Tonanti is gone scouting for the Wyld Hunt. Meanwhile, the Circle beds down for the night, Develan on first watch, Ourna on second, and Albrecht on third. Meanwhile, Xylanthe attempts her first demon summoning in preparation for possible encounter with the Wyld Hunt. She returns to camp after midnight and is so tired that she proceeds to sleep without even eating dinner.
Start Date: 10 Resplendent Air
Morning finds Xylanthe, Ourna, Tremaen, and Albrecht tied up and recovering from being drugged. Develan and the refugees are nowhere to be seen. A quick study of the marks on the ground reveals that a fifth person was with the tied-up group, but this person neither walked nor was dragged away. The group hears some noises off in the brush, which they quickly determine to be coming from men walking around in armor. Having untied themselves, they debate pretending to be tied up still, but decide quickly that this is unwise. Albrecht points out that Develan did not leave by the obvious route, and the group proceeds into the trees to follow his trail, leaving the armored men hopefully behind.
Meanwhile, Develan has been feigning unconsciousness while a female voice tells him that his group was betrayed by the people it was escorting. He continues the game, in spite of the fact that the owner is clearly not fooled by his charade. He knows that he is tied up. He can see through the eyes of his familiar that they were tied up, and can also see the band of men approaching their position: Dragon-blooded.
He is finally unable to resist opening his eyes after she starts flirtatiously running her fingers along his arm. Revealed before him hanging upside down is an attractive young woman with black hair and eyes and very little in the way of clothing. She asks him if she should let him go to his friends, or if she should keep him there to “play” with. After they bandy words and she continues to hit on him, he eventually has had enough and makes an attempt to loosen his bonds. This is so wildly successful that it takes him a second to realize that they were the only thing holding him up in the tree, and he begins to fall. He grabs a branch and in one motion flips around to come back at the girl with a kick, but she evades him, laughing. She seems amused when she says that since he clearly doesn't want to dally with her, she'll let him go. After all, they'll meet again. She vanishes before his eyes.
Develan and the rest of the Solars meet up in the trees shortly thereafter. Unfortunately, by this point, the Wood Aspect has determined that they took to the trees, and proceeds to follow (which Develan sees through the eyes of Mabuz-Amul, just seconds before he loses contact in a white flash). Develan decides to backtrack to the camp and see what happened to his invisible companion, while the rest of the group attempts to sneak away in the brush. When Develan reaches his vantage point above the camp, the only Dragon-blood there is the Air Aspect. Develan attempts to knock the man out with his knife, but succeeds only in revealing his presence.
Albrecht is unsuccessful in his attempts to be quiet, and he quickly spots a distortion in the landscape, as if the trees and plants were simply moving out of the way of something.
End Date: 10 Resplendent Air