Greetings all
I hope your week is going to be far more mellow than mine. I somehow forgot that it's Easter this coming weekend and it has kind of thrown my planning out. Oh well, such it is.
At this point in Fell Dragon, we are still in the meeting where Aidan's addition to the Royal Guard Academy is being decided. This is a long seeking, so it will have to be split again, this time with the Heavenly having their say too. I hope you all enjoy it!
This shocked the council, and also Aidan, who turned to look at his mother, “Why?”
Sadly, Saita smiled and said, “You’re my only child and I can’t have more. While I don’t mind you serving with the Saith once I am on the throne, you need to realise that your responsibility will be to continue my line after I die.”
Saita looked up at the council and said, “I have spent a year training with the Guard, both from this planet and the other. I know the importance of the General and Captain and why there are no other ranks within this unit. Giving this station to my son in the future when it’s known he has to rule one day isn’t fair to the rest of the Guard.”
Saasha thought this over and remembered how difficult it had been when her uncle had forced her to take the throne, and how her unit had been in disarray for several weeks before they could function correctly. She nodded her head, Saita was correct, even though the disappointment in Aidan’s face was apparent.
“If that’s the case, I’ll happily change my vote.” Echoed someone from further down the table.
Saasha counted the raised hands and nodded her head. Aidan would be the first non-Saith to go to the Academy.
“Very well then, welcome to the Academy, Aidan. It’s going to be tough, and everyone is going to try and break your spirit. However, if you’re anything like your mother, you’ll pull through.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty.”
“And with that, council, you’re dismissed. There are other things on my agenda I need to discuss.” Saasha stood and inclined her head.
As she looked up, she felt her blood grow cold as her eye caught the eyes of Brucel. She had things to tell him too, but not now. Noticing the stare of the queen, the old warrior stepped from her gaze and made himself scarce until he was called. Jethron sighed softly under his breath. He had been aware that his father had spent the last few days with his brother, and he longed to see him too. However, he had seen the hate behind the old Saith’s eyes, and he knew it was best to stay away.
“He isn’t your father.” Said Saasha softly as she tucked some of his long hair behind his ear.
She held her hand against his cheek, and he gripped it tightly before whispering, “I know, but it hurts to see him.”
Saasha took her hand back and waved the next few people into the room as the rest of her council streamed out. She noted that Saita was kneeling before her son and seemed to be having an animated conversation with him. The boy was frowning, and Saasha couldn’t help but be curious about what the conversation was about.
“Saita wants him to spend a few days with his father before he goes to the Academy.” Said Bolx before he sat down close by.
“I was under the impression they were estranged from each other. It was why I didn’t call him here.”
“They are estranged, but they are trying to move beyond that.”
Saasha couldn’t help but notice the soft smile on Bolx’s face as he looked at the human hug her son once before the child disappeared. She had seen that smile before and couldn’t help but grin.
“Would you be alright being King Consort?”
Bolx snorted but the grin grew, “Not the worst job I have ever had.”
“You know I will have to send you home with her.”
“I know.”
“It’s not the first time you have followed her home.”
Bolx knew that was more of a statement than a question, but he nodded his head all the same.
“Very well, little brother. I’m glad for you. Remember that you will be representing us there, don’t ever let me find out you embarrassed me.”
As Saita joined them, she sat down and bowed her head to Saasha, “Thank you for the honour. My son is a little surprised but is thankful. I have sent him to his father to spend a few days with him before he enters the Academy. I know that the first two years don’t allow for much family time.”
Jethron slid the book to his mother and got to his feet, “I would very much like to congratulate you on this momentous occasion, but I have some terrible news.”
Saasha watched Saita’s face pale a little when she saw the blood covering the book.
“Edzeeker has been murdered.”
Saita felt a flurry of emotions at hearing that. There was a thrill hearing that the man who had tortured her for years was finally dead. However, hearing that he had been murdered made her feel nauseous and lightheaded. She didn’t even feel that Bolx gripped her upper leg. There was another feeling, a feeling she hadn’t experienced in a while. Fury. She had wanted to kill him, make him feel everything that she had been through, and now that had been taken away from her.
“Do you need some air?” asked Saasha.
Saita couldn’t talk. She shook her head and tried to take a deep breath only for a choked sound to exit instead. Bolx wasn’t sure if she wanted to cry, vomit, scream, or all three at the same time.
“Who did it?” asked Siar, trying to take the attention off Saita as she struggled with her emotions.
“The Serpent.” Whispered Silens as she gripped Baks’ hand.
“We believe so.” Jethron looked down at the shell-shocked human. “There was no mercy and his death lingered for some time before he was mercifully killed.”
Sedeath, sitting in silence at the end of the table, got to his feet and walked to a window close by. There were tears in his eyes, but clearly not the first in the last few days.
“But how?” demanded Saita louder than she meant to.
“The time corridors.” Said Sedeath from the window.
Silens fixed the Dekai king of old with a look of surprise before she said, “Those mythical things exist?”
“I don’t know about these.” Said Jethron as he looked at Sedeath in shock.
“That’s because they were meant to no longer exist. Of course, Edzeeker would be able to find them. The fool! He should have told me!”
“What are these time corridors?” asked Saasha.
Sedeath turned back to those gathered, not bothering to hide the tears on his face. “They are as they are named. Corridors that allow people to move through time and space. They were created by the First.”
Saasha’s face flushed red, and she turned to a guard standing close by and growled, “Get those two Heavenly in here right now!”
The guard snapped to attention and sprinted from the room. The queen’s fury was evident to all, and no one wanted to say anything. The first to receive her anger was Sedeath.
“You brought the news of Edzeeker’s death! How could you sit on this information? You didn’t think to warn us that the Fell Dragon has access to this!”
“I didn’t have the answers when we first spoke. I have been thinking about it and it’s the only thing I could think of. It was considered a children’s fable, something akin to how the boogieman gets into children’s rooms at night.”
Saasha pinched the bridge of her nose and Jethron almost laughed at how much she resembled her uncle in that moment. Yet, he felt her seething and it had been some time since he had seen her so angry.
“Can they be closed?” whispered the queen.
“I have no idea. I didn’t even know that they truly existed until I sat and thought about it.”
“How do they work?”
Silens stood up and indicated to the screen behind Saasha. “I must draw.”
Saasha slid the data tablet before her to her mother and the old woman immediately started drawing on the screen with fervour. The queen turned to look at the screen behind her. Silens had drawn a circle with what appeared to be multiple lines moving away from it.
“The central part is the cage, surrounded by the corridor. The corridor has multiple exit points to different times and places.” Muttered the old woman. “This is what the shamans taught us. The beast within the cage judged souls, returned them to new bodies to give life, or consumed them. Doors to times are locked, always locked to anything corporeal. Only spirits can travel.”
Jethron looked at the drawing and realised he had seen something similar. When they had investigated Edzeeker’s death, this was one of the drawings that had been in the notebook his mother now had in front of her. He took it back and paged through it until he found a similar drawing to what Silens was drawing.
“Each line is a unique time.” He added as he read the notes. “Those closest are able to have people move between them if certain requirements are met.”
“Parallel universes.” Said Baks with a frown.
“Yes! Similar times are separated by a choice here and there. Nothing major when close, more major when further apart.” Silens wiped one line out and pointed behind her. “His time is gone, eaten, ejected him to the closest time that is similar. Ours.”
“The only difference between his time and ours is that I died, and he didn’t.” said Saasha.
She then turned to Bolx, “But how did you get here? From what you have told me, our times are vastly different.”
“Kaiden had an ability to send things through time. It wasn’t an ability I knew about until we were shoved into this timeline.”
“I have the same ability.” Whispered Saita.
The table went silent, and everyone looked toward her. Doran, who had been requested to be here too, only nodded his head and said, “When Edzeeker came for her as a young teen, she panicked, took the ability from the Dekai, and fled. She dragged me, Myla, and her brother, Aleux, along with herself, 17 years into the future.”
Saita hadn’t wanted to tell Bolx about the ability, knowing that he may have asked her to send him back to his time. Instead of a look of shock, the Saith only gripped her thigh and said, “I suspected, but didn’t ask.”
“But I can’t use it.” Stumbled Saita. “The Heavenly locked the ability away. It was too dangerous.”
“I wasn’t going to ask you to use it.” Said Saasha gently. “If it’s locked away, it was done so on purpose. My problem is this.”
She pointed to Silens’ drawing behind her. She then fixed Sedeath with a withered look, “How does the Fell Dragon have access to this? How can she travel if she is corporeal?”
Sedeath threw his hands up in frustration and half-yelled, “I don’t have the answers! I honestly thought this was a story, a legend, something made up to explain why time travellers existed and could move freely.”
“Ah! The time corridors.” Said Shareik as he was escorted into the room.
The Heavenly seem to know far more than they are willing to share at any given stage. Should make you wonder what they know and what they are hiding.
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, Book 5 here, and Book 6 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
Alternate Timeline Brucel
If you want to join the Reader's list, just ask or follow me for updates on this and my other stories.
Haven't read the other parts yet? Follow these handy links:
Part 13>>You are Here>>Part 15
Reader's List
