He lay down to take a small nap. He didn't want to take one for long, though. His ears were perked, and he suddenly wondered if anyone had been watching him. Had anyone else seen his failures? He hoped not. It was rather embarrassing, especially since he knew he was usually much better than this.

He thought about what spells to do next. Summon void, certainly, though it'd likely take a long time for that one to work. He grunted. Oh well.

It wasn't long before he did fall into sleep, though only for a moment.

"Speech" l 'Thoughts'

A little while later, he woke up and stretched. He had a clearer head now, and he hoped it would show. A few more spells, and then he'd go back and redo ones he had trouble with earlier. He wanted to make sure he got this whole magic thing down.

He decided to go with a simple one. Starry eyes - one of his favorites. It was once fun to cast it and then slink through the shadows, watching others, the only sign of his presence his glowing eyes. It was a little hard to tell when it was successful, but he had his ways.

"Speech" l 'Thoughts'

He could just feel the glow in his eyes, and looking at the ground and seeing a light shadow there confirmed that he had succeeded. Good. It seems the nap had done him good.

The next spell was an interesting one. It was one he had used it before...At the last competition. It had failed. He hoped it would work this time. He shook the starry eyed spell away and focused on this next one.

"Speech" l 'Thoughts'

This one worked far better than he had been expecting. It seemed like no time at all had passed before he was suddenly shrouded in darkness. It was all around him, and he couldn't see a thing. A little disconcerting, really.

He had no idea how to bring the light back. Maybe this was a bad idea...He decided to retry one of his spells. Maybe it would help bring the light back. He hoped so.

"Speech" l 'Thoughts'

It was too much. Too many spells, all one after the other. He thought he would be okay with a nap...But it wasn't enough. He couldn't even feel the magic anymore. It felt like it had just left him. He was still in complete darkness, still couldn't see anything except maybe a faint light from his necklace.

And then he blacked out.

"Speech" l 'Thoughts'

He lay there for a while before slowly coming to. He opened his eyes and realized he could still see nothing.

Well, if he still couldn't see, maybe taking a nap would be a good idea. Maybe the lights would be back when he woke up. If he ever did wake up. He was exhausted, absolutely exhausted. He wasn't sure he'd ever been so tired before. It wasn't long before he slipped back into sleep.

"Speech" l 'Thoughts'

Zevruu continued to sleep. And while he did, he dreamed.

He dreamed of when he was younger. Memories he thought had had long ago since forgotten resurfaced. He remembered the dingo he met when he first hatched. He saw Kin-kin again, and the two little kittens he had taught some stuff to. He dreamed of the battle against the rats and getting the necklace he has now. He dreamed of the magicka competitions - both of them - and crying after the first one. He dreamed of the holiday party, of meeting Kyorai, of meeting the blacksmith.

He dreamed of all of this, and more.

And at the end, he dreamed of the dreamstalker. Of the feelings that had crashed through him. Fear, paranoia. The darkness, not knowing what was there. He dreamed of something running toward him, impossibly long claws out, ready to tear into his throat...

He woke up.

"Speech" l 'Thoughts'

His eyes shot open.

Wide-eyed and breathing heavily, he looked around...and realized he could see. Something must have happened to restore the lights. Whatever it was, he didn't pay much attention to.

His dream rang through his head. He had no idea what to think of it. Was the dreamstalker back? Or was he just imagining things? Was it just a dream?

He wondered if he should continue. But he still had some spells to do, and some to redo. He wanted to be good at magic. He wanted to be good at something. Magic was just about the only thing he could do. So he'd continue to do it. He'd continue until he didn't fail.

"Speech" l 'Thoughts'

He shook himself off and prepared his spell. The next one he was going to do was one he had done during the competition...one that hadn't failed. It was similar to his last one, only it didn't linger as long and it made his eyes glow. Which, he thought, was always nice.

So taking any thoughts of his dream out of his head, he focused on the next spell and soon attempted to draw his magic out.

"Speech" l 'Thoughts'

This spell came easily, with no troubles at all. Smoke poured off him in waves, and his eyes glowed blue. He smiled at that. After his impromptu nap, he seemed to be doing better. He could only hope it would last, though.

"Speech" l 'Thoughts'