Battle Strong by Elizabeth McCready (the ebook reader txt) 📖

so much potential in the two. Ander counted it a shame when she passed, he wasn't sure if Beth even knew.

     The blend of the two voices was simply breathtaking. Despite the emotions Ander could feel beating from Beth’s skin, she sang with the voice of pure beauty and perfection, flowing alongside the wind. A voice that almost seemed unreal. Each of their harmonies carried through the air with such grace and fluidity. As the final words sent from their lips into the warm air, the two put opposite hands on their chest to honor the brave soul lost that now rested six feet in the ground before them.

*~*

     As much as he didn't want to admit it, Noeh had never heard two voices that coalesced so well together. He'd never heard Beth's voice, and he wished he had before. He almost wondered why she wasn't a performer for the King and the Quill. Although, for Beth to do something like that would mean containing her from a fight for so long. That wouldn't happen. She was never a connoisseur to attention, it wouldn't matter if she could actually refrain from a fight. 

     Noeh watched as the two stood hand-in-hand watching the grave as they tossed two blood red pebbles onto the grave, a closing ritual to honor the final goodbye to their comrade and friend. The six of them together left the graveside. Noeh was sure that today was going to be full of loathing and death on the battlefield. The six had just lost one of their own, there would be no mercy. He would be sure to stay out of Beth's way.

 *~*

    Beth managed to twist her body into the new battle suit that had apparently arrived while she was sleeping. The suit was considerably tighter yet had more places to conceal weapons. It was also much easier to maneuver despite the snug fit. It was as if she slipped a black, lethal, layer of skin over her own. With this suit, there was no measurement to the type of deadly she was feeling. She embraced it.

     Beth armed herself with two swords and her favorite daggers, she was only interested in the intimacy of slicing through the skins of her enemies with only the silver extensions of her arms. She hadn't thought about who she would now partner with. It hadn't been long for her to simply have a partner before his life was ripped away from him. She didn't even want to think about it until she had a throat to slash. She would be glad to disembowel any person that crossed her the wrong way.

     Once she arrived at the bus, the boys turned to her.

"Don't look at me like that. I'm fine, let's go." Beth growled as she started to the bus, turning away from the boys.

"Beth, wait." Ander called after her, grabbing her elbow, "You need someone to go with you."

"What, you think I can't handle myself just because Chaess isn't here?" She pulled a dagger from her sleeve. "Well, Ander, records say I'll be just fine." Beth smiled and watched the blade in her hands as she shifted it against the sun's light.

"I have no doubt that you can handle yourself, but that doesn't make it safe. You are too emotional right now and one little slip will have you killed. You cannot die. You will not go alone."

"Fine, Captain." She bowed mockingly at Ander and smiled a vicious smile. "Your wish is my command. Anyone care to join me in my hunt?"

She looked to Pietre, Quinn, and Stievan who were shaking their heads so violently it made her laugh. Ander and Noeh however seemed unfazed by Beth's cruel behavior.

"And how about you, gentlemen?" She challenged loosely waving her knife between Ander and Noeh. "I won't bite."

"I will." Ander met to her surprise.

"No, you will not." Noeh growled. "I'm going with you."

"Now, boys, save the hostility for the battlefield." She laughed the boys sat in silence. "Well, I could just go alone." She slowly started to strut away.

"She goes with you." Ander said, noticeably regretful of his decision.

"Very well. Off we go, boys." She shouted with the most devilish of tones.

Ander watched as the group started to stalk to the bus. He pulled Noeh back, and vowed so that only he could hear, "If she is hurt when I next see her, you can count on a beating so bad that your own mother won't be able to recognize you. Am I clear?"

"Crystal." Noeh grumbled.

*~*

     If it wasn't for Beth, Noeh would've broken Ander's nose for speaking to him in such a way. Noeh loathed him. To Noeh, Ander was always the demon from Beth's past that damaged her beyond repair. All that time Noeh had spent trying to open Beth back up to the world, now being wasted on him returning. He had no right to come back and try to protect her now, not after he left her for so many years. He had no right to try to gain the trust of the woman he destroyed. It was infuriating for Noeh to watch the woman he loved fawn over the man who destroyed everything she was. Noeh hadn't even known her before Ander, but he was sure that he would still feel the same way regardless, and he was sure that Ander did not deserve her.

     Beth was fierce on the battlefield, a ruthless force that would stop at nothing to achieve whatever goals she had her mind and heart set on. She seemed as though she was no longer human. And that day, her goal was to slaughter, which is exactly what she did. Noeh watched in awe as she carved her blade into the bodies of soldiers barreling towards her. The men she killed in a matter of minutes was almost double than what some warriors had killed in an entire day. She was fire, devouring every ounce of life there was. Burning men to ashes. Noeh made it a point to stay out of range of her blade, because although they were working together, a raging Beth was no one to be close to.

     Noeh was suddenly overwhelmed as he drew his second sword trying to fend off the increasing number of soldiers flooding into their region. There were more soldiers than he had ever seen in one place on this battlefield, and before he even knew what was happening, Beth was gone.

"Beth!" He called, slicing a man's arm off of his body. "Beth!"

     Noeh scrambled through the now dissipating army, whirling and twisting his body and weapons so violently that he didn't feel like himself.

"Beth!" He wailed, gripping the swords tightly in his hands, seeing nothing but a forest full of death before him.

*~*

     All he heard was her name, that was enough to have him sprinting to her region, so fast that he could feel his body aching against this speed he had never even tried to reach. He continued to torture his body until he found Noeh standing in the middle of the forest running frantically screaming her name.

"Where is she?" He growled. "What happened?"

"Do you think I'd be like this if I knew?" Noeh choked on his words, tears forming in his eyes and flowing out in steady streams.

"What did you do?" Ander drew a dagger and lunged for Noeh, trapping him between himself and a tree.

"I- It- I-" Noeh swallowed hard against the dagger pressed to his throat.

"I should kill you." Ander's reddened and his face twisted.

"Kill me or find her." The two stared at each other for a long second before Ander pushed Noeh's body to the ground.

"Which way?"

     Noeh pointed in the direction he had last seen Beth, the only logical direction she could have been taken. Ander lost his control as he sprinted in the direction Noeh had pointed, he had both swords drawn throwing his body past trees and brush, over logs, under branches, any obstacle was no problem for him because it was all for Beth. He wouldn't waste so much time and energy on anything else, no matter what she had done. If he didn't find her, he'd keep searching until he did. His hope was just starting to diminish when he found the tracks. Eight, maybe ten, sets of above average sized men shoes and one set considerably smaller than the rest. It had to be, but then again, how would Beth get into such a situation? He didn't have another option. He followed the tracks.

*~*

     She wasn't entirely sure what was happening. The men had covered her eyes with cloth, and tied another cloth around her mouth that had been drenched with some liquid that made her drowsy and disoriented. Her hearing, however, had improved drastically. She could hear every rustle of the leaves, every breath of the men surrounding her, and every deceptive whisper of the wind. She decided it was best not to say a word as the men dragged her limp body through the woods. It wasn't until they threw her body to the ground that someone decided to speak. Despite how long had it been since she had been taught the Dumarian language she could still remember.

"What do we do with her now?" Asked the soldier who had hold of her left arm.

"Kill her? Or," asked one so close to her face she could feel his breath, as he ran a finger down her cheek. "Something better?" She flinched away from his touch, the men laughing at her.

     She could hear movement, and although she couldn't see, she still sensed that they were circling her. If she didn't get out soon, she may very well be their prey.

"She can't even defend herself." The man who spoke kicked her in her side, she yelped with the surprise and pain.

"Where's your father this time, princess?" Her heart dropped at the sound of the word, another kick. She could feel her face flush, fear worse than any she had ever faced boiled beneath her skin. A large hand yanked her hair back, cruel breath fell hot on her neck.

"She calls herself a warrior," the man chuckled softly as she heard a dagger being unsheathed, maybe his. "And yet, here she is, nothing more than a toy." He drawled.

Cold metal pressed to her cheek, the width of a blade threatening her skin. The blade shifted and she winced at blood welling in the spot the blade once occupied. A stream of blood carried down her jaw, followed by a single tear.

"Oh no, I- I think we've hurt her." A man falsely sympathized and laughed at his own ruthless behavior as he punched Beth's blood covered face. Her body fell to the ground from the impact of the blow.

"No, you don't. I didn't tell you to lie down, did I, princess?" The man dragged her pain stricken body up to a crouching position.

"I think," Another man started, "That the princess wants more." He dragged a blade down her back, enough to break cloth and skin.

Beth felt a calloused hand reaching through the tear in her suit, exploring her bare, exposed, and vulnerable skin. She tried to squirm away, she tried to break free but another hand joined the first as others held her body from freedom.

"If you touch her, you will die. If you look at her, you will die. If you so much as breathe another breath you will die. Either way, you will not see another day on this damned earth." Ander barked in the Dumarian language. Before she knew what was going on she heard metal smashing against metal and a hand dragging her backwards, she screamed Ander's name, the hand pulling her went limp. Silence.

"Ander?" She croaked, the pain of her wounds and bruises overwhelming her. A hand, a gentle hand rested on her cheek, another pulled the blindfold and mouth cloth away. Ander's tear soaked eyes lined with hers.

*~*

Relief washed over him like a waterfall. Involuntary tears streamed