Part 5

Moments after the group slip Jaron behind Artemis and Kal with Aiko and Jayce, Patrisha started having contractions. Surra tried to help her out the best she could but the pregnant princess was talker and bigger. They struggled to walk down the stone path to the stairwell that led up to the palace. The contractions were getting worse and more frequent. Patrisha hunched over several times from the pain. She let out loud cries and moaned as she needed to sit down at a nearby bench. Surra didn’t know what else to do but yell out for help, “Jayce! Jayce!” This was not up her ally… Luckily, he wasn’t too far away and heard her cry out his name.

Jayce stopped and turned around. He turned back and looked Kal, who quickly nodded his head. He understood Jayce had to leave. Kal extended his arm out to his best friend and Jayce extended his as they embraced one another. Neither wanted to say good bye but instead said ‘see you when this is over.’ The Third born prince dashed down the path and around the corner to see his very pregnant older sister taking short breaths while holding her stomach. Part of her dress was wet at on the bottom and every few minutes she clinched her body from the pain. The baby was coming…

Jayce immediately went into panic mode, “Patrisha… you’re going to have to tell your baby to wait. This is like the worse time ever.” He ducked his head down a little lower to be leveled with his sister’s stomach. “Hey you in there… your uncle Jayce says to wait one more day ok.” Patrisha put her hand on Jayce’s face and pushed him away.

Surra snapped at him saying, “You’re not helping!”

“What are we going to do Surra?” Jayce replied, “We don’t know how to deliver a baby. We have to find a medic!”

“We can’t just leave her here Jayce. Who’s going to go?” Surra kneeled down to examine Patrisha has she began to have stronger contractions.

“I’ll go… you stay here with her.”

Surra jumped up to her feet trying to stop him, “No if the Barbarians see you, they’ll take you too. I can’t take that chance.”

Jayce placed his hand on his love’s shoulder. He gently squeezed it and said, “Surra you’re the only one who can protect her. I can get in and out easier by myself. I know I can be quick… Trust me. If anyone finds Patrisha likes this… I don’t want to think about it. I’ll be quick.”

The princess grunted and groaned as she struggled to her feet. “Forget it… I can walk. I’m not leaving this up to you two to fuck it up. No offense Surra…”

Surra shrugged her shoulders agreeing with the princess. “I understand Patrisha but take it easy.” She ran over and gave Patrisha a hand as she struggled to her feet. Jayce ran to the other side trying to do the same. Patrisha struggled to stand as the pain intensified. When she finally got to her feet, Surra noticed something was wrong. “Jayce…” Both gently let go and together Surra and Jayce looked down to see a trail of blood trickling down Patrisha leg. It was staining her green dress red and flooded her sandals. Surra and Jayce looked up at one another together in shock. “We need to find that medic…”

**

Kal and Aiko dashed up the side stairs to the penthouse entrance. The apartment building was above the main headquarters for the Council. The penthouse apartments were mostly used only for special guess that would visit from other continents or on a rare occasion a visitor from another planet. Now at the current moment, it was being occupied by the enemy. Kal and Aiko had to duck and dodge groups of men paroling for anyone who might stumble upon them. The Barbarians weren’t given the word to show their faces yet. They believed staying discreet was critical in order for Cashius’s plan to work.

The two had to took advantage of the night and stayed in the shadows. Slowly moving around the large tan clay pillars into the grand hallways, Kal and his unique ally managed to get to the top level where Iya was being held. Cashius stayed in the largest apartment on the top floor and there was only one hallway that led to the door. Aiko looked at Kal as he surveyed the area, it was full of armed Barbarians standing around talking and waiting for orders. This side of town was empty, dark and closed so it was perfect to hide and stay secret.

Aiko looked at Kal from head to toe as they crouched tight behind a pillar. Even though it was dark, Aiko got a closer look at the captain Cashius wanted dead so badly. Now she understood why… She began to see why Iya would fall for someone like him. Kal was not only handsome but he was determined to stop at nothing to get his love back, to get his commander back… The look he had in eyes, nothing was an obstacle, nothing was a challenge. This was very attractive to Aiko it made her envy Iya even more…

Kal caught Aiko’s glimpses and doubled looked at her on the last time, “Why do you keep looking at me? Are you scared or something?”

Aiko huffed then quietly laughed to herself, “Hell no… I’m beginning to see why she would risk everything for you. Why you would do the same.” She shook her head quickly side to side as they stayed hidden, “Your little princess has everyone after her and now she’s the damsel in distress. The irony…”

Kal cut his eyes at the Skinner as she quietly laughed to herself, “Iya will never be a damsel in distress, trust me. He has her tied up or caged somewhere only because she’s the deadliest of us all. Cashius is afraid of her… Now that she knows his true intentions there’s no way he can win her over. He keeps her locked up to keep his people safe… Now shhh, they’re coming.”

Kal and Aiko both peeked around the pillars to see more Barbarians had gathered near the entrance of the penthouse. This made Kal furious for he knew it wasn’t going to easy for Aiko to just walk by, no matter who she changed to. Aiko turned back around and rested the back of her head on the pillar, “There’s too many Kal. They’ll know I’m not Cashius, besides he and his posse just left like two seconds ago. I can’t go in there as him. What do you want to do?”

Kal looked down and saw his next move. He was so close to having Iya in his arms again but he knew what he had to do. Kal let out a huge exhale before telling Aiko the plan, “Did you get a good look at the men who surrounded Cashius? The men in the fancy formal clothing?”

“Yea why?” Aiko looked confused by the question.

“Transform into one of them, not Cashius. I’ll distract them and lead the Barbarians away while you get them to open the door. Say you’re worried you’ll get hurt when I attack or something.” Kal noticed three unopened wine bottles laying on the ground next the stairs. They must have fallen out of the crate while the Barbarians carried lots of bottles inside. Kal picked one up and tore a piece of cloth from his undershirt. He opened the wine bottle stuffed it inside and lit the piece of cloth on one end. “You might wanna run…” Kal threw the molotov in the center of the crowd. The bottle exploded lighting many on fire and making most to run away to avoid being hit.

Aiko only got a good glimpse of Councilmen Derek when they huddled around Cashius as they left. He was a short cubby little man with half a head of black hair. He worked his way up by being loyal and savage which gained the position of Cashius’s second. His chunky cheeks and thick circle glasses made him look boyish or younger than what he really was. His peers would often forget how sneaky and malicious Derek can be. It really was no surprise to Iya and the rest that it was Councilmen Derek who helped Cashius carry out his plan.

She took Kal’s advice and ran screaming for help towards the door. The Barbarians were standing guard quickly moved out of the way to let Councilman in. The enemy guards cannot tell the difference with all of the commotion. Once Kal noticed his plan was working, he quickly dashed back down the stairs drawing the enemy out of the hallway. He turned around and yelled, “Hey chicken shits! Looking for me?” Many Barbarians yelled back in rage as they tripped over one another trying to get down to him. This wasn’t Kal’s original plan but he had to do something if Iya was going to successfully escape without having to fight her way out. He wanted nothing more than to see and touch Iya again. Overall, he made the right decision even if that meant possibly getting caught.

Aiko, still as Councilman Derek, slowly walked over to the chained commander. Iya managed to scoot a small stool with her feet so she could sit down. The two-foot chains were not long enough for her sit on the floor but she made it work. As Aiko approached Iya she noticed how dirty and wild looking she was. Her dress was ripped in several places and there was blood all over her arms and hands. Her wrists were so torn up, her hands looked like they were slowly being cut off. Iya’s ponytail was halfway undone and hanging from her face. The dirt was everywhere and smudged all over her body. Her feet were bare with blood on her soles and when she looked up at Aiko, she looked like death. Aiko had never seen this side to Iya before, she was raw and ready to kill…

**

Jayce slipped on his side as he tried to turn the corner of the palace. He got up and continued to dash down the hallway. Before he could reach the Medic Quarters, he ran into one of the nurses. Jayce grabbed the young nurse by both arms in relief, “Amber! I am so glad to run into you! Come with me right now, it’s my sister!” He stood behind Amber and started nudging her to move faster. Her large black curly puff ball bun bounced around as she started to resist then turned to face the prince. The nurse’s dark brown completion complimented her bright hazel eyes. Jayce got lucky running into the right person; she was the head nurse.

“Whoa Prince Jayce… What’s going on? Is there something wrong?” She was confused and needed a little more to work with.

“It’s Patrisha and the baby, something’s wrong. She started having contractions or whatever they’re called. Then when we tried to get her to walk here to the Medic Quarters, she started bleeding! Look we don’t have time to talk about this, just come see it for yourself.”

“Ok… Where are they now?” Amber started jogging towards the entrance to the Medic Quarters.

Jayce yelled out, “The gardens!”

“We need to prep for Princess Patrisha and her baby right now. I need two people to assist me to get her here!”

Two male nurses sprung up and ran outside the doors behind Amber. They grabbed a cot and a medical bag then followed Jayce down the hallway. The Medic Quarters was tucked away on the far-left side of the palace. The gardens were located all the way on the other side. When Jayce and the others arrived to the gardens, Patrisha looked very pale and the stone pathway was stained red from the blood. She was laying in Surra’s lap, it was more comfortable then laying flat on her back on the hard ground. Surra did her best to comfort the princess as well. She wiped the sweat from Patrisha’s forehead and gave her water from a nearby fountain. Surra cradled and hugged the princess with her arms as much she could hoping that would buy more time until Jayce got back.

Jayce, Amber and two nurses gasped at the sight. Amber clapped hands and said, “Let’s go! We need to get her back to the Med Quarters right away! Come on! Let’s move!” The male nurses both took a side and as gently as they could moved Patrisha onto the cot. Amber moved quickly to check the princess’s vitals and it wasn’t looking good. Patrisha had already lost a significant amount of blood… She was dying. “Time is of the essence we must hurry if we want to save her and the baby.”

Jayce and Surra look at one another as they tried helping the nurses carry Patrisha up the stairs into the palace. The way back was longer than expecting but once they were feet away, they all heard the loud deep noise of the horns go off. Everyone except for the nurses covered their ears. They stopped for a moment but continued to hurry down the hallway. Immediately when Surra heard the horns, she stopped in her tracks. She knew exactly what the noise was… a warning of trouble. It was her duty to report to the commander or whoever was in charge for further instructions. She knew she had no other choice but to show up…

Jayce turned around and noticed Surra stopped running. He backtracked and grabbed his love’s hand wondering why she stopped. “What is it? You have to go…” He looked outside the palace walls. He watched as those around them were shocked by the loud sound. “It’s Artemis and Jaron they did it. The Horns of…”

“Cornelius yes… Stay here with your sister. Make sure she and her baby make it out alive. Jayce, I…” Surra ran up to Jayce and kissed him once more before pushing him away and running back down the stairs in the other way.

He watched as Surra ran as fast as could back to the front of the palace. He yelled out to her before Surra was completely out of his sight, “You don’t die on me!” She waved her hand and within a blink was gone. Now Jayce’s duty was the assist the nurses anyway he could to ensure the survival of his oldest sister and her unborn child. Jayce run inside the Medic Quarters and started demanding nearby nurses to start locking all the doors and windows.

Everyone looked surprised and frightened by the loud noise of the horns. Some of the nurses turned around and asked what was going on. “Are we in danger?”

Jayce was quick and blunt to answer, “Yes we are! We must protect ourselves the best way we can, someone will come to rescue us. For now, it’s our duty to keep everyone safe in these quarters.” Many nurses scrambled around locking windows and closing the blinds, locking the doors and closing all entrances of the Medic Quarters. Jayce ran up to Amber who was fully dressed in smocks and prepared for surgery. As she finished putting on gloves, she looked up at Jayce worried he too was going to pass out from worrying. “Amber, listen to me. It is essential, crucial even that Patrisha and her baby survives. More crucial that her baby survives… I know how it sounds but after tonight her baby could be the last member of the Jaron bloodline. Do you hear me? She or he must survive…”

Amber looked up at Jayce and took a big gulp then nodded her head yes, no pressure she thought. “I will do everything in my power to save them both my prince. Now please leave the room we must keep the environment clean.” He nodded in agreement and dashed out of the surgery room into the main lobby. He noticed everyone was scared and anxious by the loud noise of the horns. He did a quick run through to make sure all the doors and windows were closed tight. It didn’t help the worry and fear when others outside started screaming and yelling for help. After the horns went silent, it seemed all hell broke loose.

Many Sagens ran through the hallways screaming, “The Barbarians are here run for your life!” The Sagens ran and took cover anywhere they could find shelter to escape the vicious attacks of their enemy. Now that the Barbarians’ cover was blown, they didn’t care who became the next victims. The savage creatures began killing anyone who got in their path. Luckily the Sagen Army worked quickly to defend their people and home. Many little battles took place as the Sagens combed through different areas of the palace taking care of the savage plague that infiltrated their kingdom. Never in history has this happened to the Sagens. Never in history had they been so blind to an internal attack, a siege from within. Never in history has a Star Lord turn on it’s own home planet and people…

*

Iya looked up at Councilmen Derek confused and disgusted. “Out of all the little fat weasels, I wasn’t expecting you to pay me a visit.”

Aiko laughed in her fake body as she approached the chained princess. She had some things to get off her chest first before letting the commander free. “I wasn’t good enough to him. I never compared to you because to him you were perfect. You could have had it all. You could have been his queen, the mother of his children. You were his everything… but at what expense? Your family? Your lover? I had no real family to move out of the way. If he thought logically instead of with his dick, he would have realized I would have been a fabulous queen…”

Iya was really confused now, “What in the hell? I mean Cashius can be all yours but I’m sure he not interesting in…” Before Iya’s eyes Aiko transformed back into her real body. Her big stomach sucked in and turned into a female stomach. Everything else became smaller and skinny. Her arms, her legs and feet all became petit leaving just Derek’s big head. Aiko was playing with the commander, knowing she’s never seen anything like this before. Iya jumped up and tried to hug the wall the best she could. She picked up the stool she was sitting on and held it up like a weapon, “What are you?!”

Aiko’s head slowly finishing transforming to her real female face. She laughed at Iya’s reaction knowing it was going to be entertaining. “What am I? Your rescue party…” Aiko continued laughing as she looked for a sharpened sword to cut the chains. “Your brother knew what I was. Never mind that now, we need to get you out of here.”

Iya looked at the Aiko closely as she approached. “I recognize you… You’re the girl who tried to attack me from behind on Lotus. I flipped you over and broke your shoulder. You’re Gerok’s girl… you pretended to be him. You changed your skin and we were chasing you, not the Gerok…”

Aiko slowly leaned back, a little reluctant to take another step closer. “And my arm…yea that was me…”

“Why are you helping me? Does Gerok know you’re betraying him, betraying Cashius?”

Aiko let out a sigh, “Gerok’s dead thanks to your brother. We came her to expose Cashius for what he was. He was bent on being discreet and using others for his grand design. He betrayed us both, he tried to kill us on your moon Blackius. I guess we were no longer useful to him. Your captain, Kal saved me from sharing the same fate. He convinced Jayce I could be useful and well, here I am. I could have run away and escaped. The honest truth is, if we don’t stop Cashius from making Sage the empire there will be no safe place anywhere in the universe.”

Iya slowly nodded in agreement, “If Kal’s trusts you then I trust you. You’re right we have to kill Cashius, there is no other way.” She looked Aiko from head to toe. She could sense there was something else bothering the Skinner. “You were in love with him, weren’t you? With Cashius?”

Aiko gave Iya a shocked look and before she could get an answer out the horns went off. Both Iya and Aiko jumped and looked up towards the windows. Aiko quickly covered both of her ears, trying to shield the very loud sound of the horns. “What is that?! Shit, my ear drums are blown out!”

Iya however jumped for joy and was ecstatic, “Yes, Amos you smart son of a bitch! Yes! Yes! It’s the Horns of Cornelius. Our sirens warning my people for danger. All of the Fourth borns in my army are required to respond. I know it was Amos.” Iya grabbed the chains and wiggled them. “Get me out of here!”

Aiko grabbed the sword as Iya pulled the chains back hard, tightening them. In one swing Aiko broke the chains freeing the commander from captivity. “Iya! The siege has begun. It’s going to be nothing but chaos from here on out. There are Barbarians all over the kingdom. They were staying quiet and discreet for some reason. Kal, your brother and the others, we broke into groups. We all took on a part... If Kal didn’t make that distraction earlier, I wouldn’t have gotten in here. He was bent on rescuing you… I’m sure he made it out.”

“Kal…” Iya grabbed Aiko by the arm as she dashed out of the front door. “Come on.” Iya didn’t care if there any Barbarians guarding the door. Nothing was going to stop her now.

“Where are we going?” asked Aiko as she tried to keep up.

“My room. I need to grab a few things before ending Cashius. The Barbarian’s weapons are too weak for what I’m up against. You’re not coming with me… I need you to find Surra or my brother Jayce. We need to start evacuating the kingdom.” Without skipping a beat, Iya took out any Barbarians in her path. Aiko ran behind Iya as she quickly dashed across the courtyard. Towards the end they split ways going in the opposite direction. Aiko went to the back of the palace through the gardens as Iya went through a crowd of frightened people back to the front.

*

“It’s a boy!” yelled Amber as she pulled the baby out of Patrisha’s stomach. “He’s healthy and strong…” The head nurse wrapped the baby snug in a white blanket and handed him to Jayce. “Be careful of his head now…”

Jayce gently cradled his brand new nephew softly and a little hesitant. “Man did you pick a perfect day to be born my nephew.” He looked up at Amber still concerned the baby’s mother would not make it through. Patrisha was hooked up to bags of blood and oxygen tubes that went down her throat and up her nose. She was not doing so good… She laid there peacefully asleep, breathing slowly and soft.

“Princess Patrisha lost a lot of blood but we are doing everything we can to save her, I promise.”

Jayce over heard some of the younger nurses crying as they hid underneath a desk. The screams outside their door were getting louder and more frequent. They didn’t know how long they could manage to stay hidden without the Barbarians busting through their doors. While still cradling his nephew, he slowly walked over to the desk and crouched down to speak to the scared women. “Listen this will be over soon. Once my sister is free, those Barbarians will wish they never set foot on this planet.” Jayce stood up and rocked in the baby in his arms. He was just as worried Kal and Aiko weren’t going to get to Iya in time. He shook off the fear and went back to comforting the nurses. “My baby sister will kill them all. You won’t have to worry, Iya is the best. Everyone knows and respects for that. She wouldn’t have earned the name, Iya the Great, if she wasn’t good at what she does. Iya will kill that bastard Cashius and free us all. You’ll see, isn’t that right my little nephew.” The prince peeked down one more time and asked with a big smile, “Now who wants to help me feed this little guy and change the baby’s diapers?”

*

When Iya got back to her room, she noticed the door was slightly cracked opened. She slowly pushed the door wider so she could slip through. When she got inside her room looked empty. Iya quickly got undressed and put her two-piece armor on. She took off metal clamps from around her wrist. As she as finished strapping up the ties on the side and grabbing her custom-made machete, she tripped over a body. When she first came into her room, she didn’t the body laying there. It was dark and the blinds were not opened.

It was Councilmen Benjamin. Iya almost didn’t recognize him because his head was nearly severed off. She thought, it may be a good idea to see what else was different about her room. As day broke and light began to shine through the Sagen kingdom, she noticed her room was torn to pieces. From a part of the pool of blood coming from Councilmen Benjamin, there was another trail of blood leading out to her balcony. Everything in her gut was telling her to follow the blood trail.

The trail led all the way out to her large balcony. When Iya looked through the curtains, there he was with his back turned. Cashius stood still as he look out to the horizon of the purple ocean and the sky meet. His feet were spread apart and took in a deep breath as he enjoyed the scenery. Iya gripped her machete tight as she walked through her curtains on to the balcony.

Cashius turned his head slowly to the side when he heard Iya approaching. He knew it was her without having to turn around. “It’s about time you got out of those chains. I was beginning to worry. Oh, and forgive the mess I made in your room. Councilmen Benjamin was suppose to dismantle those annoying ass horns but didn’t so, I ended him.”

“It’s over Cashius. You won’t win this… give this shit up now.” Iya spoke softly but confidently.

“Oh, my sweet love. I don’t think I’m out for the count just yet…” Cashius slowly moved aside to his left and revealed why he was more confident. Kal was on his knees covered in blood beaten up bad. He faced the ocean just as Cashius but the Star Lord had his sword casually cupped his chin. “I took much satisfaction in beating the living day lights out of your captain. Your lover, I mean…” Iya gripped her machete sword tight. The leather made a cracking noise that Cashius could hear from where he stood. He smirked as he enjoyed the moment. “You want him? Come and get him…”