Monster Girl Islands

by Logan Jacobs

  I’d heard much about this woman Hali and how she liked to make sure everyone was well fed, even if it was by force. She had fire red hair and sea grass colored eyes, and her scales were a deep green, so dark they were almost black against her porcelain colored skin. She was plump in all the right places, but not too plump anywhere. She also wore the same no nonsense look that many of the women did, but she reminded me of one in particular.

  “How are you related to Talise?” I asked, and the healer behind me smirked.

  The rest of the surrounding women laughed in a melody that reached all the way to my soul. It made me feel like everything was right with the world.

  “We are actual sisters, having had the same mother and father,” Hali replied with a smile. “I have heard about your keen senses, but it’s good to witness them with my own eyes.”

  “Well, Hali, I hope to keep impressing you,” I chuckled.

  “You mentioned something about a job that would be rather unpleasant in smell,” Hali went on. “What would that be?”

  She was keeping this all about the business. I already liked her.

  “We are going to need to collect manure from the wild animals on the island,” I said. “I know you have not been comfortable entering the jungles at the center of the island, so I will take care of that part myself. I will have a few of the warriors go with me, since I want to collect the manure, assess the threats, and look for bamboo and any other resources hiding from us in there.”

  “I do not doubt your abilities, Ben,” Hali cautioned, “but the wild boars in there have become extremely territorial, not to mention the other beasts that roam the jungle. Please use the utmost of care when you go in there. If it hadn’t been for Mira, I would not be here to warn you about them.”

  “I will stay on alert and aware of my surroundings,” I promised, “and I will give you no reason to worry. Now, when you collect the waste from the vegetation and the fish, we will make a pile of it here. Every single day, we will add to it and also turn it with shovels. We will continue this process for the next seven sun rises. On the eighth day, we will spread it out over the fields and work it into the soil. Then we will allow it to set for two sun rises before we will plant the seedlings that we have saved. Does that sound good?”

  All of the women smiled at me and nodded, and I could see the excitement on their faces at the prospect of being productive and simultaneously fixing a huge issue on the island. If this worked like I thought it would, they would have plenty to be proud of.

  “I am off to find a few warriors to accompany me into the jungle,” I announced. “When I return, I will add my findings to the pile all of you gather today, and tomorrow morning we will turn the compost pile with shovels and repeat the process.”

  At these words, every last one of the women ran up to me, kissed me on the cheek, and then took off in search of their contribution to the compost pile.

  I really hoped I never took any of this for granted.

  “I will walk with you over to the training fields,” Talise offered with a smile. “All of the warriors are out there today. Then I must see to my duties at the palace. You have thrown me off schedule, you scoundrel.”

  I laughed at her accusations and took her by the hand. I knew she’d enjoyed our morning together as much as I had, so I took her words with a grain of salt.

  All too soon, we reached the warriors, and the healer turned to leave, but I pulled her back close to me before she could get too far away.

  “I will return to your hut this evening,” I whispered, “something I very much look forward to.”

  “You incorrigible flounder,” she teased.

  I kissed her soundly and watched as she walked away from me. She put a little extra swing in her hips for my benefit, and I would have watched her sashay all the way to the palace if Mira hadn’t joined me right at that moment.

  “Close your mouth, Ben,” she snickered, “you’re going to catch flies with that big trap.”

  I turned to look at my beautiful warrior and was greeted with a joyous smile. She looked more herself than she had since the battle, and that made my heart sing. She was dressed in the standard warrior garb, but it just proved what a natural beauty she was because she looked like a million dollars. Her jade hair had been freshly shaved on the side of her head, but the curls from the night before were gone, much to my disappointment. Her eyes were lined with the dark coal I’d seen a few other warriors wear, but her golden orbs seemed to shine brighter from it. It was an overcast day, but her scales still sparkled and shone like they gave off their own light. She was remarkable.

  “Did you just say I have a big mouth?” I asked.

  “Well, I didn’t say you have a small one,” she teased.

  “Fine,” I replied in mock offense, “I was here to see if you would like to accompany me into the jungle, but my mouth might be too much for you.”

  “Nope,” she countered quickly, and her eyes widened, “your mouth could never be too much for me.”

  I had no reply for that, other than my dick getting instantly hard at the challenge. I turned to face her and glanced down at my crotch when I did. She followed the direction of my eyes, and I was surprised to see a blush rapidly gather at her cheeks.

  I laughed out loud at her response and gave her a few minutes to compose herself. Then I looked around to see who else might be available.

  One of the twins was nearby, and I waved my hand to get her attention. She came running over, and I discovered it was Zarya. I’d developed a little trick to be able to tell them apart. While Darya had smooth lines to her scales, her sister’s were more like a zigzag pattern. Zigzag Zarya is what I called her in my head, but I was afraid she would kick my ass if she ever found out about that.

  “Merry morning, Ben,” she greeted me. “What brings you here today? Ready to get started on the defenses?”

  “In a way, I am.” I nodded. “I was wondering if you were willing to venture into the jungle with me and Mira. I want to assess the threats, of course, but I also want to look at how substantial the bamboo is so we can start harvesting it to make bows. We also have the less desirable job of collecting manure from the various animals that roam there. I think it will go a long way into fertilizing the fields and helping the crops grow. I just needed a few warriors with me and any suggestions you might have on how to transport our findings back here.”

  “I will find Darya, and we will meet you on the southernmost edge of the jungle,” Zarya replied with a nod. “I will also grab one of the handled baskets from the kitchen. That should do well for holding anything we find.”

  “Excellent idea,” I said. “If you will grab some rope, too, that will come in handy in case we need to tie anything down.”

  “Not a problem,” she smiled, “I just sharpened some spears and swords and placed them in the armory shed at the other end of the field. Help yourself, and we will see you soon.”

  I watched as she took off at a speed that would make Usain Bolt do a double take. I swear, evolution knew what it was doing when it gave these women those webbed feet.

  I walked with Mira over to the armory shed, and we both picked out a stone sword to tie at our waists, a spear that would double as a weapon, and a walking stick. The edges on both weapons glinted in the filtered sunlight as if to show off their new, sharp look.

  We only had to wait for a few minutes for the twins to arrive, and I could see they both carried a substantial length of rope fastened to their sword belts, but I was most curious about the rolled up contraption Darya was carrying with her. Even after running all that way, neither of the women were out of breath and were all smiles about the excitement laid before us and about showing me what they had brought.

  “I can’t take credit for this,” Darya said. “Hali was actually finishing up with this when Zarya arrived to ask me if I wanted to join the expedition into the jungle.”

  Before I could ask, the twins unrolled Hali’s invention between them. The woman
had taken one of the looser woven thrashings and had extended the edges out and created bindings that wrapped around a long spear pole on each side. She’d left enough of the pole uncovered on each end so it created four handles and a hammock in the middle. It was about four feet wide and six feet long and would hold just about anything we could find in there. The cook was utterly brilliant. I’d briefly described a need to her, and she expounded on it with expertise.

  “That hammock will be perfect,” I said with a broad grin. “If you see Hali before I do, hug her for me!”

  The three warriors laughed at my reaction and rolled the hammock back up into its smaller form. Whoever carried that wouldn’t be able to carry a spear, only a sword at their side. I was hesitant to request this of anyone and was about to offer to carry it myself when Darya spoke up.

  “Don’t fret, Ben,” she said, “I have no issues carrying this. I am quick to pull my sword and will not be the least bit encumbered by the hammock, as you called it. Let’s get going while the day is still young.”

  Well, that put an end to my argument.

  Mira and I entered the jungle together with the twins close behind. It took several minutes for the terrain to change and become more vegetative and overgrown with flora. Most of the vegetation looked like normal fare I would find on a tropical island, though there were some brightly colored flowers I was sure didn’t grow back on Earth. I also started to notice the growing presence of mature bamboo, and I pointed it out to Mira. It became so thick in places, I started dreaming up additional uses for it. We could start to replace the grass roofs on the huts with bamboo, and they would certainly hold the heat and shed the rain better.

  Then I glanced up into the trees and noticed fat birds looking down at us. They seemed like some sort of pheasant to me, and I just knew they would make a delicious meal, and their feathers would go a long way toward adding flight distance to our arrows. I now knew what to try to shoot with the first bow we got completed.

  A few yards further in, it felt like we’d entered a whole new world than the one we lived in on the coast. There was a stream of fresh water that crossed our path, and we turned to follow it upstream. Just a few yards into walking that direction, we scared a nest of those fat birds that had been drinking from the stream.

  Mira, faster than anything I’d ever seen, managed to spear one of the birds right through the neck. It fell over dead immediately, and she picked it up and slung it over her shoulder. Then she looked at all of us with a huge smile on her face. This warrior was doing what she did best, and it showed.

  The twins seemed to have taken it as a challenge, and they started watching their surroundings even more intensely for a chance at their own kill. Before long, we stirred up another group of birds, and both of the twins managed to kill one of their own. Darya’s was especially impressive considering she managed to drop the hammock, pull her sword, and remove one of the bird’s heads in the same amount of time it had taken the two other warrior women to aim and throw their spears. Darya held up her headless kill and did a silent little victory dance while the other two warriors rolled their eyes. Zarya was suppressing a giggle when she reached out and grabbed the bird to add to hers and threw it over her shoulder.

  As the women were cleaning off their weapons, I heard a shuffling in a bush behind them, and I turned my head just in time to see a huge fucking boar come charging straight toward Darya.

  “Look out!” I yelled

  Darya didn’t pause to look behind her and just instinctively jumped several feet toward her sister. She was fast enough to dodge the boar’s attack, but it was really pissed now, and it was ready to fight.

  The grotesque tusks jutting from its mouth had to be three feet long each, and they curved up into vicious and deadly points. The boar was grunting, fuming, and rearing up to charge her again. It hadn’t noticed me or Mira standing slightly behind it, so I took advantage of my position, aimed my spear, and threw with everything I had.

  The spear struck home in the soft underbelly located in front of the boar’s back right flank. It didn’t instantly kill the boar, but his back end gave out, and he let out a beastial roar. I knew I had to silence this bastard before he called his buddies to come help him, so I moved up behind him as fast as I dared, drew my sword, and drove the point down quickly into his skull.

  This put a fast end to him, and the horrible squealing came to a halt.

  I looked around to make sure everyone was okay. I was greeted by three sets of wide eyes, and then the women all broke into smiles.

  Before I could say anything, the twins were unfolding the hammock and tying a rope around the boar’s legs so they could drag it into place to be carried out of there.

  Mira calmly walked over and pulled my sword from the head of the beast and my spear from its belly. Then she made a show of wiping them off on the leaves of a nearby plant before she handed them back to me.

  “Show off,” she teased, but she gave me a brief hug.

  We all silently agreed we’d had enough excitement for the day, and we followed the stream all the way out of the jungle without further incident. Each of us held one of the handles of the hammock and had piled the birds on top of the boar. We needed to get these animals gutted and bled as soon as we could so the meat didn’t have a chance to go rancid.

  We exited the jungle in a different spot than where we’d entered, and we ended up on the eastern shorelines, not too far from where the defenses needed the most attention and where the raiders had taken advantage of that. We headed down the shore toward the village as quickly as we could, and I was in the back behind Mira, which I had no complaints about. I could watch her ass sway back and forth the whole time we walked, and that made me a happy man. We hadn’t said much since leaving the jungle, but I figured everyone was still coming down off the adrenaline rush.

  Suddenly, Mira stopped in her tracks and almost caused me to trip over my own feet. Then she let the handle of the hammock she was supporting drop from her hand, and she ran a few yards ahead.

  I looked at both of the twins, but they shrugged to show they had no idea what was going on.

  “Stay here,” I requested, “I am going to see what’s going on.”

  They both nodded in agreement, and I jogged to catch up with Mira.

  The warrior woman had come to a stop in front of a small alcove carved out of the tree line, much like the one I’d slept in my first night on the island. When I reached her, she was smiling from ear to ear, and I turned and saw that standing square in the middle of the alcove was an upside down L shape made out of two sturdy logs.

  I walked over to inspect the strange structure closer and saw notches had been carved into both pieces of wood to make them nestle together like a jigsaw puzzle. They’d been secured and bound together by lengths of strong rope, and several wooden pegs were hammered into where they met. On the back of the log buried into the ground, there were half a dozen thick pegs sticking out at various points.

  “Arrick, Talise’s mate, and our father built this many cycles ago,” Mira told me before I could even ask. “I came with them to put it into the ground. I can’t believe it’s still standing.”

  “It’s impressive,” I commented, even though I wasn’t entirely sure what it was yet.

  Mira walked around and pushed the post in many places, but it didn’t budge one bit. This seemed to satisfy her tremendously.

  “Come on,” she told me with a broad smile, “let’s go get the beast and string him up.”

  With her words, everything I was seeing dawned on me. Her father and brother must have been avid hunters, and they built this so they could gut and bleed their kills quickly but out of the dangers of the jungle.

  We got the hammock and returned to the meat pole full of excitement. I was so glad I thought of the rope at the last minute, but it wouldn’t have surprised me if the twins had brought some anyway. They seemed to be one step ahead of the game most of the time.

  I watched as Mira went to
the back of the pole and pulled a large seashell off the top of the post. She stared at it for a few moments and then smiled to herself before she came back to us.

  “This was my idea and contribution as a young girl,” she grinned, “it’s used to dig a hole below the pole so the offal can just fall in and be easily buried. I searched for the biggest, strongest shell I could find. I can’t believe it was still there.”

  “I will gladly dig the hole,” Darya offered. “I will leave the trussing of this beast to the three of you because there is sure to be an argument on how it’s done best, and I have absolutely no desire to be any part of it.”

  I looked to the other two women to see what they thought.

  “I have no opinion on the matter,” Zarya said and held her hands up placatingly.

  I looked at Mira, and she was already staring me down, ready to defend her thoughts that she hadn’t even voiced yet. Then I watched as she took the longest piece of rope and tied a slip-knot at the end.

  Oh shit. I hoped this didn’t mean she meant to tie this beast up by its neck like it had just been sent to the gallows. We were definitely going to have a disagreement there.

  Mira continued to watch me as she did a few more things to the rope, and before I knew it, her hands were flying over the back end of the boar, and she had it trussed and ready to hang from its hind quarters like an expert.

  I never said a word and just flashed her an approving smile.

  “Apparently, I picked the wrong job,” Darya said when she saw we were all finished with getting the boar ready to hang. Then she continued to dig the hole while Mira threw the rope over the pole.

  We waited for Darya to dig a hole deep enough to satisfy her, and then we readied ourselves to haul this big fucker up into the air.

  “Ben,” Mira said, “if you will take the anchor position and tie the rope off on the pegs sticking out of the back, I think the three of us can hold it in place long enough for you to get it secured.”

  I nodded in agreement and took my place at the end of the rope.