"Where do you think you are going?" Selim could feel his heart sinking as two yautja guards spread out to block their path.

Varrik stepped forward, "I am one of Nar'Jat's chosen vanguard."

The guard turned to look at him, but he did not back off, "This area is closed by Nar'Jat's orders."

"I am a senior member of the science team." Halkrath said, "I am loading up tools for an essential voyage." He lifted the huge coffin-like case that housed his equipment by way of explanation.

"What about these others?" The nearest guard brought his face threateningly close to Selim.

"What can you fear from these little ones?" Rika made a clicking noise, like a scoff, "Go and find some real threats to deal with!"

The other did not reply, still scrutinizing at Selim, "Nar'Jat was very clear." He said "None may enter the bay… for any reason."

He put out a clawed hand to seize him by the shoulder but – to Selim's surprise – Varrik struck, punching him in the side of the head with a fist like a sledgehammer, knocking him down, "How dare you challenge us? I am a captain of the Rough Skulls!" He snarled "I will have you executed if you lay a hand on myself or any of my companions again."

The guard stared up at him and Selim held his breath, 'Now they will attack us…'

But the guard seemed cowed by this display of violence; he regarded Varrik from beneath lowered brows but neither he nor his companion made any move toward them.

'So, this is how it is done in yautja society!' Selim thought, as Varrik and Rika pulled them away, shouldering the one upright guard aside 'There is a chain of command, but anyone who is strong and aggressive enough can overrule it… though I suppose Varrik has rank on his side.' He grimaced, 'Somehow, I do not think I would do very well here…'

An electric shock ran up Lex's spine as Scar seized her, arms locking around her like the coils of an anaconda. She stared into his eyes; the yellow irises almost blotted out by his dilated, black pupils. Intense eyes. Eclipse eyes.

"Lexssss," He purred, "No one has ever given me such pain as you do..."

She didn't speak as he leaned over her, running his talons over her face, her cheekbones, her lips, her jawline, her throat, the bared skin of her shoulder, raising gooseflesh.

"…cut me, fight me, do your worst, but I still want you." His voice dropped lower, until she could feel his words thrumming against her chest, "I will never stop wanting you, and I know you feel the same."

"You're wrong." Her throat was so dry the words came out in a whisper. She was hot and breathless, staring into those twin eclipses, her heart jackhammering against her ribs, the weight of his chest crushing hers.

"You know I am right," He seemed almost hypnotised by her gaze, lifting a hand to smooth back a strand of hair from her face "Who else can do this to me but you and who else is there for you... but me?"

Suddenly all the memories came crowding in on her; so many nights of lying in the dark and missing him. The strange magnetism was still there, a beguiling, powerful force that wanted her to snake her arms around his neck; to press herself against him; to throw off her doubt and pain and loneliness and let them all burn to ashes on a pyre of mindless carnality. She was back on Py'Are; the Tears of the Goddess pouring down beside her; poised on the edge, ready to jump…

Then, the memory of waking up alone came back to her and with it, her voice.

"You're crazy!"

"You do not mean it. I know you want me back. Hot-blooded as you are, you must have longed for my return."

"In your dreams."

"Did I dream that you freed me first in the execution chamber? That you saved my life in the half of carvings? Did I dream your distress at causing me pain?"

"Because I'm not a sadist! It doesn't mean I want you back."

"I saw your face on the human planet, when I came to rescue you."

"You're imagining things – " She laid her hands on his arms to push him off, but she did not. He was still stroking the side of her head, taloned fingers flexing as if he would wind her hair around them… tilting her head back.

"Lexsssss, I understand you are angry with me… but I will soon make you forget all that."

It was so typical of his usual arrogant confidence that she gave an involuntary smile, one sardonic eyebrow lifted, "You have a high opinion of your talents!"

"You know I will please you. You know I will make you… happy." He grinned at her, grazing his talons down her back, his other arm tight around her waist "Then you will forget your anger and everything will be as it was…"

The truth was, she had imagined this moment, in the long watches of the night – when she had felt his desertion like a hole in her chest – she had wished for him to come back, '… but I wanted him to admit he was wrong; to ask my forgiveness… and he won't. I must have been insane to think he would! He won't apologise. He made Spyrro say sorry – but he won't do it!'

She gritted her teeth, "Let me go."

He blinked, but – slowly – he released her. She backed off, watching him in the eerie glow.

"It's all about lust with you, isn't it S'Kia?" Her voice was harsh, "The soft meat – that's what I am to you. You've said it enough times."

"Yes, I said those words," He was still breathing deeply "But I did not mean – "

"I know exactly what you meant; what you feel for me, it's all about sex and breeding and nothing else. I used to think there was more to it, but that's all you're capable of!"

"How can you think that? I desire you to the exclusion of all others! I brought the children back! I came back for you! What more do you want of me?"

"Yes – and before that, you walked away."

"I did it for our… sons, to make them safe."

"If that was your plan it didn't work so well, did it?" She waved a hand at the thick stone walls around them, "Now, we're stuck in here and we don't even know where they are! Didn't you think for even one second that the children were safer when we were all together? No! You lost your temper and ran out on me when things got tough. You didn't trust me and you can't make me forget that, just because pain gets you hot. You'll promise anything when you want me and then break your word right after."

They faced each other, his eyes still glowing as he shifted into English. "I would never… break my word to you."

"You sure didn't have any trouble breaking it these last seven months – and you weren't exactly distressed, either."

"Our sons would … disagree. Isaac says I have… lost my mind."

She ignored this, "I saw those 'come-get-me' looks Sek'Met was throwing you. Just tell me; did you take time out to fuck her when you were searching for our daughter – or did you two hook up sometime before that?"

At her words, the grin crept slowly back across his face, "You are… jealous."

"I'm not jealous! But I notice it didn't take you long to start chasing other females… and she's not much more than an adolescent."

"As I was when you… met me."

"Don't change the subject."

He threw up his hands, "But I am not interested in other females! I desire no-one but you – I have never desired any female but you! Sek'Met wanted me, and I refused her."

"Hah!" The laugh tasted bitter in her mouth, "You really think I'm dumb enough to believe that?"

"Why would you not? It is the truth."

She gave an angry breath, turning away from him.

"You asked me why… I do not know this place." He said, quietly.

"What has that got to do with it?"

"Many times, I thought… of bringing our sons here, but I… could not."

"Isaac and Selim not interested in being appetisers on the hard meat menu, huh?"

"No, I – "

A boom echoed somewhere beyond the chamber, making the room shake. Both their heads turned as the sound rebounded off the walls, seeming to multiply and intensify until it was all around them.

"What the –?"

There was a grinding of stone against stone and a line of apertures opened up in the wall. Before either of them could make a move, water began to gush from them with hissing violence; a torrent of white, crashing onto the black, stone floor.

"This place is incredible!" Isaac let out a low whistle as they entered the mind-boggling space of the hangar. The place was so massive he couldn't even see how far back it stretched. The hugeness just carried on until it disappeared into the darkness. There were battalions of ships, he couldn't tell how many. Through all this, his eyes roved from one side to the other, searching, desperately searching.

"Selim, we need to find the Chameleon," He hissed "It must be here somewhere."

His twin nodded and turned to Halkrath, the nearest of their Rough Skull escort "We must retrieve our ship, the Chameleon. Was it brought here when we were taken prisoner?"

"We do not have time to search!" The scientist shook his head "Let us take one of these and go before more guards turn up."

Isaac cut in, "The Chameleon has… hidden… no…. er… " He groped for the words in yautja, wishing he had made more effort to learn them, "Fortunate… hiding… machinery… "

He trailed off and shrugged helplessly at his brother, as the others stared at him, uncomprehending.

"It has superior stealth tech," Selim finished for him, "Far better than any of these I would think?" He asked the scientist.

"Yes, that is so.." Halkrath admitted.

His brother nodded and turned to Varrik, "And it is ours. Where is our ship, Rough Skull? You must know. As you are the one who stole it from us – you can be the one to return it."

The adult male drew himself up, his mane of plaits lifting, hands curling into fists, "What did you say to me?"

Selim did not back step back. His own shorter plaits were now lifting, his voice becoming harsher, "It belongs to us. It belongs to our family, and we want it back."

He and Varrik faced each other for a few seconds, golden eyeball to yellow. Isaac was surprised; his kind-hearted, reasonable twin had never resembled their father so much as he did at this moment. The Rough Skull captain was at least a foot taller than both of them, but Selim did not seem afraid.

The two matched each other stare for stare for a few beats. Then, Varrik turned aside, still growling, "If you were the offspring of any other…"

He jerked his head for them to follow and stalked away.

Isaac looked around with mounting excitement as they walked past rows and rows of ships, 'Just think of having all this technology at my fingertips! Imagine what I could learn here; the Chameleon is old and battered, but here I could make it new – I could even build a new ship! Take the stealth drive from the Chameleon and put it into another casing…'

Then, he gave a little sigh. There, in the shadowed depths of the hangar, was the Chameleon; the only home he had known since he was four years old. It sat like a solid block of familiar sanity amidst the madness. Isaac was so relieved, he grasped Selim's arm, heedless of his claws biting his brother's flesh as he fought down the urge to go and lay his head against its cool, metal flank, 'I'm sorry,' He thought, in a rush of affection 'I'll never think of you as old and battered again!'

Varrik lifted his wristcom and pressed a control, making the hatch slid open in the shuttle's belly. Isaac felt a little flicker of anger and he growled 'Of course, he would sync the console with his wristcom...'

He was so absorbed in these thoughts that he started in surprise when a voice behind them said, "Look who is here; the Champion of the Infected!"

The chamber was rapidly filling up. Already, they were knee deep in warm, greenlit water.

Lex waded across and tried to get an arm into one of the spewing apertures, but the water was rushing out too fast, the pressure too strong for her to push her hand through. Next to her Scar was trying to do the same, but his hands were too large to fit. She could hear his claws scraping against the slabs as he tried to force his hand into the space, groping for some kind of switch or catch or even a weakness in the stone, anything that might give them a way out. Forced back by the pressure of the water, she began searching the walls again, pushing at the stones to see if any of them could be moved.

Eventually they had to give up and drew together, both panting, both still frantically looking round for a means of escape. The chamber was chest high now, the dancing reflections of the water made strange shapes on his face as they stared at each other, lifted off their feet, the top of the chamber closing in as the water level climbed higher.

"Scar, we can't die in here," Her voice had ceased to echo in the rapidly shrinking space, "We have to get to the children."

His yellow eyes met hers, reflecting emerald ripples, as the chamber filled up still further. She pressed her hands to the ceiling, her mouth almost touching the roof of the chamber, trying to suck in one last lungful. The water rose…

Selim turned. A small group of five guards was approaching. The foremost, obviously the leader, raised a clawed hand towards Varrik.

"Are these more of your plague bearing friends?" He sniggered, jaws clicking together "Why are you here when Nar'Jat has forbidden all access to this area?"

Varrik stopped walking but did not turn, as if unconcerned whether they attacked him. His relaxed attitude alarmed Selim – he couldn't see the newcomers' expressions under their masks, but their manner of speaking was ominous. He wondered whether their new ally seemed unworried because he was confident, or if he might still be intoxicated.

"D'Ritz," Varrik hissed "Not content with risking your neck once already today, you wish to court death again by challenging one of Nar'Jat's favoured captains? When I have just won a great victory for him – "

"A victory so great, we have heard nothing of it!" D'Ritz's companions laughed.

Now the Rough Skull captain turned, "You think Nar'Jat shares his higher strategies with lugworms and nonentities like you?"

"And what important business is it that brings you here? When the Cutter is locked down – and in such strange company?" He waved a hand at Selim and Isaac, "Are you taking them with you for some perverse entertainment?"

Rika stepped forward, head lowered "Do not judge others by your own standards, filth."

"I should like to see what you plan to do about it," The other spread his arms towards Varrik, "Especially the Captain who disobeys his Clan Leader's orders."

Without warning, Varrik launched himself at the other's throat, knocking him backwards. Before Selim had a chance to realise what was happening, he heard the ring of the dah'kte and D'Ritz doubled up, green splashing the floor at his feet. There was a grunt as Varrik brought his other hand shooting round, stabbing the second set of dah'kte through his opponent's throat and D'Ritz collapsed, drowning on his own blood.

The second guard had already extended his blades as Rika darted forward, wrist knives flashing as he swung at their antagonist's throat. The guard collapsed with a hollow gurgling noise, clutching at his neck.

The third guard whirled and struck at Varrik, their dah'kte meeting with a clang as the Rough Skull captain parried. The other leapt towards Rika, and Selim felt a shock of alarm as he towered over the smaller male but his blades came down on an enemy who was not there. Rika slipped through his grasp like smoke and came up behind his attacker, dealing him a slashing blow across the back and retreating. He evaded his enemy's blows easily, weaving and dodging as his antagonist struck out. Then he stabbed – sinking his knives into the other's shoulder and yanking them free in a spurt of green.

Varrik and Rika were fighting for their lives, but the fifth guard slid past them, moving up on himself and Isaac, blades ready…

Yanking the surgical knife from his boot, Selim lunged. He seized the guard from behind and sliced the wickedly sharp blade across his throat, feeling the blood jet between his fingers. His enemy grabbed for him but he hung on, stabbing the point of the knife in at the gap between chin and collarbone, stabbing again and again, feeling the knife pierce more easily each time, his hands now slick and wet with blood. The guard fell to his knees, his struggles dying away and Selim let him fall.

He suddenly became aware that everything else had gone quiet and looked up to see the others watching him. Varrik nodded at Selim, though he could not tell if it was a nod of approval or simply acknowledgement.

Selim did not return the nod. He was barely thinking at all. He had not known he was going to do it until it was done, 'Father would be surprised,' He thought, oddly disconnected, as if this were a dream.

"Come on," Rika seized his arm, "We need to be a long way away from here."

Selim was dimly aware of being dragged onboard the Chameleon, but for some reason his eyes were drawn as if magnetised to the knife in his bloody hand...

Lex tried to focus on Scar's face as her eyes adjusted to the dim, underwater light, white noise filling her ears. 'I have to stay calm. Look for a way out; there must be a way!"

Fighting down the fear, she began to feel her way along the ceiling to the wall again, towards the holes where the water had been coming in. 'Now the pressure must have equalised, maybe I can get my hand into one of those holes.' It was a slim hope, but she had to do something. She reached the wall, her lungs already beginning to ache, and pushed her hand into the aperture, feeling around inside. She did it even though deep down she suspected it was pointless, just a strategy to stave off the panic. Her groping hands felt nothing except stones 'What am I even looking for? A secret switch? A lever? Ridiculous!' She pulled her hand free.

Pulling her to one side, Scar thrust the spear in the hole and hauled, obviously trying to lever the stones apart. Her head was starting to hum with the effort of not breathing, 'We'll be drowned, trapped in this underground prison forever, only the hard meat will ever find our bodies…'

She shook her head and grabbed the ki'cti-pa, adding her own weight and strength to his as, together, they tried to lift an impossible amount of rock.

In the end they had to give up. Now her ears were throbbing, the peal of a hundred bells ringing in her head. Then there was another sound; a reverberating burst of echo that started off small but grew into a rumble, like an underwater avalanche. She gazed round, disoriented, but Scar threw his arms round her, holding on so tight she felt her lungs constrict again. She wondered nonsensically what he was doing when something dragged at them, a change in the ebb and flow of the water. It seemed like a hole had opened beneath their feet and an irresistible force was pulling them into it. She beat with her arms, trying to swim, but the force intensified, sucking them backwards – or downwards – she could no longer tell. Unable to fight against it, she wrapped her arms around his neck, feeling the strength of the current take them, merciless as gravity.

Happy weekend everyone! Hope you enjoy the latest chapter. If you do please follow, favourite, review, send small offerings (ok, not the last one).

LovyDovy7: I'm afraid neither Lex nor Scar will be able to climb out of here yet, they've got a whole sea of trouble to swim through first. Selim and Isaac have also got some stuff to go through but it's fun writing them with some other yautja. No Spyrro this chapter but we'll catch up with her soon.

Tenjp: Yes they had a discussion but they're. both. so. stubborn.

lexia the beautiful wolf: Hope this chapter partly answers your question!