Greetings Readers!
While I was waiting for clients to react to my various messages, I managed to wrap up Fell Dragon. It's 1098 pages and over half a million words. It was bitter sweet to end the story as it was a three-year-long passion project and I started it soon after I got Cupcake.
Anyway, you guys have a lot of catching up to do before you get to the end, so enjoy this update!
While Lardan never had the same skills as his mother to read energy, with decades of practice, he was able to use it to note Saita’s unique energy. It was why he had sent her after his father. With the festivities basically ruined, the dignitaries had been seen to as he forced his brothers to explain why their mother had been as upset as she had been. Once he knew the truth, he didn’t know what to do with it. He had never seen that history, unlike his brothers and their mother, it invoked different feelings within him. He had ordered both his brothers, despite them being kings, to see to the guests and their mother. He needed to follow after his father.
Brucel Royal Guard was dangerous, very dangerous, and Lardan couldn’t risk him loose on the planet, especially with so many Dekai visiting. He didn’t need to go far to find where Saita and Brucel were. He found Saita sitting on a bench staring down at the castle’s training grounds where Brucel was going through the standard stretches and stances of the Royal Guard Academy. The girl, while appearing relaxed, didn’t tear her eyes from the Saith below her. She already knew how dangerous he was.
“Why didn’t you say anything yesterday?” asked Lardan as he sat next to her.
“What could I say?” she said softly. “When he grabbed the back of my head, I could see what he had been through.”
She shook her head and whispered, “I understand why Saasha reacted the way she did, but on the other hand, I understand what it’s like to lose yourself. The man down there is far more broken than what even I am.”
She fingered the injury under her eye, “I was nearly him. When Aidan was brought to me the first time, I threatened to kill him. I want to have sympathy for the man down there, but it is difficult.”
The human looked up to Lardan and said, “What will you do?”
“I can’t have him loose. He is a danger to the Kai and Dekai. I can’t risk an incident when we’re trying to gather allies to fight the Fell Dragon.”
“Do you want backup?”
“I don’t think so, but don’t leave in case.”
Lardan got to his feet and slowly made his way down to the old Saith. He knew the stretches and stances well. They were not only to make the body limber but also to help the flow of energy through their bodies, allowing them to use external energy the way they did. He had spent years learning them and decades practicing them with his soldiers and at home. Instead of stopping the man, he joined him. Whether Brucel knew Lardan was there, he didn’t show any reaction, but rather finished the exercises and then turned to Lardan to ask.
“You are left-handed here?”
“Like my father.”
“My son inherited more from his mother.” The older warrior loosened and then retied his hair as a way to get it under control.
He viewed Lardan closely before asking, “What does the General of the Royal Guard want from me?”
“I don’t know yet.” Admitted Lardan.
The pair remained silent for a few minutes before Lardan asked, “What happened?”
Lardan saw a look of resignation on Brucel’s face before the old Saith admitted, “I am not a good person.”
“I want to hear what happened from your point of view. Not others spying on you and using you as an example.”
So, the old Saith told him everything. He didn’t hold back on the horrors he had caused. What would the point be to lie at this point? His crimes were known. His time was gone. The Fell Dragon had destroyed it, but he had started the process so many decades before. Lardan listened, showing no emotion, trying to understand how his mother and brothers felt at knowing this man. Yet, the more he listened, the more horror-filled he became. This wasn’t the loving father who had nursed him and his brother through fevers, played games with them, and trained them to be fighters. This wasn’t the person he had told his little brother about to help him learn more about where he had come from.
Even when the horror and violent-filled story came to an end, Brucel showed no remorse. Lardan suspected that his Saasha’s death had truly broken him and there just were no more emotions within him.
“I understand.” Said Lardan softly.
Brucel snorted and looked away from his son, “You have never known war. How can you understand?”
“You died, mother was broken, and I was forced to go to the Academy. You think I didn’t have some resentment over what happened?” Lardan smiled sadly. “It was difficult to be angry with Jethron, but Malekai is a different story. I can’t say that I haven’t been tempted in all these years to go out of my way to kill him. While I can’t sympathise with what you have done, I understand it. I understand the white fury that claws with revenge. The anger that prevents you from sleeping. I understand.”
Lardan then placed a hand on the older Saith’s shoulder and continued, “I can’t have you roaming this planet if you are going to be a risk to our allies and family. As much as I want to welcome you with open arms, my family are those Dekai you tried to kill. Jethron is my brother and his youngest wants to wed my youngest.”
“Then where do we go from here?”
“That depends on you. I can’t expect you to forgive the Dekai for what they did to you, but I do expect you to show the respect they deserve as my family members and family members my mother chose to keep. I am led to believe you are incredibly powerful. Help us destroy the Fell Dragon in this time. Be our ally.”
Brucel sighed and said, “I have nothing here.”
“You have me. I know I’m not your son, I understand that, but…”
Lardan looked up to where Saita was sitting patiently, “That girl up there was tortured, ripped apart, and put back together by a Dekai for most of her life. If she could learn to get over that, then so can you. We could use your help as we have no idea how to combat how the Wolven and the Fell Dragon are traveling.”
“You are asking too much of me, Lardan.”
Lardan gave the man a shoulder squeeze and said, “Then spend the next few days in my home before deciding what you’ll do.”
“But…”
“They don’t need to know anything about your past. Bahn has brought the twins, and I’d love for you to meet the rest of my children and my other grandchild. Danna has also heard everything about you and I’m sure she’d love to get to know you.”
Brucel seemed unsure at first but then Lardan said softly, “Let me feel as if I never lost my father when I was a child, at least for a few days.”
“What about your mother?”
Lardan smiled sadly and said, “I’m an adult. Let me deal with her.”
The Fell Dragon watched with glee as the Saith queen pulled away from her family. She had been unaware of the history the woman had shared with the Saith that had been ejected from his time. This was better than she could have hoped for. With the Saith queen locked in her own memories, she wouldn’t be looking too closely at the training the girl would be receiving.
Red-Eye found the longer the Fell Dragon was out of her cage, the worse her hunger and behaviour were becoming. Despite feeding, the way she was killing had taken on a new malicious twist. He had seen this once before, and it had ended up with her forcibly having to return to the cage to prevent her sanity from going. Out of all the Dragons that had ever existed, she had managed to keep her mind the longest. However, now that this was the second time that she had woken, the process of her mind slipping was happening far quicker.
“They are yet to tell the girl about what I did to the Dekai.” She said with a grin as she stared through the veil at the son and father reuniting.
The Fell Dragon indicated that she wanted Red-Eye to take the veil closer to Saita. Red-Eye was hesitant, as he thought she would try to take the girl there and then. Instead, the Fell Dragon looked at her with a look of undisguised hunger.
“Soon.” She whispered as she reached for the veil. “Soon you will know everything, and I will relish watching your soul crumble. Will you fight? Will you beg for mercy? Or will you die like all the others?”
Red-Eye looked from the Fell Dragon to the human beyond the veil. He couldn’t help but lick his lips. He remembered both of their tastes and knew the power both carried. The fight the Fell Dragon longed for would rip this world to pieces.
“If I continue to consume timelines, how much time do I have?” asked the Fell Dragon as she turned to the Wolven.
He shrugged his shoulders, “I don’t know. You are the oldest of the Dragons I have known, and if our history is to be believed, the oldest to ever live.”
The Fell Dragon turned back to the castle and grinned, “There are some of the First here. I long to feast upon them.”
She quickly shook her head and looked back to Saita, “No, you need to know what they are before I do that. Your world will crumble as mine did.”
Had this been any other creature, Red-Eye would have tried to convince her to seek other ways to deal with her revenge. But this was the Fell Dragon that had outlasted his previous master and killed the one sent to kill her afterward. She had consumed so many fledgling Fell Dragons that Red-Eye had lost count. Her mastery of his people had been the reason she was able to feed while she slept.
“Enough. I want to sleep a few days.” She said as she turned from the human to face the Wolven. “I have eaten enough to last that long. I should be fine as long as you protect me.”
“I know where you can sleep safely for a few days.”
The Fell Dragon fixed him with a wary look, “I know the longer I am away from the cage, the less control I can force upon you. Tell me Red-Eye, where does your loyalty stand?”
Red-Eye had wondered that himself for some time. He often thought if he had the strength, he would end the reign of the Dragon himself, but he knew that was nothing more than a dream. Not with how he felt about her.
“It lies with whoever can keep me alive the longest. As long as you live, I am your servant.” He swore.
“You know that will likely cause your death, right?”
“It is a choice I had made. Let’s rest while we can.”
Next week a slower few updates, but it does finally cement Saita and Bolx' relationship. I will give the appropriate warnings when that occurs though. I hope you all enjoyed the update!
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
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Part 6>>You are Here>>Part 8
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