“Flying alligators?” I asked with surprise.
“Much smaller,” Tannin laughed, and the sound was very musical. “Perhaps the size of my hand. They are delicious when cooked, and they fed off sky worms. We also ate the floating moss and wind lettuce.”
“Did you cook for your family?” I asked.
“Yes,” she said with a nod. “I was the youngest of eight. My father was the lord of our island.”
“How big was the island,” Gee asked as she leaned forward.
“Oh, maybe as large as this valley,” Tannin said as she waved her hand toward the hills that surrounded us in the distance. “Then there would be a three hour flight to the next island that we traded with.”
“Ahhh.” Gee nodded. “So small then?”
“I didn’t travel much,” Tannin explained, “but I heard there were larger islands some weeks of flight away. Only the strongest of our kind could make the journey, though.”
I wanted to ask the orange-haired woman more about her powers, but she had previously told me that she needed her wings to use Wind Summon, and her captors had cut them from her back, so I decided to leave the topic alone.
I guessed that the other women in my tribe also knew better than to ask more questions, since they just gave the elf-girl gentle smiles and then continued on with their own meals.
“When will you be leaving?” Tannin asked Emerald and me after our group had finished eating. “I can put the remaining salted meat in a clay container so that it can continue to stay warm for the rest of the day.”
“Hmmm,” I said as I glanced at the sun. “I kind of wanted to say goodbye to everyone.”
“Pfft,” Trel scoffed. “Liahpa had plenty of alone time with you over the last few days, and Galmine will understand that you have to go. The sooner you leave, the sooner you can return.”
“Fair point,” I said, “Still, there is Zoru, Emta, Keefaye, and Nomi--”
“I appreciate your consideration for them,” Quwaru said as she smiled at me, “but everyone besides Keefaye did the watch last night, so they will probably sleep till the middle of the day.”
“And Princess Keefaye always wakes up around noon,” Adella laughed.
“She is a princess?” I asked.
“It is something like that,” Kacerie said.
“Keefaye the Golden is much like me,” Youleena said. “My power gave me certain privileges amongst my people. She indicated that her people almost worshiped her.”
“Sounds like such an easy life,” Trel groaned. “No wonder she is so spoiled.”
“Uhhh,” Kacerie started to say as she narrowed her blue eyes at the spider-woman. “You… ahhh… realize… you know? Never mind. Trel, you just keep doing you.”
“Thank you, Kacerie,” Trel laughed. “I will. I am amazing, if I do say so myself. You are obviously smart enough to know that. I’m glad you joined us. Keep up the good work.”
“Sure thing, Duchess,” Kacerie said as she rolled her eyes, but Trel had already turned to Emerald and pointed at the beautiful green-haired woman with a long black finger.
“Did you pay attention last night?” the duchess demanded. “Do you know how to milk all of Victor’s sperm from his body?”
“Trel, stop,” I groaned as Emerald’s white eyes opened wide.
“What?” Trel croaked as she placed her hand to her chest. “It is a legitimate question. She is going to be alone with you for several days.”
“It’s not about me getting everyone preg--”
“This is why I wanted to have the training session yesterday!” Trel interrupted me. “These women have no idea how to properly perform cotius with you so that you fill their wombs with the maximum amount of sperm. Victor, we are wasting precious time here. To disprove your hypothesis about breeding between the species, every female in the tribe must be inseminated as often as possible. Everyone agrees with my plan.”
“Look,” I sighed as I rubbed the bridge of my nose. “Not everyone agrees with--”
“I’m fine with it,” Adella laughed in her sing-song voice. “I really like Vic--”
“Trel,” Kacerie cleared her throat to get everyone’s attention. “Not every person’s, uhhh, culture is this open with breeding and such. A lot of them want to be more selective with their mates, and date so that they get to know them before, uhh, you know, doing that.”
“What? Why?” Trel sighed. “Victor is obviously the best male to ever exist. I have already judged him as the best mate imaginable. The females in our tribe should be grateful for his sperm and the chance to bear him wonderful children. That is the entire purpose of being a female; to provide glorious and powerful offspring for our family, and you all are my family now.”
“Are you complimenting us, or…” Youleena tilted her head to the side and blinked her black eyes a few times.
“It is a compliment, of course,” Trel groaned. “I want our tribe to get stronger and more powerful. The best way to do that is for us all to create wonderful offspring. Victor is the best male--”
“He’s also the only male,” Urka pointed out.
“Because all the other men are assholes,” Kacerie said.
“Will-Lack was not,” Youleena said, and the other women of her tribe nodded fiercely.
“I wished I’d gotten to know him better,” I said. “I don’t think every male that comes to Dinosaurland is a bad guy. We should be cautious, but still keep an open mind.”
“That isn’t my point, Victor,” Trel sighed. “My point is that you are the best, so everyone needs to have your babies. Immediately.”
“We have to figure out the new location of our fort first,” I said, “Then we are going to need to build walls and homes there, figure out food, and just survive. I intend to give you what you want, but I need you to focus on our survival first.”
“Ugh,” Trel groaned. “Very well.” Then the spider-woman looked at Emerald, gave a half-smile, raised her eyebrows, and nodded suggestively.
Emerald glanced back at me and then gestured back toward the dinosaurs.
“Yeah,” I answered. “I’ll go say goodbye to all the dinos. Then we can get going.”
“I will prepare Nicole for your departure,” Sheela said as she smoothly rose to her feet.
“Okay,” I said as I turned back to the women. “Bye everyone. I’ll see you when I get back. Quwaru, Trel, and Kacerie, can you meet Sheela at Nicole before Emerald and I go? I want to talk to you real quick.”
“Sure,” Quwaru answered, and my three lovers nodded.
The rest of the group and I said our quick goodbyes, and then I walked across the field of open grass to where my group of dinosaurs lounged.
The trikes were closest to me, and I first moved to Tom so that I could give him some pets and inspect the cuts on his flank. The big trike let out a happy rumble when I began to pat his crest, and then he gently turned his head so he could nuzzle against my chest.
“Those cuts are looking good,” I said as I glanced at the herb-crusted marks on his flank. “Did Galmine put the poultice on them?”
Tom let out an affirmative, but soft, trumpet, and I laughed.
“She’s too good to us, huh?”
I moved on to Nicole and ran my hands over the edges of her red crest. Sometime during my travels, Trel and Kacerie had fitted each of the trikes with saddles. The knot work and design looked a bit improved from the first version that was on Tom, and I ran my fingers over the bamboo support beams and cordage as I let out a long whistle.
“Ohhh, baby, this is a mighty fine saddle, Nicole. Don’t you look so pretty?”
The female trike let out three soft grunts that sounded like laughter, and then she nuzzled me affectionately.
“Do you want to go on an adventure with Emerald, Bruce, Scoob and the Gang, and me?”
Nicole let out a French horn style note, and I laughed.
“We were going to go south all the way to the beach. Probably be a few days. I promise to give yo
u lots of pets on the way.”
Nicole let out another note, and then I nodded and pointed over my shoulder to where the cooking fire and working boulder were situated.
“Awesome, go over there, and they will load you up with our provisions.”
Nicole grunted, and then followed my order, but then Tom let out a slightly annoyed groan, and I turned back to him.
“Look who’s getting all greedy!” I laughed. “I’m leaving one of your wives here, buddy. Also, Katie is super pretty. Aren’t you girl?”
Katie shuffled over to me and carefully nuzzled her crest to my chest. The slightest miscalculation and any of the trikes could have crushed me, but all three of them knew that and were super careful.
“See?” I asked Tom as I petted Katie. “She’s such a good wife. You should enjoy some alone time with her. Really shower her with affection.”
Tom actually seemed to roll his eyes at my comments, but then Katie let out a quick note of annoyance, and Tom actually tooted in response and leaned his head over to nuzzle his mate next to me.
“I’ll leave you two lovebirds alone,” I said as I patted both of them. “Gonna say goodbye to everyone else. You’ll guard the camp while I’m gone?”
Both of the trikes let out grunts of agreement, and then I walked over to the group of white and cream colored balaur bondocs. They were raptors about the same size as the tiger-striped troodons, but while Scoob and the Gang were sleek, fast, and sneaky, the cast of Friends looked like the John Cena versions of Jinx. They had muscles on top of their muscles which also had more muscles. I could almost see the veins popping out of their chests beneath their light colored feathers, and they seemed to have a military-type discipline to match their cut bodies.
The group was laying on the grass a dozen or so yards from the trikes, but as soon as Chandler noticed me approaching, he hissed an order, and the group shot to their feet and stood at attention.
“At ease, ladies and gents,” I laughed, and then their shoulders and arms seemed to relax.
I walked into the group, and they all turned their heads to watch me but didn’t move.
“I’m going to be gone for a few more days,” I started as I opened my arms. “Can I have some hugs?”
Then the group broke from their disciplined stance and crowded around me with happy hisses.
“Woah!” I laughed as each of the muscular raptors tried to squirm into my arms. Each of the beasts were about the size of a golden retriever, but probably weighed over a hundred pounds, and I was quickly tossed on my back as they all tried to jump into my arms for pets.
Chandler let out a set of hisses that sounded like laughs, and then I rolled around on the grass mock-wrestling with each of them before I let them go.
“I need you all to be on extra alert when I’m gone,” I began as the five of them stood at attention again. “I think we are going to be attacked by some bad guys at any moment. You all think you can protect the tribe?”
Rachel let out a low hiss of anger as she lowered her head and bared her razor-sharp teeth, and the others mimicked her.
“Good,” I said as I gave each of them another pet. “I’m counting on you all. Make me proud.”
They all let out another hiss, and then the group split up and dashed away. I knew they were all going to start patrolling the courtyard, but I also realized that I hadn’t even issued them the order.
Interesting.
I walked over to the parasaurs next. Bob, Hope, Sonny, and Cher were all gathered in a neat circle with the baby Shirley Temple and Jinx snuggled in the middle.
“Awww, so cute,” I gushed as I petted each of the big dinos. “How’s mamma doing?”
Hope let out a grateful honk, and then she pushed her head gently against my chest so that I could scratch her under the chin. Bob also nuzzled me from behind, and I let out a laugh when Shirley Temple and Jinx began to chase each other around my legs.
“I’m going to be gone for a few days. Everyone is going to be on high alert. Can you guys keep an eye and ear out?”
The four parasaurs let out toots of approval, and then Shirley Temple let out a high pitched toot when she caught up with Jinx and sumo belly flopped him. The small chocobo dino went down with a surprised squawk of blue feathers, and we all started laughing. Well, I laughed, and the other parasaurs let out happy toots.
I gave the parasaurs one last pet each, and then I moved onto the stegos. Mike D, MCA, and Ad-Rock looked like they were still exhausted from the last few days of hauling rock, but they still managed to raise their heads and let out harmonic noises when I approached.
“You guys worked hard for the last few days,” I said as I scratched each of their heads. “I really appreciate it. I’m going to be gone for a week, so can you help me by keeping an eye on the camp?”
The three stegos let out an affirmative and harmonic trumpet, and I pointed to the south.
“I’m going to go look for a new home; one we can defend a bit easier. You all did a great job carrying all the rocks, but can you help us out with some of the plants and building materials when we move? I think it will be much lighter than the rock.”
Mike D seemed to nod his head, and then his two buddies did the same. The stegos had been real troopers, and I was super happy that I’d managed to tame them.
“Thanks guys,” I said as I gave them each a last hug, and then I moved over to the troodons.
“You guys ready to go on another adventure?” I asked the tiger-striped dinos. “We are going to head south to the beach. We might not run into any problems, but I can still use your help.
Scoob let out a happy hoot, and they all crowded around me. Daphne even leaped up into my arms, and I caught her with a laugh.
“Okay,” I laughed as each of them tried to rub against my legs like happy doggies. “I’ll meet you all over by Nicole. We’ll leave in a few minutes.
The troodons all broke away from me, and then Scoob let out a happy yip as they dashed over toward where Kacerie, Sheela, Emerald, and Trel were prepping Nicole.
I walked over to Bruce next, but the horse-sized Pteranodon guessed I was coming, and he kind of sideways frog hopped over to me.
“I’ll need your help too, buddy,” I said as he rested his head on my shoulder so I could hug him. “Your eyes in the sky are really useful, and I don’t know what we are going to find to the south.”
Bruce let out a goose-like honk, and I laughed.
“Oh, so you just think you are always going with me now? I suppose you are right, buddy.”
He honked again, and I chuckled as I stroked under his chin.
“Yeah, just like on the last trip. I’ll need you to warn us of danger, grab fish when you can, and scout for good camping spots.”
He honked again, and I frowned.
“I hope none of the big bat guy’s friends attack. I think he might be the only one that could fly, and Grumpy killed him. Still, if someone throws me up in the air, I know you’ve got my back. Deal?”
Bruce honked again, and I pulled away from the hug.
“I’m gonna say bye to Grumpy, and then we’ll get going.”
Bruce nodded, then he crouched on his legs, hopped up, beat his massive wings, and took to the sky. I watched him gain a few dozen feet of altitude, circle around our camp a few times, and then head south toward the river so that he could scout ahead.
After Bruce disappeared from sight, I strolled over to where Grumpy was sunbathing. He must have sensed me coming, because he opened up one terrifying eye to watch me, but then he closed it when I got near enough to pet him.
“How’s your tummy feeling?” I asked as I pet his massive nose.
The purussaurus rumbled for a few seconds, and my chest vibrated to the pitch.
“Ahh, that’s good. Did the belly rubs help?”
Grumpy groaned again, and I laughed.
“Trel spent that much time on you? I’m surprised. She must really like you.”
Grumpy rumbled again,
and then he blinked his eye open.
“She found a ticklish spot? Oh man, that’s probably your fault for laughing. Now she knows your weakness, and she’ll use it to get what she wants from you all the time. Trel is crafty like that.”
Grumpy’s big eye actually looked like it rolled back in his head, and then he groaned with disappointment.
“Hey man, women rule the world. How are you just finding this out? I need to find you a girlfriend.”
He rumbled and then turned his head away from me.
“Naw, buddy, I know commitment sounds scary, but women are awesome. If you find a good one to take care of you, it’s really great.”
Grumpy rumbled again, and then he turned his head back to me.
“Yeah, you think about it,” I laughed. “I’ll keep an eye out for a sexy lady for you. Once you see one, you’ll get all excited and want to make a bunch of babies with her.”
Grumpy’s eye seemed to roll back in his head, and he let out a questioning rumble.
“Okay, good point, I’m not a dad, and yeah, it does sound like a lot of responsibility.”
Grumpy let out three quick rumbles.
“Oh? That’s all it takes to get you to laugh? You pretend to be a big tough guy, but I know you’re really a softie.” I poked Grumpy in the side of his neck, and he let out another low cackle.
“Oh yeah!” I laughed. “Another ticklish spot!”
Grumpy twisted away from me before I could start tickling him, and then he let out another questioning rumble.
“Yeah, Emerald and I are going to go explore south. We need a new fort location. This one is too easy to attack, and I think there are a group of bad guys that know where we are. I’m hoping we can find something by the beach that will be easier to defend.”
Grumpy let out a low rumble that made my boots vibrate.
“Aww, naw buddy, I’d prefer you to stay here and protect everyone. It’s goin--”
He interrupted me with another rumble.
“I just think we might be moving too fast for you, and I don’t know how many rivers or streams we’ll cross--”
He grumbled and then turned so that he was able to focus both eyes on me.
Tamer- King of Dinosaurs Book 6 Page 8