Read Online Destiny Abounds (Starlight Saga Book 1) by Annathesa Nikola Darksbane, Shei Darksbane - Free Book Online
Authors: Annathesa Nikola Darksbane, Shei Darksbane
Tags: Space Opera
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contained therein. When she opened them again a moment later, a tint of sadness tinged her vibrant orbs, toning down the other emotions. “Perhaps, I will think upon the question some more, at length. My description was... poetic, perhaps, but I harbor doubts that it was the explanation you were seeking.”
She smiled with a soft amusement at Merlo, who glanced down for a moment to consider her feelings, nebulous as they were. She felt moved, but found it difficult to truly relate; had she ever felt so powerfully about any place, even about her own home, now so far away as to feel unreachable? That train of thought even caused mild swirls of guilt to rise from where they had lain dormant within. “No, Captain, that was actually pretty good,” she said after a moment, wanting to give voice to something appreciative before the silence began to hang empty in the air. “Thanks.”
Merlo looked back up at her Captain, wondering once again why, if she cared so much for Fade, she was out here instead of back there. When she’d mentioned at ports that her Captain was from Fade, people had outright laughed to the point of crying at the “joke.”
Apparently, people from Fade didn’t do space travel; it was unheard of there. Her internal turmoil was rearing its head, though, and that discomfort pushed her to stand, seeking something that would busy her hands and distract her instead. “Hey, I feel the bathroom and the cargo bay calling,” she offered by way of excuse. The Captain nodded understandingly in return. “Then I need to drop off some of the locations into the nav- so I’ll see you later, huh?” She patted the datapad secured at the small of her back indicatively and nodded with a crisp efficiency as she took quick strides out the open doorway and down the hall.
CHAPTER FOUR
One Piece of Steel
Branwen
Branwen drove her blade home into the meat of an extended arm, deep into the man’s bicep. She didn’t twist it as she pulled it free, as she normally would have, leaving a clean stab wound. She was nonetheless rewarded with a wild, surprised cry of pain, and she responded by driving one of her heavy plated boots into the man’s sternum with enough force to send him sprawling awkwardly into one of his fellows.
As she and Merlo fought under the shade of the sparse trees surrounding them, instincts crouched in the back of her mind, screaming at her that she mustn’t go easy on these people; those that didn’t fight for their lives with everything they had usually wound up dead. But as she looked around at the dirt smeared faces of the men and women crowding her, brandishing their improvised and poorly maintained weapons, she reached deep inside and found the killer’s place in her soul missing. She didn’t have the heart to end them, not now; not anymore.
“Captain!” Merlo cried out, and with hardly a glance, Branwen spun to parry aside some sort of foreign farming utensil as it reached, somewhat timidly, for her exposed side. It was the first time she’d been in battle alongside her pilot; she had to admit that she was impressed by the girl’s skill. The brutal acrobatics of Merlo’s unarmed style seemed backed up by amazingly superior strength and speed, but was just barely enough to keep her ahead of the enemy’s advantage of numbers and reach.
It was pretty clear to Branwen, who was well practiced at studying her foes in or out of combat, that these people weren’t hardened killers. It was etched into their eyes, into the lines of desperation carved into their lean faces, into the moments of hesitation where their hands shook instead of surging forward for a killing blow. They looked like simple people, perhaps farmers or laborers, not soldiers, and they wanted her cargo, not her head; a load of medicinal supplies on a little four-wheeled auto transport destined for a town toward the outer reaches of Pireida’s habitable area.
Unfortunately for them, neither of those
She smiled with a soft amusement at Merlo, who glanced down for a moment to consider her feelings, nebulous as they were. She felt moved, but found it difficult to truly relate; had she ever felt so powerfully about any place, even about her own home, now so far away as to feel unreachable? That train of thought even caused mild swirls of guilt to rise from where they had lain dormant within. “No, Captain, that was actually pretty good,” she said after a moment, wanting to give voice to something appreciative before the silence began to hang empty in the air. “Thanks.”
Merlo looked back up at her Captain, wondering once again why, if she cared so much for Fade, she was out here instead of back there. When she’d mentioned at ports that her Captain was from Fade, people had outright laughed to the point of crying at the “joke.”
Apparently, people from Fade didn’t do space travel; it was unheard of there. Her internal turmoil was rearing its head, though, and that discomfort pushed her to stand, seeking something that would busy her hands and distract her instead. “Hey, I feel the bathroom and the cargo bay calling,” she offered by way of excuse. The Captain nodded understandingly in return. “Then I need to drop off some of the locations into the nav- so I’ll see you later, huh?” She patted the datapad secured at the small of her back indicatively and nodded with a crisp efficiency as she took quick strides out the open doorway and down the hall.
CHAPTER FOUR
One Piece of Steel
Branwen
Branwen drove her blade home into the meat of an extended arm, deep into the man’s bicep. She didn’t twist it as she pulled it free, as she normally would have, leaving a clean stab wound. She was nonetheless rewarded with a wild, surprised cry of pain, and she responded by driving one of her heavy plated boots into the man’s sternum with enough force to send him sprawling awkwardly into one of his fellows.
As she and Merlo fought under the shade of the sparse trees surrounding them, instincts crouched in the back of her mind, screaming at her that she mustn’t go easy on these people; those that didn’t fight for their lives with everything they had usually wound up dead. But as she looked around at the dirt smeared faces of the men and women crowding her, brandishing their improvised and poorly maintained weapons, she reached deep inside and found the killer’s place in her soul missing. She didn’t have the heart to end them, not now; not anymore.
“Captain!” Merlo cried out, and with hardly a glance, Branwen spun to parry aside some sort of foreign farming utensil as it reached, somewhat timidly, for her exposed side. It was the first time she’d been in battle alongside her pilot; she had to admit that she was impressed by the girl’s skill. The brutal acrobatics of Merlo’s unarmed style seemed backed up by amazingly superior strength and speed, but was just barely enough to keep her ahead of the enemy’s advantage of numbers and reach.
It was pretty clear to Branwen, who was well practiced at studying her foes in or out of combat, that these people weren’t hardened killers. It was etched into their eyes, into the lines of desperation carved into their lean faces, into the moments of hesitation where their hands shook instead of surging forward for a killing blow. They looked like simple people, perhaps farmers or laborers, not soldiers, and they wanted her cargo, not her head; a load of medicinal supplies on a little four-wheeled auto transport destined for a town toward the outer reaches of Pireida’s habitable area.
Unfortunately for them, neither of those
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