Greetings everyone
What a fine Tuesday morning this is! My outline for a book is done, I'm working with three different clients, and I'm booked for work up until July! Going to be a busy few weeks!
The mice are wilding nicely, and we nearly had an escape yesterday! That nearly ended in tears, as I thought it was going to die in my house. Luckily, my partner was able to move the couches around so I could catch it.
The rat has now started his wilding, which I'm grateful for, as I get to sleep through the night now.
I haven't had time to work on Fell Dragon last week, as I noticed a few inconsistencies as I was writing Bolx's past, which will need to be fixed now. Much to my annoyance, but such it is when you write a series of books. I hope you all enjoy the long update today!
Two years flew by for Aidan. He had gotten used to being shunted around from family member to family member. The stares and whispers were something he had gotten used to after a while. He knew early on that his mother had been banished, and that there was a possibility that he would never see her again, so he tried to adapt to things around him. He tried so hard. Yet, the looks were always the same. He didn’t belong here. He was a product of a forced union. Even the man that had been the male contributor to his creation had tried to put a brave face on when meeting him for the first time. Yet, Aidan could see in his eyes that Astec was not pleased with his existence. He tried to force a relationship with the boy, but it was one of distrust. Astec had not planned to have him, and now that he was here it was a constant reminder of what could have been had Saita lived a normal life. Astec’s wife, Leah, had tried to get the two of them to get along for the sake of the other baby, but it was painfully clear to Aidan which of the two was preferred. He didn’t stay with his father.
He spent some time with Pura, but the man looked at him with such guilt and misery that the boy never felt welcomed. He would do the studies presented to him but knew that they were only meant to keep him out of sight and away from being underfoot. There was a brief period that he had spent with his grandparents on his mother’s side. Neither of them could look at him without one crying and the other entering a dissociative state. Every few weeks he would simply be handed off to various people within the family.
The only time that he felt like he was wanted was when Viribus and Kiai took him in. Viribus treated him like another son and taught him about his family tree and his mother. He didn’t have many stories, but he loved telling the story of how Saita had lost her eye. The man, who usually had a very short temper, had the universe’s worth of patience for his grandson. Unlike Astec, who struggled with even calling the boy his son, Viribus proudly proclaimed it and showed him off often. Even when he found new love and started to settle. There was to be a daughter born soon. Aidan thought he would be shipped off again, having no more of a role to fill. However, Viribus’ new wife, Sarah loved him dearly and refused to have the royal family take him again.
That was when Aidan found out why he was being sent from one family member to another. Edzeeker was looking for him, and no one wanted to risk the boy being taken as his mother had. He just couldn’t understand why everyone hated Edzeeker so much. The Dekai had been nothing but kind to him and cared for him. More than what the humans ever had. There was a stage, when he knew he was going to be taken from Viribus, that he wanted to run away, hoping that Edzeeker would take him again. Anything was better than being shunted around where no one wanted him, where no one was willing to fight for him. Sarah had cried when the castle guard had taken him to his new home. He wasn’t going to get to be there for the birth of her daughter.
His next home was with people he at least knew, and here he was welcomed with open arms. Kiai and Barik, his father’s uncle and aunt. He remembered them well, and he ran to Kiai, who readily accepted him with open arms.
“Welcome home Aidan.” She whispered as she hugged him tightly.
That had been six months ago, and no one had come to move him again. He and his cousin, Saita, went to school together on the planet that had previously been the hospital planet. Now, now it was something else. Vast tracks of land had been set aside for the Vulpine to continue their ways, but half the rest of the planet had been rapidly industrialised. The planet looked as if half of it was inhabited, and the other half wasn’t. Aidan loved being here. He would often sneak out at night to be with the Vulpine, who were only too happy to accept him into their ranks as he rough-housed with the cubs and slept under the stars. This had upset Kiai at first but Barik, who often followed him, told her to let him be.
“He is trying to find a place where he belongs Kiai, just like his mother, let him he. He eats, he goes for his education, and he occasionally bathes. He is in good hands. Let him become a man by his own means.”
It was during one of these late-night explorations that he had returned to Kiai crying and Barik looking absolutely shocked. He didn’t even need to ask what was happening. The air was thick with fear and concern. He put his hands on Kiai’s knees and tried to not let his voice break as he asked. “What happened to my mom?”
Kiai couldn’t bring herself to say anything to him but rather hugged him tightly and continued to cry loudly.
“It’s not good Aidan.” Barik put a hand on his head.
That was all they had told him, at least to his face. He often heard them talking late into the night after that. There was talk of him being officially adopted by them, and that was when he knew it was serious. He was also confused. His mother was banished. How would Kiai and Barik have gotten news about her? His continued eavesdropping eventually paid off when Barik revealed that Saita had been on the Saith home world to compete in their Games and that she had been attacked by creatures like the Vulpine. This confused the boy as the Vulpine were friends with him and his mother. Why would they attack her?
Then the news reports started pouring in. At first Kiai and Barik had tried to censor the information coming in and even pulled the boys from school to start home-schooling, but soon it was being officially revealed everywhere. Barik had been the one to sit him down with several pieces of information and videos.
“We’re not going to hide anything from you anymore.” He said heavily. “Come, sit, let me show you what is going on.”
He showed him a video that had been taken at the Games. He now knew that the creatures that had attacked were called Wolven and though like the Vulpine were vastly different in that they were heavily augmented. He saw his mother and at first, was happy to see her until he saw what had been done to her. He was horrified and terrified. Barik had then started with the newspaper clippings. His mother was being welcomed back by the humans and she was having her royal titles returned to her. He was a Prince now, officially, he had even been named.
“This is why we pulled you from school. They did not have the security to protect you after this happened.” Said Barik.
“Am I going to be taken away again?” he asked, terror flooding his voice as tears ran down his face.
“We hope not, but you have been summoned.”
“To Pura?”
“No, a different royal family.”
“There are no other Royal families. Grandmother and grandfather gave up their titles. There is only Pura and my mom.”
“And you, but no, these are not your royals, they are mine.” Said Barik softly as he put a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “Her Majesty Saasha has asked for you to go to my home world.”
“Is that where Mom is?”
“Yes.” Barik moved some clipping and pulled one out that Aidan knew was in Saith, but he couldn’t read all of it. “Here.”
Aidan took the clipping and saw pictures of his grandmother and Pura standing at a bedside. He couldn’t make out who was in the bed, but he was sure that it was his mother.
“Is she dead?” he whispered.
Barik pulled him closer for a hug and whispered. “Thank the Maker, no, but she is hurt. Really hurt. They think you may be able to help.”
“What can I do? I’m only a kid.”
“You’re her kid.” He released the boy and grinned. “No one is forcing you to go.”
“Am I saying goodbye?”
Barik half chuckled at this. “No Aidan. We’re hoping that you get her to wake up.”
“And if she doesn’t?”
Barik looked startled at the question as if he never considered that to be a possibility. He seemed to think this over and gave a small smile before saying. “Then I get another son, and you get a brother.”
Aidan knew that that had meant to make him feel better, but it hadn’t. He was terrified when three large Saith had appeared one day. It wasn’t that they had knocked on the door to be let in but rather teleported right into the room. Barik hardly seemed phased, but Kiai had made a big scene. Demanding that the men leave the house at once and return in a normal fashion. One had laughed and corralled the other two before leaving the apartment to stand out in the hallway. He had knocked, and Kiai had allowed them back in.
The large dark-haired man was swinging a gold tail with a white tuft on the end while he was speaking to the two adults. Aidan and Saita were standing in the doorway of their shared room trying to hear what was being said. Aidan recognised the big man. It was the Saith that had always tried to speak to his mother. He just couldn’t remember his name.
“Bolx.” Said the big man, who suddenly turned his head and looked at him. “My name is Bolx, and I’m a good friend of your mother’s, Aidan.”
Aidan looked to Kiai and Barik, who both nodded their heads.
“How is my mom?” he begged, not overly concerned that the stranger knew his name.
“Slowly healing. She’s been through a lot these past few years. We were wondering if you would like to go see her.” The man scratched at an arm in a sling.
Aidan was so used to people making decisions for him and then just dragging him along that it shocked him when an adult requested him.
“Am I allowed to?” he half whispered as tears came to his eyes, and he had to swallow his emotions back.
“Do you want to?” countered the large Saith as he got to his knees.
The other Saith frowned a little. They were hoping that this would be an easy job, but now their leader was having a conversation with a child. Barik said a few words in Saith and directed the other two to the lounge. Aidan was sure he had just offered them some coffee.
“I want to, but I don’t know if I may go.”
“Oh baby…” whispered Kiai.
The large Saith chuckled and held his head. “He inherited a lot of her insecurities. Honestly thought he’d start to look more like the father by now, but he truly does look a lot like his mother.”
Kiai came up to him and Saita before putting a hand each on their heads. “We have to go to Saith.”
“I don’t want to see my mother die!” Aidan buried himself in Kiai’s leg. “I’d rather stay here if that is why we are going.”
“Your mother is passed that.” Said Bolx as he continued to kneel on the floor. “She is hurt, I’m not going to lie to you about that, but she is no longer dying. She…I suppose the right word is, sleeping too deeply, and we can’t rouse her. We were wondering if you could reach your mother.”
“I don’t have abilities like that.”
Kiai hugged him with one arm. “They think just by being there that your mother will sense you and…”
“She never came for me!” he suddenly yelled. “She abandoned me!”
Kiai was taken aback by this but Bolx wasn’t. He sat down with a heavy sigh before saying. “Do you understand the crime of banishment and what it means to those that remain behind Aidan?”
He sadly looked at the boy before continuing. “When your mother spoke of her banishment, she was always angry or felt nothing, but when she spoke about you, the hurt was visible. The pain she was going through knowing that if she reached out to you, you would be in danger, and it was maddening to her. She didn’t speak often of you because of that pain. But when she did you could hear how the emotions threatened to take over. She didn’t abandon you. She was trying to make sure you would be all right. Now I know it has not been easy on you. I know hearing all those terrifying stories about her has made you feel scared but know that she would never have abandoned you if she had a choice. We are not forcing you to go Aidan. We are asking.”
Aidan, who had longed for his mother for so long, now felt anger at being abandoned. He had been taken from a person who cared for him and given to a person who had no idea who he was and struggled to make a connection though he loved her dearly. Then she was gone, and he was bounced from home to home, never being able to connect. He was angry, and finally, those emotions were starting to surface.
“Leave me alone!” he shouted before running into his room and hiding under the covers to weep.
Kiai looked at Bolx and was about to make an apology, but Bolx simply said. “Leave him be. This is a lot to take in, and you can hardly blame him for feeling this way. He was abandoned, and he had a right to feel these feelings.”
“I shouldn’t have pushed his mother…”
Bolx got to his feet. “She is resting but is sleeping very deeply, and we can’t rouse her, but she is safe and healing. Let the boy have his time to heal. He is also hurting. These last two years have not been good for him, and I won't add to it by forcing him to come with us now. If he isn’t willing to come by his own accord, then it will not help to have him there. It is that simple. Give him time.”
I hope this update has made the week a little more bearable! See you all 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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Haven't read the other parts yet? Follow these handy links:
Part 8>>You are Here>>Part 10 (Friday)
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