Lighter on his feet, Karsa outran almost all of this Band of Bones. One, however, was unrelenting in his chase. Ducking behind a ridge, Karsa hid behind a boulder until the enraged Shek passed. Letting his breath out with a gentle exhalation, he crept behind the warrior and brought the hilt of his katana down upon the skull of his foe.

As soon as he began the motion, Karsa regretted it. The massive horns of the Shek forced the blow to come from an awkward angle, and rather than incapacitating the giant he merely stumbled forwards with a growl. He spun around with lightning speed and his massive saber found purchase in Karsa's thigh as he unsuccessfully tried to leap backwards. Karsa's scream of pain became his salvation—as the Shek gloated over him with a sadistic grin, he was tackled by a skin spider. Karsa seized the moment and dragged himself away, leaving the bloodthirsty pair to their duel.

Having limped to a Tech Hunter way-station to heal, Karsa's conversation with the passerby detailed a series of hiver villages north and west, which he set as his next destination. The journey proved uneventful, other than the bizarre rain. Seemingly ceaseless, the precipitation was colored red, almost like blood—but it felt like water, not the acid he'd heard of. The village itself was a marvel, a swarm of hivers working apathetically while the soldiers were locked in fierce battle with beak-things. Karsa attempted to aid them, but quickly retreated inside one of the buildings after a stray kick reopened the wound in his abdomen. Sitting inside their factory bandaging himself, he couldn't help but feel the whole thing was a dream. The whole thing was so surreal, the soldiers fighting and dying while the drones seemed oblivious until they were personally attacked—and they were. These beak-things were not going hungry.