Hi Readers!
I hope you're all doing great! This week has started with a bang as two projects paid out, and I was offered a six-book project from a client I have worked with in the past. Needless to say, I'm going to be BUSY.
Things are going well on the Cupcake front. Yesterday she went to the vet to get her cancer treatments, so she was a little listless last night, as you can see with her lying on my chest sleeping.
She's still my little writing buddy and sits next to me daily as I go through researching and writing for work.
Anyway, we're here to see how Bolx met Saita in his time and today is the day. It's a long update, as cutting it anywhere would have just been annoying! I hope you all enjoy it!
The ice-cold wind bit into his body. The ship they had been traveling in had sustained damage during the previous battle and they had been forced to land on this desolate planet. It was a matter of minutes after they landed that a blizzard had hit, and there was no way to leave the planet until it passed. Not that they could, they needed to fix their ship before they could even think of leaving.
Bolx wrapped his blue cloak around his shoulders. He was tired. It had been weeks since he had last been home, and days since he had last heard from his family. He wanted nothing more than to curl up in his warm bed back on his home world, but he was stuck on this forsaken rock.
The engineer had reported to the captain of the ship an hour ago, saying he needed specific parts to fix the engines, and Bolx had overheard the conversation. Unless they got those parts, they were stuck here. He growled under his breath. This was hardly the most comfortable place to be stuck.
“Captain Bolx.”
The voice interrupted his musings and he turned to face the one who spoke. It was the white-haired captain of the ship, and he looked concerned.
“Yes?”
“No communication is able to leave the planet while the storm is brewing.”
“Great.” Muttered the soldier as he gathered the blue cloak tighter to his body.
He had only recently gotten the mantle of captain, and only because those of better quality had been killed. He wasn’t ready, nor did he want the responsibility of leading the Guard. He hadn’t even wanted to go on this mission, but King Lardan had insisted because of Bolx’s Truth Seeker abilities. There had been talk of him taking the red mantle soon, and he hated it.
“We have, however, noted that this planet is sparsely inhabited.”
“How sparsely?”
“According to the readings, there is a party of 10 camped in what seems to be a makeshift village over that mountain.”
The captain pointed to the mountain just visible through the falling snow.
“Are you bringing this to my attention because they have the technology to help us or…?”
“It would seem their communication is somehow getting through the storm. If they are that advanced, we could parley and trade with them.”
“Assuming we have a common language.” Bolx continued to stare out into the storm before he shrugged his shoulders, “No point in staying out here any longer. The weather is getting worse and I’m not risking anyone until this storm sets. We will rest for now and wait out the storm before approaching our neighbours for help.”
“Agreed. You have stood on guard long enough. It’s time for another to stand. Go rest.”
While Bolx had more authority than this man, he couldn’t fault his wisdom. He nodded his head and made his way to where the bunks were. He only needed a few hours of rest and informed the captain to have him woken as soon as the storm lifted. When he arrived at his bunk, two soldiers were busy waking up to start their shift of repairs and helping around the ship. They quickly listened to the orders and stepped from the room.
Bolx settled in his bunk, trying not to wake the other two soldiers who had been on guard before him. Despite feeling exhausted, as soon as Bolx closed his eyes, all he could see were two pairs of green eyes staring at him. Millie and Mya, the two most important women in his life. They were of the first Saith to die of the wasting disease. Bolx couldn’t stand watching them die. He had been a coward. He had ensured their comfort and then continued to work, not willing to watch them slowly succumb while he could do nothing. They had both died with only doctors by their sides as he couldn’t bring himself to be there. At the time he thought it was the best for everyone, but now that they had been buried for several months, the guilt of abandoning them was eating him alive. He should have been there for his wife and daughter.
Try as he might, sleep didn’t come to him, and he was haunted by the faces of his loved ones he never said goodbye to. He knew he would live to regret doing what he had, but for how long he regretted it was up to the Wolven.
The Wolven had been around since Bolx could remember, but they only appeared singularly, and on planets that were already dying. However, as Bolx got older, more and more of the creatures were appearing and with them the dreaded Wasting Disease that was spreading throughout the universe. It was killing millions and there was no cure. At first, it was believed that if the Wolven were controlled, then the disease would be, but in time that was proven false. There was something else driving them, and no one knew what that was. However, there were whispers of a creature controlling them, something called a Fell Dragon.
Bolx snorted and rolled over. The mythical Fell Dragon. A creature with the power to consume universes and times. What absolute garbage! There was no such creature. There were only the beasts that tore and rend those they could catch.
No sleep came to the Captain of the Guard, and he was only too grateful when the captain came to wake him and the rest of the soldiers within the sleeping area. They would eat now, discuss what they needed to do for the day, and then Bolx would make his way to this camp on the other side of the mountain.
While Bolx was eating some sort of gruel the ship’s cook had made the captain sit down in front of him.
“The people currently on the planet are humans.”
“Humans? That’s not a species I am familiar with.”
“Perhaps you know them as Earthlings.”
“That’s not a word I have heard in a long time. I believe I read it in a history book. Wasn’t the species wiped out when they blew their planet up?”
“Only those that were on the planet at the time. They are somewhat prolific colonizers.”
“Is this one of their planets? Will we be seen as invaders?”
“Highly unlikely. This is a hunting planet.”
“A hunting planet?”
“Humans hunt for sport. This planet has several large carnivores that humans like to hunt for sport.”
Bolx’s tail bounced on his lap in irritation. What a waste of manpower. Did they even realise the danger the universe was in? He pushed his food away from him and stood up.
“I’ll go make contact with them. If they enjoy hunting, perhaps they’ll enjoy hunting the Wolven.”
“Is that a good idea Captain Mountain? You only just got the mantel of Captain; you should be sending some of the soldiers…”
“We have tails, Captain, I am worried that we will get hunted if we don’t quickly establish some sort of communication. No, I will go. I will take two others with me.”
“As you wish. The weather is only marginally better, I would strongly suggest you move out quickly with some survival gear just in case.”
“Agreed.” Snorted Bolx.
He quickly gathered the gear he needed and ordered the two freshly rested soldiers to join him. They weren’t from the guard, but they were as good with what was left of their fighting forces. Donning cold-weather clothing, they quickly left for the camp. Bolx insisted that the captain try to send communications to the humans in hopes that they weren’t caught unawares when the larger Saith stepped into the camp.
The weather was horrible. While the snow wasn’t falling right now, the wind was howling, and the Saith were forced to walk through knee-high snow. They weren’t used to this weather, as they all came from the secondary Saith home world where the weather was significantly warmer.
As they continued toward the camp, Bolx’s mind wandered back to his family. His father and siblings had tried to talk to him about the deaths, but he had ignored them and buried the hurt deep down. He had always run from his emotions, and he wasn’t willing to talk about what had happened. Even when his father, who was the only person who could truly sympathise with him, had tried to talk to him, he had blown him off. Bolx just wanted to be left alone to deal with his pain himself.
While distracted, he almost missed the faint scent of a portal. He had gotten used to the arid scent that would accompany the appearance of the Wolven. He paused in his trudging to look around him. They were surrounded by snow and trees with white and black trunks. He focused his ears but couldn’t hear anything other than the occasional clump of snow falling.
“Captain?” queried a soldier.
“Wolven.” Whispered Bolx and he continued to move forward. “We need to find a place that we can defend. Being caught in the open is a bad idea.”
A roar echoed the area and all three Saith turned to face what was running at them. It wasn’t a Wolven. It looked as if the snow had come alive and running at them. Then it reared and towered over the soldiers. Before Bolx could shout a warning, the creature swiped at one soldier, throwing him off his feet with a spray of blood. There was no scream of pain, only death.
The second soldier immediately gathered energy to his hands and blasted the creature. It flew back, squealing and scrabbling at the snow as it turned red. It took a few seconds before it lay dead.
“What the hell was that!” demanded the soldier as he went to see the damage done to his partner.
Bolx didn’t know. He carefully made his way to where the beast had fallen. It was at least 10 feet long with four paws tipped with wicked claws. It also had an elongated face with a maw full of sharp teeth. He had never seen anything like it before, he had no idea what it was. He turned back to his soldier and saw he was frozen by what was stepping out from behind the trees behind them.
Wolven, many Wolven. At least six from a quick count. Bolx looked to where the other soldier lay. His face had been clawed off his skull and he sensed no life from him. Their situation had gone from bad to worse.
“Don’t even bother contacting your ship.” Chuckled one of the creatures.
“They made a great snack.” Said another.
Bolx cursed his distraction. He was supposed to be the leader of this mission, and now his people were dead all because he couldn’t tear himself away from his guilt. He issued an order to the remaining soldier, and he immediately created a barrier between the creatures and the Saith. It didn’t help as it didn’t last long.
The Wolven dragged the shield down and descended on the two Saith as if they were nothing more than prey items. Despite their energy, the Saith were outnumbered and outmatched. After years of torture, and no longer caring, Bolx threw himself into battle, but the Wolven didn’t seem to be interested in killing. They were interested in maiming and hunting. While the other soldier had been dispatched quickly, they were toying with Bolx. Sharp claws snaked out and cut his flesh to ribbons. With each strike that landed they taunted the Saith, demanding that he run to make the game more fun. He refused. He was going to die on his feet and not run down. Sensing their prey wasn’t going to do what they wanted, the Wolven, the four that were left, decided it was time to end their game.
Bleeding and desperate for a way out, Bolx continued to fight until a set of claws opened him up from his right shoulder to his left hip. The pain was staggering, and he fell to the snow screaming in pain. The Wolven that had split him open leapt on him with one claw wrapping around his face while the other remained poised over his chest.
“Stay awake a little longer Saith. You play well, and you taste divine. The Dragon will enjoy your energy.”
Bolx knew he was dead. He was mortally wounded. Any movement would result in either the Wolven ripping his face off or a set of claws sinking into his chest. But he needed to move, he didn’t want to die like an animal.
“Uh huh little kitten, I’m not done playing yet.”
The Wolven started to squeeze his face and its claws dug into his skin. The pain was vastly overshadowed by the pain in his torso. Bolx knew he was losing blood and fast, and he was starting to go numb with the cold. He wasn’t going to last too much longer if he didn’t move.
“Nighty night kitten, seems your energy is just about depleted.” Whispered the Wolven as it brought its snout to his face. “Master will be well pleased with this.”
And then blood sprayed across Bolx’s face. A shocked look appeared across the Wolven’s face as it reached for its throat, which now had what appeared to have an arrow through it. It was all Bolx needed to sit up and grab its skull. He squeezed until he felt the bone crunch under his strength. There was barely a squeak from the creature as its body went limp. Groaning in pain, left arm wrapped around his belly, Bolx got to his feet to face off against the remaining creatures. Once he was able to get to his feet, he was confused by what he was seeing.
Three Wolven were pacing around another individual who seemed to carry nothing more than a crude weapon that looked like a crossbow. Bolx wanted to shout a warning, but his voice caught in his throat when a fire spread down the person’s arms forming a ring around the Wolven. Then they leapt into a tree and dove down into the ring, kicking the creatures into the flames. Blood flashed in the air, and he hadn’t seen another weapon. One Wolven was down and the other two we trying to flee for their lives. The individual leapt at one and drove it to the ground before driving its hand through its chest.
The last Wolven thought its only way out was through Bolx. It was sadly mistaken as Bolx had just enough energy to call to his spare hand to create a blade. The creature paused in its flight, second-guessing its escape, giving the person behind it to drive an energy blade through its back. It dropped without another sound, leaving Bolx to stare at the person before him.
It was a young woman, shorter than him, golden hair poked out of some sort of head cover. She was looking at him with distrust written on her face. Her twin blue eyes were as icy as the area around them. She looked away from him and noted his two dead companions and the lump of snow that had attacked them. She then looked to the six dead Wolven and then back to him. She spent a few minutes looking him up and down before she looked down to his feet. Bolx followed her gaze and noticed the blood running out from under the coat he wore. He looked back up at her and knew this was one of the humans the ship’s captain had told him of. He had had no idea that humans had mastery over their life force to create weapons.
He wanted to say something to her but as he opened his mouth, he could feel blood at the back of his throat. Now that the fight had passed, his adrenaline was draining away, with all of his remaining power. He felt his legs give out from under him and he collapsed into the snow. He continued to look at the woman before him as she viewed him with curiosity. As his consciousness started to fade, he noticed that she turned her head to talk to someone. Her voice was light and crisp, like the snow around them, but he had no idea what she was saying.
At least as I die, I won’t be shredded.
These flashes back into Bolx's history are full of pain and frankly torture. Sensitive viewers may find the sixth book a little too much to handle. However, I hope you all stick around as we get close to the end of the story.
For those of you who have never heard of Fell Dragon you can find Book 1 here, Book 2 here, Book 3 here, and Book 4 here, and Book 5 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 1>>You are Here>>Part 3 (Friday)
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