Greetings Fellow Readers
What a week. I am still struggling with a client that cannot make up their mind about their book, but at least we have nailed down the number of words they want in their project. Gotta have some silver lining somewhere.
Other than that, my mom is visiting from Bloemfontein, and I can't wait! She ahsn't had the best year, and I'm hoping I can take her out and spoil her a little. This is why I will be scheduling my posts for about a week or so.
Anyway, please enjoy this shorter-than-usual chapter. I needed to split it, or the update would have been over 3000 words, and no one has time for that!
Bolx was willing to hang around for a week in hopes that Saita would reach out and talk to him, but she never sent word. He cursed himself for ever hoping against hope that she would want to speak to him. It had been so difficult to separate his world from this one. Things he dearly wished for were denied while what he had hoped against was happening faster than what he could have foreseen. He needed to start reaching out to others that would be an aid for what was to come. He could not stay here any longer.
“You keep frowning like that you’re going to develop more wrinkles.”
His gaze shot up from the table that he had been sitting at. He had come to this park, on the planet where Saita was living in hopes of running into her perchance. Now she was here, and he couldn’t think of what to say to her. She looked terrible. Four gashes stretched from her right ear, across her face, to end under her left eye as light scratches. One gash was above her right eye, one over it and two below it, yet her eye had somehow survived the injury. Her usual long black shirt was replaced with a blue one, but the rest of her clothing remained black. Her right arm was in a sling, and she looked like she hadn’t slept in about a week.
“You look…” he started.
“Horrible, I know.” She sat opposite him at the picnic table. “Weather was nice, thought I’d attempt a walk. I regret it.”
He pushed his drink to her, and she looked at it with distrust. “I am on very strong pain meds.”
“It’s not alcoholic.” He grinned.
Saita curled her left hand over the cup and popped the lid before sniffing the contents. When she realised what it was her eyes widened. “Are you freaking kidding me?”
She put the lid back and sipped at the hot contents. It was the first time Bolx had seen a smile on her face. She was thinking back to happier times.
“Legit hot chocolate. How did you come across this out here?”
“You know as well as I that I didn’t get it here.”
“You’ve been to Mom’s...Myla’s planet, haven’t you? That’s how you got the medication.”
Bolx remained silent as she returned his drink to him. “Why are you here Bolx? Because the only thing you are causing me is pain.”
“It isn’t my intention,” he whispered. “I am sorry that this was the outcome but your king…”
“Was going to kill me, I know.” she sniffed noisily. “High treason is high treason.”
Bolx could tell she was holding back on tears and looked away at the trees close by to allow her some time to compose herself. “I…”
“What do you want from me Bolx? I don’t know you and the Saita you got to know from during my capture is not who I am.”
He wanted to tell her that he had known her for years, from another time, another place but the words froze in his throat. He had been able to tell so many others but to her, he was unable to string two words together. Nothing had changed.
“I...am your last friend.” he finished lamely. “Won’t you let me help you?”
“With what? I live well here. You caught me clawing myself into the S-class group. I understand the world better. I don’t need a knight in shining armour.”
But I need you!
Bolx repressed the urge to scream those words at her, instead, he said. “The humans are making peace with the Kai and Saith.”
“About time.”
“I’ve put your name down for the Saith Games,” he mumbled after some time of silence.
Saita looked at him in confusion and he had to explain the Olympic-like games that were held on his main homeworld every year. How this was an opportunity for her to make a name for herself but the more he spoke the more uncomfortable she seemed to get. He noticed that she kept glancing at her right arm and knew she was trying to guess if her arm would be recovered by then.
“The difficulty of besting a Saith in combat requires a lot of skill and energy, what you call force.”
“Are you trying to get me killed?” she snapped at him.
“No, I…”
“My father, I mean Karesh, waged war against your kind to find me! What do you think is going to happen if I step foot on your world? I get enough hell here for being human.”
He scratched at his right arm in irritation. Her temper had been the one thing he had never come to love about her. He looked at her while he ground his teeth. His Saita had always been rearing to go in anything she set her mind to be it for fighting or pleasure. He sighed, he needed to realise that this was not his Saita, and she was never going to be her. No matter how hard he wished it.
“You said you wanted to talk. Is this what you wanted to talk about? Because if so, I believe we are done.” she made to get up.
“Wait!” he stood and put a hand over her left hand. “Edzeeker is looking for you.”
That got her attention. Her eyes narrowed and she hissed. “What?”
“He wants to talk to you.”
Saita seemed to have done some kind of connection in her head and she pulled her hand from him. “I’m going to walk away now. Don’t come after me.”
He watched her take a few steps away from him before he blurted. “You gave me a child!”
Saita stopped dead in her tracks. People who had been walking around also stopped. He saw the blush in her ears before she slowly turned and revealed the entirety of her red face.
“What?” she hissed under her breath as those around her laughed.
He felt the blush on his face and suddenly lost all his words. His mouth was open, but he could not get any words out at all. He wanted to tell her about everything, but she wasn’t ready. Her life here had been nothing but trauma and he was just going to add to it if he said something. He got to his feet, threw away his cup in the dustbin close by, and said. “Forget I said anything. Have a good life.”
He took maybe two steps before Saita teleported before him; he had forgotten that she had learned that from him. She was about half a head shorter than him, she was actually taller here, and her hair was a lighter shade but those eyes, they were exactly the same. Blazing with fury because he hadn’t said the right thing.
“There is another kid out there?” she asked as her face suddenly changed to one of horror and longing.
“Saita, I never met you here during your time with Edzeeker,” he said as he gripped her upper arms tightly. “The first time you saw me was the first time you met me, but I have known you for years!”
She flinched at his grip but didn’t move.
“The child wasn’t here, hell, it didn’t even get to draw breath.” he suppressed his anger and tears. “The taint killed it before its time. Killed you before your time.”
She looked at him in surprise and seemed unable to ask anything as the Saith tightened his grip on her arms.
“Why has it always been so hard to talk to you?” he swore as he released her. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. You don’t need this. Edzeeker made a mistake going after you…”
“You’re not from this time,” she said softly. “I should have known. You always choose your words so carefully when you spoke. You tell the truth, but you bend it just enough to create confusion and make people doubt when and where they may have met you. Why not just say you aren’t from this time?”
“And be labelled insane? Are you insane? Wait,” he looked at her in confusion. “You seem awfully calm about this.”
“This is hardly my first rodeo.” she turned from him. “Come, before more people think I have another illegitimate child.”
She led him to the cafeteria and asked the kitchen staff something before retiring to a small table in the corner of the room. It sat behind a pillar, and it clearly made Saita more comfortable sitting there than out in the open. She sat down and then indicated that Bolx should sit. She dug around in her sling and produced two bottles that were starting to look a little on the empty side.
“You have twenty minutes before my head hits this table and you need to take me back to my room,” she said as she popped the lid of one bottle with her left hand.
She dug one pill out, closed the lid, and opened the next to repeat the action. Two pills sat on the table between them.
“Thank you, by the way, for this. Had you not brought this I would have died,” she said as she put the bottles back in her sling. “Though, I think I was aiming for it.”
Bolx set his hands on the table and said. “Your mother…”
“Myla.” interrupted Saita.
“Myla sent it with me when she found out that I was looking for you.”
“That so? Hmm.”
One of the kitchen staff brought two plates of food and two cups of something steaming. It was another of the octopus people so it had enough arms to carry everything. It looked at Saita and its face pulled tight. “You’re conscious? Thought you died?”
“Toma did a good job but not that good.”
“Always thought you were too good for our cooking.”
“Normally I fill up on fruit, but my friend here looked hungry, so I invited him to join me.”
The creature looked at the Saith and its face tightened more. “A Saith! I don’t have enough food in the kitchen to feed a hungry Saith!”
“I’m fine, really, this is plenty.”
“Moris! Get the fruit, we have a Saith!” yelled the creature as he sauntered back to the kitchen.
I have this visual image of a flaying octopus gliding back to the kitchen when I read that last sentence, and I hope you have it too!
And there you have it, a little of Bolx's history. In fact, I have been considering writing a chapter about his timeline in the last book of Fell Dragon, but I'll have to see where the book goes as I write it. It may actually make the series a little too long in the tooth if I do. But...then I can also write more about the Fell Dragon. Guesss you all will have to come along on that ride with me!
For those of you just joining us, please note that this the third book in the Fell Dragon series. Follow this link to read the two earlier books:
Fell Dragon Book 1
Fell Dragon Book 2
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 9>>You are Here>>Part 11 (Tuesday)