Greetings Readers
I am so sorry for the delay in the release of the start of Fell Dragon Book 4. Sadly, last Tuesday, when I was supposed to start the adventure once more, my little hedgehog decided to cross the rainbow bridge. She was 5 and a half years old and suddenly got ill. Despite going to two vets and almost three weeks of meds, she left us. So, I was in no right frame of mind to write or post anything.
With some time passing, it got a little better and I decided it was time to start posting again. So here is the next book int he Fell Dragon series. Just a warning about this book. It will be handling Saita's past and it isn't for the faint of heart. Please consider this the trigger warning.
Myla sat on a platform with her bloodied hands in her hair rocking back and forth. Saita’s words had carved vast slashes into her soul. After everything that had been said that day, everything that had happened, she had used the last of her strength to leave those words with Myla. They hurt, they burned, and since she had left Myla had been unable to process anything.
Next to her sat the Saith Bolx, who was trying to get her to have a doctor look over her. She knew she was fine; it was just shock. Between him and Saita she had never been hurt, but she had seen what the beast had done to her daughter. It had latched onto her arm and throat and had then sunk one of its claws into her chest until something had cracked. Saita’s body hadn’t known what to do as it seemed to simply stop fighting. She hadn’t even screamed in pain.
“Myla.” Said Bolx more sternly.
That snapped her back to reality. The Saith doctor simply lay hands on the back and front of her head and stood there in silence for a few minutes before saying. “It is shock. She is fine. You, however, have a severely lacerated arm that needs to be seen too if you wish to keep it. And don’t even think of telling me you are fine. I can see bone from here.”
Bolx gripped his left forearm and simply said. “You need to look over everyone. It is just an arm. I can survive without it.”
“Don’t try that with me. Next transport is for you and the human, talking of. Translate this for her. What is Saita’s blood type? She has lost a lot of blood, and we need to know what to pump into her.”
Myla’s head went up, and she said. “Mine.”
“You share a blood type? Good, means we don’t need to generate it from scratch…”
“Saita can’t go into surgery; it will kill her. She can’t deal with so much shock.”
“Madam, please calm down. We are well aware of her unique circumstances and have prepared for them.” Said the doctor in as much unbroken human as possible. “We just did not have her blood type in excess supply. Having a sample from someone who isn’t injured or from a contaminated source makes it a lot easier to make the blood. Bolx you may need to translate that for her.”
“I understand you.” Yelled Myla. “I am a doctor too! Take my blood. Help her.”
“We will do what we can.”
Saasha made her way to where Bolx and Myla sat. She struggled not to grin at what had happened. It had been too many years since she had been allowed to dust off her mantel of Blood Dancer, and she had enjoyed it. She had been so focused on her own fights she had left Saita to protect her family, and it had not ended well.
“Just take all of them to the field hospital. It is the closest with the equipment needed to do what you need to do.” She said as she gripped Bolx’s shoulder. “And your dear little brother are bleeding heavily. You will need surgery.”
She turned back to the doctor. “Go now.”
She pulled Bolx to his feet and whispered in his ear. “Keep the Queen from interfering until you can deliver her to my mother and our mother. They are waiting.”
The doctor pulled Myla to her feet, and together the two Saith and the human made their way to the next transport that had stopped for them. Once Saasha was sure they were on their way she returned to the field to have a closer look at the dead. Many of her Guard were being treated by field medics, and she was still amazed that none of them had been outright killed by the creatures that had attacked them. She squatted to look at one of the amalgamations on the ground. Its head had been crushed but its body was still mostly intact.
The head had been distinctly dog-like, she remembered that. She looked at the lower limbs. The animal was bipedal when it attacked with the front claws, but it was able to run on all fours. The back legs were encased in what appeared to be a suit of armour, but she wasn’t sure if this was something that was worn because when she touched it the skin of the beast seemed to simply meld into the metal. Yet, when she turned her attention to the claws, they were removable. She pulled the paw from what appeared to be a glove. The glove was attached to a joint at the wrist, elbow and across the back that acted more like an exoskeleton than a suit. Once she pulled the device loose, she marvelled at the weight. The beasts were clearly strong.
“What are they?” asked Doran from behind her.
“Hell, if I know.” She said softly. “But they definitely made a beeline for anyone stronger than average.”
She got to her feet with a moan as her leg almost buckled under her. Doran was on the verge of offering a hand when she snaked her tail loose and used it to prop herself up.
“Ah! I am getting old.” Groaned Saita as she shook her tail free of mud before winding it back around her waist. “But that was fun.”
She realised that Doran was still there and grinned with embarrassment. “That was inappropriate, I apologise. It’s been some time since I could fight.”
Doran could only nod his head as he looked around. “Seems like only a handful were seriously hurt, and they have already left.”
“Between Saita and Bahn, they carried the worse of the injuries. Bahn should be fine. He’s been hurt worse, but Saita looked like she had some internal injuries. How is your King?”
“He’ll live. Not the first time he received a hard blow to the head. He’s likely already awake at the hospital.”
“I am surprised you didn’t go with him.”
“There is someone I want to speak to first.” He growled as he looked to where two guards were restraining Edzeeker.
He looked furious and was yelling, but another Dekai, Jethron was talking to him to try and calm him but nothing he seemed to say to the other Dekai was making any sort of impact. It took a resounding slap by the younger Dekai to get the older one to calm down.
“Perhaps we can get a few answers now.” Said Saasha.
The two of them made their way to where the two Dekai were talking. It didn’t take long for Saasha to realise it wasn’t Jethron, who was talking to Edzeeker. She knew from the way this one spoke that he was far older and wiser. He also knew the Dekai kneeling before him.
“What have you done, Edzeeker?” demanded Sedeath.
“I am trying to fight the Fallen One, and now the last piece I needed is dead! Unless I get to the child before she does, he too will die. I need to jump and try again. I am running out of time. Why are you helping these lesser beings? You are king!”
“I was, millennia ago, I am an aid to Lord Jethron now, and it is by these lesser beings’ good graces that you still live.” Sedeath looked up as Saasha made her way closer and bowed. “Your Majesty, we have never met face to face before.”
“No, we haven’t, and I don’t like the fact that you took over my son to do it.” She grumbled.
She then looked at the Dekai kneeling in the mud and blood before she sighed. “You couldn’t wait another week before interrupting my plans, could you?”
“Sedeath, let me go!”
“Afraid I can’t.” said the Dekai as he stepped back. “Not my planet, and you have many crimes, which you need to answer for.”
“Listen to me! She is coming, and when she is here, she will rip this world asunder. I have one more chance. Give me S-AY-8-A’s son, and let me leave. I can go back further, prepare him better than I did his mother.”
“Are you even listening to yourself?” asked Doran. “What makes you think we would willingly give you Aidan?”
“You stupid ape. Do you even understand what is coming? This world is already failing, and my only stopgap is dead, but her son I know lives.”
“The girl isn’t dead.” Said Larden as he struggled to hold onto Edzeeker. “Have some faith in your good work.”
“You don’t understand!” Edzeeker screamed. “Red-Eye broke the central disc. The machine is going to go into survival mode. It is going to draw upon S-AY-8-A in order to fix itself, but it doesn’t have healing capabilities, so it will keep draining her until she is dead. So irrespective of whether she is dead now or not, she is going to die.”
It took everything in Doran to restrain himself when he said. “Then how is giving you Aidan going to help you? Saita is the one with the machine inside her, not Aidan.”
“I have enough of the machine remaining for it to grow with him. If his mother cannot be the saviour, then he will have to.”
“Is that why you made him?” demanded Doran. “Why you took everything from Saita?”
“I took her because she was perfect and bore a perfect son. Let me go!”
“You have spare of the machine?” queried Sedeath.
“Enough to allow it to grow inside a child. Nothing that can replace a full system inside of an adult.”
“You only need to replace one piece.”
Just a reminder to those that may have forgotten. Sedeath is the Dekai aid to Jethron and is basically a disembodied spirit that was reborn when Jethron was born. You'll get to learn a lot more about him in the coming days.
I hope you all enjoyed the update! There is more to come on Friday!
For those of you who have never heard of Fell Dragon you can find Book 1 here, Book 2 here and the start of Book 3 here. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me. I love discussing my books!
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
Saasha’s Direct Family
Saith Characters Recap
Human Characters Recap
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