"Do you know what we did for sport on my planet?" Mongul said approaching Supergirl again.
"Clearly it wasn't manners." Supergirl replied.
"Obviously there were the games, where our strongest slaves fought each other." Mongul said ignoring Supergirl's response. "They were very profitable, they made me a lot of money. But for the elite we also had hunts. The most cunning slaves were put in a forest and hunted, for a fee. If they survived they were granted freedom. If they didn't, well they were dead. None of them ever won freedom. But I enjoyed the hunt. And I will enjoy this one too." He said ripping the vines off Supergirl. "You are free to go. But before you get too excited I have laid traps all round here, any one of them will cause a slow and painful death. If it takes more than a day to find you we will do it again. If it takes less than I day I will kill you where I find you. You have 60 naerns before I start hunting you. You can use that time to run, take water, find food, fight me. The choice is yours."
"What's a naern?" Supergirl asked rubbing her wrists.
"In here, it is meaningless. I'll start when I choose. Of course judging a day will also be hard. So when I catch you whether or not you live will be based on how I feel. Now go." He said.
Sensing it was a trap Supergirl wearily went to the lake and started drinking, soothing her dry throat, half expecting Mongul to strike her down as she drunk.
Once she had drunk as much as she could she got to her feet and looked round. With the mountain the only noticeable feature she decided to take off in that direction.
-00-
As Supergirl moved through the barren wasteland she kept looking over her shoulder for signs of Mongul. But as she ran she knew without food and water she wouldn't last long and had to conserve her energy. Coming to a stop she looked round and saw in the distance several boulders. Deciding shelter was her best option she moved over the boulders. Finding a small area, well hidden from sight, Supergirl lay against the rock and tried to ignore the hunger and thirst. She then took out of her pocket the small item that her daughter had made her years before. Gripping it tightly she wondered how she was going to get free.
-00-
Kara woke feeling very, very cold. Sitting up she looked round and realised the ground had frozen and snow was falling. Knowing she needed to stay warm, but a fire was too dangerous, she decided her only option was to keep moving forward. Picking up some snow she held it in her hand hoping it would melt enough to use it for water. After what felt like an eternity and with no feeling left in her hands she half ate, half drank the snow before once again heading to the mountains.
-00-
As Kara trudged on, the cold feeling like it went straight to her bones, she looked round and saw all the footprints she was leaving.
Cursing herself for being so stupid she wondered how she could hide her tracks. Realising she couldn't she dropped to her knees and she felt panic well inside her. As her breathing got more laboured she once again pulled out the object her daughter had made for her and gripped it as tightly as she could as she tried to concentrate on breathing. As her breathing became more controlled she managed to fight off the panic.
"I'm getting out of here." Kara said getting to her feet and walking on.
-00-
"What's happening?" Alex asked as she noticed the ring starting to pulse.
"The power is fluctuating." Diggle said.
"Why? What's going on?" Alex asked, her concern growing.
"Maybe Supergirl is losing hope?" Salaak said as the ring suddenly stopped pulsing.
"It's stabilised." Diggle said.
"We need to hurry up and get her out of there." Alex said.
"Trust me we are trying."
-00-
When Supergirl finally reached the mountain she was faced with a cliff wall that seemed to run endlessly from left to right, leaving her no option but to scale the cliff.
Taking a deep breath she stepped up to the rock face and found a foothold and started to climb up as the cold kept biting at her hands.
"I am really missing my powers." She complained as she grunted with exertion.
-00-
As Supergirl scaled the cliff, her hands burning from the cuts as the rocks cut into them and freezing from the cold, she felt something grip her boot. Looking down she saw Mongul who was trying to wrench her off the cliff.
"There is no escaping." He said tugging harder as Supergirl's fingers dug into the rocks. Knowing that she could not win the battle Kara took her free leg and slammed it down on Mongul's head. While the action caused him to release her other boot, without the support under her supporting leg her hands started to lose grip. Knowing she couldn't hold for long Supergirl stamped down on Mongul again before her legs scrambled to find any support to take her weight.
As Mongol lost his grip he reached out and snagged Supergirl's boot, tugging her enough for her to loose her grip as well and both of them slid down the cliff, landing in a heap on the ground.
-00-
Shaking the fog from her mind Kara opened her eyes and found she was lying on top of Mongul, who remained unconscious.
Knowing there was nothing to use to tie him up she left him where he was and tried climbing the cliff again hoping she could reach the top before he woke up. But after a few minutes of climbing as fast as she could, causing her arms and lungs to burn, she felt a hand on her boot again.
"Seriously?" Kara asked looking down and seeing Mongul.
"You will die before you escape." He said yanking hard and causing her to loose her grip causing both of them to slide then fall to the ground.
As they both landed on the ground Mongul immediately launched an attack, which Supergirl managed to just dodge before scrambling away and getting to her feet.
"You should have killed me. That mistake will cost you your life." He said throwing another punch. One that Supergirl managed to block. The next one came too fast for her to react to and she went flying back onto the ground. Before she could recover Mongul kicked her ribs, laughing as he did so. Once again Supergirl scrambled along the ground. As she did so she saw a dead branch to the side before grabbing it, jumping to her feet and swinging it at Mongul, screaming with effort. As the branch made contact with his head, Mongul dropped to the ground unconscious. Tired, cold and in pain, Kara dropped to her knees. She looked from Mongul to the cliff face to the flat wastelands that she had walked through and once again felt helpless. Knowing she couldn't fight Mongul forever, but also knowing there was no where to run she screamed out in anger and frustration. The scream echoing off the cliff face. Once silence had once again descended she screamed.
"Why?"
The question echoing round until once again the only noise was the wind. As the silence hit she felt the loneliness well inside her until it became unbearable and she once again screamed before all other emotions came to the surface and she started to cry.
-00-
"What's going on?" Alex asked.
"The power is fluctuating again. It is too dangerous to release them while that is happening." Diggle said.
"What the hell is going on in there?" Alex asked, scared for her sister's safety.
-00-
Void of tears and emotions Kara looked back at the cliff and knew she had to climb again. But as Kara started to scale the cliff once more she started to wonder why she was bothering. Even if she made it to the top she wondered if there would be an exit. But yet she still felt driven to keep climbing. But where as before she was able to climb quickly, now she was so tired, hungry and bruised every foot of ascent seemed to take an age. But still she kept going, concentrating on one foothold at a time. She became so focused on climbing she forgot all about Mongul until once again she felt something grip her leg and yank. She was so tired by then though she fell off the cliff with no resistance and slid and fell to the ground along with Mongul.
But this time Kara didn't have the luxury of Mongul's body acting like a cushion and she landed on her arm, breaking it in the process.
Screaming in pain she lay on the ground hoping that the pain would go away. The throbbing so great she didn't even check on Mongul.
-00-
"It is too dangerous." Diggle said as Salaak's ring pulsed.
"But-" Alex protested.
"If I try now it is likely to kill both of them." Salaak said.
"What if it stabilises?" Alex asked.
"If that happens, although with every passing second she is in there it seems increasingly unlikely her hope will grow, but should it, then I will try immediately to free them." Salaak said
-00-
Finally sitting up Kara looked round and saw that Mongul was once again unconscious. Taking a deep breath she looked around and saw some small branches. Moving to them she did her best to one handedly make a splint. But as she tried to secure it she nudged the limb and another wave of pain washed over her, causing her to throw up.
Once the pain and nausea had subsided she finished securing the splint before grabbing another branch and getting to her feet. She then looked round wondering what her next move should be seeing she could no longer climb. But as she looked she became aware of movement behind her. Gripping the branch tightly in her good hand she spun round and smacked Mongul in the head just as they were engulfed in a blinding light.
-00-
In a flash the battered bodies of Kara and Mongul appeared. Both had torn clothes and cuts all over their bodies. As Mongul fell to the ground unconscious Alex ran to her sister.
"Kara." Alex said engulfing her in a hug. "You're freezing." Alex said concerned before Kara yelped in pain as her arm was moved.
"What's wrong?" Alex asked pulling back.
"Arm." Kara croaked. As Alex looked down at it she saw the bruising and makeshift splint.
"What else?" Alex asked.
"Water." Kara pleaded through cracked lips.
"Get some water and blankets." Alex barked as Kara's body absorbed the sun's rays and her wounds started to heal. Seeing the arm return to normal colour Alex hugged her sister again and pleaded. "Never do that again."
"Pretty sure that one wasn't my fault." Kara said feeling the energy from the yellow sun flow through her body.
"Are you okay?" Alex asked pulling away.
"I think so." Kara said as her final injuries healed moments before exhaustion got to her and she collapsed in her sister's arms.