Lex spies the abandoned ATV at the same time that Scorvo puts out an arm to stop her forward motion. The skilled hunter’s face is twisted into a confused scowl.


    “Oh my god!” Lex exclaims, her gaze falling on the sprawled figure lying beside the ATV. Even from a distance, and through the trees, Lex is certain that Phillip is already dead. No human would lie in such an unnatural position.


    Voices filter through the air to Lex’s listening ears, and she grows stiff. Men. Three men. Camping out in the area surrounding the river, the ranger’s body, and the abandoned ATV. No doubt, Phillip’s murderers. Scorvo motions with his head for Lex to follow him in a southerly direction.


    Lex moves to follow him. As she does so, her foot comes down on a large twig, snapping it in two. Lex freezes, her eyes wide as saucers. Scorvo’s brow creases and he tilts his head back in the direction they came from, listening.


    “What the hell was that?” one of the murderers yells into the night.


    “Probably just an animal. Take your paranoid ass back to sleep, Johnny! Jeezus!” says a second male voice.


    “Nah! Weren’t no animal! Listen!” the first man responds.


    Scorvo and Lex stay as still as possible, desperately trying not to draw attention to their continued presence.


    “That’s just it, Cos. It’s kind of like when the forest gets quiet before you take out that prized buck. Or the quiet before a real bad storm. The animals ain’t talking no more. Something’s got ‘em scared. Real scared. I’m thinking…We’ve got company.” That first voice again.


    “You think they found us, Cosmo? Oh god! Please no! Please. Don’t shoot us! Oh god! I don’t want to die!” A third voice, more high-pitched and frantic.


    A brief moment later, there is a loud thud and a body hits the ground. Lex shakes her head in a negative fashion and mouths the words: “Hell, no.”


    “Let’s go!” she whispers to Scorvo.


    The yautja warrior nods agreement. While he could easily dispatch each of the three oomans, without much trouble, he doesn’t care to put Lex at risk. Reaching out for her hand, Scorvo grips it tightly and guides Lex away from the small campfire and the angry voices.


    -


    -


    Trent is quite literally shivering as he makes his way through the dense woods. The joint he smoked over thirty minutes ago has created a thin veil of fuzziness in his brain. He stumbles blindly, weapon held loosely in front of him. A flash of something to his left draws the bumbling murderer’s attention. He raises his weapon and fires, barely missing Lex and clipping the corner of her backpack. Lex glances over her shoulder and catches sight of Trent. When she turns back around, Scorvo is in the process of activating his cloak. He slowly melts into the darkness around him.


    “Scorvo? What are you—?”


    The words are not even out of her mouth when a second shot rings out. Lex takes off running, shrugging out of her backpack and allowing it to fall to the ground. By now, Trent is very aware of her presence. He fires a third time and a fourth. None of his shots come as close to hitting Lex as the first one. He had been nearly lucky that time.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.


    The river looms ahead and Lex stops at the edge. The thought of going into the cold water, at this time of night, causes a shiver to course her spine. She runs along the bank until she spots a downed tree overhanging a boulder. Clambering up the decaying trunk of the tree, Lex aims for the opposite shore. Trent arrives at the trunk of the tree only moments after Lex clambers onto it. He fires on her a fifth time.


    “Stupid whore! Get back here!” Trent yells, his voice a messy slur. “I said, get down from there dammit!”


    Trent raises his gun to fire again, but never gets the chance. A spray of blood and bone erupts from Trent’s front as Scorvo’s plasmacaster blows out the dumb bastard’s chest. Trent’s eyes roll up in his head and he crumbles to the ground, in almost the same position as the fallen ranger.


    Lex breathes a sigh of relief and begins making her way back across the tree. There is a deafening crack and a large portion of the dead tree falls away. Lex pinwheels her arms and manages to grip a hanging limb before she can plunge into the freezing water below. Scorvo’s mandibles flare open and he utters a low growl. He looks down. He considers using his netgun to hook the tree and draw Lex in. However, doing so might also plunge her into the roaring river. Or worse, he might injure her in the attempt. He decides to take his chances climbing the tree.


    Scorvo slowly scales up the tree trunk, inch by painstaking inch. When he is close enough to reach Lex, he lowers his body flush with the tree and offers her his hand. Lex is just reaching to grip his hand when a loud shot rings out. Scorvo roars loudly, as a bullet pierces his right shoulder. He raises his upper body and uses his targeting system to pinpoint his assailant. Johnny’s head explodes a moment later, the gun held in his grip firing a second time. The bullet goes wild, spiraling and tearing through the dense canopy of trees.


    Scorvo turns back to Lex. Just in time to see her lose her grip on the limb she was so frantically holding on to. Lex’s eyes widen as she plunges down and into the river. As Scorvo watches, Lex is swept away by the raging current. Scorvo’s mandibles flare out impossibly wide and he lets loose an angry bellow.


    -


    -


    “Lex? Come over here!”


    Lex gazes up at her father with adoring eyes. Gathering up his only daughter in his arms, Neville Woods points up at the night sky.


    “Can you tell me what that one is, Lex? The one with the three stars all in a row?”


    “The Big Dipper!” Tiny Lex says with a giggle.


    “That’s right! The Big Dipper! I’m so proud of you!” Mr. Woods gushes. He presses his nose into the side of Lex’s face, making her giggle. “That’s my smart girl!”


    Lowering Lex back to the ground, Mr. Woods takes her tiny hand in his. He kneels at her side, looking into her intelligent brown eyes.


    “Now, Daddy has to take some people out for a climb tomorrow. You going to be good for Aunt Tamra?”


    Lex hangs her head and pouts. She hates it when her father goes off without her, leaving her alone with Tamra. The woman is old and she smells funny.


    “I don’t know why I can’t come with you.”


    “You know I can’t take you on a climb, Lex. Not until you’re older. Now, I want you to promise me you’ll behave. No writing bad words like you did the last time. Will you promise me?”


    “Yes, Daddy. I promise. I’ll be good this time.”


    “There’s my big girl! Now, give me a kiss.”


    Lex goes up on tiptoe and kisses the bridge of her father’s nose.


    “I love you, Daddy!”


    “I love you too, Lex! Now…Go on to bed. Go on.”


    The family housekeeper, Tamra, guides little Lex into the house and up to bed. Mr. Woods climbs to his feet and turns to look in the direction of the Big Dipper. It has been three long years since the death of his wife, and it hasn’t gotten any easier. At least, he has Lex. The one good thing left in his world.