by Pj Belanger
guessed the beach lay.
The shore came into focus, it’s light colored sandy beach standing out with the reflection of their moon. Letting Ben down slowly to the ground he looked around. No one was in sight but he saw foot prints. Yes! It was then that he realized he’d left his booties back on the trail when he had changed shape.
Shit! Hoisting Ben once more on his shoulders, gritting his teeth he went down to the water. Shards of glass cut into the bottom of his feet. He kept going into the water, again feeling the glass cutting his feet. He finally got far enough out that he could get some relief from floating. Now what? He didn’t have anything to signal with. He yelled out but nothing but silence greeted him. They must have left without the two of them.
Well, at least I saved most of them. You know you’re a fool! His mind screamed at him. It proves I’m a human, he actually laughed. The fever was making him crazy although the water felt cool. Ben became slightly conscious.
“Did we make it?” Ben mumbled as Markus held on to him.
“Sort of,” Markus tried to comfort the hurt man. Let him die in comfort.
“Thank you,” Ben whispered and went unconscious again. Markus tugged him further into the water dragging the dead weight with him. He floated on his back, looking upwards. The sky was full of sparkling stars. One of those is home, his mind searched the heavens. He was getting delirious. Maybe I should turn myself into a fish, his mind laughed. Nope, can’t do that, he snickered, not mammal shaped, not compatible. But then… his mind gave way. In his delirium, Markus began changing into a fish. He felt himself drowning trying to take water into his gills.
Suddenly he was caught in a fishnet. “Leave me be!” he croaked. Air filled his lungs, he gasped. He was a fish, wasn’t he? Let me back into the water.
“Major, Major,” strong hands grasped him as they drew him over the side of the rescue boat. They pressed hard on his chest. Pumping until he threw up. He heard Shana close by.
“He got bit by a Tschi Flea, he’s sick!” she yelled.
“Get me the medical kit,” it was Corporal Allen’s voice that Markus heard through his foggy brain. He felt the needle when it went into his arm. He also felt the medicine stream through his body. He traced it as the antidote attacked every organ in his body, overtaking the Tschi poison. His body was changing back to his Curthian shape - a tall, thin, pale man. His brain registered a sedative that was trying to make him sleep. He fought it as best he could but he knew it was a losing battle.
With the help of Shana and the Corporal he sat up as the grogginess started to fill his brain. He was sitting on the floor of a fishing boat - the rescue ship they had promised would pick them up. It had worked! Close by he saw several medics working on Ben.
“Will he be okay?” he asked between fighting the sedative.
“They think so,” Shana was the one who answered him. “Thank god we found you. The Corporal wouldn’t leave without you. Ben’s fluorescent booties led us to you.”
“Where are we?” he asked Allen.
“We’re running as fast as we can away from Hades.” The words had hardly gotten out of the Corporal’s mouth when large booming sounds floated over the ship, rocking it violently.
Markus looked out to the east; the sky was lit up. They were destroying the island. They were hitting it with everything they had. The horizon was brightly lit up. Despite fighting the sedative shot, the Curthian felt himself losing consciousness. “Don’t worry, Major. We got you, you’ll be just fine.” Corporal Allen patted his arm.
He heard a remark from one of the crewmembers through the haze of coming sleep, “What the hell is he, did you see how he changed?”
It was Shana’s last words that came roaring into his brain, “He’s a human, you idiot, a wonderful different human.”
Thank You!
Thank you for taking time to read Soldiers Three - Warriors of Strength.
If you enjoyed it, please consider telling your friends or posting a short review. Word of mouth is any author’s best friend and is much appreciated.
Also by Pj Belanger:
The Houses of Storem - Epic Fantasy
The Thunderstone
The Treachery
The Triad
Space Detective - A Skip Brown Adventure
Murder on Nestor – Race to Death
Murder on M.O.S.S. – Medical Mayhem
Murder on Hilda – Slippery Slopes
Murder on Casey – Plains on Fire
Collections of Sci-Fi/Fantasy short stories
Sci-Fi à-la-mode
Soldiers One – Warriors of Misfortune
Soldiers Two – Warriors of Courage
Soldiers Three – Warriors of Strength
Coming soon: new Fantasy series
Mage Riders
Six young wizards are stripped of their powers by their King
until they can prove themselves as worthy warriors
Available at all major online retailers
See more information at
https://www.pjbelanger.com