Belly of the Beast Warren Thomas (e novels for free .txt) 📖

reports grimly, then promised everyone that the deserters would be hunted down and hanged, if not drawn and quartered.

            Angered by the desertions, the First Sergeant ran his company twice as hard as the previous day. Sick and exhausted men and women littered their passage through the night-shrouded streets, with furious sergeants and corporals verbally abusing them for their weakness and demanding they continue running, or else. Tane was glad, and more than a little proud, to see every member of his squad finish the run. Of course, seeing a very hung-over Sergeant Gareth empty his guts once the run was over, then stagger back to the barracks, made Tane just as happy.

            Like the previous day, Quinn looked the least affected by the run. Tane felt just as tired, but nowhere near as ill as the day before. Both Vikon still looked just as ill. Their newest member was red-faced and huffing furiously, but showed no signs of feeling ill. Tane was grateful, for he understood that women that looked like her attracted undue attention, and animosity, from superiors and other women alike. Any sign of weakness would be jumped upon instantly, and with relish.

            Breakfast went just as fast as the previous day, and all too soon Tane found himself back on the parade ground with a wooden shortsword in hand. They were paired off again for sparring. Tane sparred with Armin, while Quinn took on Joelle. The corporal took Raven aside to test her skill, which proved more than he could handle.

            “What are you grinning at, boy?” Corporal Pendar said, still rubbing the knot on his head that Raven left from her morning drill. She had made it a point to keep hitting the corporal on the same spot, over and over. “You think it’s funny? You and the Tyrian bitch, then. Have at each other.”

            To Tane’s surprise, Raven never hesitated. With a cry of “Ashtar!” that rattled him, she threw herself at Tane. Nothing he could do came close to blocking her thrusts and slices. If they had been using edged weapons, Tane realized with a cold lump that he would’ve died in the first seconds of the fight. Twice she kicked his feet out from under him, and stepped on his neck to hold him down while she gloated over her victory.

            “Let me have at her,” Quinn said.

            He was furious, and Tane wasn’t sure it was wise to allow him to spar with her. He was an elf, and many times faster and stronger than a mere human. But Corporal Pendar thought it a splendid idea, and so ordered it.

            To everyone’s surprise, Raven handled Quinn almost as easily. True, he parried most of the thrusts and cuts Tane had never seen coming, but he never once broke past her defenses. Indeed, Raven’s attack was so tenacious and intense, Quinn rarely had the luxury of mounting any short-lived attacks.

            After ten minutes or so, Corporal Pendar ordered Joelle to go against Raven. She didn’t fare any better than Quinn, and suffered a busted lip in the ordeal as well. When Armin took his turn, there was blood in his eyes.

            “No one bloodies my wife and gets away with it, woman,” he threatened.

            Tane, though still embarrassed at his sorry showing against her, felt a moment’s panic. Raven was clearly winded, her long hair plastered to her neck and her tunic soaked through. Armin was fresh, and had the added strength and stamina of an enraged man. He pounded on her weakening defenses mercilessly until he finally broke through after fifteen minutes.

            Blood erupted from Raven’s nose as she fell back with a wail. Tane tensed to move in to protect her from the Vikon, but Quinn threw an arm up to block him. He watched in horror as Armin pounded in half a dozen kicks into her rib cage, then snatched her up by the hair. It sickened Tane to see the tears flooding down her face, but now both Joelle and Quinn were restraining him. After Armin rammed a final fist into her belly, curling her up on the hard-packed ground, the elf and Vikon released Tane.

            “What was that for!” Tane screamed, near tears himself. “We’re supposed to be a team!” Turning accusing eyes on the corporal, “You’re supposed to be our leader, building a feeling of comradeship among us. But all you are is a sadistic bully, too weak to humble the woman by yourself, so using all of us to do it for you. You make me sick, all of you!”

            Corporal Pendar’s eyes blazed a moment, then he smiled cruelly. “Thanks for volunteering, Tane. Quinn, have at Tane. The rest of you stand ready.”

            Where Raven had lasted over an hour, Tane barely lasted the twenty minutes it took to throw Quinn, Joelle, and Armin against him. They all came at him with the same intensity they attacked Raven with.

            While laying on the ground and wondering if it was possible to die from such a beating, he watched as Quinn became the object of everyone’s attacks. Raven had recovered enough to step to the end of the line and finish the elf off, leaving him bleeding and groaning on the ground while Tane limped into line behind Raven.

            Joelle was next, then Armin. Everyone was thrown into that most horrible of positions three times before they broke for lunch. Three times each of them was beaten into submission by their comrades. Three times each felt the flames of pain and humiliation.

            “Did you enjoy this morning’s drill, boys and girls?” Pendar said as they stood stoically in the mess hall line, their tunics splattered with blood.

            No one answered. Tane wanted to, with a wooden sword across the bastard’s teeth. But he wisely remained mute and emotionless, staring straight ahead as he’d been taught.

            “No? Too bad, because we’re going to be doing it every morning for the next week or so,” he said,