Guest Post: LeAnna Shields
Today's guest post comes from LeAnna Shields, author of The Alestrion Chronicles: Slaves Redeemed. LeAnna has very kindly shared an extract from her latest book. Welcome to The World According to Dave LeAnna and many thanks for a great extract. The book sounds fantastic.
Aria's world is about to reach new heights. Rescued from slavery and returned to her home world, she'll learn what it means to have freedom and friends. Please enjoy this excerpt from The Alestrion Chronicles: Slaves Redeemed by LeAnna Shields. Found on Smashwords.com and Amazon.com (for e readers) and Barnesandnoble.com for paperback.
A rope was thrown down the cliff overhead and she heard Naric's voice say, "Tie the other end to the tree, Ray and keep it stable. I'll climb down and help her out." Looking up Aria saw a young man climb down the rope. She coughed as loose dirt and grit fell over her.
He landed a few steps away from her, "You must be, Aria."
Aria nodded, You must be, Naric. Ha ha.
He laughed, "I need to examine your leg."
Aria nodded her permission and braced herself for the pain. Naric gently manipulated her leg. Using a brace he carefully set the bone in much the same fashion as she had set her beloved Daren's broken wing. He placed a tiny device on the leg that was circular and small enough to fit in his palm. Dermahesive allowed the device to stay in place. She sighed with relief as the pain from her leg abated, What? Is that to keep me from running away or something?
Naric chuckled, confidence and openness shining in his vibrant green eye. The place where his other eye should have been was covered with a patch, "No, it's called a bio generator and it should help the pain and speed up the healing process from weeks or months to days or weeks."
Oh, that really worked fast. Thanks.
He smiled, "I should look at that shoulder too."
Aria nodded and again braced herself as Naric popped her dislocated shoulder back into place and again placed a bio generator on the injury. He then tied the rope around her midsection and shouted, "Ok, Ray! Haul us up!" He held onto the rope with a leather-gloved hand as he kept her from hitting any jagged rocks with his free hand. Aria looked up in time to see a grey claw-like hand reaching over the cliff. Naric smiled at her as he took the claw in his free hand and let it pull him up. Then she saw both Naric's hand and the same grey claw reach down and grab her uninjured arm.
Naric said, "Carefully now… that's it… you're almost to the top…" Carefully he pulled her up and let her rest her weight on him. He led her to the tree where Raychor was untying the rope and winding it into a neat coil.
Thank you. Aria said wearily as Naric propped her up against a tree.
"You're welcome." Naric replied, he looked at Raychor and said, "We need to get her either to the camp or back to my house."
Raychor looked up at the gathering storm clouds and heard the rumbles of thunder, "It's gonna storm and I wouldn't risk flying her to the village in that weather. I'll take her in the morning when the storm passes; we'll just take her to the camp for now."
Naric nodded, "Ok, Ray. Let's get her back to camp."
Aria backed away as the monstrous looking beast approached her.
Raychor stopped, "Are you afraid of me?"
No. Aria replied unconvincingly.
"Yes you are. It's ok, lots of people are. But I'm not going to hurt you."
Aria nodded, I believe you. She allowed Raychor to pick her up in his claws. The feeling of his strong arms holding her was the last sensation that Aria had before she slipped into unconsciousness.
