Fell Dragon Book 4 Part 30

Greetings everyone

I finally wrapped up the second book in the two-book disaster that I was working on for most of the last three weeks. I am exhausted. Between Cupcake's vet visits and work, I haven't had time to do anything for myself. If I wrote a paragraph for Fell Dragon, it was a lot. Good thing I am so far ahead in the story or you guys would have nothing to read!

As for Cupcake, she's still going strong. Eating what she wants, doing what she wants, and I still have her as my little writing buddy, which is all I need.

Enjoy today's update, but again, caution ahead, as there is still the discussion of torture that may be triggering to many people.

Cupcake playing peekaboo

Saita’s scream of pain had started Doran, and he looked to Silens for some guidance, but all she could say was, “This pain is newer, she is likely feeling it much stronger than in her earlier years. This will make for a difficult transition.”

Jethron clutched at his head and glared at Edzeeker, “So that is how you kept her compliant?”

“I had no part in that.” Edzeeker interjected, “She gave me her word, and that was enough for me. Chemically leashing her was not something I ever planned to do.”

All Doran wanted to do was hug the woman in his lap, but he knew there was nothing he could do to alleviate this pain. She would have to ride it out.

“My Lord, you should have Sedeath carry some of the burden from here. It gets bad.” Whispered Edzeeker.

Saita was sitting upright as the assistants cut into her shoulders with their blades. Her toes curled in agony, but that was the only part of her body that she could move. The rest of her was either paralyzed or tied down. Even her screams were stopped by a gag in her mouth.

“The idiot couldn’t even be here for the first of the discs to be placed. Coward, I will have to do this myself.”

It didn’t matter how hard Saita mentally screamed; the doctor blocked everything as he viewed the work of his assistants.

“Now open those veins there and there, clamp appropriately. Yes good.”

He stepped forward and looked Saita in the eyes before muttering, “Not even 30 minutes this time. Will have to find something else to use before the larger discs are inserted.”

He then instructed another assistant to remove something from a container filled with fluid. All Saita could see was a disc with several wires.

“Feed the wires down through the veins and allow the discs to rest between the layers of muscles.”

The moment the wire can in contact with her body it felt as if a jolt of electricity ran down her arm, and she tensed.

“Tense like that, and it’ll hurt even more.” Warned the doctor, then to the assistant at her other shoulder, “Hurry up, those veins can’t be clamped forever.”

As the second assistant completed what he needed to do, the sheer pain overwhelmed Saita and she felt her eyes roll into the back of her head before the blackness swallowed her. She didn’t know for how long she was unconscious, but when her eyes opened, she was back in her room. Groggily she sat up. Her shoulders burned where the assistants had been working. What had they been doing? She tried to use her right hand to part the bandages on her left shoulder but found her arms unable to move.

“Move slowly, it’ll take a while for everything to come back.”

She was startled to hear Edzeeker’s voice, she hadn’t seen him in weeks. She ignored his instructions and forced her right hand to reach for her left shoulder. Pain sheered through her shoulders; it startled her so much that she cried out in pain. Edzeeker placed a hand on her back to offer some support. Despite the pain she felt, she shrugged him off and growled, “Don’t touch me.”

He pulled back before adding. “Your nerves are adapting to the system. It’ll take time as you aren’t its natural host but…”

“Shut up!”

Using her legs, she moved until she sat with her back against the cold steel of the wall next to the bed and was facing the creature. The pain made her nauseous, but she fought against it as her head swum. She cradled her arms in her lap and choked back her tears.

“What are you doing to me?” she begged.

“Do you remember the times I told you about the Fell Dragon? When you were really little?”

“Do you think I want to think back to those days?” she demanded.

“I don’t suppose you do.”

“Ah! The patient is awake.” The doctor stepped into the room with a clipboard. “Sensors tell me that you are in a moderate level of pain.”

Saita glared at him next before saying, “What the hell did you do to me!”

“My, my, your new parents didn’t teach you many manners did they.”

She felt the pain building in her head, and she bit down on her teeth. She couldn’t even control her hands enough to cradle her head.

“No signs of infection, but blood pressure and heart rate are elevated. I’d say give it a few days before the next round of additions.”

“Next… next rounds?”

“Oh? Didn’t the Dekai here tell you what his grand plan was?” Sellious sneered.

“Dekai?”

“That is what he is. An alien species similar to the Kai, though I couldn’t determine more than that.”

“Sellious.” Warned Edzeeker as he got to his feet.

“Good! You’re just leaving. I need to run a few tests to see how it responds with the discs in place.”

Sellious stood aside to allow Edzeeker to leave. The Dekai seemed to think this over before he eventually left the room.

“Now then, let’s have a look at those incisions, I’m curious to see how much you have healed in such a short time.”

As much as she had wanted to resist him, the growing pain in her head was more than what she could stand, and eventually, she had no choice but to comply. Yet she refused to engage with him, despite this, he seemed happy enough to talk to the air around him. It was this way that she figured out how he was monitoring her. While he had chemically leashed her, he had also implanted several sensors to take all biological readings he would need without having to come to see her. Once he was satisfied with the work of his assistants, he left the room without another sound.

Saita remained sitting with her back against the wall, arms lying in her lap, trying to get them to move. She still had no answers for what was happening, and she was terrified.

What are they doing?

That was the first night she didn’t need any sleep. It would take days before the pain would subside, and by the time that happened, the next round of surgeries would begin. Yes, surgeries. Sellious had been so impressed by how she had handed the first surgery, he combined two to place everything he needed in her legs. Instead of working on one leg and giving time to recover before doing the other leg, he did both on the same day. It didn’t take Saita long to realise she was in real danger a few hours in when she struggled to understand what was being said and struggled to see. But she couldn’t say anything while the paralytic flowed through her veins. She clenched her fists and strained against the restraints on her wrists.

“Oh, what now?” Complained the doctor.

That was the last thing she remembered was her body rolling to the right as her arm snapped the restraint.

“I’ll be the first to admit may I made a mistake.”

“A mistake? You are lucky she isn’t brain-dead.”

“A small stroke, minimal danger. When we work on the final steps the damage will be healed.”

“Find a better way to deal with the pain or space the surgeries better.”

Groggily, Saita listened to the conversation but didn’t open her eyes.

“The liver has become too well adapted. The best we can hope to achieve is causing a dissociative situation where its mind is protected.”

“Find a way, we don’t have any more time, and this recovery is going to take months.”

“This is why a robot would have been better. Why you need something organic is beyond me.”

“Just find a way.”

Now that Saita was conscious, the pain in her legs was blinding. It felt as if someone had dragged a knife from her hips to her knees. She could feel her bones, and they were on fire. She flinched as a hand was placed on her forehead.

“You should let it rest if you are so concerned about it.” Said Sellious.

“Go do your research, and I will see what I can do from here.”

“Dekai and their damn magic.” Saita heard the doctor mutter as he left the room.

Once sure he was gone, she twisted her head to dislodge the hand that held it. She heard the heavy sigh before a chair was dragged closer.

“I wish you would understand.” This time hand gripped the bottom of her jaw and her forehead.

“I wish you’d let me die.” She whispered, surprising even herself.

“I don’t want you dead.” Whispered Edzeeker, and he applied pressure to her chin and forehead, “I raised you.”

“You’re torturing…”

“Shh, I need to concentrate.”

Sleep which had long eluded her drifted over her mind, and she tried to fight it, but it pushed back until she forced her eyes open. Only the right obeyed her command, her left wouldn’t open.

“You’re undoing my work. Go to sleep, rid yourself of the pain which is to come.”

She opened her mouth to give a retort, but the look on Edzeeker’s face stopped her. He looked worried; she had never seen him look like this before. It wasn’t just concern, there was terror on his face. He used a finger to close her eyelid and this time she didn’t have the strength to fight what he was doing.
“You have my word that you will survive this.”

Despite him making this promise, weeks rolled into months, and months into a year, and the pain continued. It didn’t take long for the sickness to set in. Something Sellious couldn’t stand. This was the only time Edzeeker got between the doctor and Saita.

“Her body needs to adapt; the sickness is the system’s way of showing us she isn’t ready yet.”

“We are behind schedule. You are the one that wants this done in a certain period. If it is sick for weeks on end, we won’t complete it.”

“We can afford another week.”

“Three days, use your magic but get it done. We are close to adding the final piece to the main system, after that it can have as much time as it needs to recover.”

Saita had gotten used to the two of them arguing next to her bedside. She would simply turn her body, so she was facing the wall. She then drowned them out with a blanket that she pulled over her head. However, today she only had the strength to roll and stare at the wall dumbly. Every nerve of her body was on fire, and her throat was raw. She had been unable to keep any food down for most of the day, and she was shaking so hard, she could barely do anything else.

“Saita?” asked the Dekai softly from behind her.

She didn’t want to talk; she didn’t want to be here. She just wanted to curl up into a ball and wish this nightmare away.

“Are you in pain?”

She closed her eyes and pressed her fevered head against the cold wall, hoping to feel some relief. She felt the now familiar nails edge their way through her hair. Whenever Edzeeker couldn’t get her to speak to him, he would read her mind. She hated the invasion, but she was so weak now, she could do nothing to stop him. She took a breath to yell at him to leave her alone, but it wasn’t words that exited her mouth. Fresh bile splattered the wall and accumulated between the bed and the wall.

“Oh, Saita.”

She hated it when he was like this. She hated the empty concern he showed while he had her body torn apart weekly. He needed her for something, and the only reason he hadn’t allowed her to die yet, was because she was yet to complete this mission. Her body flared in fresh agony as she was rolled to her other side and picked up. At first, she was confused as to what was happening, but she realised within minutes she was pressed against a chest, cradled like a child.

“Clean it up, so she can rest. Tell the doctor to come back here and administer something to help with the nausea and dehydration.”

“Lord Edzeeker, nothing we have is helping her. She will have to ride the illness out like she did last time.” Came the voice of an assistant.

“Then at least deal with the dehydration, surely her body can’t reject that.”

“You don’t have to hold her like that, you know.”

“Just do your job.”

Her nerves were on fire at being touched, and as much as she wanted to struggle, she knew it would only result in fresh torture. She was so tired of the pain, and all she could do was silently weep as she was held by the creature that was causing this to her. Even when she was finally allowed to lie back down in the bed, her body was beyond exhausted.

“Slight sting.” Someone muttered.

She felt nothing at first, but then her left arm started to feel warmer. A few minutes later, she was rolled to her left side and had her right hand tucked under her cheek.

“She’s on the verge of passing out, and I don’t see this vomiting spell ending soon. This is what humans call a recovery position. Even if she vomits in her sleep, her airway will remain open.”

Saita tried to open her eyes to see who was talking. The voice was familiar.
“I think she recognizes you.” Said Edzeeker.

“It was so long ago, I doubt it.”

Saita felt a gentle hand run through her hair, and the voice continued, “The next time she is well, allow her to have a bath, and cut her hair.”

“Rather motherly of you. Is the pregnancy going well?”

“See for yourself. Growing larger by the day. It has been difficult, but he grows.”

“It’s a boy?” Saita could hear the surprise in his voice.

“It’s what the scans say.”

Edzeeker seemed to hesitate for a minute, and Saita was losing the struggle to remain awake. “Could you sit with her until she falls asleep? I need to talk to Sellious about the surgery schedule.”

“Of course.”

The last thing Saita remembered was a chair being pulled forward and a hand being placed on top of her head. Then a voice started singing. It was similar to Beatrice, but the language wasn’t one she recognised. The pain didn’t abate, but she did eventually manage to fall asleep.

One guess to figure out who the baby is. See you all on Tuesday!

For those of you who have never heard of Fell Dragon you can find Book 1 here, Book 2 here and the start of Book 3 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
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