Wild obsidian hair dangled around her head and throat, hanging nearly to the chute floor, for she crouched sideways upon the sheer wall, anchored by one hand as if her nails could carve into the stone. Her narrow-limbed body was completely naked, yet she did not shiver in the freezing air. Her other delicate hand was wrapped tightly over Kurhkage's face, pinning his head to the chute's wall.

Hkuan'duv released Kurhkage and grabbed for a stiletto on his wrist. But his hand never reached the hilt.

The woman's face wrinkled in a silent snarl as she spun down from the wall, and her small hand lashed out into his chest. His feet lifted from the chute's floor as he hurtled back through the air.

Snowy ground and black sky spun before his eyes. Both stopped suddenly as he slammed down amid a spray of fallen snow. He penetrated through to frozen earth, and his shoulder and arm crushed against his side. He lay at the gully's far side, a good distance from the chute's opening.

Hkuan'duv's chest ached as he rolled over, gasping.

The woman stepped into the open, her narrow feet sinking through the snow.

Wind whipped her long hair about in writhing black tendrils, exposing her throat. Hkuan'duv caught the metallic glint, thick and golden, of something hooked about her neck, and then his gaze caught on something else.

Her left forearm and hand were coated with dark red. She clutched a bloodied mass that dripped a spattered trail behind her.

A'harhk'nis circled out with both oversized curved blades in hand.

He was not tall for an'Croan, but this feminine apparition would barely reach his collarbone. She crouched so deep and quickly that A'harhk'nis stalled in his first attack.

Desperate to help, Hkuan'duv struggled to all fours. His left arm gave way and he crumpled.

The white woman shot up from the snow directly before A'harhk'nis.

A'harhk'nis had barely reversed his blade's swing when her free hand shot straight for his throat. His feet left the snow at that impact, and the white woman rose with him, falling upon him as he toppled.

Hkuan'duv saw her tiny mouth widen around fangs and jagged teeth. He tried to rise again as she drove her face into A'harhk'nis's throat.

Fresh powder splashed around them. Hkuan'duv took only one step before the wind cleared the air. A head of whipping black hair snapped up amid settling snowy mist-and a wet tearing sound filled the gully.

Blood spattered from her mouth as she threw back her head.

With a crack of bone, her narrow arm whipped out, tossing a bulk too large for the red mass she had held. Cold sank through Hkuan'duv as he watched the object hit the gully wall.

It bounced with a mute thud. A shredded hood came loose from it, exposing locks of blond hair. Hkuan'duv watched A'harhk'nis's head fall.

Runnels of blood flowed from the ragged neck stump to mar the snow.

The white woman still straddled A'harhk'nis's torso. Blood ran from her jaws down across her small breasts. She ignored Hkuan'duv, simply staring at the red mass in her other hand. Thin steam rose from it in the cold air.

Somewhere in the dark space of the chute lay Kurhkage's body. Hkuan'duv steeled himself as the small woman stood and cast aside Kurhkage's heart.

What was this creature who felt no cold and slaughtered two of his own with so little effort? He tensed when she turned icy eyes on him-and a snarl sounded on the wind.

But not from her. She whirled the other way.

The majay-hi burst from the chute's opening.

Hkuan'duv caught movement above, and a shadow dropped through the blizzard.

He threw himself over a mound of snow, and his injured shoulder grazed a boulder beneath the white covering. The shadow raven passed through the mound a hand's length behind him, and he heard the majay-hi's snarling snaps.

He did not wish to abandon the dog, but two of his companions had been slaughtered before either could strike once. He could not throw his life away. He had to live to fulfill his purpose and serve his people.

He had to run.

Wynn's sight had barely cleared when Chap bounded down the chute. She braced against the cold wall and struggled up. By the time she hobbled down the loose stones, Chap had leaped out into the gully, but Wynn stalled at the chute's bottom.

Something lay slumped against the wall.

She heard Chap's snarls, but she hung there in the dark, staring at the body.

The tall elf's one eye was locked open in perpetual shock, and his mouth gaped. There was only a mass of old scars where the other eye should have been. The front of his cloak was so stained, at first it was hard to see the hole surrounded with severed shards of his ribs amid his tunic's shredded remains. He was covered in his own blood.

Wynn could not even cry out.

Run! I will find you.

Chap's words echoed in her head. She lifted her gaze from the corpse and saw his forepaws strike a white figure from behind.

Chap's adversary seemed like a white-cloaked companion of the corpse lying near Wynn. But then she saw that this person was much smaller.

The pale figure barely flinched as Chap collided with its back and pushed off, landing aside. The black-haired figure whirled, and a choked squeak escaped Wynn's throat.

Naked and frail, the woman was no taller than Wynn, but her pallid face and torso were covered in blood. Chap darted at the woman, and her tiny mouth mirrored his snarl.

The woman had teeth as canine as Magiere's whenever she sank too far into her dhampir nature. But this woman's strange narrow-slitted eyes were colorless.

How could an undead exist here in these desolate peaks with no life to sustain it?

Wynn spotted another body at the woman's feet. She barely made out the gray-green breeches and tunic, obscured in snow and more blood. And its head was gone.

Chap danced around the white woman, as if simply trying to keep her attention. She lunged at him again and again. Her narrow fingers were so quick that twice Wynn thought the woman had caught him.

Wynn could not leave Chap like this, but she could think of no way to help him.

The woman flashed forward, clawing at the dog. When he spun away behind her swing, she lashed in reverse and caught him with the back of her hand.

Chap's silver-gray body shot across the gully with a yelp that ended when he slammed against the gully wall.

He slid down, his body pressing a hollow in the snow. He lay there coated in white powder and did not move.

Wynn opened her mouth to call to him.

Something flashed in front of her-and she stared directly into crystalline irises.

The white woman was so close that Wynn's quick breaths shot vapor across her red-stained features. A narrow, blood-smeared hand latched around Wynn's throat, slamming her shoulders against the chute's wall.

Wynn sucked a breath and screamed, "No, do not!"

The tight grip vanished.

Wynn slumped down the wall, her feet slipping on loose stones as she cowered.

The white woman stood backed against the chute's far wall, seeming to cower like Wynn, but not in fear.

Instead, she stared back at Wynn in pain and fury, with bloodied hands clamped over the sides of her head.

Chap drifted back to consciousness. His first breath made him whimper at the sharp twinge in his ribs.

This undead was like none he had hunted; she left him cold and terrorized inside. Her deceptively fragile form moved so quickly and with such power. Yet she had not fed on her prey-only slaughtered them, as if incensed that they dared cross her path.

Chap struggled to rise, and the pain sharpened in his chest. Then he heard Wynn scream.

"No, do not!"

He lunged for the chute's opening and movement brought agony. When he rounded into the darker space, he pulled up short.