Free Abducted by Aliens (Tales From Angondra Book 1) by Ruth Anne Scott Page B

gasp for breath. Her lungs burned, and she dreaded the moment he told her they weren’t even close to their destination. All at once, he chopped at the air with his hand and hissed at her. “Shh!”
    She help her breath, and Renier strained his ears to listen. Then, out of the blank canvas of trees all around them, dozens of Avitras dropped out of the trees with their double bladed staffs brandished before them. They surrounded Renier and Carmen and held them at the points of their blades.
    A tall Avitras stepped out of the circle. Carmen recognized the frill of iridescent feathers surrounding his head and the haughty carriage of his stride. He was the one who fought Tinim at the gathering. He scanned Renier up and down with his sharp eyes. “You should know not to trespass on our territory, Felsite. We have the right to kill you where you stand for this transgression.”
    Renier opened both hands to him. “You can see I come unarmed, Aquilla. I heard you have one of the Earth females among you, and this woman wished to see her friend. I would not trespass on your territory for any other reason. I trust your honor as Alpha of your faction to let them see each other.”
    Aquilla’s eyes bored into Carmen’s face. “You have nothing to fear for your friend. She is welcome here, and we will take care of her as if she was one of our own.”
    Carmen bristled. “I would still like to see her and talk to her for myself. Once I have determined for myself that she’s comfortable and wishes of her own free will to stay here, I will gladly leave in peace.”
    His eyes blazed. “Do you think we are Romarie, who would keep a helpless creature enslaved? How dare you insult the Avitras this way!”
    Carmen stood her ground. “Penelope Ann is hardly helpless. You must know that.”
    He bristled. “I know that very well. I only meant...”
    “I know what you meant,” Carmen told him. “I never implied you would keep her against her will. I only thought she might like to come stay with other humans. If you let me see her, I can talk to her about this myself.”
    He fixed her with his sharp gaze. Then he nodded over his shoulder. “Very well. You may come, and afterwards you may go back where you came from.”
    He whirled around, but instead of walking away, he levitated straight off the ground and disappeared into the trees with a rustle of his feathers. The other Avitras rose from the ground and took to the canopy after him until Renier and Carmen found themselves alone again. Renier sighed. “Good. We can go on.”
    “How far away are we from....?” She broke off.
    He jerked his head toward the top of the mountain. “Not far. It’s right over there.”
    “They wouldn’t harm Penelope Ann, would they?” Carmen asked.
    Renier set off through the trees with Carmen at his heels. “The Avitras have a strong code of honor. They would never treat your friend the way the Romarie did. If Aquilla says Penelope Ann is happy here, you can believe him.”
    They climbed farther up the mountain, and just below the summit, the raucous cries in the canopy rose to a fevered pitch. Carmen peered up into the treetops when her eye fell on a shadow flit from one tree to another. She looked closer and noticed a tiny Avitras, no bigger than a squirrel, scuttle down one of the trunks. It stopped a hundred feet off the ground and stared at her with enormous eyes.
    “Renier, look!” Carmen whispered, but at the first sound of her voice, the creature scurried back up the trunk and disappeared.
    Renier turned just in time to see it vanish into the leaves. He nodded. “Right. We’re here.” He stopped next to another tree trunk and looked up. “Up you go.”
    Carmen stared at him. “What?”
    He jerked his head toward the trunk. “Get up there. You won’t see your friend on the ground.”
    Carmen blinked. “How am I supposed to get up there?”
    “Climb.” He pointed to the trunk. “See?”
    She looked at the bark and noticed notches