Monster Girl Islands

by Logan Jacobs

  I had no idea what they were singing about, but it soothed me and kept me focused. Before I knew it, the initial wall was complete. We still had to fill in the gaps with the concrete mixture, but it was definitely a good bit of progress for the afternoon.

  My muscles were pleasantly sore by the time we were done, but nothing worth complaining about. I was more than shocked to see how much stronger I was now with the dragon bond, but I tried not to let it show on my face. There were a few times where I didn’t judge my own strength very well and ended up falling on my ass because I yanked something too hard, and it moved with one tug rather than having to repeat the process over and over again.

  Come to think of it, my ass was the most sore part of me.

  “I think it’s best if we leave the wall for now and let the cement set, and we will do the patches tomorrow,” I announced after several hours. “Let’s gather up the bamboo, and we will head up to the courtyard and get started on the bows after we get some dinner.”

  Everyone seemed to agree with my thoughts, so we all grabbed as much bamboo as we could carry and headed back to the palace. The eastern courtyard was still bustling with people tending to their duties when we arrived. I got a fire going in the pit where we decided to set up our station and then sent one of the women to see if she could find Mira. I knew the warrior would want to be a part of this whole thing, and it wasn’t long before I saw her approach from the palace, and her golden eyes shone with excitement.

  “I am sorry I wasn’t there for the wall construction,” Mira said upon seeing me, “Talise has been fussing over my injuries and refused to let me get out of her sight because she was afraid I would do something that would cause my sutures to pop open.”

  “You probably would have,” I laughed, “and you don’t want to get on her bad side. Don’t worry, we did okay without you. This is the part you want to participate in, anyway.”

  I stood in front of everyone and showed them how we would cut the bamboo in half so it would be more accommodating to work with, then how to split it lengthwise. We used a sharp stone and large stick as a hammer and wedge to split each whole piece of bamboo into four separate pieces. Next, I showed them how to remove the bamboo shoots carefully so we could preserve them for the kitchens. I’d eaten them before in different Asian cuisines, and I knew they had to be boiled before they could be eaten, but that was the extent of my knowledge. I would leave the rest up to Hali. Hell, she might not even want to mess with them.

  Next, we carefully removed the fibrous, green coating from the outside of the bamboo. This is what we were going to twist together to make the string for the bows. I gathered the green strands and laid them on a rack set over the low burning fire. The heat would soften them up and make it easier to twist them into bow strings.

  While that was going on, we used a variety of stones, ones that varied in sharpness, to scrape the bamboo to get all the extra fibers and filler off the flexible wood. Once everyone had a piece of bamboo that was smooth, I showed them how to dampen the ends and place it in the fire while adding pressure in the right places to create the signature curve of the bow.

  After about ten minutes, I pulled the fronds off the heat and showed half of the group how to secure one end around their ankle. Then we simultaneously pulled the fiber taut and twisted each individual strand before we braided it into the rest of the string. Half the women did this while the other group was firing and bending their bows. All the women worked in total harmony, and they cheered one another on and lent a hand when and where it was needed.

  Soon, the groups switched out, and we were getting close to having completed bows. Once everyone had their rope and their bamboo curved and ready to go, I showed them how to take the sharp stones and carve notches on both ends of the bow so they could fasten the string to it. This was a bit more time consuming because we were lacking enough really sharp rocks to go around, and the women were being very meticulous about how they took care of their bows.

  While everyone waited for their turn to carve the notches in their bows, I showed them how to split the rest of the wood and start making arrows. Mira had brought a bag of bird feathers with her that I’d asked Hali to save for me. These feathers were going to work well to add flight to the arrows. We whittled away at the bamboo, sharpened points into arrows on rough stones, carved little notches into the ends, and then used very thin strips of the fiber to attach three feathers to the end of each arrow.

  As night began to fall, all the women in the warrior group had a curved piece of bamboo, a length of string, and five arrows in their possession. Before we strung the bow, I showed them how to make a grip using the smooth green fibers we’d already done so much with.

  The women each followed my directions and created a grip they were comfortable with and that felt good under their hands. Then it was finally time to string their bows. It took a lot of convincing and assurance on my part to get the women to bend their bows to string them, since the women were sure the bamboo was going to snap under the pressure.

  When I bent the bamboo over and over again, probably a dozen times, and it never snapped, they finally started to believe me, and the excitement at their success was palpable in the air.

  I took them all out of the courtyard and over to a bow firing range I’d set up on the eastern side of the palace. I’d borrowed some of the woven thrushings and set them up as a target. I’d also taken some of the burnt wood and used the black ash to draw circles on the impromptu target so the women had something to aim for.

  “Okay,” I said to grab their attention, “I am going to show you how this is done. The first thing you do is get the bow string set in the notch on the arrow. The tricky part to this is getting and keeping the arrow balanced on your bow grip hand and your guide hand. You want to keep it steady, but not hold it too tight, or it will slow down the speed and the force.”

  I got the arrow notched and positioned to fire. Then I pulled the taut bow up to my face and started explaining what I was doing while simultaneously demonstrating it to them.

  “For me, I aim just a little high of my target, but it will be different for each of you. That is why you want to practice as much as possible, so you can get to know the way your arrow is going to arc and accommodate for that. Now, when you are ready to shoot, you stand sideways with your dominant foot in the back at a cross angle to your other foot, which will be pointed at the target. With your grip arm straight out in front of you and also pointed at the target, you pull the bow string back with your dominant hand all while keeping it flush with your cheek.”

  I held the bow up next to my head, cocked the arrow back with my feet in position, and showed them how it should look.

  “Now, before you let an arrow fly, know your target, take a deep breath as you pull the string back, and let it out when you release the arrow. Ready to see how it works?

  The women all nodded their heads to let me know they were ready, and the way they bounced around and seemed almost nervous let me know how excited they were about seeing what the bows could do.

  I notched my arrow, got into my firing stance, took a deep breath to focus, pulled my bow string back, found my target, and let the string go just as I blew out the breath I’d taken.

  It had been a few years since I’d fired a standard bow and arrow, but my aim was still decent, and the arrow flew steady to the target and landed just above the center of the middle circle. Of course, I’d been trying to make a bullseye, but the circles were off, and my aim definitely need some fine tuning.

  Still, the women cheered at my success and lined up to take their turns.

  “Ben,” Mira squealed, “that was amazing!”

  “It really was!” Darya agreed.

  “It was so big-ass!” Zarya cheered.

  “Um, you mean badass, Z,” I chuckled and used the nickname I’d been using for her in my head.

  “Z?” The warrior tilted her head to the side and then grinned. “I like it. It’s badass!”


  I worked with them individually, and it took a good hour and a half to make it through the seven of them. By the end, they had all hit the middle area of the target at least twice, and that was the best I could really hope for.

  They had a long way to go, but soon raiders and the birds all over the island would be in for a big surprise.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Several weeks passed, and George and I developed a bit of a routine. We would get up early and go for a swim in the lagoon before work commenced for the day. We spent this time strengthening our bond, but I also collected a bunch of the shells from the bottom of the pool. I wanted to use them in some way to make gifts for Nerissa and Talise, the soon-to-be mothers of my children.

  Today, I was drying off from my swim with George when I heard a low growling sound that put me on alert. I slowly picked up my weapon, paused for a moment, and then I heard it again.

  “George, did you--?”

  I looked over at the dragon to see if he was also alarmed and was greeted with the goofy expression he got when he was amused about something.

  “Wait,” I said, “was that your stomach?”

  “Yes,” he replied, “it’s empty.”

  “I guess we should make our way over to the kitchen,” I chuckled as I lowered my blade.

  “Let’s see what Hali has for us!” the dragon agreed, and he whirled around to amble off toward the kitchens.

  “Sure, buddy,” I chuckled and followed after him.

  After our swim, my dragon and I would usually head over to the eastern border to work on the defenses there, like we were doing now. First, though, we always made a pit stop in the kitchen at the palace where Hali would have breakfast waiting for us. She had managed to cure and smoke the remainder of the boar, so I was getting chunks of meat that kind of resembled ham or bacon, and that made me happy.

  “Hali,” I said as the woman handed me a plateful of food, “you are the absolute best.”

  “Only because of your hunting skills,” she giggled. “Any plans to head back into the jungle?”

  “I was thinking of going in two sunrises,” I told her. “That is when we shift guard duty, and I will have a few days rest. Are we running low on anything?”

  “Not necessarily,” Hali replied, “but the queen is very fond of the scrambled eggs you showed me how to make. If she keeps requesting them, we will be out sooner rather than later.”

  The last time we went hunting, I had gathered several dozen eggs along with ten of the birds. The women had never eaten eggs before, so I showed Hali a few things that she could do with them, and it had been well received.

  “I will make sure we get all we can on the next trip,” I promised with a wink. Then I gave the cook a one-armed hug and went outside to eat my breakfast at one of the tables that overlooked the courtyard.

  As I ate, I watched George make his rounds through all the work stations before we headed for the eastern shore. The women had started keeping various treats for him at their posts, and he wasn’t about to miss out on snacks and loving pats. He was such a damn attention whore.

  I was sitting there mindlessly eating and thinking about all I had to do when Mira walked up to me, and she looked strikingly beautiful, so I had to pause my chewing so I could appreciate her appearance.

  She’d just been cleared for duty by Talise a few days ago and had been pretty much stuck to my side ever since. I knew part of it was her way of apologizing to me for going too far in the arena games, but there was something more to it. I thought maybe it had to do with the mating ritual itself. She had been declared a winner, but every damn time I brought that up, she blushed and changed the subject. She was willing to hurt a fellow warrior to have sex with me and possibly get pregnant, but now she was embarrassed by it? I was determined to get to the bottom of it, but I was kind of relieved considering the queen was trying to wear me out.

  “What are you thinking so hard about?” Mira asked as she reached me.

  “Just what my next steps are and wondering if I can keep hiding from your sister,” I said and patted the spot next to me.

  “She asked where you were when I took breakfast to her this morning,” the warrior chuckled as she sat beside me. “You really did a good job getting her out of her quiet mood.”

  “Yeah,” I sighed and scruffed my hair. “In turn I created a monster. A sex monster.”

  “I didn’t really need to know that,” Mira snorted as she met my eye. “Am I supposed to feel bad for you?.”

  “Maybe a little,” I muttered under my breath and looked back at the castle in the distance.

  “Have you tried mentioning something looked dirty?” Mira asked with a grin. “The woman tried to clean the water closet while I was still using it. And the safe room? I caught her scrubbing the door knob yesterday.”

  With the help of a few of the warriors, we had created a hidden room at the back of the palace for the queen and the healers to hide in the event of a raid. Nerissa and Talise were far from happy about this, but I had insisted. Instead of giving me the silent treatment or dirty looks, Nerissa had instead worked out her aggravation by jumping me in the middle of the safe room.

  That was the precise moment the sex monster was created.

  As rapidly as the woman’s pregnancy bump grew and her body changed, her emotions were constantly switching as well. The sobbing had been replaced by bouts of silence where she would withdraw to her room and stay there for hours on end. After that came the need to clean and prepare everything. There were stacks of cloth diapers and blankets in every corner of the living quarters in the palace.

  I’d replaced the roof in her room with the new bamboo tiles, and she had ordered the rushings on the floor to be replaced once a week. She’d also scrubbed the fireplace and anything else she could. Mira and I had built both her and Talise a bassinet for the babies, and Nerissa had scrubbed the outer coating off that, too.

  The clean freak switched in and out with the sex freak at any given moment. If she didn’t invite me to her room for the night, she sought me out in mine for middle of the night romps in my bed, on the floor, bent over the table, it really didn’t matter to her. She just demanded to be fucked every thirty minutes, it seemed.

  Needless to say, I hadn’t really gotten to sleep with any of the other women, since Nerissa had me, and my dick, at her beck and call all day, every day. I’d done my best to appease her, since she was still super sexy, pregnancy hormones were a bitch, and she was carrying my child after all, but she was wearing me and my dick right the fuck out.

  Last night alone, she woke me up three times for sex, and I was amazed I could still even perform basic functions at this point.

  “Hey,” I said to Mira after a few minutes, “that’s not a bad idea.”

  “At least you are on wall duty tonight,” Mira chuckled. “You can get some much needed rest.”

  “I can’t believe I am actually grateful for that,” I snickered. “It’s a good thing Talise isn’t feeling the same way.”

  “That is true,” Mira smirked, “because you would be dead.”

  Talise’s pregnancy was going quite differently. The healer had regular bouts of sickness and was just tired all the time. Her emotions weren’t in too much chaos, but she still scared me with how dark the circles under her eyes were and with how little food she was able to keep down.

  Not long after I learned Talise was pregnant, I’d asked Hali to boil one of the bird carcasses I’d brought back from the jungle with some greens and other root veggies. It was as close to chicken noodle soup as we were going to get on this island.

  I brought the results to Talise, and she not only liked it, but she was able to hold it down. So, she’d been living off of island bird soup, bread, and the nausea tea Careen kept making for her. Both of the healers assured me on a regular basis that the baby had a strong heart, was moving around, and seemed to be progressing well, and while Talise wasn’t as round as the queen, she definitely had grown a good sized baby b
ump. In fact, she was all baby bump. She had lost weight in the rest of her body from being so sick all the time, and it had started to show.

  Between Nerissa’s level ninety-nine sex drive and Talise’s bouts of sickness, I was going to be lucky if I survived both of these pregnancies.

  I let out a deep sigh and whistled for George to let him know it was time to stop collecting treats and to get to work.

  “Ready to get to go check out the defenses?” I asked Mira.

  “Sure thing,” she replied as we stood to our feet.

  Ten minutes later, we reached the shoreline and worked hard for the next several hours to finish up the projects we’d started a few weeks ago.

  In a few weeks time, we’d managed to get the wall erected, the gaps filled in with concrete, and spikes laid out across the top of the fence at forty-five degree angles to discourage any attempts to climb up the walls. We’d also taken the time to dig traps in the field between the water and the fence. The traps weren’t huge, but they were deep enough, and we lined them with several sharp spikes that pointed up and would definitely not end well if you fell on them. We covered the traps with the thrushings and sea grass, and I had to say, they blended in well.

  We’d also been able to assemble two of the archer lookouts along the fence. I’d placed the improvised targets out in the field, and we had all taken turns shooting them from the platforms. I was impressed at how well these women had learned to shoot and how good their aim was. I knew that when faced with the enemy, things might change, but these women were killing the targets with precision.

  I’d also set up a warning signal beacon at the wall and one at the palace that were to be lit at the first sign of invaders. We were manning these beacons at all hours and rotating guard duty between me and all the warriors. There were to be at least two people at the wall and one at the palace at all times.

  “Let’s get these arrows cleared up and put away,” I said to the warriors when I noticed the sun sinking low on the western horizon, “I want to have time to go check out the growing fields before the sun sets on us. Hali told me I should stop by there and see what the changes in the fertilizer have done to the crops.”