sloped roof, and then dropped over the edge. He grabbed the eaves on his way down, slowing his fall enough to keep himself from being hurt.

“What an annoying boy,” muttered Sarah. “Whoever is after him must have a very good reason.” Still, as the men outside nearly knocked the wooden door off its hinges, Sarah decided it was better to take her chances with him. Following Kay’s lead, she climbed through the broken window and balanced precariously on the short outcrop of roof outside. At the edge of the village, some of the soldiers pointed in her direction.

The ground seemed to spin when she looked over the edge. Kay was already on his feet and ready to run. Sarah hesitated at the edge. The drop down was farther than she thought. It wouldn’t kill her, but it might break her legs, leaving her helpless while the black-armored soldiers closed around her.

“What’s there to be afraid of?” asked Sarah to herself. “If worse comes to worst, you’ll just wake up. At least this will make a good story to tell Dr. Goldberg next week.”

With those words of urging, Sarah let herself slip over the edge of the roof. She dangled on the eaves until her fingers got tired and then let herself fall. The drop wasn’t nearly as bad as she expected it to be, but the landing ended up being worse. Kay stopped himself in mid-stride and turned back to try to help her. The boy moved underneath Sarah’s falling form, trying to catch her on the way down. Instead, he bungled it. Sarah landed hard on top of him, and the pair fell to the ground in an undignified heap.

Kay pulled Sarah to her feet and got her running almost immediately afterwards, but Sarah’s attention was focused on something more unexpected.

“My leg hurts,” she said.

When they had gotten far enough out of the village to stop and catch their breath, Sarah touched two fingers to the tender area on her thigh. A wave of fresh pain surged through her leg. The area she had touched was soft and sore, no doubt badly bruised from her collision with Kay.

“Why are you still following me?” asked Kay. “Don’t you realize you’re putting yourself in danger?”

“My leg hurts,” said Sarah.

“So?”

“My leg hurts,” she repeated.

“Is it bleeding?”

“No.”

“Is it broken?”

“No.”

“Then what’s the problem? It will heal soon enough.”

“The problem is that it’s not supposed to hurt at all. You’re not supposed to feel pain in dreams.”

“Of course not. But who said you were dreaming, anyway?”

“It’s the only explanation that makes sense.”

Kay screwed up his face into a puzzled expression. “What do you mean?”

“One moment I was sleeping in my bed at home, a few hours from eating Sunday breakfast with my mom. The next thing I know, I wake up in a strange bed, with a war going on around me, and I meet a boy who accidentally turns himself into a frog.”

“That last one’s me, right?”

“Of course it’s you!” Sarah felt her face grow red with frustration.

“Oh…good thing, then.” Kay scratched the back of his neck, somewhat embarrassed. “It would be really weird if you had met two people today who made the exact same mistake. But I guess it would make me feel better. I mean, then I wouldn’t be the only one.”

“That’s not the point,” barked Sarah. “The point is, none of this stuff is possible. I figured I had to be dreaming, but if I hurt myself, then I’m not dreaming.”

“It’s not that confusing,” muttered Kay. He looked nervously around him and stretched his legs, preparing for another run. “It’s just magic, is all.”

“What do you mean, it’s magic?”

“Well, you obviously came from somewhere far away. I mean, I don’t know what kind of clothing that is, but it’s obviously foreign.”

Sarah looked over her wrinkled pajamas. “It’s not foreign. These are just my pajamas.”

“Pajamas or not, they’re nothing I’ve ever seen before. Since you don’t know who Baelan is and didn’t realize you were in Greystone Valley, you’re obviously not from around here. So someone either summoned you here, or you accidentally cast a spell that brought you here yourself.”

Sarah put on her most confused expression. “How…how can you make something so bizarre seem so easy?”

Kay smiled and shrugged his shoulders. “Well, what other explanation is there? Now if you don’t mind, I’ve caught my breath, and I plan on doing some more running. Right about…now.”

With no more warning than that, Kay began running again, despite the clumsiness of his oversized robes. He didn’t get far, though. A group of horsemen had broken off from the main army and started galloping after the pair. Sarah realized that even if Kay was trying to be careful, his purple robes and pointed hat probably made it difficult to hide from anybody for very long.

The thundering of their hooves felt like hammers pounding against Sarah’s inner ear. In a matter of moments, a group of four horse-mounted warriors had them surrounded just beyond the edge of a small clump of woods. Each of them held dull gray swords, drawn and ready for battle. Their shields bore the mark of a black eagle outlined in gold – a symbol that Sarah could only assume to be the crest of the warlord Baelan.

Sarah’s mind flashed to all the battles she had read in her stories. Those heroes always had a sword and some armor. They stood proud, knowing what they were about to face. She had never read any story that involved a fourteen-year old girl in blue pajamas.

The horsemen formed a circle around the pair. Kay backed up until he bumped into Sarah. She turned herself, placing her back against her companion’s. Whatever the odds, fights always seemed to go better if two warriors fought back to back. Although, she thought, squirming uncomfortably, such a fighting style would probably be much easier if her companion wasn’t wearing unnaturally itchy robes.

One of the soldiers urged his horse a few steps forward and lifted the visor of his helmet. His face was unshaven, and his eyes had a wolfish glint to them. When he spoke, his words echoed so loudly and deeply that other warriors in the area took notice and began moving in as reinforcements.

“Apprentice Kay, you and any companions are to surrender now, under orders of the Lord of Castle Greystone.”

Kay grinned roguishly. “For the castle’s lord, he certainly seems to have trouble getting through the front door.”

The soldier’s expression darkened. He pointed the sword at Kay menacingly. “You can surrender now, or you can meet your death at the end of our swords. Baelan doesn’t need you alive.”

Sarah looked frantically about for a weapon. All she could find was a few dead sticks that wouldn’t last a moment against the warriors’ sharp blades.

“Don’t worry,” whispered Kay. “I’ve got everything taken care of.”

“It sure doesn’t seem that way,” she shot back.

The purple robes whirled beside Sarah as her companion flew into motion. Kay threw open the pages of his spellbook. At the same time, the head soldier gave a signal and charged toward the pair. Sarah shouted and threw herself to the ground, narrowly avoiding a sword stroke that could have taken her arm off. The stamping of hooves kicked up enough dirt and dust to choke her. For a moment, she was sure the last thing she would ever know would be the smell of the unwashed horses and the glint of the steel weapons bearing down at her. Then, overshadowing the clank of armor and the shouts of distant battle, came Kay’s voice. The boy shouted a spell at the top of his lungs, and the world began to change. A flash of light followed by thick gray smoke filled the area. The trample of hooves of the shout of swordsmen faded into the distance. With a sickening sensation, Sarah realized that the ground had disappeared from underneath her feet. Unable to see through the thick smoke, she felt herself falling without end. After what seemed like hours, she finally landed hard on the rocky ground. Her head hit a stone, and blackness filled her vision. The last thing she remembered before falling unconscious was silently cursing Kay and those stupid spells of his.