How did I end up staying awake even longer while the rest of the gang conked out behind me?!

  It just didn’t make any sense—until I remembered how amazing the beach scene all around me was, and how especially splendid it was in the late-afternoon light. And the fact that Reed was up too. Whether it was the aftereffects of her adrenaline, some desire to guard everyone else, or a little of both, here we were. Shoulder to shoulder…well, my shoulder to her leg as she sat in a beach chair and I intermittently grazed her kneecap.

  I realized that before I knew, the sunset would be creeping upon us. Sitting here on the east side of the eastern lake, we would miss out on that big lemon sinking into the water. Yet having the sinking sun at our backs, shining on the three tents behind us, would be beautiful in its own way. Already I was looking forward to the twilight, and drowsy though I was, it was not for the sake of sleep.

  As the sky verged on orange, Reed discussed what I will call business: the fates of the hunting party members and whoever else, the next steps she thought other people might take. I yawned but tried to hide it. Not because I didn’t care, but because it was hard to. Now they seemed so distant, almost abstract.

  When she mentioned “death,” my ears twitched.

  “At least it wasn’t that many,” she said. “Of course, I’ll have to find numbers later. But, um…” She swallowed. “When I reconvened with Chora, Bayce, and Heidschi—who’d all reconvened with others—it sounded like among us all, there were only two bodies.” Reed sighed. “I shouldn’t say ‘only.’”

  “EVERYONE DID OUR BEST”

  “Yeah…”

  “WE LITERALLY WERENT THERE THE WHOLE TIME”

  “Don’t worry about that part, Taipha. I don’t blame myself…I don’t blame us.” She stared across the water, gathering her thoughts again. The coo of a gull skipped across the tides and reached us. “Another…dubiously good thing is that not too many people were, um, controlled by those vines.”

  “I WAS”

  Reed turned and stared, so fast it was startling. “You didn’t…get sucked under, did you?”

  It was my turn to stare. Slowly I spelled, “THAT HAPPENED?”

  “I saw it!” A new horror overtook her. “One person went under. Sand just…splattered everywhere as they disappeared in a flash.” Her hands mimicked the burst. “I’m going to assume that they’re not alive.”

  “U KNO…IF ITS UNDERGROUND THERES STILL A CHANCE”

  After a pause, Reed nodded, without conviction. Maybe I misspoke. After all, that flytrap was very huge. Even if I assumed that its mouth hadn’t opened until the very end, that didn’t mean some other plant with a mouth hadn’t eaten that human. There’d been so many.

  In this moment, I had to stop shielding Reed from a bad feeling. I had to just…let her sit in the grief. A grief I only shared so much. I wasn’t fully human, and I didn’t have years of history with Outlast like Reed did—or even years of history with any other being. But if she cared, then I would care. And if she was human, then…heck!

  “Speaking of that underground…situation…I noticed Logy actually helping.”

  “Meow.”

  “And DeGalle too, I think.”

  “YEAH…SHE USED WEIRD SCYTHE”

  “Oh gosh. It wasn’t a scythe that stopped time, was it?”

  “NO IT JUST MADE THINGS SLOWE…OH OK YEAH”

  Reed squinted. “Is it na?ve of me to wish she’d find a way to obliterate all those time stones instead of using them to her advantage?”

  On the one hand, refining weapons that could potentially freeze one’s enemies in place could be such a game-changing power that it could serve truth and justice at a single stroke. On the other hand, rampant corruption! “NOT NA?VE,” I said. “U JUST WANT AN IDEAL WORLD”

  “…Thank you, but…”

  The sky was becoming red. Instead of burning, it began to cool, an easy wind brushing across the beach.

  Crap, I thought. What am I even doing?

  My mind had been too focused on listening to her. Or on the topics to soften, or to avoid. I’d neglected to consider that even if I felt I didn’t have much to talk about on my end, I still had things to say about her!

  I told her: the way she hoisted everyone up in the final flytrap escape was so impressive it was scary. Her endurance was supernatural.

  “SRSLY I DONT KNO HOW U STILL HAD THAT IN U,” I said. “WHY R U STILL AWAKE?!?! U DESERVE REST!!!”

  But neither of us were quite sleepy enough, or even quite hungry. Reed took all my compliments with a modest chuckle and a look away, and I expected nothing less. But one of these days, I’d break through that outer shell…

  Suddenly she got a faraway, shining look in her eyes. In the slowly fading light, she looked both passionate and ominous. “In a few weeks,” she said, “I’m going to be a totally different person.”

  I cocked my head. “Mrah?”

  She hammered a fist into her palm. “A master crafter!”

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  “Mrr?!”

  “I’m just an amateur now, and I never practice! That’s barely any better than a hobbyist! But when you think about it, crafting the best weapons I possibly can is the best way I can contribute to…well, to our trip to the dungeon, isn’t it?”

  “OK BUT REED MAYBE WE CAN BUY WEAPONS?”

  She shook her head. “The best ones, the ones most attuned to you, are infused with your aura in the crafting process.”

  “OK WE HIRE AN EXPERT! U JUST GET MORE GOOD AT FIGHTING!”

  “That’ll take like a week!”

  “UM WELL MAYBE I CANT STOP U…PROBABLY I SHOULDNT.” I lightened up—maybe there was a twinkle in my eye now too. “ITLL BE COOL! IM WAITING FOR MY COOL BLADE THINGS”

  Reed giggled. “I know!” She grew thoughtful again. “But also, I’ve been thinking…since this dungeon is underneath this very forest, it might well be populated by spirits who are tied to this place. You know, like the spirit we both found at the Beacon! And…” She blushed. “There aren’t too many people around with that combination of local spiritual knowledge and, um, a powerful sword.”

  Reed boasting about herself. I never thought I’d see the day. It sure made her shrivel and shrink, and suddenly her knees were practically locked together.

  “DARN RIGHT,” I affirmed. “UN-KNOCK THOSE KNEES. GIVE ME A POWER STANCE!”

  “What does that mean?!” She slid her legs slightly apart. The boots grated against the sand. “There, like that?”

  I grabbed one leg as well as my paw pads would allow. “NO! MORE!” I spelled out with a back foot. Then I pulled gently—

  Reed pulled back so fiercely that I went flying over her lap and into the sand on the other side.

  She gasped. The sound was dulled by all the granules trickling into my ears. “Sorry! I’m so sorry!” she cried.

  But I literally had no complaints. This stung a little, but it was totally called for. When Goliath starts a tug-of-war, you expect him to use Goliath strength…

  I pulled myself out, and we made up in about five seconds, my heart laughing along with Reed. Then I ended up settling on her lap, and she stroked my back as we looked at our shadows, telling me some of her wilder weapon-crafting idea. I was getting drowsy now, so much of it went in one ear and out the other. But I hoped she wouldn’t mind. I trusted her, after all. The master crafter.

  ***

  Morning came. Wait, no, this was midnight.

  Behind me, Reed’s head lolled to the side, a crust of saliva surely about to form in the lower corner of her lips. Her fingers still touched my lower back, but fortunately, this trap was nowhere near her most devious. I could jump right off and escape if I wanted.

  If I wanted.

  Her breathing chest was so close that I wondered, for a dreamy moment, if I could lean closer to her torso and feel it more fully without her noticing. Her pulse, her warmth, had comforted me even on the tides of sleep.

  But…nah. What hunger I had was still dull—not a roar, not even a rumble. Though I wanted to see more of this beach, I’d prefer to see it in the daytime, in the highest glory of summer. And with friends. Those were also pretty glorious.

  For now, I had nothing at all to do but sit curled up and contemplate! Reed was at least three times as good as some tide pool!

  …Wait, I did have business.

  What the—just 33 over the goalpost?! Sierra, you’re a cheapskate…

  Okay, I wasn’t actually bitter. I was just concerned about Sierra sometimes, y’know? She’d never get any friends at this rate.

  But all my complaints slid away. Maybe the calming lake and its pernicious lack of ducks had put me at ease.

  Either that, or I was simply getting too curious about the Evolution.

  The rectangle had been hovering there all along. Huh. Weirdly enough, I’d almost forgotten about it…and I supposed that was why the window was usually so big and blaring.

  When I focused enough on it, it grew to its standard size:

  …

  …

  Let’s blaze through this! I thought right before an hour straight of indecision.

  Oh boy.