Myth-ion Improbable by Robert Lynn Asprin

“You’re going to sleep for a long time,” Tanda said, smiling at me.

Just her mention of sleep made me sleepy. I couldn’t believe they had done this to me.

“Taking a guy’s carrot juice isn’t nice.”

“I know,” Tanda said. “But we’re doing it for your own good. You haven’t slept in at least three days. You need to stop moving and just lie down.”

The tiredness was washing up over me like a wave on the beach. It was everything I could do to even think about saying I didn’t need sleep.

How dare she tell me what I needed? How dare Aahz leave my juice behind? Hadn’t I trusted him with that juice?

“I don’t need to rest,” I said, my voice sounding funny to my ears.

“How about you just lie down for a few minutes and then we’ll talk about it,” Tanda said, helping me to me feet and moving me over to the soft-looking bed against one wall.

“Well, maybe just a minute,” I said.

What could a minute hurt? I’d get back some of my energy, and then convince Tanda to hop me back to get my juice.

“Only one minute,” I said.

Or at least I think I said that. I might not have, because from the moment my head touched the pillow, I don’t remember another thing.

I woke up with a blinding headache and a taste in my mouth that was a cross between horse droppings and stale carrots. I rolled over and the pain hit me even harder, smashing into my head like someone was taking a hammer and pounding me right between the eyes.

“Ohhh,” I said, putting both hands to my head trying to stop the agony.

“The sleeping apprentice awakes,” Aahz, said, his voice far too loud for the size of the space between my ears.