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

Meeka laid a hand on Brooke’s naked thigh and knew right where to grab without needing her eyes. “Not yet, Brooke. We can learn how his lance stiffens and how it works through each of us when we go home. Please give me time to learn this. I’m now starting to understand what he’s been teaching me for almost a year.”

  The former priestess huffed. “Fine.” And kissed Meeka’s cheek. “For you, I can wait, but when we get home I want to have him in you so I can know how you feel.”

  The healer smirked and said “Cage, keep going.”

  “Yes, please. This is fascinating.” Tohka beamed, cracking an eye and gave Meeka a grateful squeeze for handling their assertive woman so well.

  Cage resumed walking around in circles, slowly adding different movements when he noticed them losing interest. Brooke in particular. He knew she had a deeper understanding of human movement as a great huntress and powerful dancer. Tohka lacked the most, but put forth extra effort to catch up to those she can no longer live without. Meeka though zipped through him, taking in everything like a giant sponge. Being a healer by trade and passion, she now saw the body through new eyes and was fighting against overexcitement to not miss anything.

  Three hours later, noon came with the warm sun overhead. “Since you’ve seen how the male body moves…” he looked over his shoulder. “Chala!” the new chief’s spirit mate approached from where Xamii and Moril laid and talked. “Can I get you to walk around.”

  “This will be an excellent exercise for you as well, Moril Two-legs.” The former general of the Blind Mountain’s colony rumbled. She tilted her canary yellow head to her new human partner.

  “Xamii, just Moril. Not Moril Two-legs.” The chieftain said as she hurried over and sat next to Tohka on the cushion. The dragon grunted.

  “Give her some slack.” Cage said. “It isn’t easy for her to speak in this tongue. Every word she thinks is in Draconian and believe me,” he smirked. “Xamii’s shortening your title. Their language is critically specific. How she really calls you is Moril Two-legs with black hair, copper epidermis, two nipples mammal female with four limbs, no wings and has birthed two daughters and a son.”

  “Really? Why two nipples though?” This insight into draconian had every human’s attention though only ten or so were here where Ulon and Poli took up permanent residence on the south face of the island.

  “Because for mammals, most have six or more nipples. Cows have four and horses have two. To have nipples in your title means they serve a function, to make milk and feed your offspring. Dragon’s do not have nipples so it distinguishes our peoples.” He touched his chest. “My full accurate name in Draconian is Cage Two-legs great elite warlock with big phallus, Summoner of White King Daku, owner of Cage Island, male of Brooke, Tohka and Meeka Two-legs large breast two nipples… yadda yadda. It is lengthy for another translation. But in Dranonian it sounds like this.” He switched to what he heard as mandarin. “Rook natin malllo vqqum.” He growled. “It’s not easy to fully translate from Draconian.”

  “Truth all, Cage Two-legs speaks.” The large yellow female supported. “Many words are backwards and often too general to comprehend without focus.”

  “Sorry… I didn’t realize.” Moril began apologizing and stopped as a giant hand waved her off.

  “Learn I still do. Feel better it will make you to be so short a identity, I will try to oblige. Cage two-le…” Xamii corrected herself. “Cage, proceed.”

  “Alright,” he turned back to the four new mages as Xamii laid beside Poli and touched a claw to her human partner. “a man and a woman walk quite differently all because of our hips. As you can see, mine are narrow while Chala’s is round. It’s because her pelvis and hips are wider for giving birth. Men are more rigid for strength while hers will sway.” He gestured and she began walking slowly, not really feeling anything as he though saw and felt four strands leaving those seated as they looked into the youthful woman. “See how her muscles tense and relax while pulling on her bones so she can walk. Her swinging arms aid balance, but focus on her butt. That is the largest section of muscles in the human body and without it, we would find it near impossible to walk upright without a tail. It is why dragons still walk on all fours and, to use their hands, they need to be stationary, using their tails to keep from falling back on themselves. Chala’s toes flexed to limit the impact of walking while each step causes vibrations that are reduced by the cartilage between bones. It is the softer stuff that bones need to bend.”

  “Love, you are as beautiful on the outside as you are inside.” Moril called out and her woman smiled a bit bashfully, but it put a bit of spring into her step. “Oh, now your breasts are bouncing the way I like.” This made all the women laugh.

  “But your eyes are closed.” Challa retorted as she noticed all their eyes closed.

  “Just keep walking. I have a meeting tomorrow with all the Rex’s to discuss solving that very issue.” Cage said and began walking beside her. “Now watch us together to compare.” And to Chala he spoke where they couldn’t hear and hadn’t quite learned yet how to understand vibration patterns to hear without actually hearing. “I’m trying to also work with Xamii’s sister-mates and man so all ten of you stay together. It will hold less conflict and is good as not only is Moril the most dominant of your mating group, Xamii is also the dominant of hers. You got quite lucky. It all evens out. I’m going to need to do a lot of negotiating tomorrow so be a little patient. You will not be left behind for long, even if I must make a few Rex’s submit.”

  Xamii heard it all and snorted ten feet of bright yellow flame. “Warlock confidence hasn’t diminished.”

  “That’s a good thing for what is coming, don’t you think?” He asked and she gave him a considering look. “Can’t have leaders who will piss all over themselves at the first sign of trouble. You need someone who laughs in the face of danger and kick it square between the legs… er… I guess for your people it would be someone who will cloud fly regardless if a mountain is in there so long as the enemy is hiding nearby.”

  Xamii gave him a toothy grin only a dragon could pull off as she understood. “Truth. Rex Gralla did as you say before she laid my egg as a rogue egg breaker hid in clouds. She killed him in thick clouds not moments before a cliff rock tore her wing. He was readying to Jump to another world, but my mother not kind to egg breakers.”

  “Good to know Gralla is so vicious.” He grinned.

  A moment later Moril asked “Cage, what are those bubble objects up inside Chala’s flower. It splits, but there are two.”

  “Essentially they are her eggs. All of those bubbles hold the potential to become a baby if your man’s seed fertilizes it.”

  “But I cannot count so many!” the chieftain’s eyes opened wide. “So you’re telling me that if our man spills his seed in her she can birth…”

  “Potentially every single one.” He finished and nodded. “Yes, she could give birth to tens of thousands of babies if she didn’t age. It’s why our large friends limit their population. Just fifteen females can potentially overpopulate this planet.” Heads jerked up to the two giant females. Both of whom gave a simple nod. “As it stands, it won’t happen, because this is the complete best case, but I’ve counted up Brooke’s, Meeka’s and Tohka’s eggs, and combined, the four of us could have a maximum of six hundred and ninety one thousand, two hundred and seventy nine children.”

  “We certainly will not!” Brooke declared as the number settled in her mind.

  Her expression sent all who listened into a fit of laughter.

  Tohka piled on by saying “Come now, babies will slide straight out like the children do all day at the bridge. After the first thousand you will not feel a thing.”

  Brooke shuddered.

  “So why do you think I’m starting your training this way?” Cage said as he knelt before the two new sorceress’ and two first class witches. He held up another finger. “Healing. Moril, you and Brooke remember labor pains, but now with your powers you can m
ake your body fell almost nothing, even pull and cradle your baby from birthing without any help. Remember Jada?” he said and Brooke brightened with understanding, but before she could say anything he continued driving the point home. “The baby’s cord wrapped around her neck and endangered both Jada and her child. If I didn’t use magic back then I would have needed to reach inside to fix the issue, even if I needed to knock everyone out. But now with your newfound power to use magic you can personally see to it no baby is ever strangled in the womb and dull the pain of birth to make it a much more enjoyable experience. And if you four were all were pregnant right now you could always feel your baby within you and keep it from all harm, just do not place magic on the child. And to further just how profound magic is, you can give birth alone, without pain and not need anyone at your side. You can hold a new baby in your arms and walk away in ten minutes, heal your flower and show off your new treasure all without fearing something could go wrong.”

  The five women and a few other tribal people around sat in silence as the full weight of such words settled on their shoulders.

  Moril looked around and said “If you had sooner told me this I would have been more serious.”

  “Anyone can blow shit up, but healing your body and knowing just how it works is more critical to my methods. And now that you look eighteen again you need to realize your again in your physical and sexual prime. If you worked magic the other way around and blew off your arm without knowledge of what I’m teaching, well… you’d bleed to death. You and Tohka might have trouble starting out, but with your current powers you can heal yourselves for over a week on what would have killed you on the plains.”

  “If only there was a faster way to not pass out without our partner’s help.” Moril patted Xamii’s claw.

  “There is, but right now all my crystals are in use keeping our land safe. I’m having more bought to teach what my diamonds do for me.”

  “Oh, I sometimes forget you are quite capable.”

  “A protector has to protect.” Meeka quipped and lightly kicked her man’s knee.

  His smirk lasted as he stood up and turned back. “But before we call it a day and you four do this same exercise on your own time, you need to see how the body reacts to physical damage.” Cage held out one finger and instantly created a sharp black spike and drew it across his chest, opening a four inch wide wound down his sternum for about a quarter inch depth. He accepted the bite of pain though it didn’t show. “Focus not only on the injury, but also my brain as it feels pain and works naturally to seal it.”

  “Your mind has become stronger with more lightning.” Meeka was the first to understand and voice an observation. “And what are those cells doing at the very edges of the wound doing?”

  “Clotting.” He answered. “Just like you would put pressure on a gaping wound to stop bleeding, it is doing the same. Contact with the air will harden those cells to eventually scab. As for pain receptors, pain wakes the mind to make damn sure you know you’re injured and wants you to avoid making matters worse. I’m going to go slow, but do you best to see magical healing at work.”

  A blue glow grew in the middle of his chest, deep beneath the skin. A second or two would have done the job, but his promise to go slow wasn’t a lie. It took ten minutes. All that remained as the final section of skin kited back together was a bloodstained naked torso and thigh which was dried out by then.

  “Love, can you do it again, but heal as fast as possible.” Tohka requested.

  “No problem.” The next cut was healed as fast as the wound opened.

  “Amazing!” She breathed through those sinfully full lips she moistened with her tongue. Her innocent and more timid chocolate eyes opened in a squint as sunlight stabbed them for a few moments.

  Meeka suddenly drew one of her knives and before anyone could stop her or say anything, she drew the razor sharp edge across the pad of her thumb and winced as the bite slid into the tender and sensitive flesh. Large, but focused blue eyes focused on the thumb as it bled. Suddenly she willed her abilities to feel the damage a moment before it glowed brightly blue, a slightly lighter shade than her naturally affinity’s coloring.

  Five seconds later the glow dimmed and in its place was a faint pink line the eye would miss if not through close observation.

  Squealing in delight, the blond bombshell showed off her victory after wiping blood off in the sand. “I did it! Look.” Meeka beamed with pride as both her women each had a turn. “Cage, now I can understand all your lessons in healing.”

  “Natural mender you are.” Xamii said in a low tone, but for a five hundred foot long dragon, to human’s it was louder than the surf crashing on the beach. “Never have I seen someone new to their potential do as you have.”

  “Aside from myself and Granny, Meeka has the most intensive knowledge in healing.” Cage boasted, proud to have such amazing women. “I’m not too surprised she has a knack for this. I bet in a few short months she will surpass my talents in this area.”

  The buxom woman blushed at such praise and returned her dagger back in its sheathe strapped to her tone thigh. She eventually smiled when both cheeks were kissed at the same time by the two women she loved. “I need to go check on Ananna. It’s time for her feeding.”

  “We will all go home.” Brooke said as she stretched her aching joints. “I believe we could all do with a distraction. I will take time with our daughter and Ulon before coming home to get what I want.” Her eyes lingered on his orgasm inducing lance without care of who watched. “After he teaches me to do that sticking spell on my own I will come home to continue our plan.”

  “Enjoy yourself, Brooke Love.” Tohka said with a yawn.

  Brooke close her eyes and held very still to access her mind-link to her companion, the rose colored behemoth, Ulon. She had been practicing on this skill ever since she had bound to him more strongly, able to hear his thoughts. She felt almost giddy, but held completely still since it took every grain of concentration to access that elusive string. When she had it she thought “Ulon, are you still over at the beach with my children?”

  A loud, male voice thundered in her mind. “Indeed, but Sean Two-legs has gone with hunters to locate a missing mare. Rena Two-legs is swimming with other hatchling females with loggerheads.”

  “Loggerheads?” Even her own thoughts sounded confused.

  “Ocean turtles. During the dark part of the planetary rotation, many swam ashore and laid eggs. Those that remain are entertaining the hatchlings. I am watching over them closely.”

  “Would you kindly Jump me to your side for awhile.”

  “One moment.” In her head she imagined his long neck and huge head swerve around as if looking at her, but rather than envelope her to transport over immediately he simply plucked her off the ground from over a day’s walk away with magic. She simply rose into the air and sped over to where he stood at the top of the bridge, looking over the water where two dozen young, but physically strong children swam with the turtles who were harmless. It took only four minutes to travel through the air. Brooke leaned against the rail and spent some time simply admiring the simple and beautiful moment down below.

  The others flew back home, taking time to enjoy the forest below. Meeka’s back leaned against him while Tohka’s leaned back as well. He asked “So what did you girls think of this lesson?”

  “Much better than our first.” Tohka admitted honestly. “At least this time I didn’t pass out. But if not for Poli’s help again, I would have. It was an amazing experience though… almost as profound as what we’ve done every night for a week since you and Daku came home. I just never knew how small things really are or how complex our bodies truly are. They seem so big when you look real close, like those cells. And when I looked closer there were these connected round objects and focusing further I found they are even smaller and when I went in search of one beside that one, it felt twenty miles away. I always felt small in the tribe on the plains, but now I’ve found
things I cannot even see…”

  “I’m glad you’ve had such a life changing experience. I too feel the same each and every time I focus. I’ll explain later all the names you want answers to.”

  “And I can only imagine how to heal everyone in the coming months. It was so easy healing myself I know I can truly save more lives.” Meeka crooned.

  “Sorry to burst your bubble, but you are going to hate me.”

  “Why do I not like the sound of that?” Meeka peeled herself from his front and turned. Tohka too showed concern.

  “Because you avoid pain when you aren’t sparring. But trust me, I really hate even considering this because I don’t want you hurt, but to be an effective healer you need to first know how to take control of pain and own it. Brooke and I are accustomed to it, as you’ve seen when we fight. It proved my point when you cut yourself before. You sliced fast to limit pain and winced.” Cage sighed through his nose. “Tohka is worse than you, but as a dedicated healer, you cringe and cannot properly function. That would make helping others beyond challenging. Yes, I know you won’t die so long as one of you five do, and as the designated healer of your team, if you cannot control pain, you cannot overcome it.” His penetrating black eyes bored into both beauties. “Ulon and Poli agree that in a fight, she and the two of you will support from the rear. Tohka is already overprotective of you Meeka and will be your shield while you work. Your healing skills will always be in greatest need and if you are the only one still alive in your group and are wounded, wracked with so much pain you cannot focus and bleed out… well you know that outcome.

  “What the Great Prophet did to you and Brooke by making a spell that bound you two to Ulon and Poli as they made the modified human’s summoning ability spell, bringing Tohka along to stay together, might have a good reason. It might come down to you saving them all.”

  “Me? But Brooke is stronger than Tohka and me put together and few could match Ulon in strength…”