Greetings Readers
I want to show off this amazing hoodie I got! The first thing I did was take this photo with Cupcake to show how close the artist got to her likeness. More info on this amazing product in future updates. Cupcake loved it, and so did her dad, who promptly stole my jacket and I haven't worn it since. Oh well, it looks better on him anyway!
For today's update, we finally get to learn the real reason the Fell Dragon was created and the Heavenly's role in it. I hope you all enjoy!
“You have nothing to fear from me.” Said the old Heavenly kindly.
“But you have a lot to fear from me.” She spat.
“I suppose it is best to start with our names then.” The Heavenly turned to Jethron and Aife, “This is Matta, the Last, and I am Shareik, the First.”
Jethron went rigid with shock, and Aife looked like she wanted to be sick. The Guards in the room shifted uncomfortably and stole looks at each other.
“And I think for the purpose of this meeting, the kings of Dekai should stand separate.” Said Shareik.
He waved his hand and Jethron clutched at his head in pain, even Saita was suddenly blinded by his pain. Thankfully it didn’t last long. If the pain hadn’t shocked Saita, seeing Sedeath standing in the room with them was enough to make her jaw drop.
“Just how much power do you have?” breathed Aife in awe.
“They can reverse time, bring people back from death, and seemingly strip Aids from Dekai.” Said Saita as she rubbed at the dull pain behind her right eye.
Sedeath looked like a deer caught in headlights. He hadn’t graced this room in millennia, but here he was, breathing the same air as those who came well after him. He looked to the two creatures that had named themselves Heavenly to the humans and Aids to the Dekai, and he had no idea what they truly were. He could see their true forms as he was no longer mortal, just like them, but he knew they were powerful beyond measure.
“Saita, sit down.” He half whispered.
“I will not.” She hissed.
“Leave the child be.” Said Matta, “Let her have her little temper tantrum.”
Shareik’s warning came too late as Saita threw a hand forward. A line of light shot from her hand and went straight through the younger Heavenly’s right ear. Matta was too shocked to do anything as the blood started to pour from the wound.
“Saita!” Doran chided her but didn’t get up from his seat.
“I know you can kill me in an instant.” Saita looked Shareik in the eye. “But I also know you won’t because you no longer have the power to. It would seem that the cage isn’t the only thing that the Fell Dragon is draining.”
There was silence while everyone at the table looked from Saita to Shareik. The old Heavenly seemed unperturbed by her reaction and only said, “You’re right, but that’s not why I won’t kill you.”
He waved a hand in the general direction of where the ship was that they had come in and said, “As Edzeeker has likely told you, we have run out of time. You are the last.”
“Then why did you want to turn my son into what I am!” roared Saita.
Shame bled onto the old man’s face, and he sighed heavily. “I was unaware that you knew about that.”
Matta finally reached for his bleeding ear and seemed shocked that it was injured. Instead of his serene face, there was a look of terror on it.
“Why?” demanded Saita one more time. “Was one child’s torture not enough for you?”
“It is always easier to destroy an enemy with two weapons rather than one.” Said Shareik, “Your son was perfect in every way. He would have been an ideal candidate…”
“And then I killed the doctor.”
“And then you killed the doctor, forcing our hand.” Shareik pointed to Saita, “You are still in pain, constant, but the machine masks it well. The pain is because it seeks one last piece. What is inside of you is…”
“A parasitic machine that takes what life force I had managed to train in my body and magnify it exponentially. Originally there was supposed to be a way to control the host who carried it, but the machine started to get a mind of its own. This is why the Fell Dragon is still the problem that it is today. The machine wants to live as much as what the host does.”
Everyone at the table turned to look at Saita. She continued to look at the Heavenly who only sighed and asked, “Who told you that?”
“Always been able to hear people when I sleep. I heard a lot during the years I was torn apart.” She growled before adding, “With my memories coming back I am putting more and more together.”
She then glanced at Anka and said, “And if you think you can convince me to have the final piece added to my body you are sorely mistaken. I am not putting myself through that nightmare again.”
“Can we please calm down?” said Sedeath as he came to stand behind Saita.
“You saw my memories, experienced my pain. It nearly killed you and Jethron, why are you defending what they did?”
“He isn’t, he’s trying to stop your abilities from melting a hole through the ground.” Said Matta.
“Saita, these men are the first.” Sedeath tried to explain.
“I don’t know what that means, nor do I care.”
“They’re practically gods.” The Dekai hissed.
“Then where were they when I prayed for mercy, for death?”
“We were trying to keep the Fell Dragon from knowing about you.” Said Shareik softly.
He beckoned Matta over and healed his ear before saying, “Understand that we are charged with maintaining the balance throughout the entire universe and timestreams. For as far back as what I can remember, this was done flawlessly.”
“Until it wasn’t.” said Anka softly.
“The balance of the universe was tipping. A universe that becomes unstable needs to be rightened. The original Fell Dragon was meant to righten that balance. It should have rightened the balance, unfortunately, the balance it sought was chaos.”
“Chaos has as much right to exist as peace does.” Said Matta as he rubbed at his ear, “It is why war, disease, famine, and all the things you deem negative exists. It is why there are peaceful times, bounty beyond what you can imagine, and…”
“Children are born to carry on the cycle.” Finished Shareik.
“Not a good topic to discuss.” Warned Doran as he saw fresh flames rise along Saita’s arms.
“I warned the doctor that he was making a mistake listening to Edzeeker, but we also understood.”
“Go back to the part where you are trying to protect me from the Fell Dragon.” Hissed Saita.
“The one who is the Fell Dragon knows about you, who you are, where you are from, and how you will develop. She has seen far more than any Fell Dragon before her, and she will come for you as soon as the cage fails. We didn’t know when the cage was going to fail, we had to give you a head start somehow.”
“A head start…a head start…” Saita finally fell into a chair.
Sedeath breathed a sigh of relief before he too sat down. He looked to Shareik and said, “Why reveal yourself at this time?”
“She has woken and is testing the barrier. Soon she will descend, and no one is ready.”
Shareik fell silent as the door to the room opened and Edzeeker was led into the room. The ancient Dekai stopped momentarily when he saw the two Heavenly, but paled when he saw Sedeath.
“My Lord.” He said as he bowed.
“Ancient-One, do you remember my voice?” asked Shareik.
Edzeeker’s back went rigid when he recognized the voice. It had been something that had plagued him so many years ago.
“Shareik? No, it can’t be. You were an Aid. How is this possible?”
“Did you never wonder why I fell silent after the creation of the Fell Dragon?”
“I thought it was a punishment.”
Shareik indicated that he should sit. As soon as he was seated, Matta sat, and Shareik looked at Saita.
“Nothing I say will change what has happened to you. There used to be many of us, but now it is just Matta and I, not enough to create a favour. So, I come to you to request your assistance in defeating the Fell Dragon.”
Doran burst out laughing before saying bitterly, “As gods you created a monster, stole thousands if not millions of lives to fight your mistake, and now you are asking one of those twisted lives to help you? What kind of answer do you think you are going to get?”
“The universe is collapsing as we sit here arguing. Saita is the only one left.”
Edzeeker lost all colour in his face before he asked, “All the others from other lines, are gone?”
“She either ate them or had her wolves do it.” Said Matta.
“As she rests between the layers of time, she can direct the wolves as she wishes. It took several centuries, but Saita and the Fell Dragon are the only two who remain with the system.” Confirmed Shareik.
Edzeeker ran his fingers through his hair and pulled at it. He had a look of sheer panic on his face. “This can’t be. We were supposed to be protected as we worked.”
“We aren’t even sure how she managed it while she slept.” Shareik sighed, “It’s as if she is tapped into the creatures she sends out.”
Saita sat back in her chair, and Doran didn’t miss her fingernails digging into her upper arms. She wasn’t just angry; she was horrified that all of this was now squarely on her shoulders. She didn’t want this. All she wanted was to have a family and be loved. Now she was going to be sent out to fight a creature who saw her as nothing more than something else to eat. She was fodder.
“She is doomed to fail!” exclaimed Edzeeker. “There never was a chance to place the last piece in her, and I guarantee you that there is no chance she will allow it now.”
“Damn straight.” Growled the human woman.
“I’m sorry, but I will need to side with Saita on this.” Said Sedeath as he rose to his feet.
“As do I. You have no idea what she went through. More than fourteen years of torture is enough to break anyone’s mind. You can’t ask more of her.” Said Jethron as he got to his feet.
“But she must if she is to be complete.” Said Anka.
“How can you even say that?” begged Saita. “You saw first-hand what they were doing to me. You watched as my legs were broken over and over again. You tried to give me some relief. How can you want me to volunteer for this again?”
“And where do you stand on this human?” asked Matta as he looked at Doran.
Doran weighed his words carefully. “As a soldier, I understand war needs to have sacrifices. However, those sacrifices are men and women who are aware of what is expected of them. What does a three-year-old know about war? When Saita came to us, she could barely speak. She was terrified of her own shadow. Her nightmares woke the castle as she screamed in terror. Even now, those nightmares plague her.”
He turned to Saita and said sombrely, “I have heard your terror-filled screams. I felt your pain run through my body, and if I could find another way for this to end, know that I would stop at nothing to help you.”
He swallowed hard and continued, “But I don’t think you have an option. I don’t think any of us do.”
He turned back to Shareik. “You and your kind are revered as gods by many, right? Now I don’t know how far-reaching your influence is, but you have had millennia to build it up. I believe this meeting is nothing more than a polite way to force Saita to do what you want. I don’t doubt for a minute, that if we try and leave there isn’t someone, or many people, waiting to kidnap her once again, or worse, take her son.”
The flames that had been dancing on Saita’s arms vanished in a flash and so did all the colour from her face. She hadn’t thought of that.
“This will not happen on my planet!” roared Jethron. “I promised her a safe haven here. I will not have…”
“What do I have to do?” whispered Saita.
The room was shocked into silence as the human wrapped her arms around herself.
“You don’t have to do this. There aren’t enough pieces to put a new device in your son. He is safe.” Said Sedeath.
“For how long?” she demanded as she glared at Edzeeker. “For all I know he has lied about not having enough to create another system. My life may be over, but my son’s is just beginning. Also, by the sounds of it, we have been painted into a corner. Aife owns them a blood debt. One she wants to repay…”
“I wouldn’t feed you to the night.” Interrupted Aife. “I only agreed to have them talk. Not hurt you.”
“Do I really have a choice?” All the strength that had been in Saita’s voice due to anger had vanished.
“Do any of us?” asked Shareik.
With Saita being the last in the line to defeat the current Fell Dragon is she going to willingly step forward or will she run?
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
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 4>>You are Here>>Part 6 (Friday)
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