Mallory Dane ran through the dark forest, his blue eyes opened wide in panic. Ominous storm clouds obscured the night sky overhead, dumping heavy rain upon the young teen. His shoulder-length black hair and Critical Role pajamas were absolutely drenched as they clung to his tall, lean frame. His bare feet splashed in the soaked grass below him as he fled something chasing him. 

“No, no, no, no!” the boy shrieked as he heard the flapping wings getting closer, despite the sounds of the wind and thunder from the raging storm. Mallory looked frantically over his shoulder and saw an enormous silhouette rapidly approaching above the trees. It rushed past him overhead and then slammed down onto the ground right in his path. The teen yelped and slid to a stop, losing his footing on the slick grass and falling back. 

He let out a sharp gasp as the clouds parted and the light of the full moon illuminated the form of a giant black dragon towering over him, wings spread out. It had greenish-yellow eyes with slits for pupils. It opened its mouth wide, revealing long fangs. The beast let out an unworldly roar. 

“Please, no…” the teen whimpered as he spotted emerald flames beginning to manifest inside the dragon’s mouth. It inhaled deeply, nostrils flaring, and then unleashed a massive green inferno right at him. 

Mallory began thrashing and screaming at the top of his lungs, then jumped awake in his bed. Two of the three cats that had been sleeping near his feet went running for the door in terror, crashed into each other, and then dashed off in separate directions. A second scream could be heard down the hall in his father’s bedroom. 

“What?! What?!” the man cried out in confusion before jumping out of bed and rushing to his son’s room. 

“Sorry Pops, I just had a nightmare,” Mallory facepalmed as Nathaniel Dane came to his doorway. He had lightly-tanned skin, greenish-brown eyes, short black hair, and a neatly-trimmed beard. The teen then looked up and grinned. “That’s why I was screaming, but what’s your excuse?”

“Man, all things were possible for a sec there,” he laughed as he replied. “You could have stubbed your toe or aliens could have been kidnapping you - I didn’t know what the hell was going on!”

The two devolved into hysterics for a brief moment. “You sure you’re okay, though, Mal?”

“Yeah, just a stupid dream. Probably just anxious about starting high school tomorrow,” the boy waved it off. “You can head back to bed. Thanks for checking on me.”

“Okay, then. Trust me though, Mal, you’re gonna love life at Qrowdell Academy. Much better than going to one of those faeless schools. Plus Zeb will be there to look after you,” Nathaniel assured him. Faeless was a term used for non-magical humans. Zeb - short for Zebastian - was Mallory’s elder brother who would start teaching at Qrowdell that year.

Nathaniel walked over and petted the only cat who had stayed on the bed. She had short black fur and bright purple eyes with a bit of a glow to them. “And you’ll have Nyx too. Keep an eye on him, okay girl?”

She meowed in reply, then crawled up on the teen’s lap and booped her head into his chest. Nathaniel smiled and headed back to bed while Mallory laid down again, giving the cat lots of scritches as she curled up into a ball on his torso and purred loudly. But sleep eluded him for some time, the image of those vibrant greenish-yellow dragon eyes burned into his memory…