Empress's Endgame (Book 5 and final of the Death Incanate Saga)

by Jr H. Lee Morgan

For once, Princess Amy smiled at his nonchalance. “Many know of your candor, but none in all the three kingdoms call Father by his name without honoring his station. General Kurk was suspicious as your… twin, as you referred, was walking. I do not understand what the general meant by not walking right, but when the man called Father as ‘King Tate’, both knew something was amiss. The man was just a first class sorcerer when Father summoned…”

  “Me.” Jormon spoke up as he approached feeling better after a short rest. “The fool’s deception was not enough to beat me. I can tell you are the real Cage because as a warlock your power is undetectable without being active… unlike the two rather powerful sorceress’ and witch behind you. The fool even didn’t have Ghosts Bane. I was able to overpower the imposter while my king rushed up to kill the modified magician woman pretending to be Lady Brooke.” The sorcerer then turned his attention. “Princess, you father says for you come as well. The prisoner is awake and your father will not begin without you or our… bounty hunter.” Jormon tactfully said as to the warlock’s specialty to be considered a lord.

  Cage clapped his hands together. “Oh please tell me he still looks like me?!”

  Some soldiers were caught off guard by his personality and coughed to hide a laugh. Daku held no qualms and did as he wanted.

  Jormon smirked. “You shall see for yourself soon enough.” He held his hands out to gesture they stay put before commanding in a voice so subtle even Daku could barely hear so close “Palace wards, gathering hall passage, Mevlatamak!” roughly translated from Draconian means ‘Cave of truth and alliances.’

  Between the two rows of marble pillars lining the hall, right in front of the steps leading to the king’s throne, the polished marble floor right down the center began lowering like a ramp. A carpet they stood on hid the mechanisms’ joint that laid there. A mix of magic and engineering allowed the center of the hall to form a path that led down to a spacious cave larger than the castle it sat on. From where they stood they found another fifty elite guards with drawn weapons in the center of the room where the king of Vlara stood with his naked ancestral sword beside the Rex of the Vlara Mountains. To either side stood his soldiers in full dragon armor and beside them regally sat Ulon and Poli.

  Cage and Daku moved ahead first, not caring about waiting for the floor to come to a stop and slid down the slick surface with complete control. The carpet though acted as grip. The pair opted for the more fun slide. It made a soft click in a marble platform veined in blue and gray, just as they walked over and down a short flight of carved stairs. Behind, the rest followed with a bit more dignity. Cage and his trickster companion really couldn’t care less.

  He and Daku approached while the warlock raised a hand. “Hey Tate, I see you’ve taken after Skylar and bound yourself to Semek. You share his color… but no outward magic… you might actually make me have a worthy fight one day.”

  The king chuckled and sheathed his sword at his hip and shook the warlock’s and griffin’s hands. “And it is good to see the real you! That fool doesn’t carry a death sentence in his walk while seeming happy.”

  “Seeming? I want to see this doppelganger. I assume you’ve questioned him and I can play now?”

  General Kurk let out a rare chuckle as he stepped out from behind Rex Semek’s leg, ready to intervene if it was yet another ploy. “Hardly. The prisoner just woke. How is the lip?”

  “Better than Tate’s nose.” The three chuckled at their private joke.

  “Rex Semek, is he powerless now?”

  “He is, King Tate Two-legs.” The large male with four large gold rings around his horns confirmed. His gaze turned down. “Cage Two-legs, due to the attempt twenty one rotations ago on your colony, Rex Gralla and her casters have discovered the method to safely strip the secondary self-destruction spell on the spelled enemy. She wishes me to thank you for the information and to return this.” In the hollow of a claw appeared the journal he loaned her from his time in The Deep. “She concluded its study several hours prior. When my partner and mate’s partner were threatened she assumed you would come and asked me to return it.”

  Cage dropped the book in his pocket. “Semek, your speech is much clearer. I guess spending extra time with Tate has paid off.”

  “Indeed.” The Rex grunted.

  Cage and Daku walked together with the king and highest ranking general who had been magically returned to his usual age to not have appeared in his twenties again. The sword wielding soldiers and crossbow aiming archers pulled away from the chained prisoner kneeling in front of a large crystal sucking just enough mana to keep him alive. Thick steel chains bound his wrists and a spiked collar jabbed thousands of painful needled into his bleeding neck.

  “Holy Shit!” Cage crowed in a laugh as he knelt in front of an identical resemblance of himself. “I have a twin! You’re pretty good, Man. You’ve got my eyes, height, lips, nose and ears… wrong beads though, my green as chef is black as I’m a protector. Your info is months old… Let’s see.” He tore the sleeve off the identical green robes, finding it also to be spider silk and his powerful fingers made the man scream out at the top of his lungs as Cage ripped a chunk of shoulder muscle out barehanded. “Guess your skin hasn’t been altered. It’s just had some pigmentation colored. My arms are much harder to penetrate.” All around him though, many soldiers paled at the chunk of flesh and muscle ripped and laying on the ground. The only ones to hold it together better were the king, general, Daku, Cage’s loves and Jormon, with Gaz smelling fresh blood that made his mouth water. Cage then conjured a flame that passed by all the wards in the area from sheer power that had everyone scratching as he burned the wound painfully shut. He moved around, breaking a few fingers and making the man bawl his eyes out. “Weak fingers too. Hasn’t done any serious fighting before… and diamonds in your hands are real, just painted black…” He then ripped one out. “Pathetic, my diamonds are fused down to the bone.” At the feet he lifted some of the flap beneath the toes and shook his head. “Dumbass, you just glued leather to your soles… Tate, the key to these?” he pointed to the locks.

  Tate raised his eyebrow, but didn’t bother asking why. He gave his consent and one soldier unlocked the locks. “Leave the collar.” He spoke and judged Cage’s reaction to find he didn’t care. With a single hand he grabbed the man’s head of hair and lifted him to his feet. The assassin tried fighting with freed hands and legs but was clearly the weaker warrior as the warlock slapped him so hard before astonishing everyone by drawling his sword and dismembering the man in one sweep till the man hung limbless by his throat. A sudden flash of blue sealed the wounds and Meeka said to the group of jaw dropped men “If Cage wanted him dead he would have simply broken his neck. A man about to die doesn’t need his arms or legs now does he?”

  Suddenly Brooke and Tohka burst out laughing and pointing to the soaked robe cleanly cut through. They were hysterical, but Brooke managed to say “Love, he missed a large aspect of you.”

  When he looked he was sheathing his sword. “Well Damn! Now that is just insulting. Out of everything to get wrong…”

  “What?” King Tate asked.

  Poli chuckled loudly. “Cage’s phallus isn’t so petite. No female of any race would feel thrusts from that!” the dragons around them chuckled at her humor.

  Cage sat on his heels while looking at the crying individual. “You did not deserve to copy my body. I worked damn hard to make it while you cheated. Without your arms and legs you won’t choke to death, but all those needles biting in your throat must hurt like hell. You can talk freely now. Answer all our questions and I’ll put you out of this suffering. I’m the wrong person to imitate, Fucker.” No longer was Cage smiling as his black eyes were flat and remorseless. None were unaffected as they heard the man of prophecy talk now. “I’m going to start this show. Is that alright with you, Tate?” he asked without turning around.

  “You mean you haven’t begun?”

  “Trust me,” Brooke said in com
plete seriousness. “he hasn’t. Be thankful you did not see what he did to the sorcerers who tried killing us on our island. This fool will beg for death in a moment. Cage was irked that his body was copied without hard work. Torture for answers is another matter.”

  “I see.” The king sobered after seeing the near identical expressions of Meeka and Brooke. “You, may do as you will, Sir Cage. Get everything.”

  Within minutes nearly all the soldiers who had fought and killed before were throwing up by what they witnessed. Princess Amy was no exception and Meeka helped hold her hair. Both the king and general were impressed at the answers he pulled from the would-be murderer. Never had they see a man so close to dying stay alive after the detached methods used to extract them. They now could see why spirits referred to him as Lord Death. In minutes the sorcerer was spilling all his dirty secrets to stop the pain.

  At last Cage held the carotid just outside the man’s shredded flesh, artery between his fingers and could feel the blood pumping through it. “And who will be waiting for your return and all the details you planned to spill when you stumbled upon Tate’s alliance with the dragon’s?”

  “Mandau in Apalllhaaaa.” The man cried a sob while spilling his guts, both figuratively and literally. “Sixth residence to left from eastern gate. Red door with blue handle… knock twice then kick the door once. She will be waiting for the whispered password, ‘Now you are who rules.’ She will smile and let you in. She will turn into Princess Amy and step forth as her long lost twin sent to hiding…”

  No longer were everyone sick. They were all beyond pissed, none more than the king. He was stopped from drawing his own sword by Brooke, as she was taller than him. His new strength could have overpowered her, but he relaxed instead.

  “And Vika has likely made this woman’s blood identical to Amy’s I presume. How did she get it?” Cage asked, none had thought to ask it.

  “From her birth fluids. A second class witch was born in the empire on the same day and implanted with birth blood to make all legitimatttte!” he screamed as Cage pulled a little harder.

  “And is this person who stole the samples still here?!” the man hesitated. “Is the person here still?!” Cage said more forcefully and increased the pain.

  “YES!” the man screamed. “She is known to me as Mistress E.” with that, Cage tore the artery out completely and stood. Few saw a rush of spirits cart off the newly deceased and by their ghostly expressions, the man would not know peace for quite a long time.

  King Tate yelled “Get Mistress Eleanne down here now! All castle staff are in the kitchen or in the servant’s wing.” A dozen soldiers heard their king’s order all the way up in the hall, where the ramp stayed lowered and rushed to do his heated bidding.

  “Tate, want me to go get this witch in Apala? I flew over it four days ago so I know the layout.” Cage asked as Tohka handed him a cloth to wipe his hands.

  “Good thinking.” General Kurk voiced as he understood immediately. “If you go, the imposter will think you are that filth. All soldiers under Vlara’s banner are dragon bonded as of yesterday and spelled to be loyal to the crown. Jump a score as you go…”

  “No, we will go alone.” Brooke interrupted. “We are small, but powerful. Just send word to any warriors in Apala to stay out of our way. I can take a witch out effortlessly…”

  “Now see…” the general was about to fight until Jormon said “She is a first class sorceress, General Kurk. You are not yet sensitive to another’s power. Lady Meeka is a second class sorceress. And that large pink dragon’s power is second only to Cage’s and Daku’s. This groups’ power is more than enough to flush out the rest of the rats.”

  Uniform marching footsteps had heads turning to a plump middle-aged woman in a soft green dress, hair in a bun, being escorted down into the spacious cave by ten soldiers. The king went to step forth till his daughter firmly put a hand on his shoulder and he saw a rage burning in her blue eyes. “Father, I’ll handle this.” He simply nodded and approached the group, loudly yelling “Eleanne! Allow only truth to part from your lips or be shown through experience. Any lies or false creations are prohibited from interfering with the conversation.” The group paused as the princess forced the spell on the woman, swords were freed and aimed at her. The princess demanded “I’m going to order you to answer accusations levied down upon you. You were one of my mother’s handmaidens and there at my birth. Deny before my father and I that you are an agent placed by our sworn enemy. Deny that you secretly stole my blood and had an imposter trained to replace me in event of my untimely demise.”

  The woman’s straightened and sneered “You’ll not hear a word out of me, spoiled brat.”

  Princess Amy held out her hand and a rock lifted off the ground and was combined with fire till it was molten. Being princess, she had full use to use any spell she desired where others were prohibited. “You have no powers as my father wisely made sure none were allowed out or to send messages over this month. Who do you associate with? Who else has committed treason?”

  The woman held her tongue. Wrong choice. Cage thought.

  To the soldiers, Princess Amy commanded “Open her mouth!” it was easily achieved and the woman could not struggle against the enhanced soldiers’ strength. The princess dropped the molten pebble down the traitor’s gullet. She screamed as she clutched her throat and stomach. “To the dungeon with her. She will not die till we get our confession and find any further traitors. I will keep her under compulsion so she can only voice legitimate conspirators… And when she does confess all she knows, hang her.” The woman was dragged off in chains, screaming as her tract was constantly burning.

  “She will make a fine woman and birth strong babies.” Brooke proudly clapped King Tate on the shoulder and went over to speak with her sister-mates privately.

  “She will make a fine queen when my time ends.” The king finally saw the fire he knew his daughter always had buried behind that lovely face. He was still nonetheless thankful and touched for the tribal woman’s powerful words.

  “Well, Tate,” Cage said as he hid Ghost’s Bane safely away in his pocket. “before Amy’s replacements gets any more suspicious as to why I haven’t killed you and got back so soon, I need to get my family and take care of business. That dead bastard had my voice and appearance, but his information of me wasn’t complete. Likely some spies were around when the Tiaxm attacked and used what they learned for this failed plot. They didn’t know how large my lance is or my revealed mark having flowers, or how I even talk to you… so I need to act the part. Here is my plan.” His ideas made lips part. Many wondered how he came up with something so simple and complex it just had to work. His was approved by both leaders, man and dragon alike. “I’ve understood his mannerisms and how he moves from how he fought so I can look, move and act as he did with reasonable results.” He touched his black bead hanging at his temple and turned it green for a short while so as to get everything correct, even making his hair grow out another inch. “You guys ready for a little more fun?”

  “Come back here when you are finished. Bring this woman to me alive, if at all possible. Jormon, go to Apala first and spread the word to the soldier and home guard to avoid the area Cage is going to. Rex Semek, if you wouldn’t mind doing the same for your guards and watchers? Nothing must seem amiss.”

  “Yes, Your Highness.” The loyal sorcerer and his Familiar had special access to teleport out, even beneath the castle’s protection. Rex Semek merely grunted, but the barely noticed a shimmer from one of his gold bands at a horn meant he was complying.

  Cage and his family ran back up while Poli and Ulon dove back down one of the tunnels to be ready at a moment’s notice. And none were stopped or slowed. Just as soon as they left the city’s wards they all teleported to high above Apala.

  The girls all leapt off their scaly friends at over a hundred feet from the ground in a swoop, following their man’s lead when Daku became only four inches long and dove into a pock
et. They all landed a quarter mile from the eastern outer wall that was made of jagged glass and stone to ward off any wyrms who might live in the area. Night hid their drop entirely while the two large fliers disappeared back above the thick clouds that didn’t broadcast any possible rain. From so far out, the few magic users who could sense it in use, didn’t detect their silent landing. As soon as their landing ward dissipated in black, blue, green and orange in a small clearing, Brooke held a finger to her lips and began using the secret sign language known only to the Utala. In the dull orb of white light peeking between Meeka’s fingers their woman’s hands quickly said “Cage Love, I know you heard what we discussed. Meeka and I are going to silently clear the streets. Tohka will be ready as soon as you give the signal. Daku, will you watch room the roofs and drop on any who might be laying in wait?”

  The griffin’s small hands moved and been taught well as he too silently replied with them. “Of course. Dull magic of the town though might alert to any infiltration. At night it looks to block all small animals from crossing the wall and will alert the patrols if I’m larger. The magic is weak, but this area has been attacked one too many times to not have several mages living here at all hours. Let us get inside.”

  All four nodded to the suggestion and silently cut through the forest for two minutes before coming out onto a dirt road well traveled as it was the only lifeline to Vin’re. Cage passed out four torches dipped in long burning pitch and were lit. They had to appear as not being magically inclined. Together they walked, Cage watching their rear as his senses picked up two juvenile wyrms a mile away feasting on a deer that didn’t get away. So far they were downwind, but one breeze could change the circumstances. Judging from Brooke’s reaction by laying a hand on a tomahawk, she too sensed them out in the dark.

  “Who goes there!” came a shout from up on a wall as the four of them came around a bend and came within earshot. Guarding the top of the wicked looking wall were four archers in leather armor wearing the blue crow standard on their breast.