Greetings Readers
It has been a crazy week and I am glad it is over. The herbal book is finally over and I am done with a nitpicking client. Now for a nice prepper book using everything I have learned in the last 2 years.
But you're all here for the next chapter of Fell Dragon, and I am here to provide! Enjoy.
Saita had sent Aidan on ahead while she got a better look at those who were gathered in the barracks. Some she knew but most she did not. What really raised her hackles was the twenty-odd Saith that were chained in place before them. Slaves. Her stomach turned. The human empire had been built on the backs of slaves and though it had been abolished several times it always seemed to raise its ugly head. She felt helpless at seeing them and wanted to free them, but she knew Kiai’s hands and therefore her own were tied. She made her way back to the underground undetected. She was not going to tell Kiai about her adventure with Doran.
It had been good to see the man, but she felt pity for him. His loyalty to a power-mad king was slowly killing him and it would end in tears. Saita went to her room to think. Prisoners of war used as slaves were not unheard of, but it was not something she liked. To free them would cause more attention to be brought to the planet and Kiai didn’t need that. It had taken everything in Saita to not react when she had seen Karesh but the look on Kiai’s face let her know that she was completely unprepared. She didn’t know for how long she lay in her top bunk before there was a knock at her door.
“Come in.” she half sat up and saw Kiai come into her room still pale-faced.
Though angry at their previous conversation Saita let it go and indicated that she could sit.
“He brought me slaves,” she whispered. “What am I going to do?”
“What did he tell you to do?”
Kiai explained and Saita listened before saying. “Kill them then.”
Kiai looked up in time to see Saita using air quotations. “Explain.”
“Tonight, have your guards take over their care and let Barik go talk to them. Let him give them the options that they have available to them. They either follow or they have to work. That is pretty much all you can offer them. Wouldn’t you rather build on the powers that you need for this grand plan of yours?” Saita lay back on her bed and continued. “Those that follow, which should be most of them, will be ‘killed’ and brought here. They will have to hide from the sunlight, but they will at least have the promise of freedom afterwards. The best option I have for them.”
“It can work but...it is so dangerous, what if we can’t trust them?”
“But what if we can. What if they can help us communicate with the Saith? Find a way to avoid an all-out war.”
“At this point, the only way to avoid an all-out war is to kill your father,” said Kiai sadly. “I fear he has gone too far with the slaves.”
Saita closed her eyes and sighed. “I know, I know.”
Kiai’s guards didn’t get a chance to guard the slaves until two weeks later. Barik and Saita had gone down to where they were being homed to talk to them about their situation. There had been an outcry and a demand to be freed when they saw Barik but when they saw Saita there had been an uncomfortable silence. She was the reason for all of this. Her father had started this campaign because of her and now she seemed to be doing nothing but watching them suffer.
She didn’t need to speak their language to know they were angry. Barik was trying to calm them but many strong women and men started advancing on him. Saita, who had stood aside during the conversation now turned her attention to the mob who were hurling insults at her and Barik. That was, until one male, that had stood apart, suddenly barked an order and the remaining fell silent. He looked up at Saita and grinned. She was confused at first until he spoke in one of the dialects that the humans used. “I am glad that you were found, Saita.”
There was no hint of an accent or anything and even Barik looked at him in confusion before his eyes opened wide and he stammered. “I thought you were dead.”
The male stood taller and chuckled before he said. “I am a bit of a cockroach, like most of my mother’s people, we just don’t seem to die. No. I am alive, but we are all that know of this, and the war is getting worse.”
The conversation was being held in a language that allowed Saita to follow.
“We need to tell the Queen her brother lives. If they know it can open a bridge of communication and maybe…” Barik trailed off as the new Saith approached Saita.
“It has been a long time.”
Saita looked him up and down. He was tall but she had no idea if he was tall by Saith standards. He was smiling as if they were old friends and she had to disappoint him. “I have no memory from the last four years, so I am afraid that I do not know who you are.”
“Oh.” he seemed taken aback by this but then added. “The name my parents gave me is Bolx, but everyone tends to call me by my father’s name because we look so alike.”
“You say that like I am meant to know who you are talking about. I don’t know who you are. I only know that you are a Saith, and you are the brother to the Queen, I would guess. So, a prince?”
“Not even close.” He laughed. “My sister has the throne because it was willed to her. It was not handed down through the bloodline as you see with the humans.”
“Commander Bolx, we need to tell your family that you live. The human king was convinced that he had killed you and your entire family. Your parents were sick with grief…”
The large Saith raised his shackled hands and simply said. “Tell me how Barik? Tell me how I am to return home if I am a prisoner of war and at the mercy of the humans.”
There was heavy sarcasm in his voice and the other Saith laughed.
“Did he say something funny?” Asked Saita, now very confused.
“Allow me to show you.” Bolx bathed his forearms in light before wrenching his arms aside, snapping the shackles and chains.
This action was repeated by most of those that had been held captive. Saita looked at this in confusion and eventually said. “You were never captured, were you?”
“Oh no, we were captured. We just didn’t let anyone know that we could escape at any time.” Bolx moved amongst those that were gathered and removed shackles. “Barik, you mentioned my family died. My wife and daughter?”
“To my knowledge they died, we even thought you had died.”
Bolx sighed, no tears, no lamenting, just a sigh before he said. “So that is how it happened.”
Saita watched all twenty Saith rubbing their wrists and realised the extreme danger she was in. If they had never been captured in the first place, then they were hoping to be brought somewhere specific. Here they could do a lot of damage to Karesh’s plan as well as Kiai’s. She sat down on a crate and viewed the Saith before her. Not one seemed to be a normal person, they were all well-built and seemed hardened. These were fighters, warriors, or mercenaries.
“Why are you here?” She asked cautiously.
“For you.” Said one of the Saith who had a tail curled around his ankle.
Bolx swung his arm out and calmed the young man before saying. “That was but one plan, we have been given another. Shall we at least listen to what is presented to us? It is likely if we do most of us will be able to go home.”
“Taking her now will engulf the universe in a war that will see that most intelligent life die.” Said Barik.
“I am curious,” said Saita, keeping her eyes on Bolx who was doing the same to her but with a grin. “Two weeks you have waited for this opportunity. You knew we were coming. How?”
“He’s a Truth Seeker.” Said Barik softly.
“I don’t know what that is.”
“It means I know about your son and what Edzeeker did to you.” Said Bolx without hesitation.
Saita felt the colour drain from her face before she whispered. “Mind readers!”
“A bit of yes, a bit of no.” He laughed. “I knew of your cousin’s plans so I had us all wait to hear what you have to say. Knowing that we have a Saith here is good.”
Bolx gripped Barik’s hand and said. “You had a son with a human, didn’t you? Is he well? Healthy?”
“Yes, fit as an ox.”
They chatted away a bit more in a language that Saith couldn’t understand. She assumed it was something a little more private. At the end of it, Bolx clapped his hands and said. “Then we die.”
“This better work.” said Saita under her breath as she watched the monitor the ‘execution’ of the slaves that had attacked and injured several guards.
Barik was grinning and simply said. “This was your plan, Princess; we will have to see how this plays out.”
A few hours later all twenty, filth-covered Saith were being escorted to their rooms, which Kiai had made sure were all close together so that they could form their own communities. All these rooms were close to Saita’s room, and she prayed none of them were light sleepers.
“Male showers are down that corridor and female showers are here.” Saita heard Kiai explain as she led the Saith passed her room. “The mess hall serves main meals on the bell but has food ready for any who require a snack. Not many people speak Saith but if you ask for me, I will be able to translate for you.”
Bolx stopped at the entrance of her room and viewed her out the corner of his eye. “Are the nightmares still bad?”
“What?”
“Your nightmares? When you eventually sleep, do you still wake screaming?”
“That is no business of yours!” she stammered. “Please stop reading my mind.”
“Kiai I’ll take this room if you don’t mind.” Shouted Bolx as he moved on to the room next door.
“I don’t think I like having a mind reader this close to me.” Muttered Saita as she rolled to her stomach and continued to read the letter on her data pad.
It had been from her mother. It was filled with reports on the thing inside of her. Followed by information about the war and only a little about the family. They still hadn’t told Aleux about her being alive and it bothered her. She didn’t know why everyone was hiding it from her little brother but what could she do? It wasn’t as if she knew where he was or how to get information to him. She sighed and scanned through the earlier mention of The System inside of her.
The System. Jarah had come up with the name. It was a living, metallic parasite that seemingly generated excess energy at the cost of cellular death. Cellular death. They had clearly forgotten to remove that from the information they had given her. Her body was breaking down and for what? Why had Edzeeker done this to her?
Leaning over the bunk bed she tossed the data pad onto her desk without bothering to turn it off before rolling onto her back and staring at the ceiling above her. Allies. They had some now. And these were not just any allies but some of them were of the Queen’s elite fighters. The Royal Guard. The group’s general had been reporting back to the Queen when the humans had stuck, and these members had been captured. Saita was confused though. She was sure that the queen’s brother had been killed, not captured.
“Good thing they didn’t attack while the General was around. Killing the Queen’s brother was a nasty move but had they killed her firstborn, well...the humans would have been extinct.” Bolx let himself into her room and looked around.
“Please stop reading my mind,” said Saita with irritation.
“Stating facts. Saasha could mourn good old Bolx, but had she lost Larden I don’t think even the babes would have been left over.” He sat down on the chair, completely uninvited and said. “Hell, we didn’t even know your kind existed until you attacked. Honestly, we thought you were legends conceived to fright children into looking after nature and not blowing up your own planet.”
“You talk a lot for someone who hasn’t really bothered to introduce himself fully.”
“My manners. I am Bolx, eldest son to Baks and Silens.” He then said a little more quietly. “Husband to Millie and father to Mya. Both deceased.”
Saita regretted asking that of him so changed the topic. “You are of the Royal Guard I heard from one of your people. Don’t you all have second names?”
“Look at me, I was called Bolx the Mountain since I was about ten. The name stuck.” he threw his arms out to demonstrate his size.
“Why are you in my room irritating me?” Demanded Saita, now tired of his company.
“It has been a long time,” he said. “It is good to see familiar faces.”
“Again, I have no idea who you are.”
“Ah! Well, that will change in due time. I will let you rest. I am not a light sleeper when I am underground, so do not worry about me.” He got to his feet and made to leave the room. “Rest while you can.”
We are now ramping up to the end of book 2. I hope you have all enjoyed the story up to this point. Stick around to see how the story develops from here.
For those of you just joining us, please note that this is the follow on book from Fell Dragon. Follow this link to read it
Fell Dragon Book 1
As the series continues, it will combine with another book series I wrote. To avoid confusion about what is happening, introductory chapters will be introduced separately so that you don't have to be lost. However, these chapters will contain spoilers. You can find these chapters here:
Races Explained
Banishment
Royal Guard
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Haven't read the other parts yet? Follow these handy links:
Part 23>>You are Here>>Part 25