Fledgling: Part 115

Greetings Readers

So sorry for the late update. I had a lot to do yesterday, and somehow updating wasn't on my to-do list. But anyway, here is your update! I hope you all enjoy it.

“It’s because you’re not a warrior that this worked.” Said Saita softly, realising that if she had sent Maxine, she would have sent the girl to her death.

Martin continued to grind his teeth as he was weighing his options. He knew his parents and older brother were dead, but what he didn’t know was where this insane mission would lead. He wasn’t a coward; he just never wanted to put himself in danger. Was that so wrong?

“And if I refuse?”

“We die.” Said Saita simply.

It was the honest truth. This was a pivotal point. A key event that had to occur for her to have the life that she did. If she couldn’t get Martin to go to Brucel…

“Why me?”

“Because you’re braver than what you think.” Said Saita softly, feeding on the boy’s insecurity, she had been aware of it when she had first met him. She hated herself for it, but there was no other option. She needed him to get in, deliver the message, and then return in one piece. And he had to do it without running into Red-Eye or Kay.

Martin muttered an expletive that Saita knew quite well from the Hand Maidens in her mother’s hospital when she was younger. She would have smiled, but there wasn’t time for that. She had to push him. She turned to look at the castle. She knew that Kay would torture Brucel, hoping to make him break. Lardan would be dead by now, Baks and Silens too. Saita couldn’t help but wonder why Kay had left him alive.

Originally, everyone who thought that Brucel arriving in their timeline was a fluke, an accident, but now Saita knew better. She was the one who had sent him. She was sure.

“What is the message?” Half-whispered the obviously terrified boy.

“If anyone could put a stop to her, it would be her mirror image.” Quoted Saita.

It had made no sense to her when she had first heard it. And it wouldn’t be for a few more years when the chilling quote would make sense to her.
Martin screwed up his face, showing his confusion, but there was anger, too.

“A riddle! You want me to risk my life for a riddle?” his voice became shrill.
“Yes.” She didn’t have the time to explain this further.

Martin raised his hands to cup his face. He was muttering under his breath, and his fingers dug into his hair. Then he started pacing.
Saita sighed and made her way to where Maxine was lying. She should be out for a few more hours at least, but she didn’t have to lie face down in the dirt for that.

“You won’t hurt her, will you?” asked Martin behind.

“Never.”

“This time is finished, isn’t it?” he asked as she turned to face him.

“Yes.”

“And this message, does it result in you coming back here?”

“Yes.”

“Can you save her?” he looked at his sister as Saita threw her own her shoulder.

“You too.”

“But…”

“You won’t be caught.”

The sureness of Saita’s voice made Martin relax, and he looked to the castle. He said nothing more as he started to run toward it. Saita needed to move. Her window was closing quickly.

She found a house that was mostly still intact and hid Maxine as she quickly made her way to the castle. The future version of herself had told her how exhausting it would be to drag Brucel to a different time, but the steps had been explained. The fact that the original Brucel was gone, leaving a vacuum, would make it easier for what Saita needed to do.

A small pang of guilt ate at her, knowing what the initial meeting would do to those who remembered Brucel. However, she also knew how important it was for him to get to her in time with the message she had had Martin deliver.

She moved slowly, giving Martin the time he needed to deliver his message, and for Kay and Red-Eye to do their dirty work. She needed to get to Brucel while his defences were down, and the other two were elsewhere, continuing their destruction.

It made her stomach turn as she sensed the life force of this universe being drained the way it was. She was aware that this timeline was already weak; Jethron had told her that when he had tried to explain where Brucel had come from. The death and tyranny he and his son had wrought was the wound that had allowed Kay to easily enter and destroy what she wished. Saita was sure that she could end Kay and Red-Eye right here and now, but the influence it would have on everything would be disastrous. She had to stick to the plan.

Eventually, she found Brucel, as he knelt in a pool of blood, cradling his slaughtered son. Saita could barely recognise Lardan; he had been mauled. Brucel was howling in grief, not noticing the rest of the slaughter that had occurred around him. Between howls of grief, he was shouting nonsense. At least Saita thought it was nonsense.

“I knew the girl was trouble. This is your fault, Saita.”

At first, Saita thought he was talking about her, but then realised he meant Martin and Maxine’s mother. He must have thought the final message the Fell Dragon gave him was about this world’s Saita. He truly had no idea until he had seen her in her own timeline.

She concentrated on what she needed to do while keeping an eye out for those she needed to avoid. Brucel must have sensed her, because his head came up and he scanned his surroundings. It was now or never. She teleported behind him, placed a hand in the middle of his back and sent him to where he needed to be.

The future version of her had been right. The technique took a lot from her, and it drove her to her knees. If she had had the time to recover, she would have relaxed a little, but there was none when she suddenly sensed Red-Eye too close to comfort. She muttered a farewell to Lardan’s remains and limped her way into another hallway.

She managed to get into the hallway as soon as Red-Eye bound into the room she had just been in. Following on his heels was Kay, as she had been, as the Fell Dragon. Fear gripped Saita’s heart. This wasn’t like the Kay that had been pulled from her. This was the Fell Dragon she had faced so many centuries ago. She had to fight hard not hyperventilate.

“Where is he?” muttered Red-Eye.

“Likely the timeline has already spat him out. He is going to cause so many problems.” Laughed the Fell Dragon.

“You know where he is.”

“The little Champion’s time.”

“You are sure.”

“It’s the closest similar timeline. Good. That queen needs to be taken down a notch. She’s interfering too much with my Champion.”

“Not much left here then.”

“Let the stragglers finish off this planet, then take the packs to drain what they can. Then I will feed.”

The two of them left the way they had returned, and Saita could breathe a sigh of relief. She needed to find Martin and get him and Maxine out of here while she still had enough power to do just that.

A few pieces are starting to fall into place.

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, Book 7 here, and Book 8 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 114>>You are Here>>Part 116
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