by Logan Jacobs
I wanted to expand the village, I knew that for sure. I also thought it might be a good idea to start spreading our gardens into the jungle, so we could give the deer women a little taste of home. I knew the soil in the jungle would be far better for gardens, and with the green thumbs the deer women all possessed, I knew we’d be able to plant plots of hanging crops in the trees and have an even more sustainable source of food.
I planned to expand and reinforce the village first, and then take a hike up into the jungle with Jonas and Ainsley to check out the land and see if we could find a good place to start our gardens.
I knew from my first few times in the jungle that the soil was moist and rich with nutrients, just like the soil in the forest back on the deer women’s island. On top of that, jungles were the perfect places to grow things on Earth, so I was sure the same principles held here. I’d noticed most of the tactics and strategies I would have used back home also worked on these islands, almost like it was some sort of parallel universe to the Earth I knew.
After I’d taken stock of the best place to start building, I headed back to the castle to gather some of the women and get the lumber off the orc ship.
I walked into the kitchen and found Hali was already alive with activity. Netta sat at the large round table with a cup of floral tea in her hands, and this was the first time I’d seen her up and about since Jonas had concocted the potion that helped to wake her from the coma.
“Netta.” I grinned. “How are you feeling?”
“As well as I could have hoped,” the redhead replied and attempted a light hearted chuckle. “Thank you, Ben, for saving me. My sister told me it was you who thought of the sea dragon as a cure for my dead sleep. No one on our island would have ever heard of such a thing. I likely would have died if it was not for you and your brilliance.”
“No need to thank me,” I told her seriously. “Nobody dies on my watch, and that includes beautiful redheads with a penchant for getting injured. Got it?”
“Got it,” Netta said with a real, genuine smile. “I shall retire to my room now. I simply needed to stretch my legs for a few minutes.”
Just as the redhead went to stand, Nima dashed into the kitchen with a look of comical fury on her face.
“Netta,” the woman admonished her sister. “What are you doing out of bed? You nearly gave me a heart attack!”
“I am returning, I promise,” Netta chuckled, and she cast a glance back at me. “I have my own personal bodyguard now.”
“I can see that,” I laughed. “Get her back to bed, Nima. She needs to get strong so she can help us plant our new gardens.”
“Yes, Ben,” Nima nodded. Then she threw an arm around her sister’s waist and helped the older woman down the hallway.
Hali and I could hear Nima’s grumblings for a little while as she marched her sister back to her bedroom.
“Sisters,” Hali chuckled. “Even across cultures, that relationship is always the same.”
“No doubt about that,” I laughed as I peered into the pot Hali had over the fire. It was some sort of stew, but it bubbled a bright blue, like the fruit from the deer women’s island.
“Doesn’t it look wonderful?” Hali asked breathlessly as she stared into the pot with excitement in her eyes.
“It does.” I nodded. “I’m guessing you got Mira’s present?”
“Yes!” She grinned. “She brought me back so many wonderful things, I just do not know quite what to do with them all. But I thought the fruit might make a lovely dessert. I am warming it into a soup, and then pouring it over some coconut bread for after dinner tonight.”
“Like a cake.” My mouth watered as I thought about what that would taste like. I wasn’t a man who loved sugar all the time, but there were definitely some moments where I had a sweet tooth.
Like, pretty much any time I was presented with cake.
Or pie.
Or brownies.
Or cookies.
I hadn’t had any cake since well before I’d come to the island, since it didn’t exist here, and I almost wished I could time jump to after dinner and try some of Hali’s cake already.
“I assume cake is something you had back on Earth?” she asked with curiosity in her sea green eyes.
“Oh, yes,” I replied. “We used it for celebrations, mostly. It’s one of the most delicious things there is.”
“Well, I am glad I can make you happy in that way.” Hali smiled at me.
I leaned down and wrapped her in a hug, well aware of the way she pressed herself into me. The redheaded cook would want a baby soon enough, I knew, and I’d be happy to oblige her the moment that need arose.
“Ben!” Mira gasped as she slid excitedly into the kitchen. “Oops, sorry, I did not mean to interrupt.”
The jade haired warrior chuckled and gave Hali and me a knowing look.
“It’s alright,” I assured her before I turned back to the chef. “Make sure to save me some of that cake for tomorrow.”
“I will save you plenty.” Hali winked.
“Are you ready to start building, Mira?” I asked the warrior.
“Absolutely.” She nodded. “Will we gather the whole village?”
“I think so,” I said. “We need to get the lumber from the ship first, and then we can start by adding some new buildings. Any lumber we’ve still got after that can be used to reinforce our existing places.”
“Good plan,” the warrior responded.
So, the two of us gathered a group of women to head down to the beach and help offload the lumber. The twins Darya and Zarya were there, and Jemma bounced alongside Mira and me with her hand weaved through both of ours. Ainsley was still in the castle, asleep. Pregnancy seemed to have started to take a small toll on her, though she never would have admitted it, but I could see how tired she was at times.
We used the two rowboats to make a few trips from the orc ship back to the beach. Mira and I took one boat, while Darya and Zarya took the other. The women down on the beach then lugged all of the lumber and supplies up to the village to make the most of our time, but I still had to help them with the last few massive logs.
When that was done, Mira, the twins, and I trekked around the land just outside the village to figure out where the best place to build would be. The terrain was mostly flat, but it was filled with an overgrowth of weeds and grass that needed to be cleared away before we could build a thing.
So, I had the women all help, and we cleared enough ground for ten new huts. My plan was to keep expanding after every trip back to the deer women’s island for lumber, and then fill in the news huts based on who had children to take care of, and who didn’t. I knew it would be a lot easier for the childless women to bunk together. Of course, that would only last until they got pregnant, and I knew most of them wanted my seed so we could have a child together.
But I planned to deal with that when we came to it. For now, I was happy to give in to all of their sexual desires and help rebuild their populations.
“Building is hard work.” Jemma grinned at me as she wiped some sweat off her brow. “Why do you not live in tents? The jungle seems like it would make the perfect place for a village like ours.”
The auburn-haired woman nodded toward the dark jungle that was wild with all sorts of still unknown life. I thought of the last time I’d been in the jungle, with the gryphons, and wondered what else lurked in those shadows. Not even Jonas knew all the creatures and plants that called the jungle home.
I wanted to change that, though. I wanted to explore every inch of it and assert myself as the dominant predator over any creatures that tried to attack us.
“We will, one day,” I told the deer woman. “We might not build the exact same village, but we’ll expand into the jungle at some point. Right now, though, we’re not completely sure what all lives there.”
“You mean there could be monsters in it?” Sarayah asked. The brunette had been bent over a stubborn yellow weed that had dug its veiny roo
ts into the hard red dirt, but she looked up with sudden alarm, like a deer caught in the headlights.
“Oh, there’s definitely monsters in there!” Darya chuckled.
Mira shut her up with a quick glare, and Darya took one look at Sarayah’s terrified face and quickly tried to backpedal.
“I-I mean, they are not so terrifying as you might think, you know,” the twin corrected herself. “One good chop with your sword, and, uh, oh … you do not have a sword. Ben, tell her they are not so scary.”
Darya tilted her head and mouthed the word “sorry” as Sarayah’s terrified expression was also joined by Thornen, Theora, and Brenna.
“We do not have swords!” Brenna cried. Her emerald green eyes were wide with worry, and she brushed a few strands of golden blonde hair away from her face. “What if the monsters Darya speaks of come down into the village, and you are not there, Ben?”
“That won’t happen,” I promised her. “Look, anything in the jungle can be fought off. We’ve all done it here. And I know you all aren’t sword fighters, but you have your bows. Trust me, you can protect yourselves. There is absolutely nothing to be afraid of, alright?”
“Listen to Ben,” Jemma chimed in. “He has never led us astray before.”
The auburn-haired deer woman smiled at me and squeezed my hand.
“That is true.” Theora nodded and sucked in a big breath. “If Ben says not to worry, then we shall not worry.”
“And if any of you ever get scared, just call for me, and I will come and fight off whatever it is, with Ben’s help,” Darya reassured the women.
“Thank you, Darya.” Sarayah grinned at her in a way I’d only ever seen her smile at her deer women sisters before, and despite the heavy fear that still lingered in the air, I felt a warmth grow in my chest.
I was building a family. These women, from two completely different cultures and ways of life, were getting along famously. Sure, sometimes they didn’t always understand each other or how the other kind lived, but I could already start to see that what one didn’t understand, the other could fill in for. Like the way Darya had comforted the deer women by promising to fight off monsters for them.
I couldn’t wait until there were many more women of all different cultures, growing and learning with one another. I’d lead them, teach them all, and make sure they all stayed safe from here on out.
“You know, Ben, if you plan to build gardens in the forest, I am happy to come find the right place for you,” Jemma offered before she dropped her chartreuse eyes shyly. “That is, if you would like my help.”
“Of course I want your help.” I grinned at the woman. “I know some about gardening, but not enough to be able to pick the absolute perfect spot. And the gardens you guys had back on your home island were fantastically placed.”
“Let me know when you would like to go, then, and we can begin to grow food!” She grinned.
“After we get these huts all built, I want to make a trip into the jungle,” I replied. “If you’re not scared, of course.”
I poked her side to let her know I was teasing and was rewarded with the widest, brightest smile ever.
“I am not scared of anything,” Jemma whispered as she stepped closer to me and put a warm, dainty hand on my chest. “I was taught by the best.”
“Oh, really?” I smirked. “And who would that be.”
“You, of course,” Jemma replied, and her brow knitted together in confusion. “Did I not make that obvious?”
“You did,” I chuckled. “I just wanted to hear you say it.”
“Ben!” Jemma gasped, and she shoved me backward with a light, musical gasp. The deer woman, though much weaker than I was, had the advantage of surprise, and before I knew it, I’d stumbled back and landed my foot into a huge, squishy pile of some sort of animal poop.
When Jemma saw what had happened, her chartreuse eyes went wide for a second, and then she laughed so hard she bent over to catch her breath.
“Oh, you think that’s funny?” I mock-growled, and then I lunged toward Jemma, who screamed and dashed away from me.
“I think it is hilarious,” she yelled over her shoulder.
Our antics had caught the attention of the other women, who had moved on to placing the lumber where Mira told them, and all of them watched gleefully as I tried to chase Jemma down.
The deer woman was fast, but I still had an advantage. On her home island, she may have been able to outrun me with her long and powerful legs, but she didn’t know the terrain here. So, I leapt over rocks and the jagged ground as she tried to speed up, but I was able to catch up to her easily. Then I slung an arm around her waist and yanked her down on top of me, where we crashed into a bed of soft, green grass.
Jemma’s body landed directly on top of me, with her soft, round boobs pressed directly against my chest, and her bright yellow-green eyes stared into mine.
“You caught me,” she murmured.
“Did you think I couldn’t?” I teased.
“Not for a second.” She shook her head and stared into my face earnestly.
“I’ll always catch you,” I whispered as I brushed back a strand of her soft auburn hair.
“And that is why I love you,” Jemma replied before she bent down and pressed a soft kiss to my lips.
“Let’s finish building,” I told her. “Because I have some plans for us tonight.”
Jemma’s eyes sparkled in excitement, and she quickly scrambled up to try to get back to building as fast as possible.
When we returned, Mira and the other women had already started to lay out the lumber in the same design as the other huts. These ones had an additional third room, so we could sleep two women in each bedroom, with a common meeting space in between them, like a dorm room style apartment.
“How do you want to glue the lumber together?” Mira asked me as Jemma and I approached.
I thought the question over for a moment and wished, not for the first time, that I had a drill and some good screws to bolt these houses together. We’d recovered a few nails when we dismantled the orc hunts back on the deer women’s island, but most of them had been bent and damaged, so we were only able to recover a handful, which was definitely not enough for this project. I knew our huts would be so much sturdier if we had more nails, but since I didn’t have those tools at my disposal yet, we had to work with the supplies on the island.
“Let’s use some tabby concrete to stick them together, and then tie them off with twine just like we did with the bamboo huts,” I told her after I’d thought it over for a moment. “This way, we have a sort of double insurance the huts will stick together during storm season.”
I showed the women what I meant on the first house, and I came away pretty proud of my work. I had a feeling I’d be able to find tools on the orc island, when we got there, that would change the game for building. Clearly, their massive ship was made with fairly advanced technology compared to what was currently at my disposal. However, for now, I knew the best choice I had was to reinforce the huts as much as possible, so that even if the wind broke through the twine, it would have the clay to contend with, and vice versa.
When we finished in the late afternoon, the houses looked sort of like the old fashioned log cabins the French built when they’d first begun to hunt and trap in Canada. The lumber was parallel to the ground, glued together by some of deer women’s clay, and wrapped, one by one, with the twine the serpent women made. There were still no doors, but Jemma had the fantastic idea to use their old tents and make coverings out of that, so the women were still afforded some privacy.
When we were all finished, the sun had started to set, and there were ten new huts for the deer women to live in. Ainsley and Jemma would stay in the castle with Talise, Nerissa, Mira, and me, though, while the rest of the deer women split themselves up among the ten different huts.
“These homes are so wonderful, Ben!” Theora called out as she peeked her head out of one of the huts.
“The craftsmanship is impeccable!” Brenna agreed. “Thank you so much, Ben!”
“I’m glad you like them.” I grinned back at the women. “It’s nice to have your feet on the ground, huh?”
“Yes, but I do miss the trees sometimes.” Theora nodded before she ducked back inside her new home.
The next morning, I woke up in Ainsley’s bed, since we’d made passionate love the night before, with her head nestled on my chest and one hand draped over her stomach. I carefully climbed off the bed so as not to disturb my pregnant lover, and then I headed into the kitchen for a cup of tea. In a little bit, Jemma and I would go into the jungle to try and find a good place to build our newest gardens.
“Good morning, Ben.” Jonas smiled as he wandered into the kitchen, up early, as usual. Old people, no matter what world, always seemed to enjoy rising before the sun did and going to bed before it set.
“Morning, Jonas,” I replied. “How is Netta doing?”
“Oh, fine, fine.” He nodded his head as he poured tea from the clay pot. “I checked on the girl last night, and I am happy to report she is in perfect health.”
“I’m glad,” I sighed. “I was worried for a little while.”
“I am sure you were,” Jonas remarked. “Whatever happened to her must have been serious.”
He took a seat across from me, where he could both hold a conversation and look out the window to watch the sun rise at the same time.
“The orcs were using these monsters called wargs to hunt them down,” I explained. “They were ugly, vengeful things, and one of them got to her.”
“I have heard of wargs,” Jonas mused with a frown. “I did not know the orcs had tamed them. That is a bit impressive.”
“I’m not calling anything they do impressive,” I snorted. “It’s cowardly. If they want to hunt down and torture women, then they should at least have the balls to do it themselves.”