Avp 2004 29

Her head was wrenched from side to side, yet Lex saw the monster staring at her through slits in its expressionless mask. Snarling, the warrior drew its arm back for the killing stroke. Powerless in its grip, she refused to struggle any longer, or to look away. Death held no terror for Alexa Woods. She would face it squarely, eyes open. The woman's fearlessness disconcerted the Predator. The creature actually hesitated for a moment long enough for a black shape to drop from the ceiling and for its razor-sharp tail to plunge through the Predator's reptilian flesh.

Suddenly the hand that held Lex convulsed. Then the fingers parted, releasing her. She stepped back as
bright fingers of raw energy crackled across the Preda- tor's torso. The monster twitched and flung its arms wide. Flattening herself against the wall, Lex heard the crunch of snapping bone and a wet gurgle. Then a black, barbed spike burst through the Predator's chest in a torrent of phosphorescent gore. Lex whimpered as the hot, steaming liquid spattered across her cheek, but still she could not turn away. Unbelievably, the Predator was now helpless in the grip of a destructive force more savage than itself.

Limbs flailing, wailing madly, the hunter was hauled upward, disappearing in the shadows. Lex heard bestial sounds, and the ripping of meat and bone. Sparks rained from above, followed by a deluge of gore. In the intermittent flashes Lex observed a black, insectlike shape curling in the arches, its long, clawed arms tearing at the beleaguered Predator. With a final crunch of bone, the Predator died, its corpse dangling limply on the barbed tip of its killer's tail. Gouts of flesh and streams of reptilian blood plopped onto the flagstones, steaming in the frigid air. The second Predator spied the black obscenity as it dropped to the ground and crouched on two spindly legs. Tossing Sebastian aside, the Predator assumed a fighting stance, an undulating rumble gurgling in its throat. The Alien whipped its bony tail around, dislodging the dead warrior and hurling its ⁹battered carcass into a dank corner.-Chpt.23 pgs.194-195