Page 19 of Infala: The Alien's Bond
“Fine. Just help me up.”
“I do not require your assistance in this matter.”
“I didn’t say I wanted to help. I just want to see.”
Those gold-rimmed eyes stared at her a long moment, making her shift uneasily. In all the commotion, she’d forgotten how much he could resemble a predator, and an apex one at that.
A long, bulging arm lowered toward her.
“Grab hold,” he growled
She did as best she could, but his wrists were too girthy for her to get a proper grip. Heydar sighed and wrapped his fingers around her forearm, the additional joints allowing them to encircle her limb in a snug embrace.
Then, as quickly as he’d reached his arm down, Darla found herself hauled aloft and placed gently on a sturdy branch.
“Satisfied?” he asked, releasing his grip.
“Yes, very.”
“Hmph.”
He began scaling the tree without another word, once again affording her a great view of that magnificent ass on the way up. With that impressive thing staring her in the face, Darla couldn’t help but look.
What’s with me? Did the Raxxians put something in the food to make their livestock breed or something? ‘Cause hot damn, I’m feeling horny as hell. Then again, now that I think of it, that may also just be the whole narrowly cheating death thing doing the talking. Funny how adrenaline can do that.
She shook her head and pushed those thoughts from her head, shifting her legs to relieve the little tingle the pressure from her current perch was producing. It was nice.Reallynice, truth be told, but she had other things to focus on.
Darla’s reach wasn’t nearly as long as Heydar’s but she managed to follow him up into the heights of the canopy, and what she saw when she joined him there took her breath away.
Stretching as far as the eye could see was a lush, green world, jutting bursts of burgundy, purple, and orange plant life springing up in some areas making it into a patchwork of stunning nature.
The air was clear and crisp, small, happy clouds drifting in the breeze. It was as if they had landed in some pristine corner of the world, untouched by humanity. Of course, this was an alien world, so technically that was true.
Off in the distance the lush colors of the forest gave way to what seemed to be a reddish-brown desert. Heat waves radiated from the ground, giving it an almost wavy appearance. But that wasn’t the only thing they saw.
Off toward the horizon on their left a massive mountain range could be made out, far smaller in appearance than reality due to the tricks that distance could play on the eye.
“It’s beautiful,” she gasped.
Even Heydar’s typically rough and matter-of-fact demeanor had seemed to soften a little.
“Yes, it is,” he replied, a faraway look in his eye.
Darla scanned the terrain, looking for any sign of a city or settlement. There was none.
“I don’t see any cities out there,” she said.
“No. But that does not mean there aren’t any,” he replied. “We could tell better at night, when cooking fires would be lit, but that is hours away, and we should be moving.”
He started to descend from their perch.
“Why would they use campfires to cook?” Darla asked as she followed him down.
“Because not all societies are as advanced as others. I do not recognize this world based on this limited view, but by the undeveloped look of it, this is most likely the case here. Time will tell. Now, come. We must find shelter, sustenance, and water if we are to survive.”
Heydar reversed the ascent process, descending after her then gently lowering her from the tree before leaping down to join her, landing as nimbly as a big cat. He took one look around and made a decision.
“This way.”
