A teleporting spell flashed, and human figures appeared.
Talia and Damon were on the top of a bare hill that provided a good view of their surroundings.
The first thing they noticed was the lack of trees.
Low bushes speckled the pale red ground where dust swirled with the dry wind. Hills of irregularly shaped rocks could be seen here and there, some as tall as two-story buildings.
The greenery of bushes contrasted with the red color of ground and rocks, and it all looked odd against the blue sky.
Other than the rustling of leaves among bushes caused by the breeze, there were no other sounds.
"Are you sure we are in the right place?", Damon asked Yasmin.
"Of course, we are sure", Serena responded with an edge in her tone. It was her and Feya who performed the spell to teleport because Evanora insisted that Yasmin should preserve her strength because of the pregnancy.
Damon sneered at Serena, itchy to teach the ignorant witch that she should speak to an Alpha with respect. He flexed his fingers before balling them into a fist while waiting for her to say more, but she didn't.
"If I knew that so many people will tag along, we would stay behind.", Damon said. He thought that it will be just Yasmin, Axel, Talia, and him, so he insisted for Keith to join as well, but then Evanora arranged for witches and healers from the Midnight Guardians pack to tag along!
Talia put her hand on Damon's forearm and gave him a squeeze, and he understood that she didn't want any trouble. Both of them were tense and they couldn't wait to finish this task and leave the ream of witches.
"I apologize, Alpha Damon", Cassandra said submissively. "Witches are not used to our ways."
Damon turned to look at Cassandra and his hostility swelled. He thought of ignoring her presence, yet now that she spoke, ignoring her was impossible. "Remind me, why are YOU here?"
Cassandra shrunk, and Talia responded, "The Oracle is the one who helped open the portal to this realm, so I thought that her knowledge might be useful."
Cassandra smiled at Talia gratefully.
Damon couldn't believe this. Did Talia invite her?
With Damon calling out Cassandra, Yasmin explained the presence of two witches with, "Serena and Feya are here on my mother's orders, mostly to help in case of an emergency."
Calla felt that she should say something also. "We came because this was a unique opportunity to observe the scenery of this realm and learn beyond what's available in books."
Damon cocked an eyebrow at Calla and two healers from the Midnight Guardians pack.
'Wasn't there one more?', Damon's voice sounded in Talia's head through their mind-link.
Talia understood the question. Calla came with three more healers, yet now only two were here. 'The missing one is Olive. She found her mate last night among witches.'
Damon turned to Talia robotically. 'Aren't witches all females?'
'Mates are mates, regardless of the gender', Talia responded. 'Are you shocked that two females are soulmates?'
'No, no', Damon responded right away. Actually, the mental image of two naked females entangled was hot. But whenever he heard of same-sex couples, it reminded him that there was a possibility of him ending up with a guy, and that thought made his skin crawl.
"Alright!", Yasmin exclaimed, breaking the tense atmosphere. "How about we focus on why we are here?"
Other than Damon being unusually hostile, Talia was also reserved, and the air between Keith and Cassandra was suffocating.
Yasmin thought this will be a friendly group or at least a group that won't be at each other's throats, but now it seemed that she had high expectations. Will they be able to achieve anything if they are just bickering?
Axel was quick to pull a map out of his backpack and spread it on top of a flat rock for everyone to see.
"We are in the area where the disturbance was reported", Axel said. "Since we don't know more than that, let's split into groups and start looking around. Report if you find anything unusual."
Calla looked around. This looked like an alien planet. "Can you define, unusual?"
"When you see it, you will know", Serena responded.
"Regardless of if you found anything or not, let's meet back here in… three hours?", Axel suggested.
They looked at each other, and Talia asked the question everyone had. "How do we tell time here?"
Yasmin pointed at the sky and a silver spark shot up. Once it was high in the air, the spark transformed into a long white string that emitted pulsating light.
"It will grow smaller with time passing. When you don't see it anymore, it's time to come back.", Yasmin said.
They all murmured in agreement and moved in groups of twos and threes.
Talia and Damon were surprised to see that Serena and Feya were in a group with Cassandra. Didn't two witches come to keep an eye on Yasmin?
Axel was with Yasmin, Calla with Keith, and two healers from the Midnight Guardians pack moved on the right with notepads ready to write down any observations about this realm.
With everyone dispersing, Damon thought how this was not bad. It was just him and Talia. He hooked his arm around her shoulders, and they started walking.
Talia would stop occasionally to check on some plant that she had never seen before. Her actions reminded Damon that Talia had knowledge of herbology and that she wanted to work in the pack hospital. He felt guilty that her wish got pushed to the side because she was his mate, which made her the Luna of the Dark Howlers pack, and that role put her in the spotlight (and danger) she never wanted.
Of course, she was also the Alpha of the Midnight Guardians pack, and her wolf was ancient, but those were not because of Damon so he didn't think about them with guilt.
The groups met when the white string disappeared, they shared what they observed, had a snack, and then dispersed again.
Werewolves used their senses to scan the area, and witches chanted to increase their perception of energies, but there was nothing out of the ordinary.
The cycle continued until sunset when all of them gathered on the hill from where they started that morning.
Serena and Freya were busy on the side drawing the teleportation diagram that will take them back to the center of the Silver Flame Coven. With the lack of daylight, there was no point in lingering, and a pregnant woman like Yasmin shouldn't spend the night outside.
Axel looked at Yasmin helplessly. She was excited and hopeful in the morning, but now he could feel her dejection. They spent the whole day circling the area, yet they didn't find anything unusual.
"I'm sorry, love", Axel said. "It seems that too much time passed."
Yasmin smiled at him sadly and tears swelled in her eyes. "It's OK." It was not OK. "Since we are here, how about we watch the sunset? It will be a farewell to my father."
They all sat on the ground and faced solemnly the small orange circle that was disappearing at the horizon.
Yasmin leaned on Axel and cried silently.
