Greetings Readers
Happy New Year and all that jazz. I hope all of you are doing far better than I am. Between getting sick once again, my current client has me seriously considering finding other work in the future. People have a way of getting under your skin and making you hate what you love.
Talking of what you love. Today's update was going to be over 4000 words. However, this was way too big to make in a single post. Unfortunately, this does limit what I wanted to do, which was to introduce Queen Saasha. Don't worry though, next week you get to really meet her, and hopefully fall in love with her as I have.
Until then, enjoy today's update!
If Saita was shocked to see Sash in charge of her fitness assessment, she didn’t show it. However, what she did show was the surprise of seeing only a single running machine in the middle of a room filled with various screens which were meant to display some sort of information readout. She knew that by now the Saith were aware of her internal workings and she wondered if this was because of that.
“You are going to overheat in that outfit,” said Sash as she pointed to the folded clothes set aside at the desk she would be sitting at. “Please get changed behind the screen and we can get started.”
Saita wondered if it was too late to pull out of the Games when she realised that the shirt provided was short. Nonetheless, she changed into the long track pants with the shirt but kept her shoes which she already trained comfortably in. If Sash saw the marks, she didn’t say anything but rather pointed to the treadmill while making notes on her clipboard.
“I assume you will be needing to attach some kind of monitoring device.” Saita didn’t relish the idea but knew it was necessary.
“The shirt will give us the readings we will need. It will monitor heart rate, and blood pressure as well as analyse any components in your sweat that shouldn’t be there. Set yourself a steady running pace and continue until you no longer can. We will then break for five minutes so that you can have something to drink and drink plus a break to relieve yourself if necessary. Any questions?”
“Not really.”
“During the exercise you may feel changes in incline, pressure, and even gravitational pull. If it gets to a point where you are more than just uncomfortable, then say something. Stop if you are struggling to draw breath or if any pain becomes unbearable.”
“Understood.”
Saita had been through similar tests before as she moved up the classes under Bruno but never one this technologically inclined. At first, she had been worried that the screens would bother her but the moment she stepped onto the treadmill they all vanished from her view and she heard Sash ask behind her. “Do you need a video to simulate running?”
“No thank you. I’ll start now.”
She cleared her mind and started at the steady pace that she used to escape those around her in the training facility. Mile-eating strides thumped heavily on the machine below her. This was nothing by exercise and she just needed to get through it. The room showed no clock, so she had no idea how long she had been running until Sash stopped the machine and said. “Your hydration levels have fallen below what I like. Drink and start again.”
And so, Saita did. This happened several times before the test ended. Saita was only too happy because she was about the call uncle as her legs were jelly and her feet burned with fatigue. Her lungs were on fire and the rushing of blood in her ears was only drowned out by the thumping of her heart. She suddenly realised she was nauseous and sat down hurriedly with her head between her knees trying to not vomit.
“This is insane.” said a voice behind her. “How long? Those numbers don’t add up. No sleep? No breaks other than to drink water. Nothing to eat?”
“Here.” a voice to Saita’s left said softly.
She looked up and said Sash looking at her in concern holding a plate with some kind of fruit. Saita was on the verge of waving it away when her stomach rebelled, and she gagged. That was all she could do because her stomach was empty.
“Dehydrated, even with the electrolytes. Going to have to replace that as quickly as possible.”
“You can check the cameras; she has been on that machine for a solid week,” said Sash to someone behind her. “I stopped the experiment because the heart rate had finally exceeded the safety levels. It is likely that she would have run herself to death had she continued.”
“Sleeves up, Girl.” came a second voice that Saita didn’t know.
Without thinking Saita did as ordered and the other person said nothing but rather returned to the computer and started typing away at something. It was only when the typing stopped that Saita was able to finally consume a little of the fruit that didn’t immediately return the way it had come.
“I’m fine.” she half rasped at Sash.
“Like hell you are. You are spending the night in the hospital after you have a bath.”
Saita got to her feet, and they protested in agony so she kicked the shoes off and surprisingly it hurt more.
“Well, this is a record that is going to have many people scratching their heads. She passes though I cannot be 100 % sure that the machine inside of her didn’t have some kind of influence on her.”
Saita turned and held onto the hand bars of the running machine and looked at the other person who had been talking. He was tall, blonde with a sour look on his face.
“Are you sure she didn’t walk?”
“Kessa, she ran the whole time. Never seen anything like it before.”
“Hmm.” he typed a little more and then added. “She is in need of a saline solution through her bloodstream before the veins all collapse from dehydration. I have sent the exact concentration through to the nursing staff. They will have it ready for her. You are in charge of making sure that she has at least one bag before moving again.”
Kessa then looked at Saita and said. “You should have stopped a day ago. You are going to have a headache of note in the next few hours, but you’ll live.”
He then looked to her feet and grimaced. “And get the nurses to give you an ice bath for your feet. They look painful.”
He spoke to Sash again. “Aastii is waiting in room 16, she can rest up there until she has recovered a little.”
Sash gave Saita an arm to lean on as the two of them walked from the room but before they left Kessa yelled. “What is the longest time that a human has ever run before?”
“About 80 hours, I think,” said Saita wearily.
Within a few minutes, she was leaning back on a hospital bed and looking away as a nurse administered the saline drip to the back of her hand. Sash was making furious notes on her clipboard while Saita reached for more of the fruit she had brought. She was starving.
“Hold on, before you do any of that a blood sample would be nice.”
An identical man to the one she had seen earlier, though this one had a smile, stepped forward with a few vials. He indicated that he wanted her right arm and she bulked.
“What is wrong?” he asked.
“I don’t think you can get true blood from it,” she mumbled.
“Nonsense. Only the bone structures are metal, the rest is flesh and I can see veins from here. I’m sure it bleeds just fine, gauging by the scars I see on it. Now give me your arm.” he chuckled.
Once more resigning herself to this fate she gave her arm to him and closed her eyes. Starving and exhausted now while still battling nausea. Then the smell hit her, and she wrinkled her nose in disgust.
“That, my dear, is you. I will let you have a shower as soon as you have had at least one bag of saline in your system.” Aastii chuckled as he took several vials of blood. “Are all your species this stubborn?”
“Hmm.” she opened one eye to look at him. “Twin?”
“Indeed. You must have met Kessa. I’m Aastii.” he grinned. “That should be enough. Now, lie back and try to get some kind of food into you.”
He looked to her feet and frowned. “Are you prone to swelling in your feet?”
“I broke toes when I was young.” was all Saita mumbled before closing her eyes.
Within a few minutes, she was snoring softly. Aastii took the vials and placed them in a container he brought with him. He looked to where Sash was fretting, and he could only offer a smile.
“She is fine. Exhausted, dehydrated, and likely very hungry. Let her rest for a few hours.” then to the nurse. “Hang a second bag once this one runs out. Do not wake her. Watch her feet. If they continue to swell, she may need medication.”
He paused then lay a head on Saita’s head. “Best I can do to halt dreams for you.”
Sash looked at him in confusion, but he simply said. “It is but a patch.”
“I don’t understand, Great-Uncle.”
“Can we just leave it at Uncle please?” Aastii chuckled as he took his hand off Saita’s head. “This human has been through unbelievable torture to reach this point. She thinks she doesn’t need to sleep but she does, however, she is too scared to. Her dreams terrify her because they are memories that are trying to surface. She pushes them down, but I can understand why. I remember how hard it was for Saasha.”
“Is there anything we can do for her?”
“Honestly, it is not our place to do it,” said Aastii. “The humans are meant to look out for her…”
“You know that she is banished right?”
“It is not our place,” he repeated as he made to leave the room.
“Uncle, are we really going to just let her go after the Games? After everything that has happened with her father?”
Aastii smiled and said. “She is banished, she has no father, and that decision is not up to me, now is it? We will see what your uncle and grandmother have to say about it.”
Saita sat bolt up in the bed with her heart pounding, sweating heavily, and her hands shaking. A nightmare had woken her, but she could not remember it. She was suddenly hit by nausea as well as a splitting headache all at once that caused her to groan which in turn made her gag.
“Eat and drink slowly.” There was a tap on a wooden surface to her right.
This was a new voice. Saita slowly turned her head to see an older woman sitting in what appeared to be an armchair steadily tapping a wooden table next to the bed. There was a small plate of freshly cut fruit and a glass of water. Saita looked from the plate to the woman whose blonde hair was starting to fade with age. A single stern eye looked back at her while the second was covered with a ratty green bandana. She also seemed to be dressed in a grey tracksuit and looked absolutely exhausted.
Saita swung her head to the window she had spied earlier and saw that the sun had disappeared hours ago and the light coming from between the curtains was already red.
“Eat. Drink.” Said the woman.
Even though Saita’s body screamed at her to accept the meal her brain warned her of the danger she was in. The woman next to her could only be one person, the likeness to her descendants and her mother was uncanny. Despite her advancing years, this person was still powerful, and she was not hiding it. Power seeped from her pores and the sensitive abilities Saita had made her own sensed it.
“Your Majesty.” Said Saita hoarsely, surprising herself with her own voice.
Why I chose running as her test is because ancient humans were known to run down their prey over vast distances in the past. As for the record, you can get that information here It's a pretty good read!
I'm looking forward to next week's update because it's about to get awkward for poor Saita! See you all next update!
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 17>>You are Here>>Part 19
