Where Peace Is Lost by Valerie Valdes EPUB & PDF – eBook Details Online
- Status: Available for Free Download
- Author: Valerie Valdes
- Language: English
- Genre: Science Fiction
- Format: PDF / EPUB
- Size: 2 MB
- Price: Free
Kel hung upside down from the side of the enormous xoffedil she’d been
climbing and reconsidered her life choices.
The creature thankfully hadn’t noticed her distress; if it did, it might
reach back with its long, tentacled proboscis and try to yank her off. This
might tear out a clump of its fur and make it violently angry, sending it
charging into the forest with Kel in its furious clutches. Or it might rip Kel’s
leg off at whichever joint was weakest, and she’d probably die of shock,
pain, or blood loss long before anyone noticed she was missing.
Or it might eat her. Or all those things in no particular order.
None of the options appealed, but admittedly, nor did being stuck with
her booted foot going numb while leaves and branches slapped her face and
arms with every step the creature took through the trees. Above her—or
technically below her—a slash of lavender sky flashed in and out of view,
flanked by walls of vegetation as the xoffedil lumbered along its path. Birds
hummed or whistled deeper in the green, occasionally taking to the air with
a scream, and insects clicked their carapaces and rattled their wings in
defiance of the predators lurking in the underbrush, eager for a crunchy
snack.
With a grunt of effort, Kel wrenched herself up by bending at the waist,
then fumbled for the rope wrapped around her ankle. Her muscles strained
as she pulled until she was vertical, climbing further up to ease the tension
on the knotted loop. Wrapping a length of the cord around her wrist a few
times, she reached down and bent her leg, grabbing the loop and tugging it
over her boot’s heel. All this work to scale the creature for a few fistfuls of
kexeet—the valuable rainbow moss growing on its shaggy fur.
The xoffedil trumpeted, and Kel jerked in surprise, nearly losing her grip.
In the distance, a similar call replied. Oh spirits. The giant hexapod wasn’t
out looking for food; it was trying to find a mate.
A series of new potential methods of dying spread out before her like a
feast in the village. Xoffedil were extremely vigorous in their reproductive
activities. Kel had to get away before the two creatures reached each other.
Abandoning all hope of a profitable harvest, Kel clambered up the
xoffedil’s flank as fast as she could. She reached the spot where she’d
attached her anchor line to its fur, decoupling the elaborate series of clips
that spread her weight around.
The more she moved, the more likely the
creature would notice her presence and try to rid itself of an unpleasant
pest. If she lost her grip on the way down, she could easily fall to her death.
If she survived the four-story drop, she might be crushed by a foot the size
of an armed transport.
If this were simple, everyone would do it, Kel thought. And the price of
kexeet would be much lower.
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