I rolled over and stared at the sky. High thin clouds, not doing anything useful, like providing shade to the land. They just sat up there and striped the sky. The sun burned down overhead, and I started to sweat already.

  Huh, every time I awoke on these stones, the sun was high in the sky. Was there a significance to that?

  Dekka!?

  I sat up and looked around. But there she was snuffling around with great interest in the tufts of brittle grass around the stone circle. As soon as she saw me she sped towards me and did a flyball turn off my sternum.

  Small she might be but that smarted.

  Dekka was full of ecstatic body wiggles and enthusiastic tongue, as if she had been waiting for me to wake up, or for me to show up. After she had managed to lick up my left nostril, she bounded off back to delight in smells in the grass.

  I wiped my nose. Terrier slobber in a nose hole was one of the few things I hadn’t missed about my dog. I lay back on the smooth stones, closed my eyes, and let the warmth radiate into me. They were too warm, but in a good way, like how a sauna is too warm. A light breeze came to dry the sweat on my brow, though it did nothing for the sweat in more indelicate areas. The grass rattled softly as both terrier and wind disturbed it.

  I was half dozing in that almost-nap way that feels meditative, like lying on a couch on a Sunday afternoon, when I got a notification.

  [SYSTEM CORRECTION…. COMPANION SKILL SHARE NOW SET TO 0.1%]

  Well shit. The damn elf was right. They just nerfed my dog.

  Not that I was terribly upset by that. The XP I gained wasn’t that big of a deal, and really, I was just happy my dog was here with me.

  Ayerelia.. How could I have handled that better? Of course, a player would think I was an obnoxious kid or troll. How was I going to convince a player I was genuine, and needed real help? Not just a pest causing problems.

  Maybe if I told them I couldn’t contact support? Have a player try to get a GM to come ‘fix’ a glitch I am facing. That could work. I wonder which company was making this game? Though asking that would look asinine.

  Grrr. I had found a real person and I was still back here. I could feel small stones digging into my shoulder blades, and I was starting to get sweaty. I guess I should go see what Wendel was up to.

  I stood and we started our way to the path. There must be a mechanism— No lanperanas ever accosted me close to the spawn point. Was that a safe zone?

  I walked past the first rocky outcropping. There they were a swarm of murder rodents. At least these ones were small. They flowed along the yellowed ground towards us, much to Dekka’s delight.

  “Go gettim!” I told her and kept strolling.

  I needn't have wasted my breath. She was already gathering shadow to form her hellhound mech around her as she raced across the plains to meet them.

  0.1XP!

  0.1XP!

  0.1XP!

  0.1XP!......

  I was literally blinded by the notification. They swarmed me the way the little rodents were trying to swarm my dog.

  Once I could see again, the monster hoard of crack hamsters was no more. Just bits of fluff and guts covering a wide area surrounding a very happy hellhound.

  “Very good doggo.” I said as started to continue. The shadow body started to fade when another swarm arrived. Likely attracted by the smell of so much blood and flesh just lying around in the open.

  0.1XPs blinded me again. There was a level up notification in there somewhere. No wonder they nerfed her! Then a slew of 0XPs

  This time when she done I started jogging towards the treeline. Let the next swarm have a good meal. Not that I wanted to ruin my terriers ‘best day ever’ I didn’t feel like standing out in the blazing heat all day. Especially now that I wouldn’t get any XP gain.

  Getting to the shade of the trees was a relief. I really noticed the lack of stats. I felt slow and weak. Soon, I could get my club and start the grind back to people. That had been so pointless. Or had it been?

  I had learnt there were other players. They weren’t stuck; they could save their game. Or so Ayerelia’s action seemed to imply. It was in beta. And most importantly, my dog respawned with me.

  In balance it was highly annoying, but not pointless.

  The path now gave me slight nostalgia vibes. Like I was visiting a place from my past. But it had only been days ago. I was looking forward to seeing Wendel, even if he wouldn’t remember me. I wonder what he would think about Dekka?

  Dekka! Just as I followed that train of thought I had a sinking feeling.

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  “Dekka, here girl.”

  She looked up and started to trot towards me obligingly. A Ruath ran out of the forest, startling both of us. Dekka whipped around to face it. Hackles slightly raised.

  Three more ruath flowed out from the verdant forest. I had only seen three in total, I had never wondered before if I had been seeing the same three. just how many of these creatures were there?

  “Dekka! Come. Good girl Come.. Now” First coaxing then pleading with her.

  She was still as a statue, every fibre of her being focused on the Ruath at the edge of the forest. I knew if I made a sudden movement, she would break her stillness and fling herself at them, so I moved slowly, talking calmly, trying to get in range so I could grab her little football-sized body. I had experienced this before with her out in the real world.

  One Ruath stood there, muzzle pointing down, watching her back with the same level of intensity. My heart beat fast and I my mouth went dry. Fuck this was going to be bad wasn't it? Then the Ruath sneezed.

  That was it my dog was off. She flew forward and off the path. I started to run after her, but she reached the massive wolf like creature before I could get to her. She stopped in front of the Ruath.

  I held my breath, heart pounding wildly, fear making my blood feel like ice. Yet they didn’t bite her.

  Dekka stood stiff but calm as the Ruath towered over her, sniffing her all over.

  The one that sneezed pushed her with it’s nose a few times, making her take a little side step each time.

  Then they all relaxed. One Ruath sat and scratched an ear, two more started running ahead, parallel to the path. Dekka took after them. Not in her ‘I am going to chase you down and bite you way’ more in the same way she she would run me when we were playing.

  “Dekka! Dekka!” I called after her but she was in her terrier ‘selective listening’ mode. The one Ruath that remained watched me, only occasionally glancing after those who had gone running followed by my dog.

  At least they were headed in the right direction, Wendel’s cottage. Or were they? What if she got to the cottage and couldn’t pass the barrier? I looked back. Should I walk back to the start of the path and try to get her back on it? Would the Ruath end up on the path with me?

  I stood frozen with indecision when Dekka came loping back to see what was holding me up. Her wiry coat was standing up all over her back. Was that ruath drool?

  Gross but I was glad she was making friends.

  I squatted down on the very edge of the path and clapped my hands softly, trying to convince her to come over. She did. But so did her two new ruath friends. I felt like a parent.I was concerned about the new friends my dog was hanging out with. They looked like they could be a bad influence.

  When she tried to cross into the path she bumped into the barrier. She looked annoyed for a moment, then walked down a bit farther and tried again, then turned around to come back. The Ruath passed along right on top of her, seeming fascinated by her behaviour.

  Could I reach out and pull her through? If I put my arms through, could I pull them back? If I reached through, would the Ruath attack? I looked up at them, trying to see if either had an injured-looking eye. It was hard to tell.

  Well the worst thing that would happen is that I would have to walk again.

  I carefully, slowly reached out. My skin tingled faintly as my hands passed through the barrier. My arm went, kinda blue and weird, where the barrier bisected it. Like it was made out of tiny tiny pixels. I didn’t have time to focus on that, intriguing as it was. I carefully put my hands around my dog and pulled her toward me.

  Oh thank the evil game dev above. Not only did my arms come back across the barrier so did she.

  One Ruath sniffed my arm, but didn’t object to me taking their new friend.

  Dekka let me pick her up. She was tired from all the lanperanas murder then the running with the Ruath. They might have been loping or trotting but with her little legs she had to run full tilt to keep up.

  I didn’t put her back down. One Ruath paced along beside us. Tongue lolling but this time it somehow managed to look… friendly vs mocking.

  That was an upgrade I wasn’t going to quibble about.

  It split off and melted back into the forest as we approached Wendel’s clearing, but didn’t put Dekka down. With my luck she would have caught her second wind and go gallivanting off with the Ruath all night. And I still didn’t know whatwould happen if she got killed and I didn’t. Would I have to run into a lanperanas swarm to get to the start with her again?

  I hugged her closer. Dried Ruath drool and all.

  Just like the path seemed like a memory Wendel felt like an old friend. Even if he didn’t remember me. A tear actually slid down my cheek when I saw his round face and wide smile as he answered the door. I smiled up at him and let him introduce himself and invite us in.

  That night I didn’t go straight to bed. I stayed up into the evening with Wendel, chatting. Real or not he must get lonely out here. As much as he was prepared for guests he never seemed to remember any. Though I wondered if he ever got anyone other than myself.

  That night I decided my goal was to get Wendel to laugh with silly dog tricks. Dekka, being the clever Jack Russell that she was, had been one hell of a menace as a puppy. Training her to do stupid dog tricks was a good way to give her something to do, and convinced her that listening to humans was sometimes fun and rewarding.

  Wendel of course had never seen a dog. And as far as he knew, no one kept pets. He said maybe nobles did, but that every animal a ‘normal’ person had had a purpose.

  “And what is her purpose.” He asked me.

  “Mainly that of that as a companion. But she is really good at killing lanperana swarms.”

  He looked over at her tiny form warming her stew-filled belly by the fire. “ I don’t want to doubt you, Miss Elizabeth, but she seems a bit small to take on more than one or two.”

  “Oh she has a few tricks up her paw.” I said with a bit of a sly grin.

  “What is a trick?” He asked his large bushy eyebrows raising up to disappear under the mop of his dirty blonde hair.

  “Tricks can be many things. But in this case they can just mean things your dog can do.”

  When his eyebrows stayed up hiding under his fringe, I said, “Here, let me show you. Do you mind if I take a small bit of this cheese?” I pointed to a wheel on a shelf.

  He nodded so I took a knife and cut up tiny bits. Dekka, like many people and terriers, worked better if she got paid.

  As soon as she realised there was a paid gig to be had, she stood up and came over, tail wagging and ready.

  I had her spin in circles, heel, sit up and beg. One trick I had taught her was stick 'em up. Where I point my finger like a gun, and she would stand up on her back legs, front paws held high. I would then ‘shoot’ her with my finger gun and she would fall over. I had to kind make it look like an arrow for it to come across to Wendel. But he loved it.

  He slapped his knee and kept saying “What a clever little beast you have there, Miss Elizabeth, very clever.” In fact, he sounded less and less like an NPC as the evening wore on. Dekka retrieved objects, rolled over, barked and ate lots of cheese.

  Everyone was happy that night. I went to bed with a smile on my face and a dog too full to jump up on the bed. Why did things have to attack me? Why wouldn’t the game be like this, cozy and friendly, making friends with NPCs?