Monster Girl Islands 2

by Logan Jacobs

  Then, with that, my daughter was asleep.

  Apparently, prophecies and visions didn’t come during the middle of the day.

  With Marella’s warning heavy on my mind, I left her asleep in the bed and chewed over my options.

  The moon had been full two weeks ago, which meant I had about two more weeks before it was full once more, and Marella’s vision would come true.

  I slowly walked over to an alcove and stared up at the moon high in the sky. It was beautiful and bright, a nice half-moon.

  I needed to get this boat built before it was fat again.

  “You look deep in your thoughts,” Nerissa mused as she crept up behind me. Then she wrapped her thin arms around my waist and pressed her chin into the dip of my shoulder, and for a moment, the two of us stared at the moon and all of the stars that glittered around it.

  “Marella had another vision,” I whispered after a long moment.

  “Oh?” Nerissa breathed.

  I could hear the excitement in her tone, and I couldn’t blame her. After all, the last time Marella had a vision, we’d brought Jonas back.

  This vision, however, probably wouldn’t make Nerissa quite so happy.

  “She said I have to go to the other islands before the next full moon,” I explained. “They need my help, too, Nerissa. The orc pirates have decimated multiple populations, just like they did here.”

  Nerissa tensed up against me and drew away.

  Damn. I was afraid this news would make her unhappy.

  “Of course.” She nodded, ever the queen, but I could see the sadness in her tear-filled eyes.

  “Hey,” I whispered as I cupped her cheek with my hand. “I’ll be back before you know it.”

  She looked up at me with her wide eyes filled with so much trust, and then nodded.

  “I understand, Ben,” she murmured. “You are so good and kind. I am proud to be your mate.”

  “And I’m proud to be yours,” I told her, before I pressed my lips to hers in a soft, loving kiss.

  My family meant everything to me, and I would do whatever I needed to protect them.

  Even if that meant I had to leave them first.

  Chapter Fourteen

  The very next morning, I woke up beside Nerissa’s beautiful, naked form at the crack of dawn. The sun had barely peeked over the island’s mountain when I rose from the bed, and I made sure to be quiet so as not to wake the queen or our sleeping son as I put on a pair of soft brown pants and a creamy shirt.

  George woke up just as I walked out of the palace and into the courtyard, and he silently stood to walk by my side.

  Oshun has a plan for you, dear one, he said in my head.

  “Good,” I snorted, “because I have no idea what I’m going to find on these new islands.”

  We walked into the kitchens to grab a quick breakfast of coconut bread for me, and some pheasants for George, before we headed out.

  I had a good idea as to how I would build the boat from our bamboo, but I knew I would need a lot of it. I wasn’t sure who would be willing to go on this journey with me, but I wanted to be prepared. Beyond that, I wasn’t sure what I’d find when I got to the next island over. For all I knew, I’d have to bring some people back with me, and then I’d really need a bigger boat.

  I padded out of the silent palace, crossed the courtyard, and walked into the storage rooms where all the bamboo was held.

  For a second, I looked around at what we’d gathered, and I searched for the perfect, thick pieces I would need for the frame of the boat. I wasn’t even sure if the idea I had in my head would work, but it would help if I had thicker pieces than what we’d used to build the huts.

  Finally, I spotted a pile of about six thicker bamboo logs in the corner that had probably been tossed to the side since we usually needed the thinner, more flexible rods.

  Thanks to my dragon-man strength, I was able to lug the thick bamboo logs out of the storage hut. Then George helpfully took two in his own mouth, while I grabbed the other four.

  “I think it’s easiest if we build this down at the beach,” I told him, and George dipped his massive head in agreement.

  By the time we’d made it to the soft sand, the sun had fully risen. The palace would be awake by now, and by the way my serpent women gossiped, everyone would have heard I was going to travel to the other islands.

  Truthfully, I wasn’t too sure what reactions I would get. I knew the women would all respect my decision as their king, but I also knew they’d be worried. Talise would especially be concerned, and the rest of the women would probably attempt to hide behind soft smiles, but even so, I hated the idea that I might cause them to worry.

  An order from the gods is an order from the gods, George replied to my thoughts with a lopsided, toothy smile.

  “You’re right, ” I sighed. “I just want them all to be happy.”

  Not to worry, they will be, George assured me.

  I dropped my bamboo to the ground and smoothed out a space on the sand to start building the boat. I’d already thought up a general plan in my head, and part of it was already made. I simply needed to translate it into reality.

  First, I hauled the three rowboats those ugly orc pirates had left behind over to my workspace. My plan was to use them like pontoons, and build something similar to an old-fashioned Polynesian ship from back home. The Polynesians had used those ships to travel all the way to fucking Hawaii, so I knew that design was sturdy.

  I flipped two rowboats so they were right side up, and I figured I could use the benches that were already there as anchor points to connect them all together with bamboo and vines.

  The third row boat was pushed up against the edge of the beach. I wanted to save it in case anything went wrong with the first two boats. I’d learned in the Coast Guard that it was always a good idea to have a backup.

  Next, we headed back to the huts to grab a shit ton of thin bamboo sticks and some vines to lash everything together. I also grabbed a saw, and then I headed back to the beach to cut each piece to the correct length. I wanted there to be about three feet of space between the rowboats, so my final raft would be stable and sturdy, but not overly bulky and difficult to steer. My plan would be to eventually have a mast and sail in the center, and then some sort of flat rudder in the back, but I still wasn’t sure how to attach those, so I figured the best idea would be to start with the skeleton of my final product, and then work from there.

  The second challenge I thought of as I started to lay the bamboo pieces across the boats, flush to the benches and lateral, was water. I’d have to think of a way to stop water from flooding the rowboats and sinking my entire raft in the middle of the damn ocean.

  “I could probably tar over it, once Talise shows me how to make that,” I murmured as I ran a hand over the carved wood.

  I tucked that problem in the back of my mind for the moment, too, and kept my focus on the initial build.

  I laid two pieces of bamboo, side by side, across both rowboats, right on top of the benches. I’d tie those two pieces down, and then work piece by piece to tie bamboo together, make a platform that could lay across the boats, and create the classic raft shape I wanted.

  That proved to be a little more difficult than I’d expected when the first vine I grabbed snapped off the moment I tightened it. I’d chosen a thinner vine in an attempt to lessen the weight and bulk of it, but it seemed this wouldn’t work so well.

  George, ever the helpful companion, padded up with a thicker vine in his mouth, one that was about the size of an electrical cable. I wrapped this around the bench and bamboo pieces three times, before I tied it off with a rolling hitch knot.

  Satisfied that would work, I set about tying the bamboo down on either end of the bench, for both benches. That way, the bamboo was lashed to my pontoons in four places, and it would be difficult for it to come apart.

  From there, I started to build my raft out. The work was hard and tedious, especially since I wanted to
make sure each knot was perfect and faced upward, so I could fix it easily if I ran into a problem. I planned to take extra bamboo and vines with me, just in case, because it was always a good idea to be prepared.

  Four hours later, I had the basic platform of my raft down. Before I started to tackle the issue of the mast, sail, and rudder, though, I wanted to put my creation through a few tests, first. I definitely did not want to get out on the ocean, or even land on a foreign island, and have my raft get damaged. I planned to take some of those huge trees Marella had seen in her vision back with me, and then I’d figure out a way to make an even sturdier raft. Or maybe even a full boat, if I could figure out some way to create nails or glue.

  But for now … a raft. I’d actually built an entire fucking raft, or at least the skeleton of a raft, with my bare hands on a sandy beach. It wasn’t the prettiest craft I’d ever seen, but the bones looked sea-worthy.

  Well done, George chuffed approvingly, and he walked over to nudge his great, bestial head underneath my hand.

  I stroked him and basked in the sound of his low dragon hum as I stared at the raft.

  Now, I wanted to make sure what I did have was as tough as it could possibly be. For all I knew, I’d encounter some type of giant sea monster out there, and I didn’t want my new boat to fall apart if a dragon, wave, or rock hit it too hard.

  “George, smack your tail against that, would you?” I asked my friend. “I want to see how easily it moves.”

  George turned around, pulled his tail back, and then whipped it against the pontoons with all his might. The raft bounced just a bit on the sand, but for the most part, it was stable.

  Good.

  Next, I grabbed onto one of the thicker vines and started to tug on it as hard as I could. I went up and down, forward and back, about three times before I heard a loud crack, and then I saw the bamboo under the vine had splintered apart.

  Well, that presented an issue. I examined the place where the bamboo had splintered and thought for a long moment. I figured most guys would have been frustrated, but I was just glad this happened on land instead of in the middle of the ocean, and I also figured it was time for a break.

  “Let’s get some food,” I told George, “and then we can come and finish this bastard up.”

  We’d just barely stepped back into the palace when a high-pitched scream assaulted my eardrums.

  “Oh, thank the gods you are back!” Nerissa shouted the moment we walked through the door. “Sela is having the babies! We’ve been looking for you everywhere.”

  “She’s having the babies?” I gasped.

  No matter how many kids I had, the excitement I felt at the arrival of a new one would never fucking grow old.

  Or, in this case, the arrival of two new ones.

  “Yes, yes, and they’re coming quite quickly!” Nerissa exclaimed as she grabbed my hand and dragged me through the corridor to Sela’s room, which was already packed to the brim with people.

  George paused outside before he sat down next to the doorway, and I knew he didn’t want his big bulk to take up too much space. Nixie was there, too, along with the currently nameless dragon babies, plus Marella and Arrick.

  Talise and Careen were inside the room, with bowls full of water and cloths in their hands to dab at the sweat on Sela’s brow. Sela herself was in a soft white dress that reminded me of a hospital gown back home, and Mira was there as well, though she stood back as she watched Sela labor away.

  I couldn’t be sure, but I almost thought there was a glimmer of sadness in Mira’s golden eyes. I knew that, despite her choice not to become pregnant just yet, she wanted a child more than anything. Hopefully, I’d be able to fulfil that wish for her soon, once I figured out what the gods wanted from me.

  “Too many people,” Talise muttered as she rushed between Sela’s head and her legs.

  “Can we have the room?” I called out. “Just Talise, Careen, and me?”

  “Thank the gods for you, Ben.” Sela shot me a grateful smile as everyone else immediately cleared out.

  “I figured you might want a little more privacy,” I chuckled. Then I came up next to her head, curled my fingers over her right hand, and planted a soft kiss on her sweaty forehead. “How are they doing?”

  “They are very big babies, that is for sure,” Sela groaned as her face contorted with another contraction. “I hope you will be proud of them.”

  “Of course I will,” I said as I nuzzled her ear.

  “She is close,” Careen murmured to me. “The time to push will be soon.”

  “Thank the gods,” Sela hissed and tossed her head back. “I thought torture was the worst pain a woman could possibly feel. I was extraordinarily wrong.”

  “Hey,” I muttered and tilted her chin so I could look into her wide eyes. “You were born for this.”

  The smile Sela shot me was nothing short of radiant. If I could have gone back in time to the Ben who had washed up on their beach and told him that soon, he’d be having children with the angry warrior who’d captured him, he’d think I was a total nutcase.

  But life was strange, and I was learning how to embrace it.

  Sela squeezed her eyes shut as another contraction wracked her body, and she managed to nearly break my hand at the exact same time. Still, I rubbed her back and told her to breathe as the next few came in quick succession.

  “It is time to push,” Talise informed us from between Sela’s legs. Then she and Careen both grabbed a leg, while I looked back down at Sela.

  “Stay right here,” Sela grunted and clutched onto me tightly. It was the first time the warrior had ever shown real attachment to me, and I had to admit, it made me feel all warm and tingly inside.

  “I’m not going anywhere,” I promised.

  “Push, Sela,” Talise instructed.

  And she did.

  Sela screwed her eyes shut and bared her teeth, but she didn’t scream once. Sweat dripped from her brow, and her knuckles turned white as she gripped my hand, but the only sounds in the room were Talise’s soft updates and my words of encouragement.

  After about a half an hour of pushing, the first baby was finally out.

  “It’s a girl,” Careen informed us with a broad smile, and she took the screaming, red bundle over to a wash bin as Talise stayed between Sela’s legs.

  “One more,” the healer informed us. “I can see the head. Push, Sela!”

  “I …Can … Do … This,” Sela egged herself on in between haggard breaths.

  Unlike the first baby, the second nearly shot out of her. It took only a few minutes before Talise gasped in excitement and caught my child in her arms.

  The moment the second baby was born, Sela all but deflated into an exhausted heap, but she perked up right away when Talise brought both babies over to us.

  “Meet your daughters,” the healer murmured with a broad smile.

  Talise gave one baby to Sela, and one to me. Then Sela and I both held our daughters against our chests, so we could get in that first, important moment of contact with them.

  Two little girls. Twins.

  I stared down at the squirmy, slightly gooey, red bundle in my arms as she cried, screamed, and got used to her lungs being out in the open air.

  She had a little tuft of red hair on her head that reminded me of Hali’s, beautiful green scales, and eyes so blue they rivaled the majestic color of the ocean. When I looked over to Sela, I could see the other baby girl looked identical.

  Well, that would be complicated. I’d only known one pair of identical twins in my life, besides Darya and Zarya, of course. The Haverforth brothers went to my high school, and they had a penchant for getting into the kind of trouble only identical twins could get into. They’d switch classes and only take the ones they were strongest in, play tricks on the new kids with their identical looks, and constantly confuse their mother.

  Come to think of it, they were pretty much the Weasely twins from Harry Potter in real life.

  I w
as in for a world of trouble … but I wouldn’t change it for anything.

  “Two daughters,” Sela breathed as she stared between the two little bundles. “Oshun has blessed us so well.”

  “She has,” I murmured and stared down at the child in my hands.

  I was a father of four now. Soon to be five.

  That was something I’d never thought I’d have the chance to say. I’d always known I wanted kids, but in the world I came from, sometimes it seemed so impossible. It even seemed cruel, at times, to bring children into a dying world, but this world was anything but dead. It was vibrant and alive, with such an amazing future ahead of it.

  Now, only one thing stood in my way. Those ugly orc fuckers.

  With each kid born, it was like my resolve was multiplied by a thousand-fold. I was determined beyond belief to make sure my kids had a safe and stable world to grow up in, one without war and terror, where they didn’t have to imagine life without their dad or mom.

  As soon as I possibly could, I’d journey to that fat island the orcs called home and take them all out, one by one. I’d relish in the feeling of their blood, and I’d stare into their eyes as the life drained out of them. Then I’d watch as every last one passed on to the next world, and I’d enjoy the hell out of it.

  “What should we name them?” Sela asked as she looked up at me.

  I pulled myself from my darker musings and thought for a moment. The names here were vastly different than the ones at home, but I found myself wanting to bring a little piece of my old life over here.

  My sister and I may not have been close, but the knowledge that I’d never get to see her again weighed heavily on me sometimes. So, the least I could do was name a child after her.

  “I’d like to name her Lizzie,” I told Sela as I indicated the baby in my arms.

  “Lizzie,” Sela tested the name out slowly. “You have strange names where you come from, Ben, but it is alright with me. Do you like the name Amaria?”

  It was beautiful, so I nodded quickly.

  “Lizzie and Amaria,” I murmured.