A day of searching grid by grid was tireless work that Vex kept up even when Shane went to sleep. The morning rose with sad faces as Vex dove in for another search.

Shane put a carafe of coffee on the table after she had poured herself a cup. The laptop was open and had all the information that Vex found in the grids he had searched the night while everyone was asleep. The purple-haired head nodded down and shook herself awake. She had maybe two hours of sleep and she needed to find Arthur.

Valkyrie slept on the deck and sat up staring out to the water her eyes searching tirelessly for her king. Ema came up and served breakfast to Valkyrie. Tela grabbed a sandwich and a bottle of water before flying into the air to eat while she searched.

Argent and Moonglow kept an eye from the back of the boat. Bjorn stood with a spyglass on the top level trying to follow Vex's moves underwater.

"So far other than the Kraken, we haven't encountered the usual disappearing ships or ghosts or other supernatural events. The only thing I have determined is that electronics have some interference out here. Vex did find a few wreckage down there but nothing that could hide the octopus or Arthur," reported Shane while eating a sandwich.

"TELA! Arthur over there!" yelled Bjorn as he pointed in a direction. The faery dropped the half-eaten sandwich and water to fly as fast as she could in that direction.

Tela reached down and snatched Arthur out of the water like a bird of prey hunting fish. She made a sound of exertion and flew back towards the boat. Arthur pulled up his feet to stop being in the water which would slow the faery down. He could tell that her wings were not meant to carry another person but she was trying.

Tela muttered in pain about her wings but gave Arthur a huge hug and kissed him before searching for Moonglow. "Moonglow, I strained my back and wings. Can you help me with it?"

Moonglow tended to Tela.

Valkyrie pulled him into her arms, tears of happiness streaming down. Ema watched nearby and saw Arthur smile at her. She waited until Valkyrie moved back for her to take her hug.

Arthur filled the group in on what happened under the water and the claiming of the fourth labyrinth.

"So now our future concern is to find out who the contact is with the Tako and to backtrace that to who was on the surface that continued the offering deal."

"We were so worried that you... you," paused Valkyrie.

"Croaked." finished Tela.

"Tela, we don't say that. It's bad luck," said the Kitsune.

"It's ok, I thought I was going to croak too. Shane, I retrieved Kelrick. He's back in the Doll's Heart for now. When we get back we need a new body for him."

"It will wait until I upgrade the bodies. I noticed some stress tears on Vex's metal parts. They weren't made to go too deep in water and I never considered that to be a possibility. Now I have to make some adjustments and upgrades."

"Ok. And someone please tell the captain to head back to the pier. We don't know if we have people watching our movements and might have ambushes in the rest of the ports. Might as well go back to home port and deal with what's there. And I want to check in on Camelot."

Arthur got changed to dry clothes and then went up to the bridge. "Captain, got a moment?"

"What's on your mind?"

"Concerning the two deckhands that perished. Is there something I can do to help their families?"

"One of them lost their family a while ago. I don't think there is much you can do for his family, but the crew has been thinking of pitching in for funeral costs. The other one has a sister who attends college. I can act as an intermediary if you want to remain anonymous."

"I could appreciate that. Thank you. Let me know the total of the damage on the ship. I'll cover the cost for repairs."

He settled back down in one of the sunbathing chairs and tried to relax. Ema chose to kneel beside him and Tela took the chair to the left while Amy took the chair to the right.

Shane picked apart the damaged swordfish robot to catalog the damage and effects.

Vex chose to sit beside Bjorn who was drinking while they chatted.

With his eyes closed Arthur looked inward to check what he could see. He started with the Guardian Ring. He couldn't tell what it could do other than being a Guardian and allowing him to claim labyrinths. He could feel the mana reservoir was deeper and it was already a large capacity before. He could communicate with Kelrick directly without the phone anymore. The Doll's Heart appeared to be completely merged with his own heart. He opened his eyes and glanced at Ema.

"Ema, come with me to our quarters. I want to talk to you privately." Ema stood up and waited for Arthur to lead and she followed behind him.

Amy opened an eye and smiled. She looked over at Tela and saw that the faery was asleep. She closed her eyes to take her nap.

Ema closed the door. Arthur asked her to lock the door. "Bondmate, undress and show me your true form."

Ema blushed but did as she was told. She allowed her four tails to show and her Kitsune fur to appear.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

Arthur extended his hand to her and watched her eyes fill with confusion. "Have a taste."

"Are you sure bondmate?" She asked while she gently lifted his hand to her lips, her heart skipping a beat when she saw him nod. She opened her mouth to reveal the sharp canine teeth and lightly scratched the skin to make it bleed. She lapped at the droplets of blood. She shivered as the blood swirled down her throat sending an unprecedented amount of mana through her.

Ema slumped to the floor holding her stomach as she gritted her teeth. The muffled moan of pain caused Arthur to worry. He kept a close eye and it looked like what happened to Tela when she had his blood. He observed and saw the slowly elongating new tails. Three tails were added to her four. She would be the first seven-tail Kitsune on Earth.

"I... I'm sorry Arthur."

"Sorry, for what?"

"I'm... on fire," Ema said as she looked up hungrily at her bondmate. She pounced on him and had her way with him. Arthur didn't fight it and allowed himself to enjoy the time with her.

During dinner, Ema was quiet and blushed often. Amy and Tela smiled knowingly for the long delay but no one else knew about the change. Arthur promised to not reveal Ema's new form. She wasn't ready to reveal it to Camelot and her family. She didn't want to become the head of her family because of her number of tails.

The captain steered the boat towards the pier. Bjorn took to helping the last deckhand to secure the yacht to the wooden beams.

Amy's phone buzzed from an incoming text from Kestrel. It informed her that rooms were booked at the same hotel they were at before their trip for them to finish out their vacation on land. She will join them for dinner.

The sun had set and the group had gathered in Arthur's suite except Vex and Shane who were discussing what could be improved on Kelrick's new robot body. A knock interrupted their casual conversation and a man quickly entered and closed the door.

The group noticed he was injured under his jacket. He quickly sat in a chair, keeping pressure on the wound. "Kestrel was taken. We were on our way here but we got ambushed by a few cars. They took her and fled in a van."

"Do you have a description of the van? Plate number? Direction?" asked Arthur as he waved for Moonglow to tend to the injured man.

"Heading west, white van, no plates. There might be two to three other cars with it. Everyone had automatic weapons. I don't think they were adventurers but I could be wrong. I'm not an adventurer so I couldn't be sure."

Arthur nodded, "Tela, can you fly out and see if you can find this van invisibly and tail it to where they are going? Text or call us when you find out and we'll come to you. We'll get some food so you can eat when we regroup."

Tela nodded. She let her wings out and disappeared from view. The windows opened by themselves to the surprised look from the wounded man.

"Everyone gear up. We have a rescue mission as soon as we have intel."

The group went to grab their gear and return to the room. Arthur was at the balcony with his gear on. He walked back in and checked in on the man.

"Do you know who took Kestrel?"

"Not sure. We took out one of the groups of people that was following you. It could be a retaliation. I'm just not sure."

A text came in from Tela around twenty minutes later with an address. The group checked it out on Shane's laptop and found it was a warehouse. Arthur responded that they were on the way and would meet her two blocks from the address.

They arrived with three cars. Bjorn drove a car with Argent and Moonglow. The subordinate had three others with him. Arthur had Valkyrie and Ema. Shane and Vex stayed behind.

Tela was waiting when they got out of the cars. She explained that there were no guards outside but they had cameras and she had already disabled them.

"Bjorn, Argent, Moonglow, you three take the back entrance. Kestrel's men will take the front. Engage and delay as much as you can. I'll take Valkyrie, Ema, and Tela and break through a window on the second floor to find Kestrel."

The groups split off to follow the distraction plan.

Arthur stopped a block away and released mana fashioning a spell to give himself. Valkyrie and Ema the power of flight. He released more mana and used it to mimic Tela's invisibility and created a lattice matrix on each of them to be invisible when Tela is invisible. It wouldn't last long but they only need it until they get inside.

The four took to the air and circled the building to find a window that didn't have any watchers. The sound of shooting started the firefight.

Arthur took the moment to break into the window and made sure the others got in without getting hurt by the broken shards of glass.

They made their way slowly, checking each room along the way. The leader took the lead staying alert in case of stragglers.

They get to a door with a window to look through. They could see the number of people. There were a lot but it doesn't seem to be adventurers.

Ema held up a hand, "Something is not right."

"There's a manablind spell in effect. We can't tell if there are spells or adventurers in the area," whispered Tela.

Valkyrie pulled up her shield and turned her back to the group to look the way they came. The doors they had passed and the echoing laughter came down the hallway. Arthur released mana and fashioned a dome of protection just in time as bullets left multiple guns to bounce off the protection.

The people appeared and they kept their guns pointed at them. Behind the group of men were two figures in tattered robes.

"Mages," hissed Valkyrie.

"Well well well, who would think that the princess would come to us instead? Men, get ready to capture her. We'll break that protection," said one of the robes as he raised a gaunt hand and released a barrage of magical bullets that caused cracks in Arthur's dome.

The second figure extended both mummified-looking hands and released a dark cloud that covered the dome. It pressed on the dome using the cracks to seep in.

"Tela, use wind magic. I'm going to drop the dome, and blow it back at them," Arthur whispered.

Tela nodded and began to prepare for the spell. Arthur dropped the spell and a wind swirled around them pulling the dark cloud upwards and blowing back toward the attackers.

The guns started up again. Valkyrie blocked with her shield and tried to protect the others. Arthur opened the door behind him, "Everyone through through the door!"

Ema, Tela, and Valkyrie rushed through. Arthur closed it right after they got to the other side. "Find and save Kestrel."

Bullets rained on Arthur but they bounced off him because he pulled the dome to make a layer of protection around him.

He pointed his sword towards the group and with a grin, "My turn." He sent mana through the sword and let loose bolt after bolt of electricity. The lightning bolts jumped the guns causing the people holding them to get shocked like they were the subject of a tazer.

The two figures gripped hands and combined their power ripping the concrete from the walls and floors to create a golem. It moved forward and swung its basketball-sized fists against the leader of Camelot.

He ducked under the block and lashed out with the sword. The golem didn't feel any pain and continued the onslaught. He couldn't dodge the fist and got thrown through the rebar wall. Arthur felt the pain ran through his left arm. He yanked his arm off the bent metal and tried to stay a distance from the golem that lumbered after him.

The two robed figures laughed and walked towards the door to chase after the girls. One of them stopped to look at the desperate man and removed his hood. The face of the bully Paul with green glowing eyes stared into Arthur's eyes. "Have fun, I'll go collect your girlfriend. Maybe I'll make her mine."

Arthur growled in anger and tried to get past the golem, only to get punched to the far wall causing a dent into the concrete.

They had walked right into an ambush. An ambush by Paul who appeared to have become an undead.