Rebel by S.M. Wilson

Author:S.M. Wilson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Usborne Publishing Ltd

She was almost amused. The two Stipulators looked as if they could expire at any moment. It had taken her a few months to adjust to the climate on Piloria – the extra heat and humidity just seemed to drain every bit of energy. Lincoln had dressed lightly and held his water canister in his hands. But the rest of the scouting party could barely see through the streams of sweat running down their faces.

Reban seemed to be relishing their discomfort, and strode quickly on ahead, pressurizing the others to keep up.

“I’m not going to let them hunt,” Storm muttered under her breath to Lincoln.

“You might have a hard job stopping them,” he replied, glancing around the twenty-strong party.

“Watch me.” She grinned back, full of determination. “Give them another ten minutes and they won’t have the energy to make it back to camp, let alone hunt anything.”

Lincoln pulled a face. “If Reban goes any faster, soon I won’t be able to keep up either.”

She kept grinning as he wiped a thin trickle of sweat away from his temple. She nudged him. “You’ve got soft, city boy. Time to get back in shape.”

Reban stopped just ahead of them. They’d already crossed quite a bit of grassland, and a steep hill lay ahead.

“Okay, guys,” he said, smiling at the men wilting around him. “You want to scout this area? Where better to do it than from a high vantage point? I suspect there is either forest or marshland on the other side of these hills, but we won’t know until we look.” He waved his hand in front of him, his eyes fixing on Larkin. “Maybe it’s time to take off that cloak. Don’t want to wear anything a predator could get hold of, eh?”

He spun back around as Storm stifled a laugh, watching Larkin gulp and finally remove the heavy cloak, tucking it under one arm.

The climb uphill was slow. The sun had risen high in the sky and the steep hill had no cover, making things even hotter. By the time the group had all reached the top, most fell to their knees.

But Storm didn’t. She was taken by the view beneath and beyond. A huge dark lake stretched out in the valley below, surrounded by dense jungle. Across the other side was a herd of stegosauruses, drinking from the water, their spikes glistening as they caught a few of the sun’s rays. She smiled and spun around to look back over the open green space they’d just crossed. It was almost like two separate planets. The valley below would be sheltered from the winds that continued to drift in from the ocean.

She kneeled down next to Dell, who was panting. She’d tried to engage him in conversation a few times on the trek, but each time his answers had been curt and to the point. Dell hated this place. He hated everything about it.

“Don’t you see it?” she said quietly. “Don’t you see how beautiful this land is, how alive?”

Dell looked up through heavy, tired eyelids.

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