Greetings all
I hope the start of the week has been tame for all of you. I am working on a new project, at last, and don't have as much time as I did in the past to write. I did however write a few pages last week, so Fledgling is continuing.
I hope you all enjoy this update!
When Aidan came to, he was warm, and his pain seemed a distant memory. His mind slowly woke to the sounds around him. He could hear a fire and smell something potent. He wasn’t sure if it was food or something else, but it tickled his nose enough to force his eyes open to see what was happening.
Before him he saw two backs, and beyond the fire was Bolx. He looked pained, disturbed, and amazed all rolled into one. It was an odd look. Aidan watched his motion a few times with his hand, but there were no words spoken. There was a pause and then Bolx continued with a few motions.
It took Aidan a few more exchanges to realise that the Saith was communicating with the other people. It took him even longer to realise that it was a form of sign language. He blushed. His mother had told him that his grandfather could no longer speak and communicated with sign language, and at first, he had started learning, but it had fallen to the wayside with his training at the academy. He couldn’t follow what Bolx was saying at all.
Bolx noticed that he was awake and indicated to him. The two backs turned, and he was faced with two sets of blue eyes looking at him. One set belonged to the dark-haired man, and the other to a golden-haired woman. He had to rub his eyes to make sure what he was seeing was real.
“Would he even understand?” asked the woman.
Bolx snorted and that brought a groan. Aidan was immediately on his feet and on the other side of the fire to assist the large Saith. He was sitting bare-chested and covered in bandages. His skin felt clammy, and his eyes were sunk into his skull, but he seemed conscious enough.
Aidan looked around them. Nothing was protecting them from the snow or the wind, but he only felt the warmth of the fire. His mind was full of questions, and he didn’t know which he should ask first.
“It’s a barrier.” Said the young man. “My doing. I thought it would be a good idea to get both of you stable before leaving the area.”
“We just didn’t expect…” the woman seemed to skip over a word before continuing, “To be as badly injured as he was.”
Aidan looked down at Bolx’s bandaged right arm. His hand and part of his forearm were gone and the skin around the bandage seemed puffy and had an odd odour. Aidan looked up at Bolx but instead of allowing him to speak, the giant Saith placed his other hand on the back of his head and drew their foreheads together.
This simple act of affection crumbled any defence Aidan had had in place. He tried to swallow back his tears, but they came unabated and soon he was sobbing against Bolx’s chest.
“You didn’t need to protect me!” he screamed.
“Ha! As if your mother would let me live if I got you killed.” Said the Saith softly as he drew the boy closer with his left arm. “It’s okay, get it all out now while you can.”
Once his emotions were under control, he turned back to the pair of strangers sitting on the other side of the fire. He realised then that the man had answered his unanswered question.
“I’m a Truth Seeker, thanks to Mom and Dad.”
He received an elbow, and he growled at the woman.
Before Aidan could ask any more questions Bolx turned him to look at him.
“Aidan, has your mother ever spoken about where I came from?”
He was confused by the question. It was odd. He knew Bolx had come to the hospital planet years ago soon after Aidan had been reunited with his mother. However, he never knew where the man had come from. He had always assumed he had come from the Saith home world or one of its many colonies.
“No.” he answered honestly.
Bolx sighed softly and took a deep breath, “I’m not the Bolx from the time where I met you.”
Aidan didn’t allow his surprise to show. He remembered when he was young, Edzeeker often spoke about traveling time and dimensions, but it was so long ago, and he had never really understood. Then he thought back to what he had done to get away from the large Wolven. He looked at his bandaged hands and then up at Bolx.
“Did I take us to another time?”
“Time and dimension.” Snorted the woman.
This time her companion elbowed her, and she returned the growl.
“I knew your mother from my time. I came looking for your mother when I came to your timeline. She was all I knew, my family.” Bolx took a deep breath, his wounds clearly pained him.
Aidan blushed a little. He didn’t want to know about the relationship between Bolx and his mother. He had heard all the rumours at the Academy.
“Old man, he isn’t going to get it.” Said the woman.
Bolx held up his left hand and glared at her. Once she fell silent, Bolx continued.
“Aidan, there are multiple times and dimensions. Different versions of us in each of them.”
“I understand the theory of multiverses…”
“Oh my god enough!”
The woman got to her feet and took a few steps until she was standing before Aidan. She grabbed him from the ground effortlessly and hugged him to her chest. Pain flared through his body, and he couldn’t help but yelp.
He tried to struggle against the woman but found that she was silently sobbing as she held him.
“Way to hold it together, sis.” Sighed the man as he crossed his arms.
Bolx sighed and said, “Meet your twin siblings Martin and Maxine.”
Confusion spread through him until the pieces of the odd puzzle fell into place. They spoke Saith and the man was a Truth Seeker, a phrase he had only heard the Saith use. That meant that they were Saith, but if they were his siblings, that could only mean one thing.
“My mom can’t have kids.” He managed to squeak.
“And for a long time, she struggled until the stick changed colour. Boy was she and Dad surprised.” Said Martin.
Dad? Aidan pushed away from Maxine to look at Bolx, who only nodded once before saying, “They’re not from our timeline. They’re from Brucel’s.”
Aidan remembered the queen’s consort. He had been around much in the last year, often dogging Queen Saasha’s footsteps. He knew he was from a different time. Again, his mind was a flurry of questions.
“We know sign language because our mother became deaf with what was done to her.” Started Martin. “Maxine was a lot closer to you than I was. She watched you, Mom, and Dad die. Don’t think she got over that. Then again, that was only a few months ago. How we got here? Mom sent us, your mom specifically.”
“But how did you find us? The blood, Bolx, it must have appeared as if we were…”
“Killed.” Finished Maxine as she put Aidan down.
“She mentioned, but that’s where more strange time traveling comes in.” Martin dug in a pocket and pulled a piece of paper from it. “You dropped this.”
Aidan snatched it back and jammed it into his pocket.
“You’ll need that if you want to get home within the next six months.”
“Six months?” queried Bolx.
“Yes.” Was all Martin said, “Please realise that while my sister and I can tell you about our times, we cannot tell you what has happened in yours. We cannot risk affecting the direct timeline you still have to live through. We just need to keep you alive for the next six months, and it’s going to be tough enough with those who have followed us from our time.”
Maxine growled, “On that note, we need to get moving. Your blood will attract them soon.”
“I don’t think I can.” Said Bolx.
“Old man, you don’t have a choice. You have to return.”
Bolx shook his head, “This isn’t the first time I have had claws and teeth dig into me. The infection has already set in. I can’t travel far. I can’t fight if you need me to.”
“We can do the fighting.” Said Martin.
“You idiot.” Snapped his sister. “He’s going to need the both of us to help him. He knows we’ll be defenceless.”
“I can fight.” Said Aidan.
Bolx wanted to argue, but he already knew a lot of what had been done to Saita had been inherited by her son. Aidan showed no sign of the fever that was already running its course in his body.
He wanted to protect the boy he saw as a son. If he could just keep him alive for another six months. His thoughts drifted off for a second and he felt Maxine’s hands on his shoulders, keeping him upright.
“We can’t spend a night out here. We have to get as far as we can to the cabin. At least there, we have more of a defensible position.” Maxine lifted him to his feet. “The boy is ten, he can defend us if needed.”
She looked to her brother, “We move now.”
Martin didn’t argue. He looked at Aidan and asked, “Can you move fast?”
“I will have to.”
For those who have read Fell Dragon will know that the names of the twins don't match those she named them. The difference in names is to show that the twins come from a different time.
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 5>>You are Here>>Part 7
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