by Logan Jacobs
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Chapter One
The sun filtered softly down through the hole at the peak of my tent, and the warm glow signaled the start of a new day on the island home of the Coonag people.
I sighed contentedly and stretched my arms over my head, but I was careful to avoid disturbing Mira as she slept peacefully at my side. The jade haired warrior had a soft smile playing across her lips, but it seemed she was still fast asleep. The gold scaled woman did love her sleep, and the last thing I wanted was to face a cranky, sleep deprived Mira first thing in the morning.
I was wide awake, though, so I carefully slipped off the bed and reached for my cream-colored shirt. The soft fabric was cool against my skin, but I quickly warmed up as the sunlight shone down through the hole in the roof and struck my torso. I could also hear the faint murmurs and an occasional laugh from outside the tent, so I knew some of the other occupants of our camp were already up and about, which didn’t surprise me.
Nadir and her racoon women were all early risers, and the dark-haired leader had seemed very annoyed at how much sleep the rest of my crew required, but the deer women were also prone to greeting the dawn.
Mira moaned in her sleep, and she tossed her leg to the side as she repositioned herself in the bed. Her eyes stayed shut, though, so I cast one last appreciative glance over the exposed curves of her body and the beautiful expression on her face before I turned and ducked out of the tent opening.
My eyesight adjusted to the brightness, and I was greeted with an equally peaceful and busy scene. Sela was running practice drills down the beach from our campsite, but she and her group of trainees were still visible from where I stood. The warrior flicked her blue-gray hair over her shoulder as she raised her arm over her head to wave at me, but then she immediately swiveled to snap an order at a deer woman who had faltered in her practiced motions.
A few paces down the beach from the warrior and her trainees, the racoon women splashed in the ocean waves as they hunted for a fish breakfast, but they were all too distracted by the task at hand to notice me watching them.
Over the last several days, the racoon women had completely moved into our camp and abandoned their hollowed-out tree village. Since we’d defeated the invading orc pirates, they were in no danger of a surprise attack, but still, they’d wanted to stay closer to me, and I wasn’t complaining one bit. I loved watching all my women get along and learn about each other’s cultures. Plus, having Nadir and Lezan in my bed every other night was super fun.
The racoon women were still eating completely raw fish straight from the ocean or small rodents right off the ground whenever they were hungry, but I was just grateful they ate meat at all, so I wasn’t going to judge their tastes.
As my gaze swept up the beach to the fire pit, I saw Jemma seated near the fire watching Tirian, the little silver dragon we’d recently saved from the grasp of the orcs, so I stopped to admire them for a moment.
Tirian pulled off chunks from a piece of meat, tossed them up into the air, and caught them in his teeth to a round of applause from his one-woman audience. Then the auburn-haired deer woman heard my approach and turned to give me a radiant smile, and joy sparkled in her chartreuse green eyes.
The fact that a deer woman had bonded with a fire dragon still blew my mind, but I couldn’t have been happier for Jemma, since she’d been craving a pet like companion for a while before Tirian hatched. The new addition would also be invaluable in our fight against the orcs, but I couldn’t help but wonder how accurate Jemma’s hypothesis about her bond with Tirian was.
The auburn-haired beauty considered her dragon bond as a sign that she carried my dragonkin child inside her womb, and I certainly hoped it was true.
“Oh, Ben!” Jemma greeted warmly, and she jumped up from her seat, rushed over, and planted a quick, sweet kiss against my cheek. “How was your sleep?”
“Very good.” I grinned as I wrapped my arms around her and inhaled the scent of her hair. “I can’t believe I slept so late. How are things with Tirian?”
“Oh, just wonderful,” Jemma breathed with a wide grin. “I am learning so much from him, and he’s so funny! He’s growing so fast, I think he’s doubled in size already!”
Good morning, dear one, George greeted telepathically, and while the first few times I’d experienced the sensation of someone speaking directly to my mind had been unnerving, now my dragon’s voice was a comforting presence among my thoughts.
“Where are you?” I murmured as I scanned the camp and surrounding beach for my water dragon companion.
Then I spotted George as he lumbered up from the ocean’s edge with a big dragon grin on his face. When my brilliantly blue scaled companion had first hatched, the expression reminded me of a Labrador, and while I still felt the same adoring swell in my chest, his massive size and long, sharp fangs were more intimidating than adorable to unfamiliar eyes.
The racoon women nearby quickly shuffled further away from the water dragon as he passed by them, but they didn’t seem as nervous about his presence as they had been, so I was pleased with the progress being made.
The water dragon plopped down in the sand next to Tirian, and the much smaller silver dragon nuzzled up against George’s flank, but then Tirian immediately jumped back as his scales shivered with displeasure.
You are all wet! Tirian shrieked in an annoyed voice that rang out through the telepathic dragon bond, and I heard a complaining growl coming from the tent I’d just left.
Apparently, Mira had been included in the small dragon’s message, and she didn’t appreciate the wake-up call.
You spoke to the entire dragon bond, dear one, George admonished gently. Some of whom are still sleeping, or attempting to, anyway.
Sorry, Tirian mumbled in his rumbling baritone, and he gave a slight shrug of his dragon shoulders.
Jemma covered her mouth with her hands as her shoulders shook with giggles, and she watched with her chartreuse eyes full of love as Tirian flapped his wings. Droplets of water hissed as they were flung from his scales and struck the fire, and then the little silver dragon lifted from the sandy beach and rose up into the air. For a moment, he crossed over the sun’s path so his almost translucent wings glowed, and I grinned at the sight.
“Isn’t he wonderful?” the deer woman asked as she turned to grasp my arm.
“He sure is,” I breathed, and I watched the dragon soar over our heads.
The little one is growing fast, George noted. However, he still has much to learn. I am excited for Nixie to meet him and hear the tale of his mother.
“I feel the same way.” I grinned. “Nerissa is going to flip!”
George wasn’t wrong, though. The young dragon was growing quickly. Tirian had been about the size of a full-grown dog when he first hatched, but only a few days had passed, and he was already approaching the size of a baby horse from back on Earth. His legs were long and spindly like a newborn colt’s, and his back arched slightly between his wings. He reminded me a little of the skeleton horses from the Harry Potter movies, but he was definitely cuter.
His mother, though, had been massive, and her fire breath was terrifyingly deadly. Not only had we encountered the burnt crisp shell of an orc ship she’d decimated, but we’d also gotten too close to her fire for my own comfort, so I knew its strength firsthand.
With that kind of power under my command, I could fly straight to the orc’s island and destroy
their entire fortress in one fell swoop.
Once the little guy grew up some more, of course.
“Tirian told me I would need to learn to fly soon,” Jemma pulled me out of my thoughts of mass orc destruction as she wrung her hands anxiously, and her eyes searched my face for reassurance. “I am not so certain I am ready for the task.”
“Like ride on his back?” I tried to contain my look of amazement, but judging from the auburn-haired deer woman’s giggle, I wasn’t successful.
“Yes, Ben,” she confirmed, but then she pulled her bottom lip between her teeth, and her chartreuse eyes filled with fear. “I cannot even imagine being so far away from the ground, above the tops of the trees…”
“He’ll probably have to get bigger first,” I pointed out in an effort to comfort her. “You would barely fit on his back right now.”
“This is true,” Jemma murmured as her eyes traced her dragon companion’s flight through the air over our heads. With the sunlight reflected in her eyes, her cheeks tinged with a rosy hue, and her long auburn hair hung loose past her waist, she was breathtakingly beautiful, and I was beyond happy to have her as my mate.
I would give her as many babies as she wanted, and I couldn’t wait to see how ridiculously adorable our children would be.
Suddenly, all of the racoon women stomped across our campground and stood a few feet in front of Jemma and me. Nadir and Lezan jostled with each other in a competitive effort to greet me first, but Malak, Trin, and Jira were right behind their leader. Behind them were many faces I recognized but whose names I couldn’t remember, but it looked like the entire population of the Coonag people stood before me. The entire group seemed anxious, if the twitching tails and flicking ears were any indication, and I wondered what had them so bothered. Their faces were unreadable, though, and the multicolored eyes blinking at me was a little unnerving.
“Ben, Sela said you will return home soon,” Nadir declared as the racoon woman halted a few paces away from me. “Is this true?”
The five-foot-tall racoon woman cocked her hip to one side as she crossed her arms over her voluptuous breasts, and her steel gray eyes held mine with a look of resolve that I found incredibly attractive. Her bushy black and gray speckled tail waved behind her impatiently, and her creamy nose twitched as she waited for my response.
She was just so sassy. I loved it.
“Well, good morning to you, too,” I snickered with an arched eyebrow. “I mentioned my plans to return home already, remember?”
“You said you would help us strengthen our homes,” Nadir reminded me.
“You are more than welcome to join us,” I invited with a warm smile, and I held my breath as I waited for her response, but the racoon woman just twitched her tail and looked at me with an unreadable expression, so I pressed my case a little more. “The orcs are gone, but they will be back, and next time they will return expecting a fight. You will be safer if you come with me, but that’s a choice you'll have to make for yourselves.”
“This is our home,” Nadir replied, and a bittersweet look crossed her face. “We have never been anywhere else.”
“I wasn’t sure if you and the other Coonag women wanted to come back with us or not, and I won’t force anyone if they do not want to.” I scanned the crowd of racoon women in an effort to gauge their feelings on the matter, but I was met with blank stares and silence, so I mirrored Nadir’s crossed armed position. “But yes, I need to get back to my family and make sure everyone is okay. We need to start preparing my ship for the journey home.”
“You would leave us just like that,” Nadir accused as she narrowed her gray eyes, and gasps erupted from the crowd of racoon women standing behind her.
“You can’t leave!”
“The orcs will return!”
“The fire breather will be back!”
“Like I said,” I repeated in a patient voice, “you are all welcome to come along with us. We have a strong, well defended base, talented healers, and plentiful gardens. Your people would be safe, and we would do anything we could to make you feel comfortable and at home with us.”
“You could stay here,” Nadir pointed out with a stubborn lift of her chin, and I heard several murmurs of agreement echo from the group crowded behind her.
“I need to return to my children,” I said, and I watched her expression soften at the mention of my young ones, which gave me hope I could sway her and the other racoon women to come with me. “I have a home, and a family, and while I want you to be a part of it, I cannot abandon the people who are relying on me to protect and provide for them.”
“He’s right, Nadir,” Lezan interjected in a low, hissing voice, and she flicked stands of her black and white hair out of her face. “If the orcs come back, we would not be able to fight them off on our own. Ben is a strong leader, and he can give us all many children. We should go with him so he can protect us and the future babies.”
I could hear murmurs of dissent before the group began to out-right argue amongst itself, but it seemed the racoon women were torn between the idea of leaving their island and staying put.
I didn’t know what to do to convince them to come with me, but the thought of leaving without Nadir and Lezan at my side made my stomach clench into a knot. I’d respect whatever they chose to do, but I really hoped they wanted to come home with me. It was a lot to handle first thing in the morning, and my empty stomach complained loudly while I listened to the bickering racoon women.
“Alright, listen up!” I said in a loud voice, and silence fell as all racoon women snapped their mouths closed and turned their eyes to me. Then, once I had their undivided attention, I gave them a warm smile. “We still have plenty of time to talk it over. I literally just woke up, and I want to eat before I do anything else. Then I still need to restock my ship’s supplies, and I want to capture some of those chickens-- er, clucker birds to take back to my island. Why don’t we all work together to hunt and gather some supplies, and then we can discuss what happens next over dinner.”
“This is a good plan, Ben,” Nadir said with a curt nod, and then she turned to bark orders at the racoon woman with the white colored bowl cut who stood behind her. “Jira, you are in charge while I help Ben find the clucker birds. Have everyone gather enough fish to share with Ben and his people, since they will be hungry after the hunt.”
“I am going, too,” Lezan stated, and she shot the black-haired leader a defiant glare. “I am the best hunter, after all.”
Nadir hissed and revealed her sharp teeth at the racoon woman with the half black and half white hair, but Lezan stood her ground and kept a look of determination on her face until the leader sniffed and turned away without a word.
“I’m glad you’re coming with me to find the clucker birds.” I gave Lezan a big, dopey grin.
“Yes, with my help you will catch many birds.” She gave me a small seductive smile that spoke volumes and then turned around on her heels. Her wide hips swayed while she strode toward the tents the racoon women occupied while in our camp, but she shot me a wink over her shoulder before she turned down the row of shelters and out of my eyesight.
Lezan was wild and sexy as hell, and I was not going to leave without her. Not if I could help it, anyway.
With that settled, I turned back to the firepit and found Jonas had joined Jemma, while Tirian once again settled into a spot near his bonded woman.
“Good morning, Ben,” Jonas greeted with a warm smile, and then his eyes wandered to the racoon women as they popped in and out of their tents and scurried about. “I heard what sounded like arguing, but when I came to investigate I saw you had the situation under control.”
“Barely.” I smirked. “These women are pretty spicy, and even though Nadir is the leader, they still have no issue voicing their opinions. They are trying to decide if they want to come back with us to the dragonkin island.”
“Oh, my,” Jemma gasped, and her eyes flicked to mine with a worried look. “I hope the
y do. While they are strange, I really like them, and they are so beautiful… I would like them to fight on our side against the orcs, too, because they are all so very fierce!”
“They’re pretty strong and utterly ruthless,” I observed thoughtfully, “but they are scattered and impulsive, too. With some routine and structure, though, I think we will all work really well together.”
“Hmm…” Jemma hummed as she tapped a long slender finger against her pretty lips, but then her eyes lit up as she gasped. “Would you like some of the roasted chicken?”
Then Jemma offered me a plate full of steaming food she produced from somewhere, and my mouth automatically watered at the delicious aroma wafting into my nostrils.
“You’re a god send,” I sighed, and I gave her an appreciative kiss as I accepted the offered plate.
“You were sent by the goddess,” the auburn-haired beauty said in a serious, awe filled voice, and she gave me a look so full of love I thought my insides would melt.
“That is truer than you may know, child,” Jonas added with an amused chuckle. “I hope the racoon women feel the same way.”
I shrugged, but I didn’t respond since my mouth was already shoved full of perfectly cooked, smoky, roasted chicken. After several more large bites and a swig of water, I swallowed and gave my companions a grin.
“Maybe after they see me taking a bunch of live chickens on board our ship, they will change their minds.” I gestured with the hunk of meat I gripped in one hand. “They love this stuff. They call them clucker birds.”
“I am looking forward to trying these eggs you speak so highly of,” Jonas said with an eager grin. “If they are indeed better than the eggs of the jungle birds, then I am even more excited.”
“I swear it’s the truth,” I laughed. “Back home, there were large factories full of chickens and people would keep eggs on hand all the time. You can use the eggs to make so many dishes, and even by themselves you can do so many different things it almost seems like a different ingredient with each one.”