Edge slept like shit that night, lost in memory and scattered fragments of dreams. Every cry in the distance, each gust of wind stirring the canopy, brought him back to full alertness with his heart hammering in his chest.

He was groggy and miserable by the time that the sun began to rise. But at least he’d recovered enough magicytes to use his skills if the reavers found him, improving his odds of surviving the next encounter by a fair margin. Investing in generation was really paying off, and he was glad that he’d put three points into the attribute early on.

Edge climbed down from the tree and continued his journey. He was tired enough that he was having a hard time paying attention to his surrounds. His bleariness made the situation even more dangerous than it already was. But things would only get worse if he didn’t make it back to town before dark, so he put everything that he had into picking up his pace.

Although he was ravenous by this point, he couldn’t afford to stop and forage with the reavers on his tail. He took a swig from his canteen, gritted his teeth, and pressed on ahead, keeping an eye out for something to eat along the way.

The monsters showed up again a few hours later, when Edge was making his way through another grove of purple trees. He noticed the silence descending upon the woodlands mere moments before the shadowreavers appeared, giving him just enough time to climb into the branches and activate conceal.

The creepy bipedal birds followed his path all the way to the trunk, circling the base several times before peering up with their beady black eyes. Their sinuous tongues darted out from between their cruel yellow beaks, hunting for his scent on the breeze.

For a terrifying moment, it seemed like the monsters would start climbing into the branches to take a closer look. But then they let out a chorus of frustrated squawks and left the way they had come, deciding that Edge had doubled back along his own trail instead of vanishing from view.

That’s honestly not a bad idea. I should start trying to confuse them with conventional tactics, instead of relying on my skills alone. They’re already getting better at tracking me. At this rate, it won’t be long before the reavers figure out the dynamics of conceal and come up with an effective counter.

Over the morning and through the afternoon, he tried every trick he knew to throw the monsters off his trail. Edge began hiding his tracks within those of beasts. Walking through streams to break up his scent. Doubling back along his own footprints, like the monsters had thought he had done before.

None of it did more than delay their pursuit by a couple of minutes, gaining him scarcely more time than he spent in the process. It would have gone better if they were tracking the odor of his body, instead of the energetic signature of shadow step welling out from inside his core.

By now, sleep deprivation and hunger were taking their toll, making it harder to plan out his next move. Not that Edge had much choice other than to soldier on and hope for the best. They aren’t going to give up, and they keep finding my trail, even if they lose it for a while. I’m running out of ideas and out of time.

On a brighter note, he came across a bridge not long after. Better still, it was the one that was in good repair. He was able to cross the river without another ordeal descending upon his head. Once he was on the far side, he left the marshlands behind him and entered the region known as the Sea of Grass. A place where the vegetation was unusually tall and dense compared to the rest of the plains.

He came up with a few final tricks as he crossed the last sub-biome between himself and town, mining the thousands of hours of Prison World footage he’d watched for anything that might buy him a few more minutes.

But nothing worked for long. The reavers came back every time, drawing closer and closer before they moved on. He had the sense that they had finally figured out what he was doing, vanishing from view instead of evading their pursuit.

On their last approach, he had seen them coming from a ways off, giving his presence more time to dissipate before they found the end of his trail. Even still, it had been a near thing. The monsters passed him by so closely that he could have reached out and touched them.

Edge was dead certain that the next time they found him, the cruel creatures would pinpoint his location. Even with conceal, they would find a way to flush him out. He needed to get behind the town’s warded walls before they crossed his path again.

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After watching the shadowreavers throughout the day, he was sure that he couldn’t take them in a straight fight. Maybe one or two if he had the element of surprise, but he had no chance whatsoever of killing all five. He doubted that he could outrun them for long either. Being caught again would be a fatal occurrence.

Since he was out of options, Edge abandoned stealth in favor of speed. He started jogging along the trail leading through the tall grass as fast as he could without exhausting himself in the process.

As he ran, he kept expecting the reavers to appear around the next bend. For them to step through the walls of grass surrounding him on both sides. To launch an attack from the concealment of the foliage, or box him in along a section of the path where he couldn’t see them coming.

To his immense relief, he was able to cross the last handful of miles without being ambushed again. He knew exactly where he was as he emerged from the Sea of Grass. He’d watched tourists passing through the region countless times before.

By now, Edge could see the profile of Puppet Town along the horizon, grateful to have open space around him for the first time in hours. Another half hour of running, and he would be safe at last. After being chased for days and enduring far too many close calls and near escapes, he was finally going to get away from the monsters that were stalking him.

Just one short stretch and you’ll cross the finish line. Then you can finally eat a real meal and sleep in a bed. Keep it together just a little longer, Edge. You’ve got this.

While he wasn’t out of the woods yet, there was genuine reason for optimism. When he looked over his shoulder, he couldn’t see any sign of the feathered fiends. Although his instincts were certain that they were somewhere nearby, relentlessly hunting the rare skill inside him.

Still, it was a good omen. If his luck held out for just a few more minutes, he would be home free. I should let the sheriff know that monsters are in the area when I make it back to town.

That was when Edge caught sight of movement in the distance, along one of the main roads running through the grasslands. At first, he thought it was the reaver’s spawn appearing from an unexpected direction.

But when he drew a bit closer, the shapes revealed themselves to be four people walking beside a large cart that was pulled by a pair of beasts. He realized that he recognized them from the feed, although he had yet to meet them in the flesh. That’s Trapper’s crew.

Edge was debating whether he should sprint back to town and have the deputies sound the alarm, or to head out of his way to warn the crew himself, when he saw five shadowy figures emerging from the tall grass.

The monsters were headed in his direction. But Trapper’s team would wind up passing between them sometime over the next few minutes. They couldn’t see the approaching creatures from that angle, not with a thick patch of nose-high grass blocking their line of sight.

If everything played out the way he expected, the shadowreavers were going to run right into the hunters. While the reavers were looking for Edge, he was dead certain that they wouldn’t hesitate to attack anything that crossed their path.

The monsters were far stronger than most of the beasts on the plains, there were five of them, and they were going to hit Trapper’s crew with no warning whatsoever. It would leave the hunters with no time to run or prepare for a fight. If he didn’t help them, they were going to be slaughtered before they even knew what hit them.

Bad luck, but it’s not my problem. He continued running for town. I’ll go get help and send reinforcements to save… whatever is left of them by the time the deputies arrive.

Ten seconds later, Edge stopped dead in his tracks. “Shit. God damn it. I just can’t do it.”

He had no desire to risk his life for a stranger and wouldn’t be willing to in most circumstances. But this wasn’t just a random situation that he’d stumbled across. The entire chain of events had been set into motion by his choices. None of it was Edge’s fault. But if he left Trapper’s team to die a horrible death, it would be on his head.

He held no illusions that he was a good person, but he wasn’t a bad one either.

More importantly, he had a code that he lived by, even if it hadn’t come up often in his old life. It was a bit more nuanced in practice, but it boiled down to this. “Clean up your own mess and don’t fuck over anyone who doesn’t deserve it.”

Edge didn’t want to die, but he didn’t want to abandon his principles either. On top of that, he just didn’t have it in him to let four innocent people suffer because of his actions. Not to mention, if the monsters were able to devour several cored individuals, there was a good chance that some of them would evolve to stage-two, becoming a threat to the entire town.

Besides, this is a great opportunity to pick up some experience and take my core to stage-one, earning some goodwill from one of the town’s major players in the process. I might even be able to extract a skill or two without anyone catching on. He let out a sigh and steeled his resolve. “Alright you feathered fucks. It’s time for some payback.”

His decision made, Edge began running toward Trapper, screaming his head off while waving his arms above his head. In addition to attracting her attention, he was hoping that one of the deputies guarding the walls would hear the commotion and sound the alarm.

At first, Trapper didn’t see him. When she did, she thought he was saying hello, offering a friendly wave back. But then she realized that Edge was battered and afraid. That he was pointing to the winding path ahead of her, then making an X with his arms with increasing desperation.

She reached for her weapon while issuing orders to her crew. They began preparing their skills and assumed a combat formation, just as the reavers came around the bend and fell upon them in a tide of bladed limbs.