Fledgling: Part 44

Hello readers

Today we dive a little more into Dragon Kay's mind and get to know her a little better.

It had been so long since she had slept in a real bed, Kay flopped herself onto the mattress without crawling between the layers of linen. It didn’t take her long to realise how cold the room was. Irritated at new sensation, she dragged herself to her feet to look outside. It was raining. She hated the rain. Rain made everything dreary, the drips from the ceiling soaking her bed, the mud, the beatings because of a sour mood.

She gripped the windowsill hard, and she snarled at the rain. Memories played in her head and she tried to not think of them, but now that there were no longer thousands of voices to silence them, they played unabated.

“Never thought I would miss those bastards.” She grumbled as she opened the window to watch the downpour.

She used to love the rain. It had meant snuggling at the fire. Then it had gone away, and emotions changed. There were no more snuggles at the fire. There were raised voices, the sound of breaking glass, screams, and pain.

Her mother’s face she barely remembered, but what she did was always covered with thick makeup. A way to uphold the lie that their family had become. Her father she remembered very well. Every mole, wrinkle, and sneer.

The longer the rains stayed away, the worse the house had become. She hadn’t understood it back then. To her, the family was falling apart, and she, as young as she was, tried to keep it together for everyone. But she was young, and made so many mistakes, and her mother became sullen and her father more aggressive. Her mother had been trying to protect her at first, but when the abuse had reached its peak, she had stepped aside and allowed her father to take his frustrations out on her.

At first, it was screaming, but after her mother and brother had died, the blood flowed into her mouth. She now knew the change wasn’t sudden. The abuse had been there since the drought destroyed their only income. The only reason she hadn’t felt her father’s fury was because her mother had stood in the way.

“And I can’t even remember your face.” She spat at the rain.

The memories were nothing new. During the times that she was forced to be in control of Saita’s body, they were in the background. Not as sharp, but there, nagging, and confusing. They were melded with Saita’s happy childhood and Kay hated her for that. The only difference between their early life was that the rains kept Saita’s family going, while Kay’s family was destroyed in its absence.

Kay wanted to be angry. She wanted to scream her frustration, but another emotion was rising in her, and she didn’t know how to shut it down. Sadness. Saita and Bolx had shown her what could have been. She hated them for that because it no longer mattered. Her timeline was gone, she destroyed it, and her father had been dead even longer.

Then she thought back to Bolx. He had been so kind to her, and she never understood why. While he had guarded the rest of the castle against her, he never shunned her when she appeared. Kay hadn’t lied to the queen when she said Bolx was her only friend, and when she found out he had died and she hadn’t been able to say goodbye, it was devastating. Even though his death had been decades ago, it still felt like a fresh wound.

She turned from the window, leaving it open, and flopped down on the bed to stare at the dreary clouds.

“Where were you when I needed you?” she asked.

After a few minutes, she sat up, pulled the shirt from her frame, and lay back down on the bed. With her fingers, she started to trace the scars of everything she had gone through in her life.

Despite this body being made from Saita’s, it wasn’t the same. Saita had an obvious limp in her left leg due to a prosthetic. Kay didn’t have this. Instead, she was left with a thick scar that wrapped around her face and neck. She was given back her body.

She had her abilities, she had her body, and now she had memories. Why would she be forced to stay? She could leave. Who would stop her? Saita? No, she wanted her gone as much as Kay wanted to be free of her.

A nagging feeling pulled at Kay, and she rolled over to cuddle two pillows under her arms, lifting her chest from the bed. She didn’t want to think about the last time she was in the cage, but that memory, like so many others, came to her unabated.

She had been horrified to wake in the cage with nothing around her. It hadn’t taken her long to realise that her consciousness had been trapped while her physical body lay dead. She hadn’t wanted this. To be trapped with all the Fell Dragons that came before her was worse than being in the cage, as now there was no way to end her suffering.

She was aware of herself but besides that, she could see and hear nothing. There was no such thing as movement, and she just floated in what seemed like inky blackness. Her mind was fracturing once more, and she didn’t bother to keep it together.

Why bother?

That was until there was a light. Then there was sound. Someone was trying to talk to her. Coax her to listen to what they had to say. She ignored them at first. Why should she continue to give more of herself when there was nothing left by a broken mind?

“I will give you true freedom.”

It had seemed like a dream come true, but there had been conditions to this freedom. She wouldn’t have a body but rather share a body with the one she had tried to break. This wasn’t freedom; she hadn’t wanted this. But she was so convincing; the promises she had made were so enticing. The chance of freedom; true freedom, but it never came.

Kay had sat for decades in Saita’s head, waiting for the freedom that had been promised, but it never came. That said, she was in her own body right now. She could enjoy food, she felt her back muscles pulling tight, and the cold upon her skin. It was a real body, and she was free from Saita, at least for a little while.

“How much did you know by the time you came to me?” muttered Kay into the bed below her. “How far had you travelled at that stage? Do I need to guide her the rest of the way? What am I to do?”

Her questions went unanswered, and eventually, sleep came to her. True sleep.

There is a mysterious she but as of yet, they won't be revealed until much, much later! Enjoy the mystery until then. The next update is the brutal attack on Dragon Kay's family farm.

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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Haven't read the other parts yet? Follow these handy links:
Part 43>>You are Here>>Part 45
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