Things were happening too fast. Kelin staggered backwards as the blur of the countryside suddenly slowed. She’d learned over the last few days that real-time meant danger and she reached for her sword, scanning the meadows around her.

Nothing.

After a moment, she lowered the sword and moved out to search the surrounding area. There was no telling when the world would speed up again, but she had a feeling there was something she was meant to do. If it wasn’t fending off another attack, then why had time slowed?

Finding nothing, she sat on the slightly overgrown path. Her legs felt as if she’d traveled for days this time, but it was hard to tell. Daylight and moonlight bled together when she sped along, leaving her disoriented and more than a tad annoyed. When her mother warned her against adventuring she’d never mentioned anything like this.

Kelin was in the midst of wondering if she had somehow fallen on the bad side of an evil wizard when someone stomped out of the bushes.

Bushes that hadn’t been there a moment ago.

“What do you think you’re doing?!” The slightly disheveled person was waving it’s arms wildly, but Kelin didn’t bother to draw her sword. “You’re wasting time! Space!” It glared at her accusingly. “Do you know how many words you’ve wasted already?”

Ah. Now everything was starting to make sense. Kelin looked up at the oddly genderless figure in dismay. The old man, the pig keeper, the kindly hedge witch, the goddammed mystical blue wolf that kept following her around. She wasn’t cursed… she had an Author.

Maybe working as a seamstress hadn’t been all that bad…