Kastor emerged on a rooftop across the street from Matteson’s rented house and sat down next to the ravens.

“You really must explain to me some time why you care so much about the Mattesons,” he said, watching through the window as the Anchor climbed back out of the bed, threw some clothes on, and stormed out of the room.

“We owe you no such thing,” the blue raven said.

“Oh, come on! I mean, I get it, you guys take an interest in basically everything that humans do, but you can’t deny there’s something special about the way you handle John and his dad.”

“We wouldn’t dream of denying it,” the other raven answered.

“But you aren’t going to explain it.”

​“It will be obvious in due time.” With that, the ravens took flight, and Kastor sighed and returned to the grove.

Matteson was awakened by a swift kick to his ribs. It wasn’t hard enough to do any damage, but enough to send him sitting straight up in his bed with his fists ready to strike. On the floor next to his bed was the faun, having just landed, glaring at Matteson with his arms crossed. The Anchor grumbled and laid back down.

“What is it, Kastor?” he muttered.

“What did I say, huh? Back at that Apple Trees place?”

“Applebee’s.”

“‘That girl is trouble,’ I said! ‘Something seems off about her,’ I said! But what did you do?” Matteson rolled over so his back was to Kastor.

“Can this wait until some other time? Like in Hell?”

“You decided to ignore me and get all involved with her!” Kastor climbed onto the bed and over Matteson as he carried on, plopping down on the mattress and leaning back against the wall. “What do you call it, dating? And then! And then you, the great John Matteson, who knows fucking everything, don’t notice while she’s using you and killing people who get too close to figuring it out!”

“What are you on about? Who’d she kill?”

“I don’t know everyone’s names! But I asked around, see. After she threatened me—which you never even checked in on, by the way—I asked around, and I found out that the ghost lady killed her friend, with the, what is it. The loud chariot.” Matteson sat up.

“The car?”

“Yeah, that’s the one!” Matteson’s eyes darted back and forth for a moment as he considered that.

“You have that on good authority?” Kastor nodded, and Matteson got up and began pacing around the room. “Shit.”

“You should be happy I brought this to you at all! After you blew me off and didn’t even bother finding out why I was avoiding you.”

“Why were you avoiding me?”

“That woman! She was going to send the Hound after me! I had to give her a year a day, that’s what we agreed, a year and a day I couldn’t come talk to you. So I tried talking to that mage girl, you know, and you could be a real pal and put in a good word for me there by the way—”

“She’s with Rick.”

“I’m not asking her to commit to anything, Johnny!” Matteson leveled a narrow-eyed glare at the faun, who ignored it and jumped down off the bed. “But I tried to talk to her, to warn you, but I couldn’t track her all the time, and when I could was usually around the house, but I couldn’t come into the house, and she wasn’t bothering to look at spirits out on the sidewalk or anything!”

“She said you got through to her eventually.

“Yeah, took her long enough to notice. Dryads notice me, Johnny! If I’m good enough for a dryad—”

“Focus,” Matteson grumbled, pinching the bridge of his nose. “What did you find out about her?”

“About?” Kastor whistled and jammed his thumb in the direction of Jackie’s room.

“No.”

“Oh! The other one. Nothing you don’t already know, now. You know, I could’ve helped if you’d asked.”

“How?”

“Well, I don’t know! Guess we won’t find out now, huh?” Matteson sighed and rubbed his face with his hands, then moved back to sit on the bed.

“Okay, fine. Sorry, Kastor. I’ll be sure to consider your words before deciding they’re wrong next time.” Kastor gave a single stern nod.

“Damn right. And don’t you forget it.”

“Anything else?”

“Yeah. Seriously, about the mage, just something positive, you know, you don’t have to try too hard, this body can do most of the heavy lifting with the ladies,” he said, striking a pose that he thought showed his good side.

“Kastor, look, I don’t think she’s interested, especially not while she’s in a relationship.” Kastor waved him off.

“Just, you know, just ask. And don’t worry, I know all about her and Rich.”

“Rick.”

“That’s what I said. I probably know more about it than you do.”

“Kastor!”

“I was trying to get her attention! It’s not my fault she was otherwise…occupied!”

“Get the fuck out!”

“Yeah, yeah. See you soon!” Kastor slipped away deeper into the Realm, and Matteson laid back down on his bed.

​“Shit,” he said again, softly.

The light from Helios shimmered on the surface of the water, reflecting bright flickering shapes on the figures dancing under the shade of nearby trees. Kastor was playing an aulos as he pranced around, accompanied by four other satyrs with instruments, keeping time to the clapping of nymphs and dryads. Other satyrs laid among the nature spirits, the whole assembly sharing fruit and laughing along to a tale being spun to the music by a centaur. Mid-dance, Kastor stopped playing and caught a hitch in his breath. He stepped aside from the group, who continued on without interruption, and glanced over to a tree from which two ravens were watching.

“It’s time, isn’t it? Is that what that feeling meant?” he asked. Muninn nodded.

“Your year has passed. You are relieved of your promise to Alethea-as-Lori,” Huginn answered. Kastor grumbled, looking back to the party with a longing stare, then turned back to the Two.

“The witch said he was okay though, right? It isn’t a pressing issue anymore, is it?”

“We will not decide what is important for you,” Muninn said. “I will only tell you that Alethea poses no further threat to John Matteson.” Kastor looked to the dancing figures again, then cursed under his breath and set his aulos down.

​“I better check in on him, anyway. Fool human,” he muttered, walking away into the forest.

There are places in the Metaphysical Realm that are barren for a season. Sometimes a culture will dream up a land for their dead, or their stories, or their heroes, and then slowly forget or die off and leave the realm of their imaginations untended. Sometimes the Ravens fly silently over a waking void, a place they know will soon house some new dream that is only barely beginning to form in the mind of a single individual. These places are generally avoided by spirits, or at least those who know how to access them at all. They are reminders of the frailty of dreams, the reliance the spirits have on the whims and imaginations and fears of a race that could not truly see them even if they wanted to. For the Ravens, though, these lands are scattered oases, wellsprings of energy and lonesome creativity, places where they can fly without worry, walk without hassle, live in quiet connection to the fundamental nature of the Realm itself. They are quiet, isolated, secure.

Well. Usually.

"Look, the deal was just that I didn't tell him anything, right? So maybe you could?" Kastor was standing on a massive stone, floating in the void. Above, the moons were constantly changing, some vanishing, some being created, some shifting in size or shape or brightness. A purple tree with orange leaves floated nearby, in which the Ravens sat.

"Why would we do that?" Huginn asked. "This sounds like a personal problem."

"Look, I don't know what your connection is to this, but it's no secret that you both seem awfully invested in the Mattesons. Hell, I only met John because of a bet about who could find out what was so interesting about them to you."

"Did you win the bet?"

"You're damn right I did! Admittedly, the standards for success were not high. But the point is, you care about this guy, and there's some spirit trying to do...something evil with him! Or to him! Or whatever!"

"Ghost," Muninn said, glancing up from preening his wing. "She's not a spirit."

"So you've been paying attention! Why is this not concerning to you?"

"It's already done. She confirmed her pregnancy today, with a test from Walgreens."

"Wait, she what? She just wanted to get pregnant? She threatened me just to get a cub?"

"No, but it need not concern you. We are aware of the situation and will act if necessary."

"Thank you for your concern," Huginn said. "Keep your distance, as promised."

"Okay, but if this goes south, I want you both to know I'll hold you personally responsible!" Kastor said, straightening up and putting his hands on his hips.

"Mm. And what will you do about it?" He stood for a moment longer, then slouched slightly, then stood straight again and wagged his finger at them.

"I will be very disappointed in you both! And I'm Mediterranean! Don't think my disappointment can be ignored!"

"We will be sure to bear that in mind, Kastor."

"Good! Good," he said, nodding. He turned around as if to storm off, then stopped and looked around. "How do I get out of here?"

"You could wait til the author finishes worldbuilding and just walk out?" Muninn offered. Kastor threw his head back and groaned.

"Oh come on! Authors are the worst! You didn't tell me this was some potential novel!"

"We didn't invite you!"

"Just jump into the void," Huginn said with a sigh, "it's still in a rough enough state that you'll land somewhere else." Kastor grumbled as he walked to the edge of his stone, then pointed at the Ravens as if to remind them he was watching, then dove off and vanished. "Does this book ever get written?" she asked, after he was gone.

"No," Muninn replied. She took to the air.

"You're cruel! What if he'd actually stayed here?" He laughed and followed her.

​"Kastor doesn't stay anywhere, and you know it!" They vanished, and the moons continued their slow shift in silence.

Lori was sitting in her bedroom, humming along to the local Oldies station and hunched over her dresser poking holes in a couple wrapped condoms with a pin. Beside where she worked, a calendar lay open marked with phases of her menstrual cycle and the current date circled.

"Oh, tonight's the night. Can you feel it? Everything is finally coming together." She bobbed her head softly to the music for a moment, then laid the pin down and huffed. "Well no, I don't suppose you are, little miss hissy fit, but it's hardly your concern anyway." She rested her palms on the dresser and stood still, as if listening. "Well I don't know why you wouldn't," she said, forcefully, standing straight up and turning around, "he's magnificent, but like I said. I'm not leaving until it's done, and that includes delivery, so don't worry your pretty little head about it. You don't have to feel anything you don't want to." She leaned against the dresser and waited, then groaned and waved her hand dismissively. "Then you can go back to sleep. I have work to do." Her head drifted slowly to the side, then stopped when her gaze hit her bed. "And you, what are you doing here?"

Kastor stopped suddenly, his mouth wide open and prepared to bite into the memory of an apple. His eyes darted around the room, looking for anyone else she may have been speaking to.

"Yes, you, goatman," she said, the final word dripping like poison from her tongue. He lowered the apple and straightened up.

"So you CAN see me! I knew it!" he exclaimed, pointing at her.

"Did he send you? To spy on me?"

"Oh child, no one sends me anywhere. I'm not that kind of faun. But I suspect he'd be very interested to know what you're doing on that dresser there." She narrowed her eyes and leveled his gaze at him for a long moment, before slowly raising her hand and then snapping her fingers. Kastor raised an eyebrow, then his eyes slowly got wide as he heard a low growl behind him. He turned to find a massive black dog with red glowing eyes, its teeth bared and wispy shadows of fur raised. He jumped off the bed and stumbled backward. "The Hound! You--there's no way you have command of the Hound! You're not her!"

"Oh, that's true enough," she said, gracefully walking toward him, "but make no mistake. We have an arrangement, and if you do anything to threaten it, the Hound will be there." She leaned close to his ear and whispered, "and in that moment, you will wish I could really control him."

"Who...who are you in there? Really?"

"Give me one year, Kastor," she said, standing up and returning to the dresser. "If I so much as smell your horrid fur near Matteson for the next year, eternity ends for you."

"It was you, wasn't it? Everyone on my side knew that human, Mark, that his death wasn't natural. Did you do that?"

"I am not here to answer your theories, faun. But if you are wise, you will stay out of my way."

"A year and a day, fiend, and everything comes to light."

"Oh if you must, but it will be too late by then." The Hound drew closer to Kastor, who took a deep breath and backed up partly into the wall. "I suggest you go, now. My date will be arriving soon and I would hate to have to kill you on a technicality."

"Mark it. A year and a day, and you are undone." With that, Kastor vanished into the deeper parts of the Realm. The Hound sat and looked at Lori.

"I'm sure your mistress has other things for you to do. Thank you for your time." The Hound nodded, then slipped away into the shadows. "Well, I better get cleaned up. Big night tonight!"