First Eclipse

Fauna walked into the dining room. Em was there with a map spread out on the table.

"How'd you sleep?" Flora came out of the kitchen. Her short hair was a mess, standing up all over her head.

"I didn't think I would at all, but it was morning all of a sudden, so I must have." Fauna looked at the map as she made her way to the kitchen. Em had grid lines drawn on it. Now she understood why she'd taken pictures of the one yesterday. Crystal walked by her. "Afternoon." She grinned. "Morning ended a few hours ago."

"Oh." Fauna turned and looked at the clock and saw it was 2 pm.

"Most of us slept in," Sym said as she walked in and opened the fridge.

Em got her cup from the cupboard, turned to see the brewer wasn't finished yet, and went back to the table.

"Except Em." Karma came in. "She's busy." Grabbing her cup, she turned and saw the brewer still filling.

Fauna went over and leaned on the doorframe. "What are you doing, Em?"

Em's head snapped up. She shoved her glasses up and rubbed her eyes. "Marking areas that are accessible by bike." She put her glasses back down and turned around, leaning over the map. "We don't port, so doing the areas with roads made more sense."

"Nice." Sparx walked into the room. "We can cruise around and see if anything seems like that anchor. Stay away from areas that get early snow." Em nodded.

Fauna glanced to see Karma pouring coffee into the cups lined up near the brewer. "What about the person that's supposed to accompany us?"

Ava came in. She had grease smudged on her cheek. "The warriors we're supposed to take?"

Fauna nodded and turned to get her cup. Karma had already put the milk in. She smiled at her and went out to sit down. "Yes. I don't see a lot of them rolling up on a bike and following us around."

Capri came in, looked at the map, and then smiled. "I asked Troy and Bohdi to find us guards or whatever that do ride."

Ava went into the kitchen. "I've been working on those two monstrosities out of storage."

Fauna turned in the chair so she could see into the kitchen. "I didn't know they ran."

Ava grabbed her cup and turned to look at her. "They didn't." She scowled for a second. "--but they're going to."

"It's like the gods knew we'd have a use for rides that are too big for any of us." Crystal walked in. "How long have we had them?" She glanced at Capri.

Capri sat down. "A long time. When they were given to us, I always thought we'd end up tearing them down and selling off parts."

"Tell me we're not talking about my baby." Tera came in and stood there. She yawned and then shook her head. "My bike?" She tracked Ava with her eyes as she sat down.

Ava grinned. "It's fine. More parts will be in later today."

Tera heaved a sigh. "Oh good." She walked over and looked at the map. "So what are we talking about?"

"Ava's fixing those two beasts none of us can hold up, so we can search on our bikes and bring a guard along."

"Nice." Tera nodded. "I was wondering if that would be possible using our bikes."

Flora walked through the door. She went by Em and bounced her hand lightly on Em's curls. "Thanks to the brain, it's going to be."

Em smiled at her when touching her hair.

Fauna wondered if she was worried it was messed up after Flora. There was no distracting Em's curls from being as they were, which was always springing right back into shape.

"Clairee is going to come over and see if Espy, Sym, and I have magic to unlock." Flora looked at Fauna. "You should join." She glanced at a few others. "She says anyone with Alterealm blood has the potential." "Yeah, Firo said we should see if anyone with strong Fa Terra DNA has magic too."

Just a heads up: FindNovel.net is the only place to read the complete version of this book for free. Don't miss out on the next chapter-visit us now and continue your journey!

Jeri came in. She looked rested and happy. Fauna didn't see that fearful look in her eyes since she'd gotten together with Trendan. "I'm going to be working with someone from Veiltide to hone controlling water." "That's exciting." Flora sat down and leaned back in the chair. "That sorcerer guy said if I get some training, I won't have to smoke so much calm."

"I won't miss the smell of it." Karma set a bowl of cereal on the table beside her coffee and sat down.

Ava looked at Capri. "We're going to be ready when we meet up with her again."

Capri got up and walked into the kitchen. "I never doubted you would." She came back out with a mug and sat down.

"So, does the name Astara bring back any memories?" Sym watched Capri.

Capri took a sip and then set the cup down. "No, it doesn't feel familiar in any way."

"Maybe someone blocked off those memories." Ava shrugged. "You should get Aireese to check."

It occurred to Fauna that for as long as they'd been with Capri, they'd kept to themselves. Being different was never acceptable. Now, they had other realms that understood, so for the first time in their lives, they had others to go to. Capri looked at Ava. "I may do that."

"There has to be a reason, right?" Sym looked around at the others. "Twins are supposed to be connected. Capri should feel that with hers."

Karma snorted. "I don't think feeling connected to someone so dark would bring Capri the warm and fuzzies."

Fauna nodded. "The vibes coming off her make your breath stick in your throat."

Capri looked over at her. "It would still explain why I've felt like there was one more of us out there."

Flora pointed her spoon in her direction. "She may be your twin and born in the time of Gemini-but she's not one of us."

Capri gave her an understanding look. "No, of course not. Although I can't help wondering if she holds any memories." Clasping her hands in front of her, she looked at them. "I don't remember my childhood. I used to think it was just faded because of my age, but that's not it."

"Do you think you were with your sister for it, and then something happened?" Tera's eyes were wide.

Capri took a deep breath and exhaled before answering. "I don't know, but-" She looked at Ava. "I'll speak with Aireese and see what she thinks I should do." She offered up a smile that Fauna felt like it was a customer service smile. Capri got up and walked out of the room.

Fauna couldn't imagine not remembering when you were a kid. She did, even if she didn't want to. There were a few good moments mixed in with all the other ones. Being able to feel animals nearby and communicating with them had caused her a lot of heartache, as well as a nice foster home, but she looked at the other women in the room. She wouldn't change any of it. She'd found her family.

"Okay." Ava got up. "Back to work."

"Do you need a hand?" Tera sat there with a moth on the tip of her finger. Fauna was so thankful her ability did not involve bugs.

Ava nodded. "Sure. We're all benched until we can get out there with a large, frightening man." She grinned. "Hopefully, they're being selected by ability to ride, or we're going to have to try to keep a straight face when a bunch of boots try to ride." Fauna watched them lean and then looked at the map. Em was placing red circle stickers on it. There were a lot of stickers. "Why do I feel like this search is going to be tedious?"

Em passed and smiled. "Because it is." Looking back at the map, she ran her finger along one of the lines. "Let's just hope that we can feel when we're near it, or we'll be going on long joyrides."

Fauna nodded. "I just want to start unraveling all of this so we don't have to worry."

Em shrugged as she placed another sticker on it. "Stopping all the realms from not existing would be a major bonus too."

Fauna smiled. "Oh sure, make it all about that."

Em chuckled. "Why don't you go relax? It's a warm day today. You could soak up some rays and recharge."

Getting up, Fauna picked up her cup. "I think I'll do that. Ava should be in full swear mode now out there. That's always fun to listen to."

Em didn't reply. She was too busy being herself and was completely absorbed in something her brain could analyze.