Published via Ecency

Fell Dragon
This has been a rough week. After I updated on Tuesday we got news that my partner's father was rushed to ICU for what to me appeared to be a cardiac event. After the angiogram it was noticed that there was a block and two narrows in two separate vessels. This means he is due a triple bypass. It has been a draining week. Just needed to get that off my chest.

Anywhere. Here is the next part of Fell Dragon. Hope you all enjoy it!

Aleux didn’t miss the short, painful breaths his sister was taking as she walked through the corridor trying to find entrance into a different room. He had seen the two blows she had taken against the bars. The one had definitely broken her arm and a few ribs, who knew what the second did. He watched as she paused and tried to catch her breath before she suddenly fell to her knees and started coughing. No, not coughing, sobbing. Body shaking sobs.

“I couldn’t do anything.” She sobbed. “He just killed him. There was no reason for it. Just killed him.”

Aleux lifted his sister and made her continue in her walk. “Just keep moving, let’s find somewhere safe to rest. Mom needs to rest.”

“She’s pregnant, isn’t she?” Asked Saita.

“What tipped you off?”

“She hasn’t drunk any wine at lunch in the last few weeks.”

“You caught on quicker than me.”

“What are we going to do Aleux?” She sighed. “I don’t know what to do.”

“You are going to rest, and we’ll figure it out in the morning.”

Eventually, they found a section in the corridor that broke through into an old room. The room had been destroyed and there looked to be a fissure that ran from one end of the room to the next. It was here that they decided to finally rest.

“Saita, take the first watch.” Said Doran as he set the Queen on the old, vermin-eaten mattress in the corner of the room.

“On it.”

As soon as Saita had moved out into the corridor Doran pulled Aleux closer and said, “As soon as she is asleep, I will be leaving to see what I can find. You will need to protect your mother because…”

“We both already know. It’s not like they were being subtle about it.” He whispered. “Saita will not like it, but I understand.”

“Good boy.” Doran then paused and set a hand on his shoulder. “And Aleux, it is okay to grieve for your father.”

The boy nodded his head and then said. “Not now, not yet. There are other things that need to be done first.”

Though the bleeding had mostly stopped from the wound where bone shone through it still leaked clear fluid. Looking at it made Saita nauseous, and her head spun. She sat with her back to the wall and trained her eyes on the dark. It didn’t take long for the shock to set in, and she started shaking, which made her bones rattle. She could barely draw breath and eventually, she was forced to stand to get a breath. Once again, she was too weak to do anything and this time someone was dead. Doran had been right.

She stumbled back into the room and found her mother talking softly to Doran. Both looked up at her and she said with panic in her voice. “I can’t breathe.”

That was as far as she got before she collapsed to her knees. Everything felt like it was moving in slow motion and the pain was eating her alive. She wanted to scream, wanted to cry but instead, she closed her eyes and whimpered. Myla knelt next to her and dragged her into her lap. She looked absolutely petrified.

“Broken ribs have lacerated some blood vessels. Blood is pooling in her chest cavity, compressing her lungs, she isn’t going to last Doran. Go now!” Myla cradled her only daughter. “I can’t lose another one today, please God no.”

Just then the door of the room burst open, and a bright light was shone into the room. Saita tried to push away from her mother and rolled to see figures entering the room. Startled at seeing people, she swung her right arm out to steady her weight as she got to her feet. Her broken arm ripped open as soon as she put weight on it. Her screams of pain made Aleux freeze, and Doran hesitated, but not those that entered the room.

“I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t come to see it for myself.” Said a Butcher as they entered the room. “DNA doesn’t lie.”

This one was not like those that Saita had seen before; this one was wearing a grey leather mask. Gripping her near-useless arm, trying to stem the fresh blood flow, she stood up and came to stand next to Doran. He was staring in open amazement at the Butcher but said nothing. Saita clutched her arm tightly and said to Doran. “I can put a firewall in place, but it will not last.”

“I would strongly suggest that you don’t.” Said the grey Butcher.

Saita frowned and controlled her breathing to try and get some sort of air into her lungs, but the wheezing was apparent to all in the silent room.

“You’re bleeding out, I give you about two minutes before you pass out.”
Saita clutched her arm tighter and growled.

“Cute.” The Butcher turned to Myla and then hissed. “You! Of all the people I would find here it is you.”

The venom in the voice was palpable and Doran made to pull Saita back. The grey mask turned to him, and the voice changed dramatically. “Now you are a sight for sore eyes.”

“Just let us go.” Said Doran.

“How old is she?” The figure pointed to Saita.

“What business is that of yours?” Demanded Myla as she got to her feet.
The grey Butcher remained silent for a few seconds before saying. “I can wait Myla, can you?”

The Queen’s name was spat out and she flinched at the harshness of it. The grey mask’s gaze then landed upon Aleux and this time it wasn’t a grunt that sounded but rather a half-choked cry of regret.

“Aleux…”

Saita took a step forward or tried to, but her legs had refused to do her bidding. The pressure in her chest was agonising. It felt like someone was squeezing her heart.

“Do the right thing this time Myla and save her.” Spat the figure. “As I said, I have time, but does she? Judging by the blood pooling under her feet she has lost at least a litre. How much more could she stand to lose externally, much less internally?”

Myla looked at Saita's ever-slouching back and realized if she didn’t do something she was going to bleed to death before them.

“Help her.” She begged.

“Mom!”

“Myla!”

Doran and Saita turned to look at Myla in shock, and that was all the grey-masked Butcher needed. In a blink of an eye, it had leapt over the fissure to back hand Doran into a wall and then faced Saita.

“Good night, Princess.” It said as it set a fingertip to her head.

Doran slammed into the wall as Saita crumbled to the floor unconscious. The figure turned back to those that had followed it. “Cover their faces, lock them in separate rooms, and treat those that are injured.”

It paused then half-turned to look at Myla through one of the mask’s eye holes. “Watch this one. If I am right, she is about eight weeks pregnant.”

Myla’s eyes grew wide with shock. Only Karesh had known before she had told anyone. How had this figure guessed? She got to her feet and the figure pointed to her and said, “Not one word. I won’t entertain you at all. I will not hesitate to muzzle you.”

The Butcher then stooped down to pick up Saita before leaping over the fissure and said, “She’ll need to go now. Round the others up…”

“Wait…” Coughed Doran. “She can’t be treated by conventional methods.”
He struggled to his feet, shaking from the blow that had hit him. “Anaesthesia and pain killers have never…”

“I know.” Said the figure. “We’ve had over a decade to work on that.”

The grey masked Butcher drummed its fingers on the desk, deep in thought. So deep in thought that it didn’t notice another Butcher entering the room.

“She is fighting me.” It said.

“Damn it.” The grey masked one slammed its fist on the table. “What kind of treatment have you managed to give her?”

“Once we got her tied down, I managed to get a chest tube in despite her waking up and screaming bloody murder. I know those meds work. I have tested them. She is actively fighting them. She will break her bonds soon.” The Butcher lifted his mask to reveal an older Jarah. “I need to calm her down or she is either going to have a heart attack or stroke. Are the rumours true?”

“Depends, which one did you hear before I threatened people with death?”

“The Queen…”

“The Queen is dead!” Snapped the Gray masked one. “This is someone else…”

“From another time? I recognise Saita. I have saved her life so many times that even trying to cover her face from me isn’t going to hide the markings on her body I know.” Jarah came up to the desk where the grey mask sat. “If her mother is here…”

“That woman will not come close to the girl, that is my decree.”

“I need to get her to calm down. She is actively metabolising everything I give her. Soon she will be resistant to it and then it will be too late to help her. Please, give me someone, anyone that can get her to calm down.”

“Damn it! What a goddamn mess.” The grey mask lowered itself into its hands.

“You have to forgive…”

“I don’t have to do anything.” Snapped the figure.

“Please, she will die.”

The grey Butcher slammed both fists on the table, causing Jarah to jump but he did not back down.

“Take Doran.”

“Doran is here?”

“He is the only one I know for sure that will not carry the controller nanites. Myla and Aleux will need to still be tested and then quarantined.”

“Aleux? My god…” Jarah covered his mouth and tears came to his eyes.

“You will say nothing. You will wear your mask and only do what you must. Am I clear?”

“Yes but…”

“The royals are dead Jarah. These people should not be here. They need to go back to where they came from. I will ask for the Heavenly to come and sort this out. They cannot remain here. Things need to happen as they did.”

“I understand.” Jarah pulled his mask in place.

“How is the assistant?”

“He grows by the day. He is smart, just like his mother was.”

“Good. Keep training him.”

Doran had a concussion. One of the handmaidens had told him that much but she had not healed him but rather left him with a splitting headache and a handful of tablets. He had not taken them but rather started looking around the room for a possible way of escape. He had been separated from Myla and Aleux and he was nauseous just thinking about what could possibly be happening with them.

Yet, no matter how hard he searched he could not find a way out of the windowless room. The door was securely locked, and he knew if he tried to escape the consequences could be detrimental. He had decided to sit down to take in the information around him. This was not the castle but rather the main hospital that Myla had built years ago. Yet, something seemed wrong. The people he had met thus far who had seen his face had acted in shock before covering their emotions. It wasn’t the fact that him being here was a shock but rather that he was here at all.

“What happened here?” He asked no one.

He heard the door unlock then it opened to reveal a black-masked Butcher. He didn’t move from his seated position.

“I need your help.” Said the Butcher.

Doran recognized the voice. “Jarah?”

“Please just come with me. Don’t ask questions. I need your help.”

Doran rose to his feet somewhat shakily and made his way to the door.
“Don’t think to run or attack me.” Said the old Butcher. “The guards will not take that lightly.”

Once outside of the room Doran saw the four guards and knew in his state, he would not be able to do anything. He only nodded his head and said, “Fine.”

“Follow me.”

And so, he followed the Butcher through the winding hallways until he came to what he remembered being the surgery ward. A place that Saita often was forced to visit. He felt himself hyperventilating and Jarah had to stop him and make him sit down until he calmed down.

“She is alive.” He whispered so that the guards couldn’t hear him. “But she won’t let me treat her. She has lost enough blood to cause irreversible damage to her organs. I can pump as much synthetic blood into her as I want but if I cannot treat her, it will be for nothing. I need you to calm her down.”

“Her mother…”

“She and the prince are in quarantine. We are sure of your status with the controller nanites. Only you can see her right now.”

“Controller nanites? What?”

“I cannot talk to you about this now. Please just calm the girl. I already think it is too late to save her arm.”

Jarah pulled the soldier to his feet and brought him to where Saita lay. All Doran saw was the blood coming from a pipe in her side and a bloody, mangled arm that left smears as it pulled at the restraints. Then there was the screaming. They struck his heart and he wanted to vomit in despair.

“Saita…” He came to stand over her.

She clenched her jaw shut and wearily looked up at him. She was pale, covered in sweat and was flaring her nostrils as she tried to draw breath. Her body was shaking as she tried to fight whatever sedation was flowing from the bag above her head. It looked like someone had tried to put a face mask on her, but it lay discarded on the floor.

“Mom,” she said through clenched teeth. “Is pregnant. Where…?”

“Your mother is fine,” said Jarah behind Doran could.

“I don’t know where your mother or brother is.” Said Doran honestly as he rested a hand on the side of her head.

She was cold to the touch.

“They are safe.” Said Jarah again. “Please listen to me.”

Doran swung a hand out to silence the Butcher and said to Saita. “They are worried about them being controlled like your father was.”

“Must...see…”

“Saita, you are actively bleeding to death.” Snapped Doran. “The only thing you must do is let them help you.”

“How do I know…”

“You trust me?”

“Always.”

“Then trust me now.” He gripped her left, uninjured arm. “I lost my best friend. I will not lose his only daughter today as well.”

He set his forehead to hers and whispered. “I will let nothing happen to your mother and brother. I swear it.”

He pulled back a little. “I know you’re scared and in agony, but you need to calm down and let Jarah treat you.”

“Jarah?” Saita looked to the black-masked Butcher.

There was a sigh, and the Butcher removed his mask. “Yes, girl.”

She seemed shocked by his age then tears came to her eyes. “What did I do?”

“Don’t worry about that now. Rest. I will be here when you wake. I promise.”

“Ah…” Started Jarah.

“I. Promise.” Said Doran as he stared at the Butcher.

The Butcher flinched and turned to the guards behind him.

“Sleep Saita. This is all a nightmare we need some rest from.” He whispered. “Close your eyes and sleep.”

“Scared.” She whispered as she squeezed her eyes closed.

“I’m here. Hold my hand.”

Saita didn’t even have the strength to reach for his hand, so he held her hand until he was sure the narcotic had finally taken effect. Then he gently released her hand and said, “There. She is calm. You can also tell the guards that if they try to remove me from this room I will fight. As you know Jarah, she can hear people talking while she sleeps.”

“Fine but let’s get you into something a little cleaner.” Sighed the Butcher.

The plot thickens! Our main characters are stuck in the future with no idea who they can trust. Will be interesting to see how they get out of this mess. Will hopefully update on Tuesday, but may update a day earlier or later as partner's father is being operated on during Tuesday.

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