Battle Strong

Chapter Eight

"Beth! Wake up!" Ander called.

Beth's body lifted from her mattress, in a daze of confusion as lightning lit the open air outside of the cabin. In a bout of adrenaline she asked, "What's going on? Is everyone okay?"

"There's a bad storm, it's starting to flood. It's going to get bad, Beth. We are trying to get all the horses inside the stable but Calypso isn't budging, she's panicked and I think she's going to get hurt-" Before he could finish his statement, Beth was running for the pasture. She splashed and jumped through ankle-deep water to get her horse before the water or its contents could hurt her.

"Calypso!" She called over and over. The sound of a horrific neigh sent Beth flying over the fence into the already flooded pasture. She waded through the water that was almost to her waist in the pasture until she found Calypso rearing and neighing near the giant oak that towered over the rushing waters below. "Easy," she soothed through the sound of the rain drumming on the pooling water, "I'm gonna get you out of here but you need to trust me."

The horse stomped her feet, eyes wide and ears pinned. Beth, in a frantic attempt to get the horse to safety, removed her soaked jacket from her body and wrapped it around Calypso's head, covering her eyes. With her eyes covered, the horse didn't know how to protect herself so she followed Beth's leading hand.

*~*

Ander was just short of losing his mind. Between the flooding and soaked, whiny soldiers, he felt out of control. To make matters worse, Beth was missing and there was a very high chance they would all have to sleep in the stables. A crack of thunder sent him barreling back into reality.

"Pietre, find a place for all of us to sleep." Pietre nodded and took off searching for a place that had not yet been compromised by horse or water. "Quinn, find us bedding; blankets, pillows, and anything than can be used as such."

"Does straw count for anything?"

"Only as a last resort, look for better options first." Ander turned to Noeh and Stievan. "You two go back to the commons, find food that you can bring back here, water too."

Once everyone was scattered with their tasks, Ander ran into the wall of rain.

"Beth!" He called out blindly.

"I'm here." Her words startling Ander. "Get the door so I can get Calypso inside."

Ander obeyed hastily and observed the rising water before pulling the door shut.

"Come on, let's try to get you dried off."

"Her too, horse's can get skin rashes from rain."

"And you, Donaway, can get life-threatening illnesses, I'll have Pietre or Quinn take care of Calypso, okay? It's cold and you are soaked."

Beth nodded and Ander wrapped an arm around her, guiding her to a warmer place to dry off. Ander watched as Beth shivered helplessly beneath the horse blankets he'd found lying around the tack room.

"Why did you go out there? With the water that high, you should've let her get to safety herself." He tried to sound less judgemental and angry, but he wasn't sure if he was convincing.

"She could've gotten injured out there, and I don't know if you've noticed but both her and I are okay."

"Beth, she's just a horse, this could've ended completely different."

"Ander, it's just a little rain, and compared to what we experience from day to day, I think sky water should be the least of our worries." She soothed him, with the most simple of words she calmed the storm that had been raging inside his head.