"Robyn!" William cried.

Nothing seemed to be stopping her from making her mad dash away, almost bowling over a couple of citizens in her path.

He made after her, but watched as she approached the Jungle Pylon outside and vanished in sparks.

He wanted to follow, but thought better of it.

Maybe she doesn't like me.

He sighed.

How could I be so stupid?

He turned back to the party.

This isn't the real world.

He looked around at the citizens dancing together, some in pairs. Emily and Tony, Mrunok and Kayla.

Nothing here is real.

"Hey, has anyone seen Andrew anywhere?" Sid asked as he stepped casually over to William, completely oblivious to what had just transpired.

"I saw him earlier," William murmured, pivoting around on his feet, but for the life of him he could not spot Andrew's light brown hair. He did spot Hayley standing alone in one corner, looking dejected from the Guide rejecting her dance request earlier.

Where has he gone? he wondered, beginning to get a bit worried. But Robyn came back into his mind, and somehow a missing citizen didn't seem to matter as much.

"He'll turn up."

***

The next morning he hadn't turned up.

"Was it something I said?" Hayley cried, wiping her eyes with one hand and holding a bunny in the other.

"We don't know for sure," Sid said. "We've searched all five villages. No sign of him."

"Do you know any places he normally frequents?" Meg asked.

"He rarely ever leaves the Forest Village. He's good at providing us with information, but he literally has no other personality or interests."

William could hear Hayley sniffing across the room.

"Could anyone else in the village help us find him?" Meg asked, putting a finger to her chin in thought.

"Probably the best thing we can do is put together a search party and head off," Sid said. "Search everywhere."

"I'll help," Hayley said, putting down the rabbit. "I'm so worried for him. I'll never rest until he's back here, safe and sound!"

"Well, we've got one volunteer," Sid grinned, then looked to Meg. "Can you ask around and see if anyone else wants to help?"

"I will."

After Meg left, Sid turned to William. "You alright, man? You've barely talked much all day."

William didn't really feel like being drilled at the moment, so he just shrugged.

Meg returned a bit later with Harry the Golfer and Zop'a the Witch Doctor.

"If my sister's going to be going into dangerous territory with you lot, I'll be here to look out for her," Harry said.

"Fair enough," Sid said.

"Andrew the Guide is a kindred spirit of nature," Zop'a said. "It unnerves me that he should be missing. I should be able to find him."

"How?" Sid asked.

"Magic, my friend."

"Well, that's good enough for me. Where do you think he is?"

The Witch Doctor pressed his cane into the ground. "I sense he is somewhere very deep underground. So far that... he may well be in another world."

William exchanged a look with Sid.

"The Underworld!"

***

William had only gotten a fleeting glimpse of the Underworld before, but the thought of voluntarily going down there... it scared him.

After they descended down the rope that Sid had laid down in the hole he'd bombed out, William looked to Robyn. They'd ran into her just before leaving, and she'd also agreed to come with them.

Although, something still seemed unusually off about her. She was back in her silver armour, and wouldn't even look at him.

He couldn't be sure why. Maybe last night she'd been about to... tell him, but had panicked and ran, and was now hiding inside her helmet instead of openly expressing herself.

He wondered if he should say something. Something to console her.

But what?

The heat of the Underworld hit him like a sauna. Molten lava bubbled in pools, a thick haze filled the air. Pillars of rock held the ceiling up, and in the distance was a collection of buildings built out of dark brick.

"It was over there that I found most of the hellstone I mined for you, Will," Sid said, pointing at the buildings.

"Zop'a, do you have a better fix on Andrew?" Meg asked.

"He is definitely down here in here... this hellish realm," the Witch Doctor replied, "In the direction that you are pointing."

"Let's go."

Enemies of the Underworld felt to be more sparse than some of the other dangerous areas of the world such as the Dungeon, but its sheer size meant they came for them often, and they were all tough to take down. The Hellbats were evasive and tiny, the Lava Slimes burst into lava that flowed everywhere upon being defeated, and the Demons – the winged creatures that William had seen when he'd first poked his head down here – were relentless, unleashing wave after wave of magical purple scythes that spun at them with the ferocity of a chainsaw.

The dark-brick houses were lit with eerie purple lights, filled with black ceramic pots, and contained furniture that appeared to be constructed of hardened magma. They took a quick rest-stop in the first set of houses which Sid had previously explored, which was interrupted when an enormous serpent made completely from bone burst out from the floor and tried to snap at them. Some swings from William's Night's Edge and fireballs from Sid's Imp summons quickly decimated it, but not before the Zoologist screamed and cowered in a corner.

"Nothing down here is a harmless little critter," she whimpered.

"Uh... well, there's this thingy," Sid said, pointing at a glowing orange snail on a nearby wall. Its shell was made of black rock and it oozed a trail of boiling hot slime that William reckoned would probably burn his finger off if he touched it. Hayley didn't look impressed by it.

"We must move," Zop'a said. "I feel the Guide getting farther."

More Underworld traversing, into territories unexplored, not even by Sid. He eagerly mined up all the Hellstone he spotted, even drinking an Obsidian Skin Potion and fearlessly diving into lava to get some.

A part of William wished he could be as undaunted as Sid. Nothing ever bothered him.

The next set of houses was absolutely infested with Lava Slimes, but Harry managed to whack most of them out into the nearby lava lake using his golf club.

"I've never intentionally landed that many balls into water hazards before," he muttered.

"Hey guys! There's two Shadow Chests down here!" Sid called.

William dropped down to the level below and found Sid twisting a Shadow Key into each of the locks. Meg opened the right one first.

"It's a Flamelash!" She held up a short staff with a fiery tip. It cast a small ball of fire that danced in the air before a swing sent it flying to the opposite wall. She reached back in and pulled out a potion filled with fiery yellow-orange liquid. "And some potions. Lifeforce Potion. Increases max life by 20%... sounds like an invaluable effect. Wonder how you brew it. And an Inferno Potion. Ignites nearby enemies... You might find this useful, William, since you like to attack with swords."

"Thanks," he said as she handed her the potion.

"There's a Hellwing Bow in this one," Sid said. "Hey, Robyn! We've got another bow for our resident archer!"

William watched as she came down, a flat look on her face, and she took it from his hands without a word.

"And thank you too, Sid!" Sid said in a mock imitation of Robyn's voice, before bowing.

"We are getting closer," Zop'a called from above. "I believe he has stopped moving."

The next stretch of terrain was rugged ash but mostly lava-less, with many pillars of ash and stone rising up to the ceiling. Some glowing red shrubs grew out of the ground, which Meg picked up to add to her herb collection.

"Andrew!" Hayley suddenly shrieked before running forward.

William spotted him at that same moment. Some distance ahead, standing at the edge of a cliff that overlooked a massive, seemingly endless ocean of lava. Mercifully, no Demons or anything else seemed to be in sight. He ran after Hayley, who slowed to a stop as Andrew slowly turned around.

"I thought you'd be here eventually," he said.

"Andrew, I..." Hayley stammered, "I just want you to be safe. This place..."

"Yeah, it's too dangerous for citizens," Sid said, sidling up beside William.

"I am aware," Andrew said. "I ordinarily would never come here, but for one reason. A storm is coming, and the world... it needs to change in order to be truly at peace."

"What are you talking about?" Meg asked.

The Guide didn't exactly answer her question. "The four of you... William, Robyn, Sid, and now Meg... you are the greatest people I could have had the privilege of guiding. You are trustworthy, kind, moral, and honourable. You are fit for the purpose that I guided you for."

William tightened his grip on his sword, locking the Guide in his steely gaze.

"I'm sorry I couldn't say any of this sooner... you'd only try to stop me... but changing the world requires me to die. The Order of the Guide sent me for this purpose, and I must see it through."

Order of the Guide? What...?

"No!" Hayley cried, rushing forward and taking Andrew by both hands. "Please, you don't have to do this."

"I must," Andrew said. "It's why I distanced myself from you lately, including... at the party. I've known my time is coming."

"You don't have to die!" she was practically shouting, tears streaming down her cheeks, her fox tail drooping to the ground. "When I first became a werefox, I thought I'd be better off dead. Not until I found my purpose. To be closer with the animals of nature."

"To die is my purpose... Hayley," Andrew replied.

"It doesn't have to be. Please." She stared deeply at him. "Stay with me."

In the pixels of Andrew's body William was sure he could see him relaxing, his muscles loosening. Could he be changing his mind?

He would never know.

A blood red fireball shot down from above and burnt itself into Andrew's body, its shockwave blasting Hayley backwards. A wave of scarlet flame burst out.

"Andrew!" Hayley screamed.

The flames dissipated, leaving Andrew frazzled, but alive, with 1 life left.

Then he teetered backwards.

Into the lava.

A guttural roar shook the world.