Despite the violence underway in Castle Blackpool, Sindra, the vampire sorceress, slowly intoned a simple spell of forgetfulness over her comatose charge. This low magic was beneath her talent. One could reasonably debate whether this sort of charm was even truly 'magic.' Even a good kitchen witch could master such a spell. But she was out of other ideas.

Sindra had scoured the libraries of the Magic Guild as well as the Department of Magical Research at the Lyrian University, searching for some exotic spell to reverse the dream demon's damage. She had found nothing at all. She was convinced that the damage was irreversible.

As she could not cure the damage, she decided to try to cover it up. Sindra had no high expectations. Nothing else she had tried had worked, so she expected this to be futile too. But she wanted to be able to tell Zyrdicia she had tried absolutely everything.

To the vampire's dismay, the instant she finished the spell, the man's psyche began to repair itself. She pushed the magic of forgetfulness deeper into his mind and watched it erase the demonic damage, covering it up as though it had never happened. She traced the thread backward through time in his thoughts, masking all memory of the demon's wounds until she reached the point that Zyrdicia had summoned them.

Dirk awoke a moment later. He blinked, disoriented.

Sindra smiled, pleased with herself. She greeted coolly, "Your mistress will be pleased to learn her pet mortal is awake."

Dirk sat bolt upright, shocked to see the vampire in his quarters. The last time he had seen her, she had threatened to kill him at the Spider's Web.

Amused, Sindra said, "No need to worry. I'm not allowed to eat you. Zyrdicia charged me with protecting you."

"From what?" he asked suspiciously.

Sindra cocked her head. Her corpse-like, colorless eyes beheld him curiously. "Your castle is overrun by invaders. I promised Zyrdicia to see that you weren't harmed by them."

Dirk's eyes widened. He swallowed hard, trying to get his bearings. His head felt as though it were full of cobwebs. "How long was I asleep?" he frowned.

"Several weeks."

"Did she put me in a coma?" he frowned, trying to remember.

Sindra smiled slyly and said, "Yes. I'm sure you're very angry at her about that."