First Eclipse

As soon as they ported, the captain raised his finger to his lips to tell Tim not to speak. He looked around where they were. The mountain was behind him, much further than it had been when he and Fauna had found their way out. The captain motioned for him to follow him. Watching where he stepped, Tim did. They hadn't gone far when he spotted the huntress and others standing behind a large grouping of trees. He noted she looked very pleased. Only two things made her this happy, aside from her mate, were coffee and kicking some ass. He doubted very much there was a café out here.

Tim watched the captain go over to Prince Victor, and then he looked between the trees. Giving Sith and Bronx a glance, he followed, hoping to find out what was happening. Staying out of the brothers' way, he moved closer to the trees and looked in the direction they were.

It was an old campground of some sort. Probably a hunting one, he thought, because this wasn't really the sort of place you'd come for family holidays. Tim counted five small cabins and one larger building. A few men were wandering around, and he was ready to say they were just a group of men taking a break from life when he spotted a sentry. Looking more closely, he saw two more men either standing and looking into the bush or walking over their footprints repeatedly back and forth.

He turned around to look for where the tunnel had come out. Gudrun got his attention and pointed to his left. Tim went over to the edge of the treeline and then he saw the tunnel. It looked like a cave from here and probably would to anyone who happened to be out here.

He was suddenly very thankful he had thought of the possibility of illusions earlier. Walking out of that cave when it was still light enough to see could have ended badly with the camp so close.

Prince Leone came over and stood beside him. "We're setting up a watch for the night to see if we can get numbers until we come up with a plan."

Princess Bethany came over and whispered. "How is Ava?"

Tim rubbed his hand along his jaw, not even sure how to explain what he'd witnessed. "She came to for a few moments. Lady Mystral came to help her just before the captain came and got me." Bethany nodded, a look of sorrow in her eyes. She turned around. "Aireese is back."

Tim followed Leone and his mate over to the Fa Terra princess.

Aireese looked at the kings and shook her head. "There's a warning spell around the entire encampment. I couldn't get closer."

King Troy closed his eyes and exhaled. "All right." He opened them and looked at his brother Quinton. "If magic can't be used, what about Reagan? Can she go invisible and go look?" Quinton scowled at his brother. "No. To start with, she still can't hold it for long, and lastly, she's not going down there alone when we don't know anything about who is down there." "He's right, Troy." Arius glanced at his mate for a second before turning back. "We need to send more than one to look around."

"What about Bastian and his brother?" Kara looked at the captain. "They won't be detected or seen."

Rafael nodded. "If they took a few of their guards with them, they'd at least have backup until we got down there."

"Wrong." Kinsley came over. "She's down there now."

Several of them exchanged emotionless looks, which told Tim they all wanted revenge for the things she'd done. When the royals displayed no emotion, they were the most dangerous. "I owe her," Karma said softly.

Tim moved over to the edge of the trees again and looked down at the camp. There she was, standing beside the fire, talking to a man with long red hair.

"I'll need help if we're going to take on her magic again." Aireese looked at the kings. "I'll go back and update Mother and then round up more magic to help."

The captain turned around and pointed. "Gudrun, Detrick. You stay here and observe for now. We need to get back and come up with a plan." He pointed to his ear. "Stay on the call, do not pull out your phone, or the light will be seen." Both men nodded.

Daxx came over to Tim. "I want to go see how Ava is doing."

"We'll all meet back at the Gemini's," Leone said and walked over to Beth. "I'm sure Capri will want to know what is happening."

Daxx put her hand on Tim's arm, and he knew she'd port them back with nothing more than a thought. He'd been with her since she learned she could do that. It was one of the things her sharp focus was good for. No distractions. Right to the point. Porting was usually a gradual flow. With his huntress, it was abrupt and instantaneous.