by Logan Jacobs
The sand made my footsteps heavy, but I ignored this as I leapt at the warg and landed smack on his stomach. The air left him with a giant puff, and I was unlucky enough to get a strong whiff of his stank breath as I tried to sever his head from his body.
“Gross,” I complained as I suppressed a gag.
The word left my mouth as I wildly swung down toward his ugly brown neck, but a clawed hand flew up and snatched my wrist in it. Nails dug into my skin and drew blood, and I winced at the pain. Then I brought my left hand up and slammed my fist into the warg’s chin so hard I heard his jaw crack with a satisfying snap, and the bastard screeched in agony.
“You are not one of them,” he whimpered through his fractured jaw as he struggled beneath me. “Who are you?”
“I’m the Dragon King, asshole,” I spat, but then the bastard shoved up against me.
We flipped over in the sand, and suddenly, I was below the warg’s massive weight as he aimed a sharp, dirty black claw at my head. He sat heavily on my chest, which made breathing nearly impossible.
In the process, though, the monster forgot that my other hand held the sword, and his grip on my wrist loosened. So, I brought my foot up and kicked him hard in the middle of the stomach. Something cracked, probably one of his ribs, and the warg bucked upward as his arms flailed about.
Then I took my opportunity. With all my might, I sliced the sword right across his midsection, and the skin tore apart and flapped open. Blood and organs spilled out of him like a torrent, and I fought back a gag.
Man. If I’d thought the smell of the dead orc, or even the warg’s nasty breath, was bad, this was absolutely no competition. The smell of warg guts won, hands down.
The entrails covered my stomach in warm goo, and the warg made one last attempt to sink a claw into me before his body shuddered to a stop and slumped over.
The warg’s nasty snout buried itself in the sand right next to my face, and it took everything in me not to vomit up the small breakfast I’d eaten as his greasy hair flopped over my lips.
I was covered in warg goo, but I didn’t have much time to react to that, because I heard Ainsley shriek.
My heart pounded at the terrified sound, and I shoved the dead weight off my body. Warm blood dripped down my thighs as I stood to see Ainsley on the sand, with her broken bow next to her and a warg on top of her wearing a disgustingly excited grin on his face.
“You thought you could fight me off?” the bastard taunted her.
I could tell this was fun for the bastard as he toyed with the strawberry blonde deer woman. He stroked a nasty, gnarled claw down the side of her face, and then he ground his loincloth covered, likely deformed, dick into her stomach.
Oh, fuck that. No one did that to one of my women.
Rage like I’d never known boiled inside of me, and all of a sudden, my body was red hot with anger. Before I could even form a coherent thought, I bounded over the sand in a vengeful haze, and I raised my sword high above my head with both hands as I did so.
“Die, fucker!” I screamed as I drove my sea glass sword straight into the warg’s back. The blade bounced down his spinal column as it tore through his body until it finally drilled straight into the sand, right next to Ainsley’s body.
I quickly yanked the sword out and tossed the dead warg away to try and spare the beautiful woman from the nasty smelling innards.
“Thank you.” Ainsley smiled up at me, and blackish blood was splattered across her porcelain cheeks.
I could see she was visibly shaken, but I didn’t have time to comfort her just then. So, I flipped around and looked back to take on the next warg, but they were all down. Theora and Sarayah had managed to shoot one of the wargs so full of arrows that it was hard to even see a full square inch of flesh.
The other warg laid at Jemma’s feet, and she panted heavily as she stared down at it. My knife was clutched in her fist, and the blade was bloody and dripping with warg innards.
The monster, for his part, was on his back with a stab wound straight through his heart.
“That’s what I’m talking about!” I shouted before I ran over and wrapped Jemma up in a hug.
Soon, the other three women joined in, and we stood there in a heated embrace, high from the small battle we’d just won, for a long moment.
“That was exhilarating,” Jemma finally breathed when we broke apart, and she wore a giant grin as she surveyed the dead bodies of the wargs.
“You bet your ass it was,” I told her. “Next warg?”
“Next warg.” The auburn-haired woman nodded to me before she took off back toward the woods.
I watched her scamper up a tree, and then she disappeared into the thicket of leaves.
“Well, ladies, how do you feel?” I asked the other three.
“My bow is broken,” Ainsley pouted as she pointed to the shattered weapon. “But outside of that, I am content.”
“Shit, I wish you could use mine, we don’t have an extra,” I sighed.
“You have been training us and feeding us well, Ben,” Ainsley remarked. “I feel much stronger. Maybe I should try your bow.”
“Okay.” I smiled and handed her my weapon.
Even though it wasn’t the same type of weapon she’d used before, she was still able to pick it up and hold it aloft with a little bit of difficulty, thanks to all of the strength training and drills we’d run.
“See.” The deer woman grinned as she aimed it into the air.
“Bravo,” I chuckled.
We were on that beach for six more hours as Jemma lured groups of wargs back to us. All in all, we took down fourteen nasty wargs, and thankfully, none of us were seriously injured. A few scrapes and bruises, and definitely some very tired muscles, but no massive injuries.
I just hoped the rest of the women could say the same.
Before we departed, we pushed the pile of warg bodies on the beach into the ocean. The next step would be to take down the oil barrels, and then the final part of our plan would be put into play.
We’d defeat the orcs and get them the hell off this island.
“Good job, everyone,” I said as the last warg body drifted away on the crisp blue waves. “Jemma, do you know how many wargs were left?”
“I do not think there were many,” she replied. “I believe your plan worked to take most of them down. What is your plan for the orcs?”
“Let’s go reconvene with everyone first, and then we can discuss that,” I said.
“Thank you for your bow, Ben.” Ainsley grinned as she handed it back to me. “It was very helpful.”
“I noticed,” I chuckled as I thought about how many wargs she’d helped us take out with it.
We hiked back toward the village as the sun began to set, and on the way, we met up with Mira’s group, who looked just as bone tired as us. I quickly glanced over to make sure no one was seriously injured, and when I was satisfied all of the women were healthy, I turned to Mira.
“How’d you do?” I asked the warrior.
She lifted her sword, which was still covered in thick warg goo, and grinned proudly at me.
“Thirteen wargs died at our hands today!” she announced, and her golden eyes twinkled with happiness. “And you?”
I shrugged casually and let the tension build up, and behind me, Sarayah snickered.
Mira’s eyes narrowed as she waited.
“Fourteen,” I finally said.
“You beat us by one!” Mira gasped, and then she punched my shoulder lightly. “Next time, my king, beware. I shall beat your number.”
“Wanna bet on that?” I winked at her.
Mira considered for a moment before a sly smile spread over her lips, and it was a smile I recognized. The warrior got that look on her face whenever she knew something I didn’t.
“I would, actually,” she replied.
Suddenly, I didn’t feel so much like a betting man anymore.
“What’s with the look?” I demanded.
; “What look?” Mira innocently batted her thick green eyelashes at me, and the golden scales that ran down her face glittered enticingly in the evening sun.
I considered my choices for a moment. I could back off from the bet, or I could take it.
But there was no way in hell I’d back down from a bet.
“Fine.” I reached out and shook her hand. “What do I get if I win?”
“How about … ” Mira trailed off and considered for a moment. “If I win, you must rub my feet every night for two weeks.”
“That’s it?” I quirked an eyebrow at her. “Done. And if I win, you travel with me to every island.”
I knew it wasn’t much of a bet. The other person was supposed to lose out on something in a bet, and for Mira, this was a win-win. But that was what I wanted. After the crazy adventure this island had been, I couldn’t imagine traveling to a different place without the jade haired warrior. She was my rock, the person I could turn to when I needed to discuss the hard things. It was comforting to know she was by my side the entire time, no matter what.
Mira’s gold eyes widened at my rather mundane request, and then she smiled lovingly at me.
“Dragon King, you have a deal,” she agreed. Then the dragon woman reached up on her tiptoes and pressed a quick peck to my cheek as we walked.
We made it back up to the village half an hour later, and to my surprise, we were only the second and third groups back. Thornen’s group had been the first, and the women were all gathered around the cooking tent with fruit and water in front of them, and bone-tired expressions on their faces.
As we approached, Ainsley and Jemma ran up to the other women and wrapped them up in hugs.
“Are you all alright?” Ainsley asked.
Before anyone could answer, though, the blonde woman went to each woman individually and checked to make sure there were no broken bones or gaping holes in any of them.
“Just a few cuts, Ainsley,” Thornen assured when the thin woman grabbed her hand. “We are all alright.”
“How’d you make out?” I asked.
“Make out?” Thornen frowned in confusion.
“I mean, how did things go?” I clarified.
“Oh, we demolished nine wargs today, Ben,” Thornen told me with a smile. “I do not believe there are many more on this island to attack us. We seem to be in a rather prime position for the attack on the orc camp.”
“As long as we get there before the ship comes.” I nodded. “First thing tomorrow, we’ll have to go out and roll the barrels of oil into the ocean. Then we can attack. We just need to make sure they’re as weak as they can possibly be first.”
Before anyone could respond, there was a commotion at the entrance tree, and I whipped around to see a terrified Bree rush up the ladder. Her freckled face was streaked with tears, and her normally clear and composed blue eyes watered profusely.
“Thornen, come quick!” she shrieked.
All of us ran across the vine bridge and to the platform.
“What happened?” I demanded, and fear pounded through my body at the terrified expression on her face.
Bree couldn’t speak, though.
“Bree?” I asked. I grabbed her shoulders and bent down to look in her eyes, but they were nearly void of expression as she waited anxiously for someone to climb up the ladder. I could hear clunky footsteps below, and Ainsley leaned over to see what was going on.
Immediately, though, the normally calm woman leapt back and screamed.
“Ainsley?” Mira asked, and now the warrior sounded terrified, too.
Ainsley couldn’t respond. She shook and gasped, but no words came out. All she could do was point a finger toward the ladder and stare.
Slowly, out of the darkness below, Nima and another woman emerged, with a figure laying between them.
Netta. The red-haired woman was passed out cold, her green eyes were closed, and a bright red spot of blood formed on her beautiful white shirt.
It only took a second for the anxious fear in me to turn into full blown panic.
Chapter Fourteen
Nima and her companion struggled to hold onto Netta’s weight as they clambered onto the platform, so I quickly marched toward them and swung Netta into my arms as gingerly as I possibly could.
I was able to get a good look at her now, and it terrified me even more. She was pale as a ghost, nearly translucent, and I could see the bright blue veins that were normally hidden under her pale skin. Sweat plastered her bright red hair to her forehead, and her green eyes were half closed as they rolled about in her head. She was in that terrifying place between dreaming and death, the one a person goes to when they’re just barely clinging on to life.
I could feel the warmth of her blood on my hand that cradled her back. There was a lot of it, and I had no idea how much she’d lost before her team had gotten her up this tree.
“Stay with me,” I murmured to the beautiful redhead.
Even her horns seemed to be dulled. They were a shiny tan before, but now they looked more like the dull brown of cheap laminate flooring.
“Get her to the medical tent,” Thornen ordered, and I carried Netta as fast as possible toward the tent, still careful not to disturb the wound in her midsection.
The injury itself seemed like a through and through, and I could even see the jagged edges of the ripped skin where the warg’s claw had stabbed her.
“What happened?” Ainsley asked Bree as the two women jogged on either side of me.
The entire village trailed along behind us now, and they were all anxious to see how Netta was.
“She, uh,” Bree gasped and tried to find her words, and it took her a second to compose herself, but then her voice was strong and calm once more. “She was fighting off a warg. The rest of us were all engaged in our own battles. Two hunting parties had joined together when Nima was leading them back to us, and we were massively outnumbered. But we were winning. And then I just … heard her scream, and … ”
Bree’s sentence faltered, and she choked back a sob.
“But we defeated the warg,” Nima said, and the red headed woman was right next to me as I carried her big sister across the bridge.
I wasn’t sure who the words were for, her or us. Nima seemed to need to convince herself that whatever had happened to her, Netta was avenged by the warg’s death.
“Lay her here,” Thornen instructed as we reached the medical tent, and she pointed to a mattress.
I gently laid Netta down on the mattress, and I did my absolute best not to disturb the gaping wound too much.
The redhead groaned just a tiny bit as her body shifted, but she was too out of it to really be in a lot of pain. I’d never been in that horrid place myself, but I’d seen plenty of people there. It was a place where death was just feet away. All she had to do was reach out and touch it.
But Netta was a fighter. We all knew that.
“W-Will she b-be okay?” Nima choked out, and her pale face was wet with tears as she stared at her sister in terror.
“Mmm,” was all Thornen grunted as she slid Netta’s shirt up her stomach to reveal red blood and a gushing wound.
I could see the answer to Nima’s question in Thornen’s wide eyes, but the woman did her best to make it look like everything was fine. She carefully laid a poultice on Nima’s wound and then wrapped a clean white bandage around it.
Within seconds, the white bed had been dyed a dark, scary crimson.
Nima let out a choked sob that was something between a cry and a gasp.
“Get her out of here,” I muttered to Jemma.
The auburn-haired woman nodded and quietly escorted Nima from the tent as she sobbed and shook for her sister.
“It is not good, Ben,” Thornen murmured to me when we were alone. “I am afraid this is beyond my hands.”
“What about the squirt in the ocean?” I demanded as I recalled the octopus thing Jemma had used to heal Mira when we’d first arrived at the island. “It’s
supposed to have super strong healing powers, right? Would that help?”
My words were desperate babbling, and I knew it, because the answer was clear in Thornen’s face.
There was no saving Netta, no matter what I did or how many magical healing plants or sea creatures I could find.
Slowly, I sank down and pressed a kiss to Netta’s forehead. It was burning hot, like the embers of a flame.
“We should bring Nima back,” Thornen informed me, and her tone was solemn. “She will want to say goodbye.”
I nodded and swallowed thickly.
“Let me do it,” Ainsley said as she reappeared next to me. “This is the job of a president, right?”
I gave her a soft smile and watched as she walked out onto the platform. Then, after a moment, I followed.
Nima was in Bree’s and Jemma’s arms on the far-right side, but I gave them a wide berth as Ainsley murmured the terrible news to them.
The screaming sob Nima let out was the closest thing to the cry of a banshee I’d ever heard. The redheaded woman all but collapsed in Bree’s arms for a brief moment, but Ainsley helped her pull herself together, and they walked arm in arm back to the medical tent.
Within an hour, everyone had returned to the camp. The moment they did, everyone was informed of Netta’s condition so they could say their goodbyes.
I stood and watched on the platform outside the tent that had been given to Mira and me. In groups of two or three, the women went in the medical tent, and then slowly came out. They all had tears on their faces and grim expressions, but Nima stayed in the tent the entire time.
Just before the sun went down completely, when the entire village was bathed in a beautiful pink glow, Netta went into a coma.
I looked up at the sky as Thornen made the announcement. The clouds were in that perfect formation, the one where the soft sunbeams pour through and make it seem like heaven and earth are connected.
“Netta has fallen into a great, deep sleep,” the older woman said, and her pale features were heavy with sadness. “She will likely never wake up. It is time now to grieve as we wait for either a miracle from the Goddess, or death.”