Selim stood at the door to his Father's chamber; the room that he had absent-mindedly referred to as his parents' quarters, 'At least, it used to be – before Mei'Savir took us away…'

His own pod was now occupied by Varrik, but he still felt the need for … something. He took a deep breath as he stood on the threshold. He had not been inside this room since his Father had taken them away from his Mother, but this was where he had always liked to be when he was small, even if Mei'Savir sometimes got irritated and sent him back to his own bed.

Though the room was in darkness and he had not been in it for a long time, Selim did not need light. This was partly because of his yautja eyesight, but mainly because this space was so familiar to him. There were pieces of armour and weapons stored on the walls. He couldn't see any of his mother's belongings; her clothes were gone, as had all the treasured books she had managed to get hold of on their semi-regular trips to Earth; the presents given to her by himself, Isaac and Spyrro. She had always kept them; the shiny rocks they had found, the drawings they had scrawled, the rough shapes they had clumsily carved; "I wonder what my Father has done with all of them."

Varrik had spoken of this as the room his parents shared and now, the painful realisation hit him again that they no longer shared it. That they might never share it again; 'I hoped that they would forgive each other and we would all be together again, but maybe that is just a childish fantasy.'

He stepped into the room, wanting to stop, but feeling as if he had no control over himself. He stood by the bed for a moment, looking down at the abundance of animal skins piled there. Picking up one of the luxuriant pelts to move it, he sat down. Absently he hugged the fur, holding it against himself. He was tired. A part of him longed to curl up among these furs and go to sleep, as he had done in his babyhood, but somehow, this room no longer felt familiar or reassuring.

Seeing her in the flesh and then having her snatched from him again had made Selim feel her loss more deeply, more miserably than before. It had made his Father's part in their separation all the more difficult to overlook… or to forgive 'I just wanted her back, I want them both back. How could he do this to us – how could he?'

His hands were balling up into fists, claws biting into his palms, 'What did he do with her things anyway; did he move them to the Dragonfly… or did he just throw them out, or…'

What Selim could not block out – what he could imagine only too well – was Mei'Savir destroying her things in a fit of rage; tearing her clothes into rags, ripping the books in half, smashing up the childish trinkets with his huge fists, crushing them into tiny smithereens. The thought made a lump form in his throat that he could not force it down.

'Maybe Isaac is right about him, maybe…'

Selim could not bring himself to finish the sentence, even in his head. As he sat, cradling the soft, furry bundle against himself, his eyes roamed around the room… until they were drawn inexorably to the large, metal chest at the bottom of the bed.

Selim didn't want to look, but it was as if he was under a spell; as if he had become enchanted, just as Varrik had warned him, and he could not stop. He stood up, the fur slithering from his fingers, and fell to his knees in front of the box.

His hands reached out like a sleepwalker, claws grazing the lid…

"Scar!" Lex reached out for him, but he was already gone. She went to leap to her feet, then her face contorted and her colour drained, the pain forcing her down again, "What is he doing?" She hissed between gritted teeth, eyes screwed shut as she used her hands on the arms of the pilot seat to push herself upwards, trembling with effort, legs shaking and sweat breaking out all over her body.

"Oh my God…"

She caught her breath as, on the screen, the Queen screamed again, looming up like an enraged deity, 'It didn't matter where we are or how we got here! I have to start the engines and get us airborne or she will destroy the ship and trap us here – "

Moving slowly, so as not to agitate the tearing pain in her chest, she reached out slowly to the console, her hand stretching towards the switch that would start the engines…

A soft noise behind her triggered some instinct in her hindbrain, a jolt of alarm travelling all the way up her spine. Her head turned; in the doorway stood a tall figure all in shadow, but with eyes smouldering sulphur yellow.

"I heard what he said to you." It hissed, "Witch."

The GhaRan-S'i-Ka towered over the other females like a fearsome statue.

Spyrro stayed where she was, hands still balled into fists, uncertain if she was about to be congratulated or punished, 'Why is she staring at me?' She felt her own temper flare in defiance, "Does she think to scare me – coming to stare at me like this? Well, I shall not let her!'

Instinctively, she straightened her back and lifted her chin. The other juveniles melted away like mist before the gaze of their commander, leaving Spyrro and Ti'Maat stranded in the middle of an expanding, empty circle. Spyrro did not take her eyes off the big female but she sensed the others hanging back, trying to make themselves inconspicuous without cowering away.

Ti'Maat had already wriggled free, scrambling to her feet. She now stood, rigid, as if in apprehension. Spyrro made herself stay still and wait for the clan leader to approach. She felt her brows trying to form a scowl, but she forced them not to, making her expression what she hoped was a calm mask. 'I must be like Ito.' She thought, "Like nothing ever makes me angry or even surprised.'

The GhaRan-S'i-Ka's shadow fell across her and she looked up. Yellow eyes were boring into her, 'Like she wants to see right through my head!'

"You lack technique, girl." The great female rumbled.

Spyrro said nothing. Before her return to the Vortex, she would have made some hot-tempered retort. Now she knew better than to argue.

"You are undisciplined," The clan leader continued, "You are … emotional. Filled with needless wrath."

'I do not think it is needless when I have been stolen away from my Mother and my Father and brothers – ' Spyrro bit down on the words before they could spill out of her mouth, making up her mind not to say them. She kept her expression bland.

The GhaRan-S'i-Ka watched her carefully. Then abruptly, she turned to Ti'Maat. "And you." She said, "Allowed yourself to be beaten by a child."

The juvenile said nothing, but Spyrro detected the scent of her fear as she faced the clan leader. For some reason she could not explain, she did not want the GhaRan-S'i-Ka to turn her anger on the girl.

She stepped forward, speaking loudly, "I am not a child."

The heads of the other two turned sharply towards Spyrro. Ti'Maat said nothing, but the big female gave a snort of laughter.

"I am four years old." Spyrro insisted.

The clan leader looked down at her. Spyrro stared back: her heartbeat a whirr, unable to look away. For a moment, everything seemed to freeze, waiting for the elder female's reaction.

The GhaRan-S'i-Ka snorted, her mandibles spreading apart. Then a deep rhythmic purring noise came from her chest.

Relief flooded through Spyrro, 'She is laughing… a little, anyway…'

The clan leader leaned down and grasped her chin with her long talons. Spyrro did not flinch but stood, eyes meeting the yellow gaze. Then the clan leader released her. Spyrro kept her face carefully blank as she watched her go.

Scar leapt from the airlock and hit the ground running, the ki'cti-pa already in his hand, the plasma gun in the other. Ahead of him the female Rough Skull jumped aside, dodging the hard meat's tail that lashed down onto the rocks. The giant, crowned head turned towards him, her jaws gaping as she howled her lethal rage. The female sent a throwing disc spinning towards her, spilling venomous blood onto the stone surface of the platform and the Queen screeched again, swiping at them with her huge, long-fingered hands.

'I must get her away from the ship,' Scar thought, 'We will not have time to take off before she tears it and us apart, but Lex might be able to if I can win her some time.'

"Use your plasma weapon!" He bawled at the female, as she fell back, "Drive her towards the edge!"

She snarled at him, "Do not order me, Abomination!"

"You want her to destroy us all?"

They sent a barrage of plasma fire towards her, blowing a hole in the giant ribcage. One of the Queen's secondary arms burned away, but she coiled herself, ready to attack. Scar's eye widened and he pulled back, hand going to his belt for a grenade but he had used them all, "Fall back! Use your explosives!"

"Coward! I will destroy her – "

The female increased the ferocity of the bombardment but the Queen wailed like a vengeful spirit and charged, bursting through their onslaught; an unstoppable force, plasma fire scoring wounds in her long, glowing skull, acid blood splattering into the air around her. With one giant hand, she struck the Rough Skull a sledgehammer blow, the long, thin shivs of her claws tearing open her side. The female hit the balcony heavily, her blood a glowing splatter, pouring from a ragged wound.

The Queen whirled towards her, turning her back on Scar and he attacked. Pure instinct at seeing her trying to kill one of his own kind drove him onward and he leapt towards her, plunging the ki'cti-pa between her ribs. She squealed and knocked him aside with her tail, the weapon wrenching from his grip, still embedded in her thorax. She rounded on him, hissing furiously, her tail upraised and ready to strike. He scrambled to his feet, sprinting across the platform towards the edge, 'I must distract her, lure her away from the vessel, I just hope Lex stays conscious long enough to take off – "

"There is a Queen outside – "

Lex's breath hissed between gritted teeth, as the tall hunter stepped into the cockpit.

"I see that, soft-meat." The newcomer's jaws curled.

Lex squinted, there was something about the hunter that twanged a string in her memory – not only that, but there was something that was different to the other yautja she remembered; little physical tells that nagged at her attention. This hunter was female. Lex racked her brain to think where she had seen her before but drew a blank.

"Who are you?"

"You pretend not to know me?" The yellow eyes narrowed, "Well, I know you – ooman slut. And you should know that I, Sek'Met, shall be the one to free S'Kia from your evil will."

Lex drew in a breath "What are you talking about?"

"I heard what S'Kia said to you, how you have enslaved him with evil magic!"

Lex tried to rise again, gripping the arms of the pilot seat, but a flood of weakness and nausea rippled through her, "We do not have time for this," She gasped, one arm wrapped around her middle, "The Queen is outside. We must – "

"Do not presume to tell me what I must do, while you spin your dark toils around a warrior of my clan, v'jed'lika!"

{Pron: Vee-YED-likka. Translation: a witch, a caster of evil spells, also a female who is unnaturally or aggressively promiscuous.}.

Lex frowned, trying to understand the cause behind this female's obvious hatred for her, "I am not a witch. There is no such thing!"

Sek'Met's eyes burned into her "You seek to protect yourself with lies, but I heard how you twist S'Kia to your evil will, turning him against his own kind, forcing him to do your bidding. My sister lies wounded in the medipod because of you!"

Adrenalin was clearing the fog from Lex's mind and she was sickeningly aware that Scar was outside, right now, fighting for his life, 'He could already be injured or even dying, I need to persuade her to help him – or get her out of my way!'

"Sek'Met, please listen," She spoke rapidly "This is not the time to fight, we have to work together to defeat the Queen or we will all be killed."

All the while she was speaking, the hand that was wrapped round her waist was creeping towards her hip holster. She kept herself doubled over, trying to appear as weak and helpless as possible, barely having to pretend. She prayed that at least one of her weapons was still there, and prayed the female would not notice her hand inching towards it.

Sek'Met's voice was a razorblade of hatred "It is your wickedness that has sent him out to die in your cause… but without U'darahje, you are helpless. I will put an end to your poisonous influence over him and then we will defeat the Queen, together."

In the background, terrible noises came from the screen but Lex dared not take her attention off her opponent. Her fingers touched the smooth, moulded grip of the bug-thumper, "If you harm me, he will kill you."

The female's mandibles curled, "After I exterminate you, he will no longer be infected by your magic; I will free S'Kia…"

Something in the way she said his name – her voice caressing it, lingering over the sound – gave her the key to Sek'Met.

"You want him," She said, slowly, "You are jealous."

She saw by the outraged flame of Sek'Met's eyes that her words had struck home.

"You desire S'Kia," She said again, wanting to keep Sek'Met's attention on her face as she brushed her fingers over the power switch, tripping it, hearing the soft hum of the weapon, "You think if you kill me, he will want you?"

"Why would he not? I am younger and more desirable than you… and I saved his life."

"Saved his life?" She felt a sickening lurch in her gut, as if she might vomit, 'What if there is something between them and I just don't remember! Would he do that to me? Leave me for someone else? I never believed he would, but – '

"It was I who allowed you to escape the hard meat chamber," Sek'Met continued, "I l left you the sivk'va-tai. But for me he would be dead."

Silently, Lex cursed her failing memory, but she knew she had to conceal her distress at all costs. Physically, Sek'Met had the upper hand – but she had seen the young female's flash of furious jealousy and it was the only leverage she had. She gritted her teeth, "You think S'Kia will be pleased if you slaughter the mother of his children?"

In answer, Sek'Met reached behind her back to draw the two long blades; the merciless edges shining in the flickering light from the screen.

"These are his swords." She said, softly, "What better way to destroy your evil enchantment than to kill you with his own weaponsss? I will bathe them in your blood and drain your poison from him."

Lex did not move as Sek'Met approached. The noise of battle still came from outside the ship and it took all her willpower not to turn towards the screen, but she dared not look away. The lieutenant held one of the swords at arms-length, the blade pointed at her throat "On your knees."

"There is no honour in killing me when I am injured and weak."

"A witch has no honour. Kneel."

Painfully, Lex pushed herself up from the pilot seat, fighting off the swaying pull of faintness that dragged at her. She sank to her knees, one arm clasped around her middle as if suffering terrible pain, but she kept her gaze locked on Sek'Met's and her head up even as her knees touched the ground.

"Such an easy surrender. You are spineless; a clinging parasite." The female's eyes burned, "I despise you."

With confidence she did not feel, Lex gave her a slow, savage smile, "Because he wants me… and he will never want you."

Sek'Met's eyes flared, the veins in her throat standing out like cords. As she swung the sword high, Lex tore the bug thumper from its holster and lunged, diving for the ground, ignoring the tearing pain in her abdomen. Every second she expected to feel the blade slice into the back of her neck but she jammed the thumper against the exposed skin of the hunter's thigh and pushed the trigger.

A supernova of blue-white light exploded between them, catapulting Sek'Met into the wall. Lex watched her helpless body jerk and twitch, "I may be soft meat," She growled, hauling herself upright, "But I don't need his help kicking your ass."

Happy summer y'all, I've been spending a lot of time at the beach but I enjoyed writing this chapter. Hope you enjoy reading it. If it floats your boat, please follow/ fave/ review.

Tenjp: Yeah it's pretty sad, and if Lex's memory is permanently gone, she might forgive him - but would it be right if he knew it was just due to the memory loss and that he was essentially lying to her?

Nubian Queen - Sorry to hear you've been sick, Covid is horrible. I've had it and it really knocked me out. Hope you're feeling better. Also yes, I deliberately put her comments about feckless males next to that scene. I don't see it as Scar being exceptional - more that he has the opportunity and the vocabulary to understand to what he feels, because Lex gives him that.

LovyDovy7 - Scar only leaves the ship because he doesn't think they can take off before the Queen reaches them - he's not necessarily doing it for honour's sake (although he is Mr Jump-In-Without-Thinking-It-Through). Glad you are enjoying all the story strands, I try and give them all equal time not just Scar and Lex so it's great you enjoy them!