Sheela

Glad you could join us for the next undercover episode of Elliot’s Adventures. If you’re new here, you can catch up by returning to the beginning, and reading really fast…

Sunrise tinted The Arids with gold. Night’s deep purple shadows slunk back under the rocks and mounds and snarly growths from which they’d spread.

Only Lady Lucy’s shadow crept across the sparkling sand as she sailed overhead looking for shelter from the rising heat. The General expected her to return to his main base, but sleeping there, vulnerable and undercover, would be worse than foolish.

A flash of green on a termite hill sliced through her deliberations. Banking hard, she flapped close enough to recognize Sheela from the Light of Day Aero Squadron.

“Sheela! What brings you out here?” she asked, aiming her good ear at the bird’s mouth.

“Special patrol,” Sheela saluted. “Word just came there’s been trouble in the Freelands. I’m watching for Stinger bands crossing back over the border.”

“Have you seen any?”

“Not since I got here just before dawn, but they might have come in the night.”

They might be bringing news about the messenger and me to the General, Lucy worried. She squinted at Sheela in the brightening sun. “I need to ask a favor.”

Members of the Aero Squadrons followed two rules when interacting with the Hive Elite: 1. Never ask them what they’re doing, and 2. Help them whenever they ask.

“Yes, ma’am.”

“I need to sleep, and the shady side of this mound is the most sheltered spot I see. I’d appreciate it if you’d swing by every so often to make sure it’s still safe. Those Stingers are sneaky bastards, and I might not hear them coming.”

“Yes ma’am!”

Clutching the mound’s hardened surface, Lady Lucy curled into a leathery shroud of wings, and dreamed the world ran rampant with baby scorpions.

To be continued. . .

Previously, on Elliot’s Adventures ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Next time . . .