The taste of blood filled Lucie’s mouth, spurring her on. This Isabeau had been dangerous, and would likely have succeeded at her ploy against anyone other than herself or Aleksandra. But what she had said just before the wave of lethargy washed over her, that she could see her, gave away one core part of her ability: She needed to see her. That, however, wasn’t important right now. She had beaten it, and done so soundly. She grit her teeth and stepped forward, eyes blazing as she fixed them on Isabeau. It wasn’t anger, so much as determination: A Promise. [i]You cannot escape me.[/i]

Isabeau stood visibly shocked. To a normal person she might’ve looked no different than normal, but Lucie had been taught many things. And this was one of them. Isabeau was surprised, and the slight widening of her eyes spoke of her realisation. And so, she ran. The sudden lack of a blanket dullness covering Lucie’s mind made her stumble, but only for a moment. She shook her head and spat out a glob of spittle and blood and gave chase. 

Isabeau was fast - faster than she had expected from a noblewoman - and initially increased the distance between them. Lucie, still in pursuit, however, didn’t give up. It had been a long time since she had really pushed her body to its limits, but now was a time where she had the chance. She ignored her peripheral, focusing all of her attention on her quarry before her. She couldn’t - [i]wouldn’t[/i] - let this woman escape her. If it was as she suspected, and this was the woman who had kidnapped men from the underground, then she had gone where she was not welcome. She still saw it as a part of her: A world where ruthlessness and crime was prevalent, where you had to hone your body and mind to the utmost or risk having everything taken from you. She had left it behind, but it was still [i]hers.[/i] And Isabeau had trespassed. 

Lucie pushed herself further, running as fast as her body would allow, and she slowly started to gain ground. 

Isabeau felt the other woman closing in on her, or maybe it was her own fate closing in on her.  The trickle of fear was spreading but it spurred her on as much as her own Talent.  She knew about adrenaline and what it could do to the body; she needed it’s boost of strength and speed.  She could crash later, if she survived.  That was what the logical part of her mind told her anyway.  Knowing this she funneled her Talent into her adrenal system, increasing its strength as well. 

This was a mistake, one that she wouldn’t have made if she had proper time to think things through.  But fear and circumstance led to irrational action and as the adrenaline flooded her body only increased the irrationality.  As she ran she suddenly saw a creepy twisted shape looming ahead of her.  She didn’t even stop to figure out what it was, tree or beast, she didn’t know.  She only knew to run.  

Propelled by fear she dashed off the path into the pressing darkness without looking back.  Her pace slowed as branches ripped her flesh and clothing, but she did not stop.   

Lucie, on the other hand, felt no such fear, nor was it adrenaline as much as a childhood of rigorous training keeping her running. When Isabeau darted into the forest, she followed without hesitation. She was more at home in streets and alleys, but for the sake of catching this monster in human guise, she would gladly go out of her comfort zone. She ducked and weaved, pushing aside whipping branches and jumping over fallen logs and odd depressions wherever she came across them. 

She briefly considered taking out one of her remaining throwing knives, but decided against it. With this many trees she was unlikely to hit much of anything, let alone while running at a sprint and on uneven ground to boot. She instead grit her teeth, and pushed herself to go faster. Isabeau was yet ahead of her, but still not out of sight, and she was still gaining on her, faster now that they were in a terrain where an untrained woman like Isabeau was at a disadvantage, even if the terrain also forced Lucie to slow down, albeit not as much. 

Isabeau was running blind.  She had known the path having traveled it many times before but here in the bush with the moon only out at intermittent intervals she was blind.  A branch here knocked her off balance, a rock there tripped her, and still she kept running.  Fear was not something she normally accepted but with everything that had happened plus her own Talent augmenting her adrenal response, there was no way she could fight it.  She didn’t even have the presence of mind to stop her psychic enhancement.  

She heard the sound of footsteps behind her and pushed onward.  It was the chill of the water that brought her out of her fear-induced flight.  She had run straight into a small stream, tripped, and fallen face first in the icy water.  Exhausted and confused she pulled herself to her hands and knees, frantically looking around.  The moon was out for the moment, reflecting on the water, and Isabeau began a limping run up the stream bed.  She spied a pocket of deep shadow and with her ‘sanity’ returning and knowing she was done in, she headed for it.  

It turned out to be a jumble of rocks which created pockets of darkness and she tucked her sore, bleeding, wet body in between two of them.  It was her only chance now.  She couldn’t fight and she couldn’t run any longer.  Hiding was her only option left.

The ploy had worked, as Lucie jumped over the stream, having only just noticed the glint of moonlight reflected in the water. She continued on her way for a while more, getting at least half a dozen running strides in before she realised something was wrong. There were no longer whipping branches ahead of her, nor the sound of frantic steps from Isabeau running. She stopped, and turned around, peering into the darkness behind her. The stream was a good six metres behind her, the gurgle of water and the rustling tree branches providing the only sound for the moment. 

Where did she go? Lucie wondered, turning her head around as far as she could. She didn’t move her feet, knowing that the extra sound her footsteps would cause, could be matched and used to mask the movement of Isabeau, were she clever enough to use that tactic. But even with senses as honed as hers, she could see nothing now. Isabeau had well and truly disappeared. She grit her teeth, feeling the kernel of anger flare in her breast. No, she wouldn’t let her go. If she could not trust her eyes and ears, there was only one option left: To trust her mind. 

She cast her mind out as far as she could, providing the forest with a single word: Isabeau. 

In front of her, to the left. Three metres from where she had jumped over the stream. It was as if the forest itself helped her turn her head, and move her eyes to a small formation of rocks. She tilted her head, eyebrows rising. Had she really missed that? It was obvious in hindsight, but when she’d come running she had fallen into the trap of tunnel visioning. She had focused too much on catching up to Isabeau, and not enough on keeping track of the woman herself. No matter, she said to herself, and took the first, careful step towards where Isabeau was hiding, doing her best to step carefully and with as little sound as possible. It was slow going, matching her steps with the rustling of the branches - moving only whenever a particularly strong gust came by. 

Within a minute or two, however, she took the final step, standing over the rock formation with a clear view of the pocket of the darkness, and the frightened woman within. She made sure to meet her eyes, and gave her a slow, cold, smile. “Found you,” she said, making a show of drawing her sword slowly, the blade glinting in the moonlight. “You have two options, lady. Come with me peacefully, or by force.” She levelled the sword at her in a fluid, practiced motion. “Your choice.”

Isabeau had nothing left.  She was exhausted, mentally and physically, from everything that had happened.  She could feel the adrenaline rush drain out of her body leaving her weak as a newborn kitten.  Still, when Lucie showed up, she had enough presence of mind to know the end had come.  Despite everything she had done, everything she had planned to do, there was still a thread of sanity in amongst the insane dedication.  She knew the horror of what she had done,  the truth of what she had created, and was still massively proud of it.  She had given life to death; that was something no one else had ever done, and she suspected no one else would ever do.    

She had to assume Adam would survive her creature’s attack; one of the reasons she had wanted his mind to complete her project was his ability to surprise and survive.  Indeed he had surprised her even after he was unconscious; who would have guessed the master of the society was a woman, ruining all her plans in that one moment.  Everything that had happened, everything that had gone wrong, could all be traced to Adam.  It was his fault and he wouldn’t stop until everything she had worked for was gone.  

Adam would have destroyed her work by now, the last bit of her husband and the only child she would ever have, would be gone.  He would not leave her research untouched, he would destroy that too.  She wondered briefly if he would even destroy the records of herself and her husband in the society...would anyone remember all they had accomplished in the end? 

All these thoughts passed through her mind in seconds as she watched the other woman.  She was silent for what seemed a very long moment and when she stood it was with difficulty and determination.  Her voice, like the rest of her, was weak.  The only good thing was that she was simply too tired to be afraid anymore.  

“Are you Adam’s Lady?” she said almost conversationally, choosing her words slowly to buy her a bit of time to muster what Talent she had left. The question received a raised eyebrow from Lucie. 

Isabeau knew she would probably need to touch the other woman to do much of anything, she was that weak, but she wouldn’t just give up.  “You certainly have the tenacity he would find attractive.  Let’s get this over with shall we?  I have no intention of coming with you peacefully, or at all.” 

Lucie clicked her tongue almost as if disappointed. “I am no one’s woman,” she said slowly, eyes trained on Isabeau’s. “I lived my life as a tool to another man, but now I’m free, and I do as I wish.” She clicked her tongue one last time, closing her mouth with a clack of teeth. “But be that as it may. I gave you a choice.” And then she swung, moving as quickly and as suddenly as she could, aiming for Isabeau’s temple with the flat of her blade. She had left the underground partially because she no longer wanted to kill, and she was not about to go back on her decision. 

Isabeau let the blow come, there was no way she could stop it anyway.  Instead she threw what little Talent she hadn’t used up into her neurological systems; trying to protect them as best she could.  It was a gamble in many ways, if she would survive to fight another day, but she would certainly lose if she fought now; so there really wasn’t any other option.

The blade connected with her skull with a dull thud and Isabeau passed out unconscious without any hinderance.

Standing beside the unconscious Isabeau, Lucie exhaled and sheathed her sword. “Idiot woman,” she muttered and bent down to pick her up, and throw her over her shoulder. Adeleia, Alexandra, and the others should have been able to take care of that… thing. [i]Suppose I’ll find out,[/i] she thought and went about finding her way back.