First Eclipse

She hadn't been wrong. When Fauna stepped into the garage, Ava was threatening to melt one of the bikes into a metal cube.

Fauna didn't say anything, but she wondered if with Ava's new found abilities, could she have actually done it?

Tera glanced at her as she handed Ava a tool.

Fauna pointed outside. "Just going to sit on the steps and let the sun erase dark caves."

Tera nodded without comment.

Fauna went over to the steps. Em was right. The sun was warm, and she hadn't realized how much she needed to feel the warmth on her face. The last day was catching up to her. Falling into caves, making discoveries that she could have done without-it suddenly felt like too much.

Leaning back, she tilted her face toward the sky. If she closed her eyes and blocked out the smell and noise of the city, she could pretend, just for a moment, that she was in the country.

Opening her yes, she stared at the pavement. Tim said his home was in the country. She would never have pictured him living there. That thought made her smile. He looked like he belonged on a ship, not a house on a hill.

She looked at the steps at the other end of the alley, to the building where Jeri and Trendan had their Interealm place. She didn't understand what mates was truly about, aside from obvious things. Could Jeri explain more to her? She wasn't sure of the similarities between Alterealm and Solrelm though, so there was a chance it wasn't the same.

The hair on the back of her neck tingled. There was an animal nearby. Focusing, she reached out to see if she could figure out why it had alerted her. Usually distress came to her that way.

A dog? Maybe a cat? She wasn't sure, but it was panicking.

Getting up, she stood there until she could sense the direction they were in. It wasn't uncommon for her to have to rescue an animal trapped in a dumpster. If the sanitation company would close them after emptying them, it would save a lot of hungry animals from jumping in with no way out.

She set her cup inside the garage. Tera looked at her. Fauna pointed. "I'm sensing an animal in distress."

Ava glanced over her shoulder at her. "If it's further than this block, come back for one of us." She looked at Tera. “Tera volunteers to help if it's a dumpster rescue."

Tera nodded. "Yes. Insects love them.

Fauna turned away and nodded so that Tera wouldn't see her ew face. With slow steps, she went down the alley, reaching out to find the animal.

When she reached the corner, Fauna paused, trying to sense which way it was coming from. Turning slowly, she finally felt it be the strongest when she was facing Nova's place.

Usually, once she was locked in on the animal, she didn't have to focus too hard. This time it faded in and out. She hoped it wasn't stuck in one of the storm drains. It was the only other time she'd felt this. The grates on those may prevent flooding, but the slots were too far apart. Smaller animals got through them too easily.

She felt pains in her stomach the further she went. It was a dead end, so she knew she'd find them. She silently prayed it wasn't injured or, worse, poisoned. People didn't stop to think when they used products to get rid of rodents. Often, a hungry stray would eat it, not knowing the pleasant smell was a ruse.

She was almost to the end when she saw a box. She looked up and all around and saw no animal on ledges or fire escapes. The distress grew stronger.

With slow steps she went toward the box and hoped whatever kind of creature was inside, that it wasn't dying. More often than she'd like, she'd been in that situation, and it broke her heart that she wasn't able to stay with them and comfort them until the end. Fauna was able to feel what the animals did, and dying was the worst. To feel their despair and confusion was more than she could handle.

When she reached the box, she held her breath, listening to see if it was crying out or making any noise. She heard nothing, but the feelings of distress intensified.

Squatting down, she reached for the lid. "Whatever you are, please don't bite me. I'm here to help." She pushed feelings of calm and reassurance.

Lifting the cardboard, she flipped it back. Dust burst from inside into her face.

Her eyes started burning. She fell back onto the pavement and brushed her hands over them. It was gritty. Her eyes were stinging and watering. She knew better than to rub them, but she did anyway. The burning sensation spread around the skin surrounding her eyes. She tired opening them and groaned, that was worse.

"Hey."

She heard footsteps.

"You're one of Fade's friends. I'm Sedric" They were beside her. "Are you okay?"

"No." Using her sleeves, she held them over her eyes, thinking maybe the pressure on them would help.

"Oh man, your face. Uh-I should go get help." She heard him move away. "Damn." he was running toward her again. "You should come with me. I don't want to leave you here."

"Don't touch the box. Don't touch it. Get me away from it." She struggled to stand up.

"Here." She felt him behind her, and then he put his hands under her arm and helped her to her feet. "What happened."

Fauna didn't want to talk. Her whole face felt hot but numb and hurt at the same time. "Dust or something in the box." "Oh-" He stopped walking. "I'll come back for it." He started walking again.

"Fauna."

She stopped. "Tim?" Tim was here? She could hear the boots on the pavement as he ran toward her.

"I just found her back there." Sedric said. "Something was in a box."

"Fauna." She felt someone touch her shoulders. "It's Sedric, right?"

"Yeah."

"Run and get Leone. He's down there. Tell him we need the doctor, now."

Fauna felt Tim move closer, and then she was scooped up into his arms.

"Try not to touch it."

"It's hard not to." She lowered her hands away.

"Keep your eyes closed and breathe."

She squeezed her eyes shut tighter. They felt swollen. "Is it bad?"

"I'm not a doctor." He said in a low tone. "What box is Sedric talking about?"

She could hear other voices now. "I felt an animal in distress; I thought it was in the box..."

"It was a trap meant for her." She heard Prince Leone say. "Sith went back to get the doctor. Get her inside."

"Are you kidding me?" Ava was pissed. "Go get Capri. I'll call Firo and see if he can help."

"Sedric, go back to the box, don't touch it, and wait for us. Make sure no one goes near it." Prince Leone said.

"Yeah. Got it." She heard someone running away.

She felt Tim moving again. "My eyes are on fire." They were going upstairs.

"Oh my god. What happened?" Flora's voice relayed all Fauna needed to know-it was bad.

"Set her on the counter. We'll try flushing her eyes until the doctor gets here." Capri's voice was all commanding, which meant it was really bad.

"Hey, Fawn, just relax. Let Tim hold your weight and lean you back. I'm going to pour some water over your face." It was crystal.

"Cold water. It's on fire." She grasped her hands tight so she wouldn't rub them again.

"I just heard."

Fauna wasn't sure who was coming into the room now.

"Fauna, It's Michael, let him take a look."

"Let me yes, it's the same as Autumn's were." Prince Michael said. "Leone, get a hold of Clairee and tell her we need what she used when Eunice blinded Autumn." "On it." More footsteps echoed in the hallway.

"Firo and I are going to check out the box." It was Ava.

"Don't open it," Fauna said quickly.

"You just do what they say." Ava's voice sounded strained.

"Okay, Fawn, here comes the water." Crystal's voice was edgy.

Fauna went to move away from Tim, his hold tightened. "I'll get you wet."

"I don't care." He whispered close to her ear.

"Here we go."

For the first few seconds, the cool water felt good, but then it intensified the burn. Fauna tried not to cry out but failed. "Stop." She gasped.

"She's in here," Sym said. "The Doctor is here."

"Hmm, let me see."

She felt Tim shift, but he was still holding her.

"Oh dear. I've seen this." The doctor said. "You, Miss Fauna, are reminding me of our warrior princess. I hope not to have to heal you as often as we did her." He moved away as he spoke. "Has Clairee been contacted? This takes a witch's touch to heal."

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"Leone has gone to get her," Michael said. "I'm going to see how Firo and Ava made out with the box."

"I can leave something to sedate her. If I recall, the treatment to clear all of the poison out takes many applications."

Fauna stiffened. "I don't want to be sedated." She clutched Tim's arm.

"We can use effort if needed, Doc." It was Princess Bethany.

"Very well. I'm going to leave you my number. It may save time in the future."

"Thank you doctor," Capri answered and sounded like she was walking away.

"Eufori?" Karma was there now.

"Mmm, it's much better than being drugged or sedated," Beth informed her. "Just hang on a little longer, Fauna. Clairee will be here in a few moments with the drops. It's not something she can keep on hand, so she had to make it fresh." "Okay.” Fauna pressed her forehead against Tim's chest, trying hard not to whine or touch her face. "Will it fix it?"

"I had to wait for the nanny." It was Princess Autumn. "Oh, crap. Look at that. Did my face look like that?"

Fauna opened her eyes; the air made it burn, so she squeezed them shut.

"Don't you worry, Fauna, the stuff Clairee uses gets rid of it. No scars." Autumn said in a hushed voice. "Who did it? Do we have them? Need me to go teach them what's right and wrong?"

"Apparently, it was in a box. Fauna thought an animal was in it-Fauna, why did you think an animal was in it?" Flora was closer again.

"She left saying she could feel one in distress," Tera said. Why did she sound like she was crying? How bad was her face? She lifted her hand to touch it, but Tim's big hand wrapped around it and gently stopped her.

"Wait, so there was no animal?" Flora sounded angry now.

"It was the box," Fauna said quickly and then blew out breaths. The burning wasn't getting any lighter.

"Someone manipulated it so she'd go to the box and open it," Bethany said.

"My baby V is going to have to miss Mama a little more because we need to hunt down who did this and teach them how wrong it was." Autumn sounded upset.

Fauna tried to open her eyes again, and it felt like knives were stabbing into them. She gasped and pushed her face into Tim's chest. He held her there with a gentle touch on the back of her head, his hand gently stroking down her hair. She noticed once again that he smelled really nice.

"It was magic. A lot of magic." Ava was back. "Firo encircled the box with a protective spell and took it home for some of them to analyze, but he said someone had used very strong magic on it."

"It doesn't take a genius to figure out who," Karma said, not even trying to hide the loathsomeness in her voice.

Fauna sucked in a breath and moved her face away from Tim. "Why? Why is it so important that she go after me?"

"I don't know, but it just makes it more important that you are protected all the time," Bethany said.

"Sorry, I took so long." It was a woman's voice. "Here, let me you're going to have to let me near her."

Tim's hold loosened, but he didn't let go of her completely.

"Fauna, my name is Clairee. I've brought some drops that will counteract the power. Your face is secondary, from your eyes watering and spreading it, but once it's flushed out, that will clear up as well." "Okay."

"I'm not going to lie to you; this is going to hurt, and it's going to take three or four times a few hours apart to clear your eyes completely."

"Okay." She didn't like the sound of that, but if it worked, she didn't have a choice.

"Tim, use some eufori, so it takes the edge off." Princess Bethany said in a matter or fact tone.

Tim stiffened.

"Hey, everyone, clear out for a couple of minutes. There's more bodies in here than can fit." Autumn said in a loud voice.

"We got your back, Fawn," Flora said.

She heard the sound of many feet leaving the room.

"I'll wait outside for a moment," Clairee said.

Then it was quiet. All she could hear was Tim breathing. "What's going on?" She whispered because she didn't know if anyone else was there.

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Tim cleared his throat. "When essence feeders bite, they can release a substance that lessens the pain. It's relaxing."

Fauna clutched the front of his jacket. "You're going to bite me?" She tried to look at him, but the pain only allowed her to open her eyes for a second.

"It will help. I won't feed." Tim said quickly. He sighed and leaned his head against hers. "Let me do this. Let me take away the pain, Fauna." His breath brushed against her ear.

She just wanted the burning to stop. "Okay."

He kissed her temple and straightened up. She tensed. "Shh." He said as he shifted her in his arms. "It won't hurt a bit. I'm old and know how to do this." She felt him palm the back of her head and lean her, and then his breath was against the side of her neck.

She smiled briefly at his reminder of his age. "I trust you."

He paused, his breath heating her skin. "Relax."

She couldn't have if she'd tried. Between the burning and pain on her face and the fact that she was going to let someone bite her wasn't going to allow for any sort of relaxation. "Just do it before I have a meltdown." She held her breath, waiting for his reply, but instead, his hand tensed against her head, and she felt a second of intense pain as his fangs pierced her skin. It wasn't as bad as she thought it was going to be, she decided. Other than that start, she could barely feel it at all. She sighed.

Tim removed his teeth from her neck and licked over it. She grinned, it almost tickled. Moving his mouth away from her skin, he kissed the side of her head.

"Clairee." He shifted the hold he had on her, and she was more upright again.

"All right, let's get this over with," Clairee said.

Fauna sighed again and leaned her head against Tim.

"You may have gone overboard, Tim." The woman said in a hushed voice.

"I don't want her to hurt."

"I know. I understand. No more for several hours, though, okay?"

"Yeah."

The burning and knives were still there, but she couldn't feel them the same way. Eufori, she thought and then snorted. They should sell that stuff.

"All right, a few drops in each eye, and then I'm going to leave the wash and drops here. I'm sure they are enough to dote on you and follow a schedule." Clairee said.

"We'll look after it, Clairee," Capri said.

Fauna hadn't even realized anyone else was there.

She felt the liquid hit her eye and hissed out a breath. It stung but wasn't unbearable.

"You used a lot," Bethany said.

Fauna thought she was talking to the witch, but then Tim grunted in response to her words.

"Well, at least she'll have a good nap after this."

She jerked her head when the drops hit the other eye. The burning intensified, but it wasn't anything she couldn't handle this time. "I think I like eufori," she said and then stopped. She didn't even sound like herself. There were a few chuckles and snorts in the room.

"I'll show you where her room is," Flora said.

Fauna felt herself being lifted,, and she felt like they might be floating. Could Tim do that? She was going to have to ask him. Leaning her head against his chest, she inhaled a deep breath. "You smell nice," she said quietly.

He made a hum sound and kept moving.

Fauna sighed and inhaled his scent again. "I'm going to take a nap."

"I'll be there when you wake up." He kissed the top of her head, and she smiled. She'd never had someone give her affectionate kisses, but it was nice, she decided. It was something that made her feel necessary. She scoffed. That was a weird thought.

"Just rest. I'll wipe off your face with the wash, and then you can sleep until it's time to put the drops in again." Tim said.

With her head against his chest, she could feel the vibration when he spoke. As strange things went, that was one. She liked that too.

She felt herself being lowered onto the bed and exhaled a long breath. Everything was floating and her body was bussing making her feel heavier and heavier. "Sleep." She whispered.