Page 22 of Infala: The Alien's Bond
In the morning light this world was even more beautiful than she’d initially noticed. She saw the distant mountains, now with their peaks shrouded in a morning mist reflecting the sun, as well as the desert and plains that she hadn’t seen clearly the other day.
In the distance, the burning remains of the segment from the Raxxian ship were still aflame, pumping smoke up into the sky in a steady stream. Apparently, whatever they used for fuel, there had been plenty of it.
Darla turned, scanning the rest of the area, looking for anything that might be of use. A town, a farm,anything. She slowly turned, taking it all in. She had glanced past an adjacent tree when she paused. Something was off. Something had caught her eye. A glint of gold.
She squinted, looking closer. Shrouded in the treetop, a large, violet and gold eyed man crouched, leaves tucked into his torn clothing, a hand-woven crown of foliage draped over his head, hanging down over his broad shoulders.
It was incredibly simple, yet with just the vegetation at hand, Heydar had somehow camouflaged himself perfectly.
And Darla didn’t give a shit.
“What the fuck?” she growled. “You just up and abandon me like that?”
“I did not abandon you.”
“What the hell do you call bailing on me without a word? Leaving me all alone in some primitive caveman shelter?”
“I was gathering information while you rested. You were tired.”
“Not so tired that I’m not going to be pissed that you left me there. What if an animal came? Or a Raxxian?”
“There are no Raxxians in our vicinity. And as for animals, the only tracks I have seen so far belong to smaller varieties. Nothing that would be a threat to you,” he said with an amused twinkle in his eyes.
“That doesn’t matter. And what the hell are you grinning at?”
He nodded toward the ground far below. “You climbed the tree without assistance.”
“Yeah? Big deal.”
“You required my help yesterday.”
“Well, you weren’t fucking there to help me today.”
“Indeed,” he said with a chuckle. “A good night’s rest has clearly invigorated you, and your focused anger has served you well.”
Darla felt a little flash of pride creeping in and mixing with her ire. Now that she stopped to think about it, shehadmanaged to climb the tree with surprising ease, partly fueled by sheer irritation.
Heydar had been right about that, and the accuracy of his observation, along with her not noticing until it was pointed out, irked her even more. Honestly, she didn’t know whether she should be pleased or even more infuriated by the whole situation. Before she could make up her mind he raised an arm and pointed.
“What?” she snapped.
“There. Do you see it?”
“See what?”
“There.”
“You’ve got special alien eyes or something. I don’t see shit.”
“Yes, I have enhancing pigment, but it is not required for this. Look harder. You can do this.”
Darla was going to mouth off but held back. Instead she squinted her eyes, searching for whatever it was he was talking about. It took her a minute but then she actually saw something. Smoke in the distance. A different kind of smoke, to be exact.
“Yes,” he said when he saw her register the tendril wafting into the air. “Judging by the changed color of the treetops, something large came down in that area. Likely another section of the Raxxian ship. And this time it does not appear to be ablaze.”
“But the smoke?”
“Normal for so rough a landing, especially with emergency deceleration.”
