“Now, is that a nice way to greet an old friend? I don’t think so.”

I groaned and dropped an arm over my eyes, not willing to look at the asshat. There was too much enjoyment all over his face. Enjoyment that I really couldn’t reciprocate right now.

“Go away,” I muttered.

“Oh come on, stop being such a sook.”

Kendrick wrapped his firm fingers around my arm and with a disturbing amount of ease, he yanked me to my feet. I wobbled for half a second before righting myself. A pair of yips followed by a familiar scream had my head swiveling. Boopzy was racing in a tight circle, still clutching the bouquet of leaves in his tentacles as Sasye and Captain Fluffers chased him and battered him about.

“Hey,” I snapped rushing over to pick the Tentarat up and tucking him safely atop my shoulder. “He is not a toy.”

Boopzy shook one of his free tentacles at the foxes and chittered angrily. I smirked, wondering what kind of swear words a Tentarat would shout at a pair of naughty foxes. The enormous bug-infested leaves the miniature monster still held drooped over my head like some weird-looking umbrella. Captain Fluffers hissed and darted into the underbrush, unhappy with being scolded. Sasye on the other hand sat back on her haunches and tilted her head, glaring at me with her too-intelligent eyes.

Kendrick stepped up beside me and said, “Captain Fluffers will probably never forgive you for that.”

“I’m sure I’ll live,” I grumbled. “Now what the hell is going on?”

“Like I said up above, I think you’ve stumbled upon a glitch. They’re rare but they do happen.”

“What do you mean?”

Kendrick rubbed a hand over his face and for the first time, I noticed the deep dark circles that ringed his eyes and the sallowness of his skin. Even the way his cheekbones stuck out was different than normal. He reached out, wrapping his strong fingers around my arm and yanking me back into the swamp before saying, “Come on, I’ll tell you all about it when we get back to Cassie’s.”

“Wait, you know the Witch of Evermore?” I blurted before smacking face-first into the invisible wall again. “Fucking hell!”

Kendrick frowned when I violently jerked backward and swept his gaze over the empty swamp. “You know I think you’re a hoot, Davo. We’ve got places to be, though.”

The clown danced out of the swamp and with a sweep of his hand dispelled the wall. I glared at the man as my fingers drew up into hungry fists.

“Come any closer you freak and I’ll feed you a knuckle sandwich,” I snarled.

Kendrick snorted but the clown named Davo stuck his hands on his hips and pulled a sour face.

“No time for cliché threats, Sweetheart. A glitch is a very bad thing. We’d best hightail it to the witch. Here, Davo. Take the bugs and get them back to the others.”

Kendrick snatched the plants from Boopzy’s grip and shoved them at the clown. Davo took them with an exaggerated bow before turning to his chest and opening it with a peacock feather key.

Quest Complete: Lightning Bug Harvest

Reward: The guild recognizes your support and gifts you 500 exp points, 300 gold. Happy Thieving!

"It wasn't thieving,” I mumbled under my breath.

A screech overhead had all three of us tilting our heads back. A magpie tumbled through the dense foliage, coming to rest on my shoulder before letting out its telltale warble. I untied the note from its leg and hastily read the words as it slapped me with a wing and disappeared. The familiar action made me miss Frank.

Shadow Walker Rank Increased: Bandit

“A shame,” Kendrick said. “Jackroller is a better title than Bandit. One more level though and you’ll get a fine surprise. Now come on, there really is no time to waste.”

This time, unimpeded by infuriating clowns, invisible walls, or near-death experiences we made it back to Cassie’s clearing in no time. Literally, no time if the inactivity of the sun was anything to go by. When we broke through the vegetation it was to find Cassie standing over a frozen Theo. Stella was likewise affected, still laying with her head on her paws under my hammock, frozen in sleep. She turned at the sound of our entrance, fire dancing in the depths of her purple eyes.

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“What did you do this time Kendrick?”

Kendrick let out a chuckle before dropping into my hammock. “Not me this time, Love. It was all our pal Joe here.”

“Hey, I didn’t do anything,” I said.

“Clearly you did, the entire world is frozen in place. That just doesn’t happen. It completely messes with the game. The Guardians are going to lose their shit if they haven’t already,” Cassie said.

Kendrick dropped his head into his hands and muttered. “How bad is it? Are we looking at a full reset?”

Cassie paused and lifted her head, her eyes growing clouded for half a second before she said, “No, I don’t think it’s at that level just yet. I can still reach the All Mother.”

A shrill cry broke their conversation as a tiny willie wagtail dropped from the sky. It hit the ground and warped until Jitta stood in its place.

“Kendrick, I’ve been looking everywhere for you,” She cried. “The world has…”

“Yes I know,” Kendrick interrupted not so much as lifting his head. “We’re trying to figure out what to do now.”

“Oh,” Jitta said, clearly disappointed by his response.

“Can one of you explain to me what the hell all this means? For Stella? For Gabby and Nora outside the swamp? For all of us measly players?” I snapped.

Cassie returned to her bubbling pot, digging her long-handled spoon into the mixture and giving it a hard stir. “This might destroy my brewing. Joe, tell me exactly what you did.”

“I didn’t do anything!”

“He was completing a quest. A small one at that. This shouldn’t have happened from such a low-tier mission,” Kendrick said.

Cassie paused in her stirring. “A Shadow Walker quest?”

My jaw dropped open. “But you’re not…”

“I’ve been around a long time, Joe. Don’t ever forget that.”

“Yes,” Kendrick said in answer to Cassie’s question. “One of our Dallies, not a main guild questline.”

Jitta dropped to her knees beside Kendrick’s feet, reaching out to stroke Stella’s fur. I stiffened at the action but she was being gentle and Stella in her frozen state was indifferent to the action.

“This is really bad,” Jitta said.

“We’ve seen worse. It’s a simple glitch. Something about Joe’s epic failure to catch the first bug set something off. Davo wasn’t much help, he’s never seen anything like it,” Kendrick said.

“Were you watching me the whole time?” I demanded. “And what do you mean ‘epic failure’?”

“Kind of, yeah,” Kendrick answered, ignoring my second question. “I gave Boopzy the tip on one of his many trips into the swamp. You never would have found Davo otherwise. I’m a little disappointed that you haven’t been taking advantage of the Dallies.”

“I’ve had more important things to worry about. Like completing Cassie’s quest and hunting down Nigel the Sentinel.”

“Time management, Joe. You really should work on it sometime.”

“I’ve been telling him the same thing about his brewing,” Cassie added. “He should be at a much higher level by now.”

“Could the pair of you stop judging me and help me instead?”

“Don’t worry. They acted the exact same way in my world when they started obsessing over me,” Jitta interjected.

I blinked. “Your world?”

“We’ve been through this before. You know that.”

“Yeah. Yeah, I guess I do. It still sounds weird though,” I said.

“Speaking of time management,” Cassie said as she banged her spoon on the side of the cauldron. “Should we be working on something now rather than worrying over something we can’t change?”

Kendrick sighed and stared at the witch for a long moment. “They’re unhappy with us already. Should we really keep adding to it?”

“He’s your protégé, darling, not mine. You tell me.”

Kendrick’s eyes whipped over to me. I straightened, staring right back as he weighed his options. I still had no idea what was going on but if there was an option to increase my skills during a rare pocket of extra time, I would take it. A small smile lifted the corner of the man’s mouth.

“What kind of Master would I be if I didn’t show him the way?”

“Can I help?” Jitta asked.

I couldn’t help but lift a brow at Jitta’s eagerness. There was something odd about the way she looked up at Kendrick but I couldn’t quite put my finger on what it was. She even shuffled a little closer to the man while I was staring at her.

“Sure thing. Two will get him trained twice as fast,” the man said.

“Best hurry,” Cassie said. “I can feel them weaving through the code as we speak.”

Kendrick jumped to his feet with renewed vigor. Jitta followed his lead, standing one step behind him as he approached me. I stood firm, glaring at the man as I waited for whatever torture he had decided to throw at me.

“You’re not a bad fighter, Joe,” Kendrick said. “But your thieving skills are lackluster at best. We’ll fix that nice and quick. Sasye, now.”

I spun in place, searching for the fox. I found her, sitting atop the still-frozen Stella. The fox met my gaze for a second before she and Stella disappeared in a puff of smoke. My arms dropped as I raced toward the hammock only for Kendrick to push me back on the tip of his blade.

“Use your skills, Joe. Use every last one and take her back before Jitta and I catch you or I’ll not give Stella back at all.”

“Fuck you, Kendrick. This is insanity. Give her back, now.”

A darkness I had never seen before clouded the man’s eyes as his face turned firm. “No.”

Rage filled me at the same time a powerful voice spoke inside my head.

Do as he says. I will help you my Chosen One. There is so much more to who you are than what you have discovered so far.

I worked my mouth but no words came out as I tried to make sense of what was happening. Boopzy tightened his grip on my neck as he chittered quietly.

Kendrick flashed his teeth again and said, “We’ll give you a five-minute head start. Best hurry, Sweetheart, you won’t like me much if I catch up to you.”

“I don’t like you much most of the time,” I snapped.

With that, I turned on my heel and bolted for the darkened depths of the swamp.