Book Five: Save Yourself — 4.

In early-month cold, Gwen pulls three boxes of Arthur’s Leuchtturm notebooks from under her bed and begins reading Toolkit for the Well-Prepared Dragonslayer. The last time she tried, grief forced her to stop, especially when Arthur’s margin notes addressed her directly. Now, needing his voice before her time runs out, she resumes and writes notes of her own, continuing the conversation he started.

As Gwen reads, she recognizes Arthur’s dual aim: a surface manual on dragon-slaying and a deeper guide to living—honor, service beyond self, humility, and gallantry. She smiles at his practical advice to eat a good breakfast before fighting evil, and considers finishing the book if she had years instead of months, imagining Robin could publish it.

While working through the second notebook at her desk, Gwen feels the familiar weight of her late cat, Old Ben, on her leg—then remembers he is dead. She looks down to see King Sorrow’s black claw resting near her crotch, its yellow talons tracing the inside of her thigh. She screams, topples backward, and scrambles to all fours; when she looks again, Sorrow is gone.

Shaken but resisting fear, Gwen addresses the empty room with defiance, “That all you got, bitch?” Her voice trembles, underscoring that King Sorrow can physically invade her space. The incident turns her private act of remembrance into a new front in the conflict, as her borrowed resolve from Arthur’s ideals is immediately tested by Sorrow’s intimate threat.