by Logan Jacobs
“I appreciate the suggestion,” I admitted as I ran my fingers through her gray hair and stared down into her amber eyes. “Alternate solutions from the crew are always appreciated.”
Malak instantly perked up. Her amber-colored eyes lit up as her tail began to flick back and forth like a happy cat, and a warm smile stretched across her beautiful face, which in turn made my heart skip a beat.
“Really?” she asked. “Because Nadir and Lezan never seem to want to hear my suggestions. ‘Hare-brained’ is what they always call them.”
“Yes, I really love hearing new ideas,” I reassured the Coonag woman. “Now, how far away is that water source you were talking about?”
“It’s only a few logfalls away,” Jira explained.
“Uhhh.” I quirked my head to the side. “We don’t really use ‘logfalls’ as a unit of measurement where I’m from.”
“What do you use?” Trin, the black tailed woman with her hair in a gray bun, suddenly spoke up. “Are you on the vintage system? I’m always saying we should adopt it as a species. It’s way simpler and clearer than ‘logfalls.’”
“We use ‘feet’ and ‘inches’ where I’m from,” I admitted to an audience full of blank faces.
“You measure things with your feet?” Trin raised a bushy eyebrow. “That sounds just as confusing as the logfall system. What happens if the person you ask to measure the distance has abnormally large feet?”
I curled my index finger at the knuckle and held it up for them to see. Then I ran my other index finger across it horizontally.
“That’s what inches are for,” I explained. “This part here is about an inch, and twelve of these make a foot. Three feet make a yard, and five-thousand, two-hundred and eighty feet make a mile.”
Still, blank stares.
“On second thought, let’s stick with the logfall system.” Trin scrunched her face and nodded. “Don’t worry about finding it. We’ll try to find some leaves that we can fashion into cups and--”
“We have barrels,” I interjected and pointed to the ship. “On the ship. Those will make things waaaaay easier on you. We should only need one. Hell, we probably don’t even need it, but it’s always better to be safe than sorry. Anora?”
The green-haired dragonkin woman jumped to attention when she heard me call her name.
“What is it, Draco Rex?” the healer asked as she shuffled over to our position.
“Take the Coonag people out to the ship.” I pointed to our vessel out on the ocean. “They need to grab a barrel and restock our water, but I don’t think any of them are really familiar with how to use a rowboat.”
The green-haired woman nodded, and then she quickly dashed over to the rowboat that laid on the sandy shore. Malak, Jira, and Trin accompanied the healer, and soon they were off on their resupply mission.
The remaining Coonag women watched with wonder as their kin were taken out to sea. I was sure this was the first time any of them had ventured out into open water, and it made my heart swell with pride that my newfound women could be so brave.
My mind quickly raced with the thoughts of how I would “reward” each of them later, but I had to pull myself back into the here and now.
So, I glanced back over my shoulder to look at the fire pit, where Jonas was now deep in a meditative state. His legs were crossed in front of his body, with his hands placed firmly on his knees, and the soothsayer’s eyes were glued shut as he sat there, deep in thought.
That is, until he heard me approaching.
Jonas’ eyes popped open, and he turned his head to me with a somber nod.
“Uh-oh,” I grumbled. “That’s not the look of somebody who just had a good vision.”
“It’s blurry, as always,” Jonas sighed and shook his head. “But I heard a voice, Ben.”
“Whose voice?” I gulped as a million different possibilities flitted through my head. “What did they say?”
“I didn’t recognize it,” the old man trailed off. “It was a more nasally, gruff voice… The voice of a man. He said he’d kill us all unless we surrendered.”
My heart sank into my feet. I didn’t know who this guy was, or what he wanted, but anyone who tried to threaten me or my beloved women was itching to have their head separated from their shoulders by my blade.
“Did you see a face?” I prompted the soothsayer, but he just shook his head.
“All I could see was a shadowy figure,” Jonas admitted. “You know what the worst part is, though? Whoever he is… He sounded like a monster.”
Great. So now, on top of trying to get the Coonag people back to my island and trying to find the place Tirian was conceived, I had to worry about somebody threatening us. Somebody who may show up today or tomorrow or even months from now, thanks to the nebulousness of Jonas’ visions.
But whoever this thing was, we could defend ourselves better back on our home turf, where we had larger numbers and better fortifications.
“One thing’s for sure, Jonas.” I stared off at the rowboat returning with the women and their barrel. “We need to get off this island soon.”
Chapter Four
With the imminent threat of the orcs and Tirian’s mother no longer looming over the island like a deadly shadow, my companions and I loaded up our ship in no time at all.
The redwood like trees on the Coonag women’s island were obviously sturdy, but they were also huge, so we were only taking back some saplings and pieces of the massive trunks. There were other trees I’d discovered on the island that I was interested in, though.
So, I stood there and watched in awe as George dashed back and forth between the forest and the shore with tree trunks in his mouth, and he didn’t even hesitate to plunge into the icy depths of the ocean as he made his way to our vessel. Every now and again, Lezan, Nadir, and Sela would saunter out of the forest as they hauled part of a large trunk over their collective shoulders. Then they would toss it down onto the sandy ground for George to transport and head back into the jungle to cut down some more.
The task of the other Coonag women was done fairly quickly, too. Once they and Anora had returned with the empty barrel, they all led me back into the forest, to a small stream whose water was as clear as a high-carat diamond.
I watched as Jira wandered around and shook nearly every tree she found curiously, and her dark eyes finally lit up as she came to the foot of what looked like the equivalent of an oak in my world.
Then Jira hopped up into the air, dug her hands into the side of the trunk, and used her feet to scurry up the thick tree like a spider monkey. Her thick ass jiggled with each step she took, and I felt my hunger growing as I stared at her juicy butt. Soon, Jira was all the way up into the canopy of the trees, where she promptly rustled around and then slid back down holding an armful of large leaves.
They were emerald color and nearly transparent, yet each one appeared to be waxy and thick. Most importantly, the leaves were shaped into a deep trough, and Jira proceeded to walk around to the group and hand us an organic scoop, one-by-one.
“I was hoping for something a bit sturdier.” The white-haired Coonag woman grinned. “But these marshana leaves will have to do.”
As I turned the green shovel over in my hand, it felt almost artificial, not unlike a piece of wax fruit you’d find in a wedding centerpiece. It was nearly twice the width of my hands, with chunky silver veins that could be seen through the translucent surface. Still, this thing was heavy. It was almost as thick as a two-hundred-page novel, with just about the same amount of give.
These things would definitely get the job done.
So, a few of the other Coonag women pried off the lid of the barrel, and we immediately got to work. We must have looked like a colony of ants as we formed a series of single-file lines in front of the stream and then proceeded to scoop up water in the leaves, rush back and dump it into the barrel, and then return to the back of the line.
The barrel was full of crystal-clear stream water in a matte
r of twenty minutes, and then the lid was snapped back into place by the women and tapped down to secure it tightly.
However, just as I was about to toss the leaf onto the ground to become compost, Malak caught my wrist.
“Are you crazy?” she gasped. “If you don’t want your marshana leaf, I’ll take it.”
“What are you talking about?” I raised an eyebrow so staunchly that I nearly pulled a muscle.
Then, without missing a beat, Malak raised her own leaf to her mouth, ripped it in half, and chewed it the pieces like a cow chewing cud. The Coonag beauty’s eyes narrowed as she savored the flavor of the greens, and then she gulped it down, licked her lips, and grinned.
“We may be meat-eaters, but I’ll never turn down a marshana leaf,” Malak chuckled.
The rest of the Coonag women seemed to be enjoying their leaves, as well, which just left Anora and I as the only ones not indulging. So, the healer and I exchanged an unsure glance, followed by an even more unsure shrug.
Then we both popped the leaves into our mouths.
Surprisingly, the texture of the little green frond wasn’t as waxy against my tongue as it was on my fingertip. In fact, it was almost like a thin mint. The marshana leaf melted onto my tongue almost immediately, and then all that was left for me to do was swish it around, chew it a bit, and gulp it down.
The plant had a strange-yet-satisfying mixture of bitters and spice as it slid down my gullet, and it sent a blanket of warmth throughout every inch of my body.
“Wow.” I whistled as I let the sensation wash over me. “I can see why you enjoy those so much. It’s like I just had the palate equivalent of a full-body orgasm.”
“Oh, we can work on giving each other those later.” Jira winked. “And if what Nadir and Lezan were talking about earlier is true, I don’t think it’ll be as hard as it sounds.”
My heart fluttered in my chest as I thought about making love to the beautiful, white-haired Coonag woman.
At the moment, something was most certainly as hard as it sounded.
I quickly shook away the happy thoughts and tried to get myself back into a leadership mindset. So, I cleared my throat, placed one hand on the butt of my sword hilt, and pointed to the barrel.
“Let’s get this thing back to the ship,” I announced. “Then we can go help the others with the trees.”
“Oh, so we do have to help with lumber?” Malak teased.
“I never said you weren’t going to help,” I chuckled and shook my head. “I just said Lezan and Nadir were being overzealous. Now see? They could have had a break and some delicious leaves if they’d just come with us at the start. We’re all ending up in the same place, anyways.”
In a singular motion, I walked over to the barrel, tilted its top, and laid it firmly onto the ground. A few of the Coonag women scurried over to help, and soon our combined strength had the container of water lifted up into the air. Then we lugged it back through the foliage of the forest, and we traded off every now and again to keep ourselves fresh.
Finally, after about half an hour of grueling transportation, we arrived back at the shore of the beach. We gently set the barrel down into the rowboat and then watched as its hull sank down a few inches into the water.
Damn. That’s what I was afraid of.
There wasn’t much on this earth that had a heavier density than water, and we had fifty-three gallons of the stuff.
I was going to have to call in the cavalry on this one.
“George?” I called out through the telepathic bond with my dragon. “We need your help, bud.”
On my way, dear one! the water dragon exclaimed, and excitement oozed from his voice.
Suddenly, the sound of rustling foliage and heavy footfalls arose from the tree line behind us, and seconds later the massive, blue-skinned water dragon burst forth from the forest with purpose. George’s tongue flopped out of his mouth as his face contorted into a goofy grin, and I couldn’t help but smile as I saw my loyal beast approaching.
The water dragon kicked up chunks of sandy debris as he skidded to a stop in front of me and then held his long neck high.
How can I be of assistance? George asked. Do you need me to take this boat out to sea? Is there a creature blocking your path that needs to be dealt with? Or is there maybe a problem with the ship that needs to be fixed underwater?
“You have quite the imagination, George,” I joked as I reached out and rubbed on his neck.
The water dragon’s eyes nearly rolled back in his head as he further exposed his neck and let out a deep, soothing dragon hum.
“Careful, Ben,” Jonas’ voice teased from his meditative spot on the beach. “If you get him too relaxed, all he’ll want to do is slumber.”
I know when to stop, George shot back at the soothsayer, though he knew damn well the old man couldn’t understand him.
I gave him a final longing pat before I explained what his new task was.
“The barrel is very heavy,” I began. “If too many of us get on the boat at the same time, it’ll sink for sure.”
You want me to carry the barrel? George cocked his head to the side.
“Not on your own,” I reassured him. “It’s about fifty-three gallons of water. Which, by my calculations, comes to just short of five-hundred pounds by itself.”
That’s not an issue, dear one, the water dragon reassured me. It might have been when I was a much younger beast, but not now.
“I know you can handle the weight.” I nodded. “But it’s way too bulky for you to get your mouth around. And it’s not like those logs, where we can just get them floating in the water and then have you push them with your snout. If a five-hundred-pound barrel falls into the water, it’s going all the way to the bottom. That’s why I just want you to pull the boat out to the ship, and then the crew can attach it to the pulleys and hoist it aboard.”
As you wish, dear one. The dragon nodded.
George grinned excitedly before he hopped over to the end of the rowboat, nudged it with the tip of his long snout, and shoved it out into open water. Then he started to push the whole damn thing across the sea as if it were nothing.
Satisfied, I turned around to address the rest of the team.
“It looks like they’ve already got a decent collection of trees, but we’re going to need a lot more if we want to really build tunnels on our home island,” I announced. “But, with all of us working as a team, we’ll have our quota in no time.”
So, Anora, myself, and the rest of the Coonag women headed toward the forest, with our stone axes and sea glass blades in hand.
Thankfully, George’s lumbering frame had already created a makeshift path straight to our destination. The foliage was matted down and trampled, while several sapling trees were haphazardly broken at the trunk or completely pulled out from the ground.
My crew followed the path for a few minutes, until the canopy became thick and shadowy, and the vegetation around us became more and more dense. My ears picked up the sound of grunts, thuds, and cracking bark, which indicated we were on the right path, both literally and figuratively. Finally, my group came to a small clearing with about a dozen tree stumps, where Nadir, Sela, Lezan, and Mira were all hacking away at another large trunk.
Nadir and Lezan stood on either side of the trunk, and they cut away at the oak-looking tree in perfect synchronicity. Their axes struck the trunk at a downward angle, one after the other, and all the while, Mira had a piece of rope tied around the tree, about twenty feet up. As soon as the axes chipped away enough of the wood, the jade-haired beauty gave the rope a yank.
“Timber!” she called out as the two Coonag women jumped out of the way to safety.
Sure enough, the humid air was filled with a dry snap as the trunk was pulled free from its base and came crashing down to the forest floor.
Mira wiped her hands triumphantly before she noticed that the rest of us had arrived.
“Need a hand?” I offered.
“I w
as starting to wonder if you were going to show up,” the golden-scaled warrior teased. “I know you’ve never been one for heavy lifting.”
“I mean, if you want me to leave…” I joked with a shrug. “But we can nearly quadruple our production if we all chip in, and then we can be out of here in no time.”
Lezan’s dark eyes went distant at my words, and I started to wonder if she was perhaps having second thoughts about leaving her home.
Still, I pressed onward.
I began to order the Coonag women to team up in groups of three and then replicate what Mira, Lezan, Sela, and Nadir had just done. One member of the group used their superior climbing skills to scurry up the tree, tie a thick rope around the trunk fifteen to twenty feet up, and then slide back down to hold the cord taut. Then, once the climbers were out of the way, the other two got to work chopping down the tree.
My seaglass sword didn’t pack quite the same wallop as a Coonag battle axe, but it still seemed to get the job done.
Soon, ten more trees fell. Then ten more. By the time all was said and done, we had nearly thirty straight logs laid out and ready to transport.
“George isn’t going to like having to move all these logs,” Mira chuckled to herself as she admired our handiwork.
“He won’t have to move them all,” I clarified, “we can float them out to the main ship ourselves, with just a few strands of the long rope and their natural buoyancy. But having George around will definitely make it easier.”
“What about the twisted trees?” Anora sighed as she wiped the sweat away from her brow. “Will those have… boy-ant-cee as well?”
I held back my chuckle at the way the healer pronounced the word, but then quickly recomposed myself as I thought about an answer.
Honestly, I didn’t know. The logs would definitely float effortlessly because they displaced a lot of water over a large area. The twisted trees, however, didn’t have anywhere near the same surface area of the regular ones. They were definitely the same height as some of the larger logs, but the nature of their spring-shaped bodies meant there was less weight to counteract the upward force of the water.