A Fox in the Works
                    Singularity Collapse

                             By

                         Fox Cutter

    Chapter Twelve

01/27/2000:

Samantha shivered from the cold mountain air as it leaked
through the heavy clothing her kidnappers had given her. She
wanted to wrap her arms around herself to trap in more heat,
but her bound hands prevented that. Worse yet was that the
mittens they had put on her did nothing to keep her fingers
warm, and the cold was starting to make them ache.

Even as the day wore on the cold didn't let up; their breath
hung in the air, men and beasts alike. It matched the heavy
snow of the pass as they trudged higher up the mountain.
They would come to a stop in a few more hours. By then they
would be at the top of the pass and would have a fire to
warm them through the night.

At least she didn't have to walk with them, or the ride the
horses. Instead she was sitting in the supply wagon, in her
ill fitting clothing, curled tightly under a heavy blanket.
None of it helped. It was just too damn cold.

"How are you doing?" Matthias asked, as he looked into the
wagon from a top his horse. The man seemed impervious to the
cold, even though he was wrapped in the same clothing as she
was.

"I'm cold," she said with chattering teeth, "I think that
entitles me to a little sympathy."

He chuckled and shook his head, "I'm not going to free your
hands, no matter what you say or how you ask."

She glowered at him, and flexed her fingers in their
bindings. She had only tried to use her magic in them once,
and had quickly discovered they effectively trapped whatever
she could cast against her skin. Luckily she had been able
to counter the spell before she caused herself anything more
than mild pain. Her only hope was to get one of her captors
to take them off of her, but that was looking less likely
with each passing day.

Matthias sighed and shook his head. "Give me your hands," he
said in a tone that made it clear he did not want to regret
his actions.

Eagerly she raised her doubly bound hands up to the older
man. He pulled the laces out from their place inside the
mittens and untied the knots with only a few moves of his
bare fingers.

As soon as she could Samantha pulled her hands free and
tucked them under her jacket, letting the warmth of her body
warm the cold flesh. "If I promise not to do any more magic,
can I at least get some better gloves?" she asked.

"I'm afraid not," he told her with a soft tisk of his
tongue. "I can't trust you not to do anything that you
shouldn't."

"Of course not," she said with a sigh. "Maybe something
alcoholic? That will at least make me feel like I'm warm."

He shook his head, "I don't allow any of that, not on the
pass. It dulls already numbed senses, and causes mistakes.
In this place mistakes kill people," he added as he pulled
his horse a bit, keeping himself next to the moving wagon.

"I admire your restraint," she said, trying to work out a
way to tuck her hands under her arms when her wrists were
bound together.

Matthias said nothing in return and just rode on in silence,
but he kept a close eye on her. After ten minutes had passed
he gave her a curt nod, "Time to put them back on," he said
as he picked up the gloves.

Samantha let out a sigh and nodded her head as she lifted
her hands to him. They had done this so many times before it
was starting to seem routine.

He swiftly went about pulling the gloves back over her hands
and pulled down over her fingers. With both hands he pulled
the laces tight around her wrists and tied them in a strong
knot. He tucked the ends of the laces into the top of the
gloves, safely putting them out of her reach.

"There you go," he told her. Once satisfied that she would
stay put he kicked his horse ahead towards the front of the
group.

She sank back in the wagon, glaring down at the damnable
black mittens that covered her fingers. The laces around her
wrists were sewn inside the fabric, and once they were
tucked into the mittens they were out of her view. If she
couldn't see them it meant that she couldn't get hold of
them with her teeth, or her telekinesis.

"Superpowers are useless if you can't use them," she
muttered to herself as she twisted in the gloves. The
limitations of her telekinetic powers had always frustrated
her, more so at that moment than ever before. The simple
fact of the matter was she should have been able to touch
things with her power well beyond what she could see. Her
tail was part of her lack of control, but only part of it,
and it was something she could compensate for.

Not that it mattered now. Nothing remained of her cloth
tail, and no one was too interested in giving her a new one.
Of course she still tried to move it. It wasn't something
she actually thought about, it was just a part of her, a
part of her brain brought on by an accident years before.
Without the cloth tail it felt like an amputated limb that
she never really had.

Still, it was better than what could have happened. She was
alive, and she was human again; having a tail was worth
that. It would just have been better if it was real, then it
would have left her telekinesis as something she could
actually control.

Samantha twisted at her bonds again, letting out a long sigh
as she looked up at the cloud-covered sky. Some light
filtered through the thick clouds, but the world was left in
a gray light that seemed to mute all the colors, and made
everything just a bit colder than before.

Thinking about the cold brought her attention back to how
cold her hands were. The little warmth she had gained was
already fading. She tried to tuck them under the hem of the
thick coat she had on, but it was closed too tight to really
get them inside while they were covered.

"I hate this," she said as she slumped forward in the hope
that by making herself smaller she would lose less heat. She
glared down at the gloves, as if by hating them enough she
could warm her hands. Her eyes narrowed a bit as she saw a
small loop of black cord peaking over the edge of the glove.

She hunched herself tighter, pulling her hands close to her
face. The loop was small, too small for a normal person to
do anything with, but she was far from normal. Reaching out
with her telekinesis she touched the cord, and gently
pulled. It moved in response, sliding out just a little bit
further than it had been.

Excitement started to build inside of her as she worked to
pull more of the cord free of the glove.

It was not easy work. She wasn't used to using her power on
such small things, and it was starting to cause her head to
pound right behind her left eye. When it became too bad she
would pause for a few moments to let the pain clear, then
she returned to her task.

When she thought she had enough of the cord free she let go
of her powers and brought her hands upwards. With a twist
she was able to bite on the cord and pull the rest of the
length free, along with the knot that held them in place.

She spared a glance up to see if anyone was watching her,
then went to work, tracking her mental fingers over the
knot, feeling the edge of the other cord just under it. With
some careful use of her powers, and her teeth, she had both
cords free in about twenty minutes.

After another moment's pause she started to work at the knot
with her telekinesis, prodding and pulling at the cords. She
kept her eyes tightly closed as she tried to block out the
pain in her head and focus on the job at hand. Soon the knot
started to loosen, the cords sliding a bit more with every
passing moment, until the knot finally came free.

Letting out a long sigh Samantha leaned back and took stock
as she worked the glove off her hand. With one hand free she
could quickly free her other bonds, but she would still have
to get away from Matthias and his men. There wasn't all lot
of choice about where she could go; downhill was her only
option. Luckily there were a lot of people moving both ways
on the trail, she hope she could easily find someone to take
her back to the City of the Crown.

Samantha hunched herself back over and used her free hand to
retrieve the cords from the other glove. With a combination
of her teeth and her fingers, she was soon able to open the
second glove. Once both hands were free she twisted them
around and just like her previous escape, burnt through the
ropes around her wrists. The ropes at her feet followed only
a few moments later.

She looked over the side of the wagon, pleased to see that
none of the men were paying any attention to her. In fact
they seemed more interested in staying warm than tending to
their prisoner. Only Matthias seemed comfortable in the
cold, but riding at the head of the line of men he could not
see her.

Snow and trees lined both sides of the trail, with the side
pressing against the mountain rising higher above the edge
of the trail. The trees were sparse, leaving plenty of room
to maneuver between them.

"I've been through worse," she told herself as she looked
around the wagon for something she could use as a snowboard.
Her choices were limited, as the only thing that she could
really use were the boards that made up the wagon. Pressing
her hands against the floor she focused on the nails that
held them in. One by one each of the nails twisted their way
free of the wood and fell to the side. After a few minutes
work she was left with a three-foot long plank of wood that
had seen better days.

She took one last pass around the supply wagon to gather
food for herself. By luck she found an extra set of horse
tackle near the back of the wagon. Pleased with the find,
she set about looping the leather straps around the board,
so her foot would have a place to rest.

Ice ran up her spine as she heard someone clear their throat
behind her as Matthias asked, "What do you think you're
doing?"

The young woman let out a sigh, turning her head back to
look at the man, looking up at him from over the edge of the
wagon. "I'm leaving," she told him.

He shook his head. "No, you're not."

Samantha gave him a smile, then reached for the board,
grabbing it tightly in one hand as he reached for her.
Rising up she spun around, hitting his hand with the edge of
the board, forcing him to pull back for a moment.

That moment was all she needed, as she leapt over the edge
of the moving wagon and hit the ground hard. Rolling over
the snow she kept the board firmly held tightly to her body.
She came to a stop and quickly came to her feet, running
hard as the men on horseback moved towards her.

She twisted around the closest man, whipping the rear end of
his horse with the tackle that was only half tied to the
board. It caused the animal to jump and start to pull away,
distracting the rider enough that she gained a small lead.
She pulled the board to her chest as she ran down the trail,
working quickly on the tackle to finished the job. She
didn't have as much time as she would like as a moment later
she felt a heavy hand brush against her back.

Diving to the ground, she rolled out of reach of the man on
horseback, barely missing the animal's hooves as they
slammed into the ground inches from her face. Board still in
hand she pulled herself back to her feet and spun around,
only to come face to face with Matthias. He had dismounted
and was standing on the trail with her.

"Stop this," the older man said as he lunged for her.

Samantha flung her hand at him, fire forming over the skin
as she slammed it into his chest. With a flash the thick
clothing he wore started to burn, smoke quickly billowing
from his body as she pushed her way past him.

It didn't stop him! He still reached for her, grabbing her
shoulder and pulling her back. She let out a yelp and felt
her feet slide out from under her as she tumbled to the
ground. She landed hard on her tailbone, the shock sending
pain up the length of her spine all the way to her aching
head.

"You aren't going anywhere," he said through clenched teeth
as he patted out the fire on his chest.

She dug her free hand into the snow, and grabbed a thick
handful of it, feeling the cold between her fingers. Her
magic was still playing over her skin, and the snow started
to melt. With a quick change to the spell she froze the
water, creating a layer of ice around the snowball. Then
with all her strength, and backed by her telekinesis, she
threw it at the older man.

It hit the side of his face, exploding in shards of ice and
snow across his skin, cutting into his cheek and blinding
him for a moment. He reacted to the pain, pulling back from
her, his fingers losing some of their strength.

A second ball followed the first, this time hitting his chin
and snapping his head around with an audible crack. He
stumbled back dazed, as his hand finally came free.

Samantha was on her feet in a moment, running hard for the
edge of the trail as she finished the last change to her
board. With the rough snowboard held tightly in her hands,
she leapt off the edge of the trail and into the trees.

The drop was steeper than she had expected, and she had to
tuck herself as she hit the snow. It exploded over her in a
white cloud around her body as she rolled a dozen feet down
the hill.

Her heart pounding, she untangled herself from the clothing
and snow, and pulled herself to her feet. A glance over her
shoulder told her that the men were going to be on her in
only a few moments, so she had almost no time.

Shoving her right foot into the loop she had made on the
board, she gave it one pull, satisfied it would hold. Then,
with the reins in her hand, she placed her weight onto the
board and kicked at the snow.

The steepness of the mountainside was now to her advantage
as she started to move with ease. Once she was moving she
brought her other foot to the board, tucking it under a
second loop and giving her some stability. She soon found
the plank she had chosen was barely adequate for the job,
creaking as she moved through the snow and trees.

Her captors varnished into the snow behind her.

The loose powder was starting to billow around the front of
the board, and collect at her feet. She shifted her weight
to the back to relieve some of it, but it was still growing,
so when she found a well-worn animal trail in the snow she
diverted herself to follow it, relaxing a bit as she passed
around the trees.

What relaxation she felt ended as soon as the trees did as
she came upon a lower section of the road, and into the air.
She dropped the three feet to the ground, landing hard on
her legs and moving faster than she had realized. It took
all the skill she had to not fall from the landing, and then
avoid the trees as she skidded across the road and back into
the forest.

Another drop greeted her on the other side of the trail,
sending her airborne once more. A loud cracking sound echoed
through the trees as she landed on the far side, slowing
down but still moving. She glanced down to her feet and she
saw that her board now had a long crack developing along its
length, following the grain of the wood.

Twisting herself as she rushed through the snow, she slowed
herself down, her eyes moving between the board under her
feet, and the trees in front of her. By now her face was
getting numb from the cold, as were her bare hands, and with
each passing minute it became harder to hold the reins. She
couldn't let them go, they were giving her what little
control of the board she had.

This time she was prepared for her next encounter with the
trail, slowing herself down as she came to the edge of the
tree line. The fall was minor this time, only a foot, but
the impact was enough to send the crack down the rest of the
length of the board, splitting it in two. The loop of tackle
around her feet kept her from pulling free, and she stumbled
forward, her feet sliding out from under her as she fell
hard into the packed snow of the trail.

Samantha sputtered as she lifted her head up and brushed the
snow from her face. She estimated she was near where her
captors had been that morning. Only a few miles down the
hill, but six hours along the switchbacks of the trail.
Sitting up she removed the remains of the board from her
feet, wincing as she tugged on her right ankle. She gave it
a few tests, and frowned when she realized she had sprained
it.

"That's all I needed," she said to herself, looking up at
the sun moving in the sky. There were still a few hours of
daylight left, and she hoped she could find someone to help
her before the darkness came. She took a moment to heal her
ankle the best she could, the started down the road.

Wrapping her arms tightly around herself, she limped down
the road, her eyes open both for other travelers on the
pass, and her captors coming back for her. The odds of them
catching up with her that fast were low, but she still had
to be mindful of it.

An hour passed before she finally saw someone on the trail,
heading towards her on a single horse. His clothing was
light, too light for the road he was on. She suspected he
had to have been freezing under them, and was probably in
too much of a rush to stop for her. Still she was relieved
that he did.

"Thank you," she told the man as his horse came to a stop in
front of her.

The man looked at her, and then down at something he held
tightly in his bare hands. With a laugh he put the item away
and offered his hand to her. "Why am I not surprised to find
you here all alone? Did you kill your kidnapers?" he asked
in a familiar voice.

"Ravindar?" she asked as she took his hand.

He nodded, and helped her onto the horse, settling her down
into the saddle behind him. "Hold on, I want to get below
the snow line before we camp," he said as he turned the
horse around and started back the way he had come.

* * *

"So where is Fox?" Samantha asked the disguised bodyguard as
they sat at the fire. The warmth felt good on her cold skin,
and she leaned into it eagerly. She asked the question in
Prid Standard so the dozen other people who were sharing the
camp site, and the fire wouldn't understand them.

Ravindar shook his head as he leaned back from the flames.
"I left him in the care of the King and his men. He should
be safe until I return," he said.

"You don't sound too sure of that," she said as she rubbed
her hands together.

He let out a sigh and nodded his head, "I'm not. I was sent
out with a locator spell and a group of what the King called
his best men. They were gone by the morning of the second
day, having left some time in the night. Luckily the spell
was more reliable. Now that I've found you I want to get
back to him as soon as I can."

She nodded and moved a bit closer to tiger, "That will be
difficult, I'm hurt and we only have one horse. Not to
mention that my kidnapers will probably arrive tonight
looking for me."

"We'll be ready for them," he said as he opened his jacket
to reveal the butt of his guns.

"Can I have one of those?" she asked him as she held out a
hand.

He smiled and pulled a third pistol from his saddlebag.
"Have one of yours instead," he told her. She quickly gave
it a once over, pulling the clip free to check the count,
and then confirming that there was a round in the chamber.
"Thank you," she told him as she put the weapon away.

"You're welcome, now get some sleep. I'll keep you protected
tonight, and in the morning we'll start back to the City.
Hopefully Fox will be fine when we get there," he said as he
looked into the fire.

Samantha laughed, "Fox can take care of himself. Remember,
he took care of his own enemies well before he needed you,"
she said.

He nodded his head, and then frowned. "He can to a certain
extent, but he's not really trained in self-defense. It
amazes me that he has survived as long as he has."

"He's determined, if a little naive," she said.

Ravindar laughed, "More than a little. He seems to believe
that most people are good. I can't believe his own life
hasn't dissuaded him of that opinion."

She shrugged as she watched the burning fire. "He'll get
over it, eventually," she said.

"If it doesn't kill him first."

   To Be Continued...

-----

This story is copyright 2005 by Fox Cutter. Hardcopy
reprints limited to one per person, all other rights
reserved. This story may not be distributed for a fee except
by permission of the author, and this copyright notice may
not be removed.