Fire And Ice

Chapter 42 - Building Bridges

Natalia's P. O. V

"Robert's text says that they want to meet by the river behind their territory. I've been there before, when I was scoping out the area after our initial visit. The river runs around half of one side then to the back of their territory line, some yards away, then it veers off. It takes about an hour to get there if we move at a medium pace and stick close to their border, longer if we don't."

We were still in the living room, working on our strategy. Taking the initiative, Kaesha had gone to work on changing her scent while we spoke.

"If that's the case, shouldn't we get moving? We only have an hour to get there." Hailey suggested, her hand in Kaesha's as she donated her energy.

"The fact that they gave us an only hour, means they expect us to either move close to their territory, or enter it altogether."

Timothy nodded, "If we do that, we'll possibly be intercepted by their patrols. They want us to get close. They might be looking to attack us." He shot me a look.

"That could be the case, but there could be more to it. Their Alpha seems like an intelligent man. He might want to see if we can pull it off."

He crossed his arms, "Say we pull it off, how am I even gonna know what to say to him?"

Finished with her spell, Kaesha let go of Haley and grabbed both Timothy's and my hand before either of us could protest. Soon enough, she'd established a telepathic link.

"Guess that answers that." Timothy quipped once she'd let go.

"You guys have your own link separate from the general one." She explained, "You'll just need to focus so that you don't end up sending your thoughts to the wrong one."

"Kaesha, you've been using too much energy."

"Don't worry, Ava. I've mostly been channelling you guys, and best believe I'm gonna sleep for two days once we get back to Manhattan. I'll have a teleportation spell ready if things go sideways."

I smiled at her. I'd have to find a way to repay her for how convenient she seemed to be intent on making things.

"I hope you all have your necklaces. We're gonna do the improbable and get there without getting caught. We just have to be quick and light on our feet."

As I said that, Kaesha gestured for Hailey to take her hand then went to work on another spell, "Can I use one of you to mimic your speed and agility? I'm already channelling Hailey."

Both Timothy and I moved to offer her our hands, but mine touched hers first, "You've all been working so hard. Let me help her with this."

He shrugged and went back to the topic at hand, "So, we're going in fast, invisible, and undetected. How will we approach?"

Kaesha's spell had my skin buzzing, static building up around me and diverting to her, "From the trees. We climb up the trees around them, and take the necklaces off. We can't show our hand, so we need to avoid just appearing in their field of vision."

My conversation with Timothy didn't distract me from the fact that Kaesha was giving me another one of her contemplative looks. Like she had during the encounter with Tyson when she'd bet a page of her Spellbook. Maybe my speed felt weird or something...? I'd need to ask her about it later.

A few seconds later, she was done and we were on our way out.

"I'll keep my necklace off till we get to the border. From there, we'll go around their territory till we're parallel to the first large structure you guys repaired, then we'll need to get behind it. That's where they'll most likely be. Everyone remember the way?"