Claire could feel the sting of the rope biting into her palm as the basket rocked and swayed violently around them, but she refused to let go.

"We can't avoid them!" Draz shouted over the wind roaring around them. He had tethered himself close by with a length of rope attached to the side of the basket. "There is no time to counter it either!"

"I know, I don't plan on trying," Alek yelled back, his voice nearly being swept away entirely from his perch on the seat.

"What is your plan then?" Draz countered, clearly concerned. "I don't suspect you have any parachutes pack somewhere?"

"I am going to get as close to the ground as possible before they hit us," Alek explained in a tone that was far too calm considering the direness of the situation they now found themselves in.

"That's what I was afraid of!" Draz yelled bitterly, shaking his head.

Alek reached for the lever on his seat again and yanked it upwards. It took a little longer than the last time, but just as before, everything came to an abrupt, shuddering stop. The sudden jerking halt caused everything in the basket, including its occupants, to slam into the sides. Overhead the balloon, which had been venting air into the atmosphere during the drop, had inflated again giving them enough buoyancy to stop their descent.

"Everyone alright?" Alek asked, turning to look at them all as he extracted himself from the seat.

"Yeah," Claire managed, her entire body shaking.

"I'll live," Draz grumbled.

"I'm going to get us as close to the trees as possible," Alek explained, pulling on another handle which caused them to descend again, only this time at a much more reasonable speed.

"And then?" Draz asked, voicing the question they were all thinking,

"We hold on," Alek replied, crouching down in the space beside Claire. He offered her a reassuring smile. "It's going to be fine, I promise."

"We have about thirty seconds until impact," he called out. "Whatever you do, stay in the basket as long as possible."

"I'm scared," Claire whispered, drawing Alek's gaze towards her.

"It's okay to be afraid, Claire," Alek replied, reaching out to cup her face. "Fear keeps us alive. You just need to learn how to control it, instead of letting it control you."

"I love you," Claire murmured, pulling him close just as the first of the explosions tore through the balloon in a spectacular display of bright reds and vivid blues. The impact sent the balloon veering off course and spiraling uncontrollably towards the dark trees below.

Alek leaned into her, using himself as a shield to protect her from the debris that began to rain down around them. "I love you too, Claire," he replied, his voice a whisper meant only for her ears.

A second explosion of light and heat engulfed them, what was left of the balloon was torn to shreds or vaporized entirely. The basket tumbled end over end in a free fall towards the earth.

The trees did little to slow the basket's descent towards the ground. Branches snapped beneath the force, some tore into the basket itself leaving gaping holes in the woven wicker siding. Everything moved by in a blur and Claire was aware only of her own, haggard breathing and the blood rushing past her ears in a dull roar.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the basket came to a stop, suspended some fifteen feet or so above the ground. The ropes and netting that had once secured the balloon in place had gotten tangled in the thick canopy overhead and ended their fall. As Claire carefully untangled herself from the cargo netting, she found the everything ached. Pain radiated from her head, which had struck the hard wooden railing, down to the tips of her fingers, which were rubbed raw from gripping the ropes so tightly.

Nothing had been spared.

Nothing felt broken, however, which was a relief. Claire couldn't say for sure, but she had a feeling the medical care here was hardly up to par with what she'd get back home.

It was only after she had taken a moment to inspect her injuries that she realized she was alone. Alek and Draz were no longer with her in the basket. She tried to remember losing them, but the whole event once they had hit the trees was little more than a blur.

Taking a deep breath, and ignoring the panic threatening to overwhelm her, Claire crept towards the edge of the basket. When it began to shift and creak as a result of her movement, she stopped and waited, holding her breath while her heart hammered away in her chest. When the basket settled again, she moved again, careful to make sure she didn't move too quickly, or do anything to cause the basket to overturn.

Once she was close enough, she took a deep breath and looked over.

There was nothing, or rather, no one, on the ground below.

Claire felt a mixture of relief and anxiety sweep over her like a cloud across the sun on a warm summer day. A part of her had been terrified she would see their broken bodies splayed across the ground, seeing this was not the case, Claire felt relieved. Their absence, however, did not mean they hadn't fallen out elsewhere and met the same fate.

All their absence did was solidify the fact that she was very much alone.

Moving back from the edge, Claire felt the basket groan in protest beneath her. She knew she had to get down, but the question was how? If she didn't think quickly, the basket was going to make the decision for her and Claire knew it was far safer for her to make the first move than it was to wait.

Looking around, Claire saw pieces of rope, though none seemed long enough to suit her needs. She could lash the pieces together, make one long rope out of them, but if she didn't knot them just right, the ropes could come apart and she'd fall.

It was hardly an appealing outcome.

Settling back in her previous position, Claire looked around again.

"Couldn't this thing have come with a ladder or something?" She grumbled, shuffling through the debris littered throughout the basket. It wasn't until she pushed aside the blanket that Alek had given her that she saw them, wedged securely in the only undamaged corner of the basket.

The cards.

Well, the box holding the cards.

It took her a few tries to work the box free and she nearly went spilling over the edge when they finally came loose. The basket once again let out a whining creak in reaction to the movement before settling.

Opening the box, Claire spilled the cards into her palm. They felt warm despite the chill in the air and Claire got the distinct impression that they were alive.

"Well... cards," she began, feeling silly talking to an inanimate object. "Looks like we're in a bind here. You wouldn't happen to have a ladder hidden in there somewhere?"

Just as she suspected, there was no response.

Just how hard did you hit your head, Claire? She thought to herself before letting out a heavy sigh. She closed her eyes and tried to focus on something other than the dull throb in the back of her skull.

"Sorry to trouble you," she said, looking down at the cards again. "Just thought you might be able to help. You've been quite useful in the past is all."

Just as she was about to return them to the case and keep looking, Claire felt the cards begin to vibrate between her fingers. Looking down she saw they were emitting a faint white glow. As the vibrations grew stronger, she found it harder to keep hold of them.

Eventually she was forced to let go and the cards scattered outwards, spiraling up and over the basket in a glowing arch. Claire watched in silent awe as the cards wound their way down the tree, wrapping around it like a glowing snake of pulsating light. The light pushed outward, creating narrow bars at intervals which worked their way down and around the tree similar to that of a spiral staircase.

"Stairs," Claire breathed. "How very clever of you."

Using a branch overhead to pull herself into a standing position, Claire reached out and placed her foot on the first 'step'. Light rippled outwards from the point of contact, but the card remained firmly in place. Taking a deep breath, Claire placed the entirely of her weight on the step, keeping her hold on the branch just in case. When the narrow platform showed no indication of giving way beneath her, Claire began her descent to the forest floor below.

It wasn't until she had gotten halfway down that she realized the steps were disappearing behind her and reappearing again towards the bottom of the tree to ensure that she had enough steps to make it all the way down. Once she had safely reached the ground, the light faded and the cards returned neatly to her waiting hands.

"Thank you," she said, genuinely grateful once again for their assistance.

Claire couldn't be certain, but she thought she saw a faint light ripple across the surface of the cards in response to her gratitude. Tucking the cards into her pocket, Claire took a moment to take stock of her surroundings.

The evergreens seemed much larger from the ground and when she looked up to where the wreckage of the balloon still hung suspended in the trees, she felt her stomach twist. It hadn't seemed that bad when she was up there, but there wasn't much left of the basket. She was surprised, and relieved, that it had supported her for as long as it had.

Turning away from the crash, Claire hugged her arms around her and tried to focus on what to do next rather than the cold seeping in through the thin cotton of her nightgown. What was it they always told children to do if they were lost?

Find a policeman? Stay put?

Claire was fairly confident that she wasn't going to find any policeman out in the woods. Staying put was a viable option, Draz or Alek might be looking for her.

Then again, what if one, or both, of them had gotten hurt during the crash? The thought of either of them laying injured, and alone, tugged at her heart. With that though, her choice was simple, she would just have to find them.

Glancing back towards the wreckage, Claire was confident that if she followed the path of destruction the balloon had left during its descent through the trees she would at least be going in the right direction.

Steeling herself against the cold, wishing she had thought to bring the blanket with her, Claire started off into the trees. There was no path to follow, only thick underbrush and gnarled, ice covered roots jutting up from the hard soil. Claire found herself stumbling and slipping through slick, cold mud and tripping over unseen obstacles in an effort to move quickly across the unfamiliar terrain. A few times she nearly ended up flat on her backside, but managed to catch herself on a tree, or overturned log.

She hadn't gone very far when she heard the sound of movement. It was difficult to tell which direction it was coming from, the trees had a way of causing sound to bounce between them.

"Hello?" Claire called out, her heart thumping.

The rustling of leaves went still and Claire wondered if perhaps it had simply been an animal. Taking a few steps forward, Claire decided to call out again. "Alek? Draz? Is that you?"

Once again her calls were met with a deafening silence.

After a few seconds, Claire heard the movement again. This time, it sounded as though whatever was making the sound was moving towards her. Feeling a heightened sense of fear, Claire turned and started running back the way she had come.

At least she thought it was the way she had come. Glancing upwards, Claire scanned the trees for signs of broken branches and snapped limbs, but saw nothing but thick undisturbed canopies. In the the next instance she was falling, her foot having slipped neatly into the large looping twist of an unearthed root.

She hit the ground hard, mud and leaves clinging to the front of her nightgown and making it difficult to push herself upright.

It took several attempts, but she finally managed.

Instead of freeing her foot, she went still, listening and waiting. At first all she heard was silence and she started to relax. Perhaps she had simply imagined it, or it had been an animal of some sort foraging for food.

As she worked at freeing her foot, however, she caught the steady, rhythmic thump of feet striking the icy earth. Her fingers, slick with mud and numb from cold, worked frantically at the root, trying to dislodge her boot, but the footsteps grew louder and Claire was positive now that they belonged to a human, or at least, something that walked on two feet.

"Come on, Claire," she gasped, feeling the root beginning to give way. Sliding to the left, she managed to pull the root back enough and twist her foot at just the right angle to release it from gnarled hold.

The trees around her seemed to shudder and moan as the footsteps grew louder. Claire turned, scrambling unsteadily to her feet just as her pursuer broke through the trees behind her. There was a brief pause, a moment where the only sound Claire heard was that of her own, ragged breathing.

Then a low grunt broke the silence, followed by a deep inhale as though whatever it was had sniffed the air. Her first thought was of a bear, a very large and hungry bear. Perhaps the crash had disturbed it and now it was in search of a midwinter snack. But, if it was a bear, why had it stopped and not simply attacked her?

Closing her eyes, Claire took a deep, steadying breath.

She knew she had only one choice.

She had to turn around. She had to face whatever it was, bear, human, or otherwise, head on.

Take control of your fear.

Opening her eyes, Claire twisted on her heel and turned to confront whatever it was that had been stalking her through the trees.

"What the hell?" Claire muttered, her eyes growing wide.