Page 49 of Abalim

The crowd of Lumarians wailed in whistles and clicks, then they dropped to their knees with their foreheads on the forest floor. “Echovara!”

The resounding roar from the group was deafening. The group sang their god’s name in perfect harmony. Filled with anguish, hope, and excitement.

Ignoring that he and Lisa were the only ones standing, Abalim narrowed his eyes at the image. “JR15, inspect the image and tell me about it.”

“At once, Mister Abalim, sir.” The bot wiggled his bulbous belly. “As I’m sure you suspect, Mister Abalim, sir. It is a hologram generated from the tree.”

Abalim humphed. Nothing but smoke and mirrors.

“Mister Abalim, sir?”

JR15’s quiet voice was hard to hear over the chanting of the crowd.

“I think you should know I am able to verify that the Lumarians who disappeared have not been killed. Miss Lisa is correct in saying they were transported.”

“Are you able to determine where they are?”

“I am still analyzing that information. But I can verify they are not in the village.”

Lisa reached over and grabbed Abalim’s forearm. “What’s he saying?” She nodded at the spybot on his shoulder.

Abalim crossed his arms and leaned closer so she could hear him better. “He’s telling me you’re right.” He nodded at the large tree with its holographic face of an elder male Lumarian looking down at the crowd with condescending glee.

“The Lumarians they just ‘sacrificed’ were teleported somewhere else.” He gave her a mischievous grin. “Want to be next?”

Lisa thought experiencing a transporter was great in theory, but the idea of her molecules scrambled and reassembled somewhere else made the hair on the back of her neck rise. She glanced at Abalim, who studied the scary face on the tree. Maybe he saw something she didn’t. Besides, it was hard to think through the loud chanting of the Lumarians. She couldn’t even tell if the creepy tree was saying anything because the face looked like it was stuck. The same expression twitched over and over like it was trapped in a loop.

“Are you sure we’d be safe if we did?” She tapped her finger on her lower lip. “I mean, look at it! I swear the damn thing is broken.”

Abalim leaned his head and whispered something to his spider shaped robot.

She couldn’t hear what he said, but when he lifted his eyes, his expression was eager.

“JR15 has analyzed the last transportation and verified I’d have no trouble controlling it if it didn’t reassemble us correctly.”

Lisa scrunched her nose. “What in the world makes you think you can control something like that?” She pointed to the tree over the backs of the bowing Lumarians.

“I’m not just a pretty face that only reads minds, you know.” He gave her a mischievous smile and shrugged. “It isn’t much different from teleporting.” He clasped her hand and led her to the glowing tree. “Come on. I have an idea.”

Wow, this was a whole new side of Abalim she’d never seen before. He acted like a giddy kid impatient to play with a new toy.

They weaved and stepped over the Lumarians bowing in front of the tree.

As she got closer, it became clear the tree was saying something. It sounded like it was trying to say its name, but got stuck in the middle. Over and over. “Jeez, that’s annoying,” she muttered under her breath. A sharp poke at the back of her neck made her wince. Well, crap. Not again.

“Look what we have here,” Nyvira crooned in her ear. “Isn’t this nice? You’ve brought yourselves close enough to Echovara so you can join him in eternity.”

The pinch dug harder into her skin as a rivulet of warm blood trickled down the back of her neck. Lisa was so sick of this happening to her. All she wanted to do was turn around and punch Nyvira in the face. Yeah, that’d teach her.

“Just a couple more steps.”

The hard grip on Lisa’s upper arms didn’t give her any leeway. She was dragged to a worn area in the rough bark in the shape of a Lumarian. She gasped as she was turned around and shoved hard enough into the trunk to lose her breath. Her head thumped against the unyielding bark, and she saw stars. Instinct had her trying to rub the back of her aching head, but that was a no-can-do with her arms bound wide and flat against the tree. Her legs were spread-eagle, and the bindings were so tight her ass smushed against the rough surface.

“Hey, bitch!” Lisa tugged and strained, trying to remove herself from the unyielding bindings. Like struggling ever worked. “Let me go. I didn’t agree to be part of your stupid ritual.”

“Put him next to her.” Tharion demanded, ignoring her. “And make sure he’s bound good and tight. We don’t want him to get loose.”

Lisa gasped as she watched an unconscious Abalim dragged next to her while two Lumarian guards propped him up with his back to the tree.

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