Ostrowski jumped out as soon as the copter touched down in the clearing and strode over the where Paulson and Hernandez were waiting.

"We've got prints going towards the trail, sir," Said Paulson, "We think they're headed up to the falls."

"They?" Ostrowski snapped.

"Yessir," Hernandez supplied "Someone tried to disguise the prints but we think two people were in the vehicle."

Paulson cut in, "Sir, we think she's with James Ambrose, the guy who owns the car. I told you I suspected he was the one who picked her up."

"Yes, we've got people checking out his holiday home right now," Ostrowski nodded "Have you actually managed to get eyes on them?"

"I only saw them for a second as we passed so I couldn't give you a positive ID on Woods, sir, but I'm sure it was his car. I recognised the plates. And what would he be doing hiking up the Falls, at night fall and with these temperatures?"

Next to him, Rawles gave a snort, "Maybe he's planning on taking a lady-friend for a moonlit stroll?"

Ostrowski waved him into silence as his phone rang. He answered it, listened for a few moments and then turned back to them, "Ambrose has security cams at his place: it was Woods. They left an hour ago. Our people are going back through the footage, but they think it's possible she's been there this whole time. Good detective work, Sergeant."

He turned back to the rest of his team, "That means we've got a potential hostage situation on our hands. We need to get up to those falls quickly and head them off. Whatever she's planning up there, I don't want to give her the chance to do it." He turned to the two local police "Back-up is on its way, I want your officers to stay down here and guard the trail and any other routes you think she could get down."

"But sir," Paulson frowned "Don't you want our armed units to up there as well?"

"No sergeant, I want your people to stay away and leave this to us. This operation is under military jurisdiction. My guys will get up there and take her down. Just make sure your people down here know that we need to bring her in alive. Tasers and darts only. I don't expect she will come back down the trail but, if she does, I don't want some local cowboy blowing the head off my asset."

"Where the hell can she go, sir?" Hernandez put in, "There's only one trail down from the falls and we're watching that. We've got her cornered."

"I've thought that before, Sergeant." Ostrowski gave him a humourless smile, "Let's hope that you're right."

Ambrose's feet felt almost numb with the cold now. His hiking boots did not provide enough protection against the freezing temperatures that were creeping back now the sun was going down.

They were pushing their way through a section where the trail had all but disappeared, overgrown with young conifers, now crackling with ice. He wanted to slow down but she wouldn't let him, pushing him onwards more urgently now. He knew from memory they were getting near the top and dread was pooling like acid in the pit of his stomach about what would happen when she reached the end of whatever internal journey she was currently on.

"How much further?" She demanded.

"Not far," He panted, beginning to stumble now whereas she was still sure-footed. He was beginning to wonder if she had ever really needed him to guide her, the failing light did not seem to slow her down at all. In truth, she was the one guiding him now that the darkness was setting in.

A rhythmic pulsing filled the air and he felt her become still next to him as both of them heard the helicopter. It rushed overhead with a drone like a swarm of hellish wasps and they saw it disappear towards the forest to the North.

The sight of it disturbed Ambrose. Up until this moment, he had thought the pursuit was all in her head. Suddenly, he realised it was very possibly real and he had to consider what that meant about her: had she really killed all those people?

"They're here for me." She said, as if reading his mind, "And I did kill those men. They left me no choice, if it makes you feel better."

"Are you going to kill me?"

"I don't want to."

He saw the glow as she flipped open her gauntlet again. By its red glare, he saw the fixed scowl of her mask as she consulted the wrist device, pressing the controls on it. "It still won't work properly," She said, speaking to herself, "I need to get a clear signal."

"What are you trying to do, Lex?"

She shook her head, "Never mind. We just need to get up higher."

They trekked on in silence for a while longer, Ambrose feeling colder by the minute.

Then he saw the huge stones rise up across their path and he knew now that they had reached the top. The sun had almost sunk to the horizon now, casting a roseate glow on everything. Even the crystallised tree branches seemed stained pink. Before them, the conifers thinned out to reveal a wide plain of dark rock, stretching away to Eyrie Falls. Through this rock, the Lacrimosa river carved a path. It spread out in a wide, stony delta – deep in some places, shallow in others – before plunging into the white-water roar of the falls. He shivered, the wind cut like a sudden razor on this exposed surface.

"We're here." He said, "What now?"

She didn't answer him. Just stood, staring at the wrist device, pressing the controls. He followed her as she set off across the rocks, eyes on the gauntlet, looking around as if she was searching for something.

"Lex, what is it you're trying to do?" He asked, through chattering teeth.

She was still absorbed in the display on the gauntlet, "Work, damn you!" She hissed under her breath. Then she tapped the side of her mask again, shaking her head.

Ambrose was alarmed by this. He worried about what was going to happen in this bleak and isolated place when whatever she was seeking up here failed to materialise. Despite himself, he gently took hold of her upper arm, "Lex." He said soothingly, "If what you're looking for isn't here, that's OK. We can just go back down the track. Nothing terrible needs to happen."

She turned to look at him, her expression hidden. Beside them, the river rushed icily onwards. Ambrose held his breath…

"Alexa Woods!"

At that moment, an amplified voice cut through the frost-bitten air, "Woods! We've got you surrounded! Put down your weapons and step away from the hostage with your hands up!"

Ambrose's head turned as he tried to see where the voice had come from. He could see shadowy figures emerging from the trees – armed police or maybe soldiers, in his state of alarm he couldn't tell – advancing on them in a circle, a noose drawing tighter. With a jolt he realised that they were all holding guns and every one of them was pointed at her.

They were completely cut off.

Ambrose had never seen a real gun before. He turned back to look at her, blinking rapidly, still not taking his hands from her arms. Then he turned to look at the soldiers again, his eyes rivetted by the weapons. She just stood there, mask glinting in the bloody glow of the sunset.

"Don't let them shoot you!" He hissed and grabbed hold of her wrist pulling her arm around him as he turned to face the gunmen. "No!" he shouted, "Don't come any closer, she's got a knife!"

"What are you doing, you idiot?" She hissed.

"They might shoot you!" He hissed back, "Make them think you're going to kill me!"

He nearly swallowed his tongue as he heard the sharp sound of the knives on her wrist shooting out and felt the chill of the blades against his throat.

"Stop right there!" He heard her say.

One of the armed figures stepped forward and pulled down the black balaclava face mask he was wearing.

"Just let him go, Lex," He said, "You won't gain anything by hurting this man, there's no way out of here."

"I don't want to hurt him," She answered in a voice that was flat and dead, "So back off."

"We're not going to do that, Lex." He called back, "Even if I let you walk down this mountain, there are cops waiting for you. There's nowhere for you to go. Just give yourself up."

"Tell them to back off!" Ambrose gasped.

"I don't think they're going to do that, James." She began to inch backwards, pulling him with her. With a little thrill of fear, he realised she was dragging them towards the roaring of the Falls.

"Just be careful – I don't want to go over the edge!"

"I'm not sure they care about that either."

"Stop!" He yelled "Stay where you are or… or she says she'll kill me!"

The soldiers surrounding them didn't reply. She kept pulling him backwards and he felt the air at his back getting colder. "The temperature must be dropping as we get closer to the edge!"

He could also sense the cold coming from her now, the total lack of emotion in her suddenly terrified him. When he had first found her on the road, he had thought her like a fairy-tale princess. Now she had transformed into a thing of ice; without warmth; without mercy.

He saw her raise the hand that wasn't against his throat and almost flinched back against her, but then he realised she was consulting the gauntlet again. From this close, he could see the display was full of static and glowing shapes and again he wondered what the hell it was she thought she could see. The screen was glitching and flickering, but then it suddenly stabilised for a few moments, showing an array of symbols that he could not even begin to decipher.

He heard her catch her breath… and then it returned, slow and steady.

"I want you to be ready, James." she said.

"For what?" The light around them was a deep red now, everything bathed in the ruddy glow of the dying sun.

"I'm going to let you go," She said in his ear, "And I want you to get on the ground. Get as far away from me as you can, do you understand?"

He nodded, his brain was almost numb with terror, of the guns, of her – he wondered if she even knew herself what she intended to do. They were on the brink of a precipice and he knew Eyrie Gorge had to be three hundred meters deep. The wind wailed around them; he could feel it dragging at them with frozen fingers.

Above them, the eagles screamed.

Ostrowski watched as Woods hauled her unfortunate victim towards the lip of the gorge. He did not hold out much hope for the man's survival.

"She didn't show any of my guys mercy. Why would she start now?"

A voice crackled, Decard in his earpiece, "Do you want us to get line of sight on her now, sir?"

"Keep her in line of sight, but no live rounds," He said in a low voice, "Nobody is to so much as breathe, unless I say the word."

He gave the order for the rest of his team to move. They closed in regardless of her warnings, "We need to bring her in... no matter what."

He could feel the wind rising as the night began to coil around them. They were tightening the net on her now, penning her up against the edge. She was only ten feet away from a sheer drop that would mean certain death. To one side of her, the sawblade of the river, cutting towards the falls.

As Rawles and Torres got close, she suddenly shoved the hostage towards them. The man fell to his knees and Ostrowski wondered if he had been wounded. Then, stupefyingly strange in the scarlet light, she blinked out of existence. He knew she must have activated her camouflage but his brain wouldn't allow him to believe that his eyes had just seen her disappear, like an optical illusion.

Rawles lunged towards the space where she had been with Torres on his heels. He must have struck her by sheer luck, because Ostrowski could see he was grappling with an unseen attacker, looking as if he were fighting against the air. Several things seemed to happen all at once: Rawles' side exploded in a shower of hot blood, spattering over the surrounding rocks, and he screamed an unnaturally high-pitched scream. At that moment, Torres arrived and threw herself at Rawles and his invisible assailant, her added weight causing all three of them to crash down into the freezing waters of the Lacrimosa. There was a crackle like an electrical short-out and suddenly Woods was visible.

She'd already pulled the blades out of Rawles and now she plunged them into Torres, skewering her through the arm and shoulder, pulling the knives swiftly clear as her victim collapsed in a spray of red. Torres was spluttering and choking as Woods swung round to see Shaw and Vance, two of the biggest members of the team, coming at her. She lashed out with the blades and managed to catch Shaw a slicing cut across the cheek but, as he reeled away, Vance cannoned into her, smashing her down into the water again. She fought him, struggling so frenziedly that it actually looked as though she might even break free, but then Oman piled into her too, punching her in the gut. Vance grabbed hold of her wrists, holding the flashing blades at bay and together, they managed to force her to her knees, wrestling her arms behind her back.

Ostrowski came forward and stood looking down at her. Her mask had come away in the melee, now she stared up at him with those huge, dark eyes.

"Cuff her," He said harshly "Watch out for her knives when you do it."

She just gazed up at him, breathing slowly and deeply. For someone who'd been fighting like a tiger just seconds ago, her face now seemed eerily composed.

"Not going to read me my rights?" She asked icily, as they secured her hands behind her back.

"You know you haven't got any, Woods." He regarded her with equally cold dislike, "You've killed a lot of my guys, one way or another." He glanced briefly to where the wounded Shaw had gone over to try and do something for Rawles and Torres.

She lifted an eyebrow slightly, the closest she could get to a shrug whilst being restrained by two large men, "You didn't leave me any choice."

Ostrowski's jaw set hard and he leaned down "I spent a long time searching for you after you killed my team in Nevada," He said "The only reason you're still alive now, is because my commanding officers want to find out what information you have on the hostiles."

"You government types aren't very original." Her gaze swept them scornfully, "Different faces, same old story."

Me? I don't care about information. I just want to make sure you never set foot outside solitary confinement again. Enjoy this fresh, mountain air, because it'll be your last chance to appreciate the outdoors."

She stared at him for a few moments, pupils magnified with adrenalin, tendrils of her dark hair waving in the strengthening breeze.

"And this is your last chance." She echoed him, her voice unnerving in its utter serenity, "You need to take your hands off me and leave this place, before it's too late."

Ostrowski frowned. She was clearly more deranged than he'd thought, but again he felt a sneaking admiration for her. Even now, on her knees in the river with her hands cuffed behind her, she didn't seem beaten. She faced them with her head high like a captured warrior queen; still composed, without even a trace of fear.

"Get her up," He said to Oman and Vance at last, "Get her out of my sight."

She kept her eyes fixed on him as they hauled her to her feet, her hair billowing around her now, writhing like shadow tentacles in the howling wind… to his surprise, he could feel that the windstorm around them was intensifying by the second. In the gathering darkness it was transforming from a freezing gale into a roaring tornado, hot and deafening, the storm blowing up out of a cloudless sky. The wind was so strong it was making it hard for them all to stand, forcing them back from the edge of the falls.

Over his commlink, he heard Decard say, "What the fuck is this?"

Ostrowski's brain was prompting him that he'd felt and heard something like this before. But that had been twelve years ago in Nevada, when he'd been lying wounded and on the brink of death out in the desert, hearing Woods escape ...

He looked at Woods where she still stood between Oman and Vance.

"Let me go," She said again, "Or you're all going to die on this mountain."

"There she is! Mei'Varsi!" Selim touched the controls to magnify the heat vision display on one part of the Chameleon's viewscreen "I see heat signals, there on that cliff top!"

Isaac stared at the display "You're sure it's her?"

"It matches the location of her wristcom signal, it must be her!"

"Is it really Mei'Varsi?" Spyrro had also woken up and was watching the screen from the co-pilot's seat, "Is she unhurt?"

Scar did not answer her but leaned past Selim and touched the controls to magnify the picture of the heat signals still further. Rapidly, he flipped to a more detailed scan, assessing the number of humans on the mountainside and checking their weapons capabilities. What he saw raised a clicking noise in his throat, "She has been captured," He snarled, "A crowd of armed humans have her on her knees! And there are more, waiting in the forest, all with very nasty weapons."

"Captured by whom, Mei'Savir?" Spyrro was staring at the screen, eyes round with alarm.

"Enemies."

"Does Mei'Varsi have so many enemies?!"

Selim gave a clicking purr of his own as he touched the control to bring up the targeting system, "Let me shoot them down, Father!"

"No, Selim!"

"But I will kill them all – "

"They are so tightly packed around her, you might hit your Mother! The ship's cannons could cause the mountainside to give way under her! There is only one way to get her out of there: I must do it." Scar had already strapped the dah'kte onto his wrists and his swords onto his back. Now he snicked the plasma cannon into place on his shoulder and slid throwing blades and a plasma sidearm into their holsters.

"But I can get us closer, so we won't miss!" Isaac grabbed hold of the steering column "You have to let us help her, S'Kia!"

"Yessss, get us clossser." The glow from Scar's eyes was blocked out as he pushed the mask onto his face. "Then, I will go outside and… retrieve her. You two will stay with Spyrro and the Chameleon. I command it."

"Mei'Savir, we do not want to stay here!"

"Selim, do you not understand. I must do this." Scar made a move towards the airlock "Now, do as I order you and bring the ship down – "

Isaac leapt forward, catching hold of his Father's arm, "You didn't let us go after Spyrro either!" He spat. "That's our Mother in trouble out there!"

"Father, let us help you save her!" Selim pleaded.

"It is not fair, Mei'Savir!" Spyrro took up her brothers' complaint as well.

"NO." The masked face snapped round in their direction, causing all three children to fall silent and Isaac to drop his fingers from round the hunter's gauntleted wrist.

"She may be your Mother," Scar's voice was now a blood-freezing growl, "But the skulls of her enemies all belong to me!"

Ambrose put a hand up to protect his eyes from the weird, hot hurricane that was assailing the mountainside, so strong now that he was being pushed backwards. The soldier who had been assigned either to protect him or restrain him seemed to be struggling too.

He tried to focus on Lex, forcing himself to look at her through eyes that streamed in the gale. She still stood between her two captors, seemingly oblivious to the rising tempest and the wind that was wailing around her, like an army of hungry ghosts.

Suddenly, a strobing, bright flash lit up the darkness, as if they were in the middle of an electrical storm. It struck several of the solders around Lex, knocking them to the ground and the smell of burning flesh filled the air.

Then, at Lex's feet, the Lacrimosa erupted in a column of white foam as something hit the water hard. Ambrose could only stare as a huge shape materialised, looming up out of the torrent like an enraged river god. It was outlined in crawling snakes of lightening, human shaped but bigger than a man, tall and monstrous. With a deafening roar, it struck the head off one of the soldiers holding Lex and seized the other, lifting him off his feet with one massive hand around his throat. Ambrose staggered backwards as the man's skull was ripped away from his body with a fibrous crunch he knew would echo in his nightmares until his dying day...

LovyDovey7: Scar is about to start raining down fire and brimstone-style retribution on the just and the unjust alike, but will Lex be pleased to see him? Could go either way :)