First Eclipse

They'd tried all the obvious, logical areas for three hours, and other than finding some small paw tracks, they hadn't seen any animals.

Tim was having a hard time focusing on searching because he was distracted by Fauna. She moved silently, gracefully, even through the trees, as though she were part of the natural surroundings. Maybe it was his size, because he was struggling to walk without noise.

Every so often, she would stop, close her eyes, and just stand there. After a few moments, she'd look at him and shake her head. He didn't understand her ability, but he had to assume she was somehow able to sense animals nearby. How would that work? Could she tell what kind of creature that way? He wanted to ask her, but he knew striking up a conversation would cause anything near them to run further away.

She stopped, took off her backpack, and set it on the ground. Opening it, she pulled out a water bottle. Tim almost laughed as he watched her take a drink. If it hadn't been for the seer, he would have nothing to drink. Maybe her giving him the food and water was because she somehow knew he hadn't brought his own. Taking off the backpack, he got out a bottle and then put the pack back on. He liked having his hands free, and if they spotted anything, he didn't want to have to pause to grab it.

He came close to choking on the water when Fauna began pulling her deep shade of red hair up. She was a beautiful woman-that he'd noticed the moment he'd met her, but he was used to being around attractive women with the royal family. He capped the bottle before he gagged on the liquid. She looked appealing with her hair pulled into a messy bun. Tim had to force himself to look away when he realized he was staring at her neck like he was a teen who had just learned how to feed.

"I think we need to go lower. A lot of the animals would relocate closer to the base for the cold months. There's more shelter down there."

As soon as he looked at her, his gaze was drawn right back to her lovely neck. He nodded because he was afraid if he spoke, he'd say something stupid like, 'I bet you taste amazing.' He had never tried human essence, so maybe that was the sudden interest.

"I'm just going to do some stretches." She laughed softly. "It's been too long since I walked this long on anything but pavement and cement."

He motioned to her. "Take your time." He looked away from her again. What in all the gods was wrong with him? He almost choked on air when he turned back, and she squatted. Then she stayed bent over and stuck her ass in the air. The fresh air had affected his brain or something. He exhaled all at once when she stood up again and started bouncing up and down. What kind of stretch was...

The ground gave way, and half of her body disappeared into a hole. Tim reacted without pause and threw himself toward her. The impact of the uneven surface was going to leave a lot of bruises later. He reached for her hand, instinct telling him to keep his body weight spread out. The only part of her above the ground now was her head and shoulders. She had her arms out straight away from her body, trying to hold herself up.

He was still too far away, so he rose and dove at her, his hand clamped around her wrist. Carefully getting to his knees, he pulled. He felt the ground shift under his body and had only a second to react. Grasping for the first thing his other hand encountered, he tried to prevent what was going to happen.

Seconds later, he was hanging by one arm, with Fauna dangling from the other. His entire forearm burned, stinging like it was ripped open. The flash of heat right after that confirmed it was bleeding. Afraid that any sudden shift would have them free-falling, he turned his head in slow motion. There was a jagged rock an inch from his face. Tightening his hold on whatever was in his hand, he looked up. The top of the hole that had swallowed them was a good twenty feet above. Blowing out a breath, he looked down. Fauna was looking up at him and taking deep breaths. He could tell by the fear in her eyes that she was afraid even to speak. Forcing himself to look away from her, he looked passed her. It was dark, but the gap in the earth was letting enough light in that he could see they were too far from the bottom to drop down. The muscles in his shoulder started burning from the weight of her hanging from his wrist. His fingers grasping a jutting-out rock was the only thing keeping them from falling. There was no way of knowing what the terrain was like down there. If they hit rocks, neither may survive the fall. He needed both hands. "I need you to grab my belt. Can you get to it?" He didn't dare try to lift her by moving his arm. Too much motion, and he might lose his grip that was holding them here. If he could reach his porter, they wouldn't have to worry about falling. He stared straight ahead for a second. He couldn't feel his wrist right now. Looking up, he saw that the rocks cutting into his arm had also cut the strap of the device he needed to save them. Closing his eyes, he took a second to compose himself. Losing it wasn't going to help him hold them both from crashing to the bottom. "Fauna " He looked down at her. "-can you reach your porter? Flip it open and press the button." Her expression changed from fear, and he didn't like what he believed her face was telling him. "It's in my backpack." She whispered.

He looked at her shoulders and saw no straps and then remembered she'd set it down before the ground opened beneath her.