Free Pradorian Mate by C. Baely, Kristie Dawn Page B

“Look! Those rocks…they could hide us while we rest, but we’ll have to move again. We can’t stay in one place for too long or they’ll find us.” She grunted as she practically carried Orora toward the rocks.
    Sara judged the rocks must be some distance away. How would she get there before nightfall while carrying Orora? Sara looked around again for anything else that could hide them while they rested. She saw nothing other than fallen tree limbs and the leaf-covered forest floor. Her sight lingered on the leaves. What if she covered both of them with leaves? She reckoned that would mask their scent, but her mood was dampened when she considered that two long mounds of leaves would look suspicious. She had nothing to dig a hole with, and even if she did find something to use, it would take too long.
    Sara cursed, then looked up. They could climb the trees, but there weren’t many branches to use as footholds until a good fifteen feet up. There was no way they could reach that. Even if Orora stood on her shoulders, she’d still need to find somewhere to hide herself, but maybe she could at least help Orora survive. There was still the question of how she would get off the planet. Sara was certain the Restorian ship must have left by now. She had to try something, but from what she knew of Orora, she couldn’t leave her. She just couldn’t.
    Sara was so wrapped up in her thoughts she barely even noticed when the forest first went silent. There was no sound anywhere. Even the air stood still. Sara’s foot caught on an exposed tree root, causing her to trip. She gasped. Both women hit the ground with a loud thud. The grass beneath her felt pleasantly cool against her hot tired body, and she wanted to lay there, even if it was just for a few more minutes, but the logical part of her brain kicked in and pushed her to get up. As Sara started to push herself up with her hands, two familiar-looking blue and black feet came into view. Her head whipped up suddenly, bringing Archail’s slick, muscular frame into full view.
    “ Where are you going?” His thick voice enunciated every word while his arms crossed over his bulging chest.
    He didn’t look pleased to see Sara, but then again, when did he? Although, there were times when he actually seemed to have her well-being at heart, and she had seen him smile once, maybe even twice. 
    “ We won’t stay here! I refuse, and I’ll keep running away until you get fed up with it and let me go, so you might as well let us go now!” she screamed at the alien.
    “ You’re not going anywhere.” Another voice from behind her nearly startled her out of her skin. The new voice affected Orora, who jerked behind Sara reacting to the masculine sound. Sara looked back instinctively to her friend. Orora ogled the man, the blood draining from her face. She stared wildly in different directions, searching for an escape route. She gasped, realizing there was nowhere to go. Her hand rose mechanically to her mouth and a choking sound slipped from her lips.
    Sara pushed herself in front of her friend and backed them both away until Orora suddenly stopped. It seemed they had hit a tree. They could go no farther for now. Sara stopped and prepared to stand her ground, so to speak, seeing as they were sitting.
    Archail tilted his head curiously to the side. He blinked. “Why did you run?” He stood there peacefully. None of his body language or the look in his eyes seemed malicious or angry. He seemed merely curious. Dar on the other hand seemed shifted his weight from one leg to the other and rubbed the back of his neck showing obvious signs of irritation and impatience.
    Sara opened her mouth ready to speak, but her voice came out somewhat broken, so she swallowed a deep breath and tried again. “I will not stand by and let you slaughter us like animals. You have no right to take our lives, these new lives we’ve been given. We just arrived on this planet, and you’re already talking