In a small clearing, a gargantuan bird stood before Evel, frozen in place in an unnatural, white membrane. It was a skydart, but unlike any Evel had seen before. Its featherless wide wings, reaching at least four meters in wingspan, were folded unevenly, and its triangular head faced the sky, as if caught mid-peck. Scaled skin ran the length of its body like armor, and its sharp orange pupils tore through Evel's nerves.

  He gulped.

  So these are the beasts we’re meant to defeat?

  Evel shook his head. He’d die in an instant. Skydarts were known for their speed, being held back only by their small size, but the bird in front of him was an absolute behemoth.

  Evel looked to the sky and saw the crows flying overhead.

  I can’t even take those guys out.

  He ‘recalled’ the method to free it from its membrane but quickly suppressed the idea, leaving no space for intrusive thoughts.

  Maybe once I’m grouped up with everyone we can consider killing this thing.

  Even then, Evel had doubts. Once the bird took flight, who exactly was supposed to bring it down?

  Evel pressed forward into the sparse forest, taking note of the location of the beast should he need to return.

  He continued walking unevenly, but the pain from his foot had lessened. He wasn’t sure if it was due to the wound healing, or if he just learned how to walk avoiding the cuts.

  A few minutes later, he stopped to rest. Before him stood a tall tree littered with fruit.

  It had been three hours since he woke in this forest, and after losing so much blood, thirst clawed at his throat.

  He called upon Eth to pluck a piece of fruit, then bit into it, juice spilling across his tongue.

  He had never encountered these pink fruits before, but they had been scattered throughout the forest, and they looked irresistible. He had seen some animals eating the fruit, so he decided it was safe.

  As he subconsciously relaxed, enjoying the sweet crunch, a brief, high-pitched whirr sliced past his ear.

  Evel froze, too shocked to move.

  The arrow shot past him, barely missing, and crashed into the tree behind him violently. It created a loud crash that jolted Evel’s mind awake.

  Adrenaline filled his blood.

  His worst fear was confirmed; he was getting attacked.

  Twang

  A distant release of a bowstring could be heard, and before Evel even saw the arrow, he ducked behind a nearby tree.

  From behind cover, he stared at the splintered trunk.

  What the hell?

  The tree had been hit with such force that its trunk was splintered, leaving a deep crater-like gouge.

  A sniper, I should be out of their line of sight for now.

  I need a plan.

  Evel scanned his surroundings, his mind racing for a plan.

  He could never hope to outrun this sniper, not with his injury.

  He couldn’t shoot back, his long range shooting skills were just too unreliable.

  He needed to bait them into medium range, then use his crossbow to end the fight quickly.

  But would even that be enough?

  I’m completely outgunned.

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  Evel quickly extended some wire and laid the same trap that had worked before.

  First I need to see what I’m dealing with.

  Evel peeked behind his saviour tree and looked at the area where the arrow had originated, but he couldn’t find anyone.

  Ability to stay hidden?

  Evel threw out this idea immediately.

  No, their ability must have to do with their powerful arrows, nobody is naturally that powerful.

  He widened his search a bit more and found a dark haired figure in a green hood circling around his location. Below their hood, their face was slightly showing.

  Oh no.

  He recognized this person.

  It was the girl who he had met on the first day when he was looking at the rest pods. He wouldn’t forget her hunter eyes.

  She seemed powerful so he had observed a few of her spars and the situation was grim.

  While most of the recruits were just that, recruits, she moved as if already fully trained.

  He had watched her spar multiple people at once using a wooden stick and win, and the fight hadn’t even been close.

  She was on the same tier as Bremin; a great talent he had no chance of beating, at least not yet.

  I can’t win from afar.

  I can’t win from medium range.

  Evel began scouting his surroundings preparing for any ideas he could come up with.

  And I certainly can’t win in a melee.

  Evel’s brain kept churning, looking for a chance of survival, a simple hope was enough.

  And eventually, he came up with a plan, albeit extremely risky.

  That may be my only choice.

  Evel leaped into action, sprinting towards the location he’d come from, abandoning his set trap.

  He strafed left and right, weaving between the trees, trying to stay out of the archer’s line of sight.

  He ignored the wound on his foot which had reopened and focused solely on making distance.

  Yet, no arrow came.

  She’s trying to end it decisively by closing in on me.

  Good.

  After about a minute of running, Evel reached his destination.

  The towering figure of the Skydart filled his vision.

  As soon as he was within reach of the membrane, he rotated his body back and activated his ability.

  “STEP OUT INTO THE CLEARING NOW!”

  His injured foot was shaking but he tried his hardest to preserve a strong front.

  Evel’s voice carried outwards as Eth remained stationary above his head. He needed to convince her he could survive at least one shot.

  Silence.

  There was no reply, but Evel was confident she had already caught up to him. She was certainly within the danger zone should he free the Skydart.

  A cold bead of sweat traveled down Evel’s face, as his body tensely awaited a reply. Evel felt completely naked in the clearing, surrounded by trees, any of which could be hiding the lethal hunter. After no reply for a few seconds, Evel got nervous. If she had simply run away quietly, and aimed for a long distance shot there was nothing he could do.

  Yet that would still be a risk. The Skydart was massive, regardless of the distance she escaped, it may still catch up to her.

  After a few more tense seconds, a hooded figure walked out from behind a tree, bow drawn in hand, aiming at Evel.

  Relief washed over him, the most dangerous part was over. He had gambled that she wouldn’t want a long drawn out fight and would close the distance, and it had paid off.

  “Drop your weapon or I free the bird.”

  Evel stared down the archer with faked confidence.

  After a few more seconds of aiming at Evel, the archer slowly kneeled down and placed her bow on the ground before getting up again, hands raised slightly in the air.

  She wasn’t willing to take the risk.

  Evel dismissed Eth.

  “If you pick up the bow or try running away, I’ll free the bird soon before you make any distance.”

  He sat down, cross-legged beside the bird as he continued watching her. The pulsing pain originating from his foot was a major distraction, so he took this opportunity to rest it.

  “You’ll die first.”

  The hooded figure replied carefully, making sure not to provoke Evel.

  Evel shrugged,

  “Maybe. But you’ll die with me.”

  Silence.

  She took off the hood on her head revealing jet-black hair that reached her back, she continued watching Evel carefully.

  “Now what?”

  Evel thought carefully before replying. He hadn’t exactly planned out what would happen from here on out. Now that he was close enough to touch the membrane physically, he was basically wearing a bomb vest, so with the threat of mutual destruction, he was safe.

  “Any ideas?” Evel asked back, unable to think of any solution.

  The air remained tense between them.

  “I’ll leave, and we can pretend we never saw each other?”

  Evel couldn’t help but snort at that suggestion.

  She had attacked him, and now she wanted to let bygones be bygones?

  Evel shook his head.

  “You’ll just snipe me down after you get far enough, no chance I let you leave, unless you want to leave your bow here?”

  The archer frowned.

  “No. The bow stays with me.”

  “Well, in that case I guess we have to wait.”

  “For?”

  “One of our friends, or even better a group with the intention of killing this bird. If it’s your friend, I’ll have another hostage, and if it’s mine I’ll feel safe enough to let you leave. If a big group comes, I’m sure we’d be willing to put aside our differences and help them out.”

  The archer weighed her options, if it was as Evel said, her options weren’t too bad, her only concern would be if Evel’s friend arrived she could get surrounded.

  “I have no guarantee you’ll let me leave if your friend arrives, at that point I’d rather take the risk of getting away from the Skydart while it’s busy gnawing away at you.”

  The lack of trust from both parties really made this more difficult than it needed to be, but Evel couldn’t just take her words at face value, not after she just tried to kill him.

  “Mutual destruction.”

  Evel spoke the moment the idea came to his head.

  He pointed at the beast behind him.

  “Just free the bird and me and my friend will be food.”

  Her amber eyes held Evel’s gaze, unblinking.

  Then, she took a deep disappointed breath.

  “Fuck. I’ll miss out on so many kills wasting away here.”

  She walked forward with her bow, hands raised to show she meant no harm. Then she sat on the grass in front of the membrane .

  In the clearing, a giant Skydart lay trapped within its white membrane. Two figures sat cross-legged several meters apart before it, they appeared relaxed, but were watching one another closely, each ready to react to the slightest movement.

  The time quickly passed by, as they waited in silence.

  Evel turned to her with curiosity.

  “Why’d you give me that funny look back at the camp?”

  She frowned, confused.

  Seeing her face, Evel clarified,

  “At the rest pods, you bumped my shoulder.”

  Her confused face slowly distorted, as her eyes widened in realization.

  “…Oh.”

  Her eyes narrowed.

  “You’re the creep who was watching me sleep.”