Hi All
Today is going to be a devastating update, so get the tissues ready.
Her day had started so well. Her future was being cemented and she was actually looking forward to it. She had spent the morning in boring talks with Saseric, who looked just as bored as her, as their allies spoke to them. The planet was growing well, despite the lizards and humans still not fully trusting each other yet. She had been daydreaming about the answer she would receive later that evening. She had noted Bolx’s smile and knew he was going to say yes but she couldn’t wait for him to say it to her.
They had been just about finished with the meeting when Doran approached her with a sheen of sweat and no colour on his face. Ignoring all the protocols he had taught her, he bent down and whispered in her ear.
“Go to Saith. Now.”
The urgency in his voice made her panic. She didn’t even wait to say anything to Saseric. She concentrated on the place that had been her home for a year. She pictured the garden, the house, and those who would be close. The prickles of pain along her skin faded as soon as she was on the planet.
She barely contained her panic when she saw Siar leaning against the wall next to the open door. There was no colour on her face, and she was staring up at the sky. As soon as she sensed Saita, her head snapped to her and that’s when the human queen saw the tears.
Saita then noticed others there, but she could only concentrate on the Commander who was barely keeping her composure as she stepped forward. Siar held her hand up as Saita tried to enter the home.
“Don’t.” whispered the Saith with a cracking voice.
Then the smell hit Saita. The tinge of iron she had learned so well was blood and a lot of it. She couldn’t think and tried once more to get past the Saith before her. This time Siar didn’t stop her. Saita got as far as the doorway when she stepped into a puddle of blood. Horrified she looked up. She instantly wished she had listened to Siar.
Blood splatter covered the kitchen and living room. There were several Saith doing various tests and taking samples of the blood that was everywhere. Saita lost all sense of self when a limb was lifted from the ground and metal flashed at her.
She was then pulled from the room by Siar and forced to sit against the wall of the house. Siar was shaking, trying to control her emotions, as she forced Saita to stay seated. The Saith was talking to Saita, but she heard nothing. Blood had never bothered her, but this was different. All the heat left her, and it felt as if the bottom of her stomach dropped out.
She vomited, more of an emotional response than anything else. It had narrowly missed Siar, and the Saith came to sit next to the human. She had no more emotion or energy to soothe the pain Saita was feeling. Not when she was trying to fight her own.
Bolx and Aidan were dead.
The only reason Siar knew it was only the two of them was that she had been frantically contacted by Myla when VB suddenly appeared in the castle screaming about a monster eating Bolx. Eating. That word haunted Siar, as when she had stepped into the house to apologise to her brother for being late, she had found nothing but an arm, scraps of clothing, and blood.
She immediately sent a message to the castle and stepped out of the house. She had been numb until she saw Saita. Now the two of them sat together not knowing what to say or do. One of the Saith that had been in the house exited the house with something wrapped up in cloth. He paused, turned to Siar, and said, “Teeth and claws.”
Saita sank her nails into her forearms, which she had wrapped around herself. A growl rumbled in her throat as she raked skin from her arms. She got to her feet and disappeared.
Siar came to her senses and whispered, “Tell Queen Saasha that we’ve had a Wolven attack.”
Astec knew that people experienced grief differently, but the fact that Saita showed nothing after the death of their son didn’t sit well with him. He had watched her throughout the funeral and burial of near-empty coffins for Bolx and Aidan but there hadn’t been a single tear. He and Leah had been shattered and could barely find the necessary treatment their other son needed for the trauma he had gone through.
Astec could barely sleep with the feelings of irritation that was quickly developing into hatred. How could she feel nothing after seeing what the room had looked like? She should be feeling something, anything. Leah begged him to leave well enough alone and said that Saita was likely mourning privately to remain strong in the eyes of her people. He couldn’t accept that.
Every day the anger and hatred at her not being able to protect their son continued to grow within him until he could no longer take it. He was going to confront her and confront her he did.
Ignoring his wife’s protestations, he went to the castle where he knew Saita would be meeting with her generals. He was going to get a reaction from her, one way or another. He barged into the meeting, after surprising the guards at the door. As the door slammed open, the meeting came to a screeching halt.
“Do you feel nothing!” he screamed at her.
She had been standing, pointing at a map that hung as a hologram above the table. She lowered her arm and leaned over the table, not wanting to look him in the eye.
“He was your son! How can you not shed a tear for him while I am broken.”
“Astec this is not the place!” said Doran as he got to his feet.
“Dismissed.”
Everyone at the long table turned to see Saita had finally looked up. She had issued the order, but the meeting wasn’t even close to being completed, they had barely scratched the surface.
“I said, dismissed.” She said once more.
She didn’t raise her voice, didn’t make eye contact with anyone other than the human that had barged into the room.
Doran got to his feet and added, “We’ll continue this tomorrow. Report to your units.”
He then swung his right arm toward the door standing open to indicate that people needed to leave. The generals looked at each other to get a sense of what was happening, but eventually, it took Saita standing at her full height for them to realise she was serious and that this meeting was over.
As the various men and women filed out passed him, Astec could hear them muttering that they hadn’t even discussed the most important part of this meeting and that this had been a waste of their time. He ignored them. He watched as Doran took a step closer to Saita, but she shook her head once. Her advisor sighed and took his leave.
“You’re an idiot.” He muttered as he walked past Astec. “You should have left well enough alone.”
He closed the door behind Astec, leaving the old childhood friends alone in the room. As the silence grew, Astec couldn’t help but feel more emotions bubbling to the surface. Aidan’s death had been her fault. Had she never agreed to have him go to the Academy, he would still have been alive. He was about to open his mouth to say this when Saita took several quick steps to approach him. She gripped his shirt with both her hands before spinning him around and slamming him down on the table that had just been vacated.
His breath exploded from his chest and the edge of the table dug into his lower back. As he looked up into his old friend’s eyes, he noticed something he hadn’t seen in a long time. The look she had had as a child when she was losing control. He knew then that Leah had been correct. Everything had been a mask and now he had torn it aside with no way for her to hide again. She had barely managed to keep everything together while allowing those who had been in the room to leave so they wouldn’t see what he was seeing.
Over the ringing in his ears, he became aware that she was yelling at him. No, not yelling, screaming. Raw emotion spewed from her as she pressed him into the table before lifting him and slamming him down again.
“I had to bury an empty box! My son is gone! The only child that will ever be of my blood is gone! And as much as I want to mourn my loss, I can’t. Everyone is looking to me to be the strong one, to lead, to make sure no one else suffers what we did! Don’t forget that I lost so much more than my son that day. Bolx did everything he could and at the very least he managed to ensure your son managed to find his way home. You have your family. Mine is gone and I can never get them back.”
She lifted him from the table and threw him as far as she could. Astec’s back slammed into the wall, winding him once more, and making him see stars, but he landed on his feet. It was true. VB had told his parents how Bolx had stepped in before the Wolven could attack the boy. He had seen how the creature had bitten into the Saith’s arm. The Saith had tried to get Aidan away as well, but he had only reached VB, and that was all the boy had told them. The bloodied room with the mangled arm was all that had remained of the brave Saith and Aidan.
Saita turned away from Astec, heaving with repressed emotions. Astec leaned against the wall, trying to catch his breath when he noticed the black and silver bracelet that adored Saita’s right wrist. He had seen something similar, and it took him a few seconds to realise that a matching one had been on Bolx’s right wrist, the one that had been left behind in the carnage. It didn’t take a genius to figure out the implications of the matching jewellery. She was drowning and she was trying to keep a brave face for those around her. She had lost so much more than her son and partner. She had lost her future.
Astec, terrified that she would launch herself at him again, took a few steps forward. He needed to make this right, but he didn’t know what to do. He watched as she collapsed and rested her head against the edge of the table. The sobbing that followed was so gut-wrenching that it brought tears to his eyes. The floodgates were now open, and it wasn’t going to be closed easily.
A few more steps placed him next to the weeping queen. She didn’t pause in her mourning and continued to press her head against the table’s edge, not wanting anyone to see her weakness. Astec knelt and wrapped his arms around her. The tears that had been threatening finally spilled. This was the mourning the two of them should have had for their son.
Through her sobs, he could make out that she had proposed to Bolx that morning and when coming back from seeing the carnage, she had received his answer in the form of a note. No one had known, no one knew what she was living through. He held her tightly, letting her express what she needed.
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, Book 6 here, and Book 7 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
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Part 24>>You are Here>>Part 26
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