Klaus gently caressed Dudu's head, feeling the dragon's warmth against his fingers. The soft rise and fall of the creature's breath soothed him. With his hand resting on the small dragon, Klaus allowed his eyes to close. The exhaustion that had been lingering at the edges of his mind finally overtook him, pulling him into a deep, inevitable slumber.
The descent into sleep was sudden, like falling into an abyss. His mind spiraled downward, a suffocating weight pressing on him as the world around him faded. The comforting warmth of Dudu and the bed beneath him vanished, replaced by a chilling darkness.
Suddenly, he was no longer in his room.
