In Which We Get Some Exposition

 The castle’s entrance was, of course, heavily guarded. This was a fact that should not have surprised Millie as much as it did, and yet here she was, staring at the row of halberds pointed at her and the growling Nibbles at that very moment.

“State your business,” one of the guards commanded, glowing red eyes glaring at her from beneath the brim of a bronze helmet.

She wished she could give some sort of official answer. That was what people tended to prefer, right? But given that this was her dream...well, she could probably get away with just about any BS explanation that came to her, right?

“Now is that any way to speak with the Chosen One?” she asked, holding her head high.

“Chosen food giver?” Nibbles asked, head tilted and tail wiggling excitedly.

The guards looked askance at the werewolf, muttering about her and the human woman with her. Before Millie could continue the lie, however, they were all greeted by the sound of clacking footsteps on stone.

“Oh, good. You’ve found the place on your own,” a woman’s voice said.

Her voice was low and somewhat sultry, and they could hear the hint of a smile in it.

“Please, let her in. Her and her companion.”

The guards stepped aside, as Millie and Nibbles walked in. The interior of the castle was lit primarily by wall-mounted torches, the air smelling like a combination of cinnamon, pumpkin, and...why was there a hint of blood in there? Millie chalked it up to the reigning “horror movie dream” theory. It was the most sensible thing, after all.

But if it were, in fact, a dream, then why could she smell things so distinctly?

As they walked further into the castle, they saw two massive spiral staircases, one to the left and one to the right. They passed by the kitchen (which Nibbles had started to veer toward)..Millie, however, gripped the werewolf’s arm, guiding her to their path to…

Wait, where were they going, anyway?

“You’re getting closer!” the voice called again. “You’ll want the courtyard. If you see the fountain, you’ll know you’re in the right spot.”

Admittedly, that was not something Millie would have expected to hear in an establishment such as this. And aside from this mysterious voice’s owner and the guards, neither she nor Nibbles had seen a single soul in the area.

After more walking, the courtyard came into view. There were black benches here and there, topped with red cushions. In the middle of the courtyard was the fountain this mysterious voice had mentioned. The fountain looked to be carved out of pure obsidian. From the bat statue at the top of the fountain sprayed a deep red liquid.

Blood.

Millie stared at it for a while, admiring each curve of the structure. She jumped upon hearing a yelp from behind her, looking behind to see Nibbles in the midst of a hardcore sniff-session. The subject of her sniff-session? A tall woman with long dark hair. Its waves nearly hit the floor. Her bright red eyes widened at the werewolf invading her personal space. She offered an awkward fanged grin at Nibbles.

“...Yes. Lovely to meet you, too,” she said, reaching up and patting Nibbles’ face.

Nibbles, for her part, had devolved into an excited full-body wiggle as she received pats, rubbing her head against the woman’s hand.

Millie sighed. “Nibbles, I know you like to make friends, but could you give the nice lady some room to breathe?”

“But...friend…!” Nibbles said, taking a few steps back.

Millie was more shocked that Nibbles listened to her the first time than anything else.

With the werewolf no longer right in her face, the woman, the owner of that voice, took a good look at her guests. And Millie got a better look at her face. Two fangs poked out over purple lips, and there was a silvery diadem with a purple gem in the middle about her forehead.

“Please, sit,” the vampire had told them.

Millie selected a nearby bench, as Nibbles settled right next to it, her tail continuing to wiggle excitedly. The vampire stepped forward.

“Now, I imagine you’d like to know why I’ve brought you and your friend here,” she said.

Millie frowned a bit. As far as she knew, she and her dog-turned-werewolf had stumbled upon this place on their own.

“Um...when you say ‘brought here’…?”

A chuckle. “To Nightshade itself, dear,” the vampire said. “You see, you’re in the realm of Nightshade. My realm, to be exact. My name is Talia, and I’ve had you brought here for an important mission.”

At that point, Millie started to analyze the dream she was clearly having. Of course. Of course she’d find herself dreaming about having a purpose, after that unceremonious dismissal from her job a few weeks back…She might as well go with the flow.

“What would this mission be?” Millie asked.

Talia smiled slightly. “Right to the point, eh? Well, there’s been a threat plaguing my lands for a few years now. I’ve summoned others over the years to destroy it, but all of them had disappeared in the process.”

So, she wasn’t the first choice. Well, that was something Millie could live with, particularly in a dream. And given that it was a dream, it wasn’t like she would screw things up royally…

“What’s the nature of this threat?” she asked.

Talia sighed. “There have been eldritch beings finding their way into Nightshade. When they have fingers, it’s never a consistent number. There’s always this yellow tint that follows, and they drain the life from whatever they touch.”

She thought back to her and Nibbles’ trek through the forest, to that encounter with the siren. And then told Talia about the run-in.

“We just ran from it,” said Nibbles. “I wanted to eat it, but noooo…”

With a sigh, Talia scratched her chin. “They’re getting closer, then...So there isn’t much time, I suppose…”

“I can probably fight ‘em with the right weapon,” said Millie, expecting that to be a good response to what she’d just learned.

Given that this couldn’t possibly be real, she waited for the right weapon to appear. What she got instead was a growl from Nibbles. Nibbles, it seemed, had gotten bored and wanted to play, her tail doing its wiggly thing once more.

“Not now, Nibbles,” Millie said, being answered with a bark as her werewolf companion started to tear around the courtyard.

In all fairness, the question of werewolf zoomies had popped into Millie’s mind on and off. But she was actually seeing it now. Not only that, but the canine/lupine mix rushed right at her, knocking her clean off her feet and into the fountain.

As she landed in the fountain, Millie noticed a few specific things. First and foremost, that the blood was, in fact, real (complete with that classic metallic taste and a mild viscosity). Secondly, that she felt actual pain when she smacked into the obsidian. Third and foremost: that actual pain meant one thing and one thing only, and that was that this wasn’t a dream.

This was actually happening…

All of her previous bravado about fighting the creatures had washed away in the blood, as she began to hyperventilate. It was one thing to binge horror movies to the point where one’s dream became one, but it was entirely another to realize that she and her dog had had a close encounter with something that drained life. And that she found herself covered in blood now.

“Would you like me to help you upright, dear?” Talia asked, holding out a well-manicured hand.

Unsure of what else to do right now, Millie accepted her help, allowing the vampire (“Holy shit, an actual vampire…”) to pull her from the fountain.

“You seem a bit shaken. Are you okay?”

Millie’s eye gave a little twitch. “Oh, I’m just fine…” she said. “I just found out that what I thought was the coolest frickin’ dream ever is REAL, and I’ve got no idea how the hell to fight a monster and I’m covered in blood and I need a frickin’ drink, and I need it bad…”

A mild shock ran through her hand, and she glanced at the hand in question to find a shot glass filled with something that smelled like incredibly strong alcohol.

“...Where did that come from?!”

Talia chuckled a bit. “It would seem that you’re a witch,” she said. “It’s been known to happen with the humans I summon.”

Millie downed the shot, still so shocked over what her life had become that she barely even registered the strength of the drink. She could vaguely hear Talia explaining the nature of her abilities, hearing the word “intent” thrown in there somewhere, but she couldn’t quite focus on any of that.

Finding herself in an isekai was not something she ever anticipated.

Not in her life...