Monster Girl Islands 16 Chapter 3

Mira and a select few members of my crew boarded the remaining orc ship, and the dragonkin woman stood proudly behind the wheel as everyone else got into position. Seconds later, the golden-scaled beauty was barking out orders as she grabbed onto the wheel and flipped her braided green locks back off her face.

I simply stood there with a proud smile as I watched my long-time first mate and lover becoming a captain right before my eyes.

“Come on, you landlubbing bilge rats!” Mira yelled with a smug grin. “I would have had the entire rig ready to go by now.”

“Well, you’re not down here,” Kehlaan huffed as he fiddled with one of the ropes on the former orc ship’s mast. “And I’ve only practiced sailing a ship before.”

“Same here,” Teeka said with a frown. “Maca and I don’t know much about these boats, let alone how to sail them.”

“Maybe we don’t have much of a crew,” Mira retorted. “But we’ve got an experienced captain who can show you the way. It’s not that difficult, after all.”

“Says the woman who’s been around the sea since she was a child,” Maca said with a huff.

Mira continued the playful banter with her three crewmates for a few minutes longer, all while the crews of The Dragon Queen and The Valtras got ready to set sail. Before long, Mira was able to whip Kehlaan, Maca, and Teeka into shape, and they got the sails unfurled.

“Swaer?” I asked the furry wind dragon. “I think Mira’s ship may need a boost.”

I swear that’s the only reason you keep me around, Swaer teased, but then he slithered through the sky and positioned himself behind the main mast of Mira’s ship.

Swaer let out a long, powerful gust of wind from his mouth, and the ship’s sails billowed forward like they were an overfilled water balloon. The entire vessel lurched forward, and then it was off.

With the orc fleet decimated, our three ships pushed forward through the deep blue sea, back toward our ultimate destination of Seashuna. We moved uneventfully until finally, off in the distance, we saw the ruby-red scales of a giant dragon, connected to a land mass the size of the state of Rhode Island.

Seashuna.

I could practically hear the stunned silence of the crew of The Valtras as we approached the living island.

“It is us, Seashuna,” I said to the island telepathically. “There’s no need to be alarmed.”

I am glad to see your safe return, Draco Rex, Seashuna’s deep, motherly voice answered. We were all starting to get concerned.

“I’ll explain everything soon,” I said as I turned our ship in the direction of our docking area.

I pulled The Dragon Queen out in front of the other two ships before I led them carefully up to the small estuary on the island’s southernmost side, and then we raised our sails and slowed to a crawl as we moved up the stream. Eventually, we arrived in the large, shallow lagoon that acted as the natural port for our vessels, and we each found an empty spot where we could drop anchor. One by one, we tossed down our boarding rope ladders, exited our ships, and waded up to the shore of the lagoon.

As we did so, we were met by a loud, roarous cheer.

“The Draco Rex has returned!” I heard somebody proclaim.

“Victory is upon us!” another added.

Sure enough, everybody on the entire freaking island had come to welcome us back home. Every single dragonkin, Cero, Niralope, Morpho, Coonag, Spindrel, and Aviar were present, and they all hooped and hollered as we walked up the beach.

Their cheers of excitement, however, waned when the crew of The Valtras came into view.

“Watch out, Ben!” Ashanti hissed as she quickly reached for her bow. “You’ve been followed!”

“Whoaaaaaaaaa,” I said as I jumped in front of Hilda and held out my hands. “These women are my friends.”

“Friends?” Ainsley gasped. “They’re orcs.”

“They are.” I nodded. “But… They’re not evil like the ones we’ve met before. In fact, there are a lot of orcs out there who aren’t evil.”

The crowd of my loyal subjects all broke out into whispers of confusion at my words. I saw distrusting scowls, crossed arms, and rolling eyes all throughout my audience, and I realized I was going to need a bit more explanation.

“Orcs who aren’t evil?” Zarya spat. “They killed all of our men and children, Ben.”

“And they kidnapped and raped our friends!” the second half of the dragonkin twins, Darya, added.

“The only good orc is a dead orc,” Lezan said with a snarl, and the raccoon-woman’s tail bristled our behind her.

“I’m starting to regret our decision to join you, Draco Rex,” Hilda the red-haired orc whispered from behind me.

“Everybody, just calm down!” I said in my most thundering voice. “Let me explain myself and the situation before everybody goes crazy.”

“Let the Draco Rex speak!” Talise declared as she pushed her way through the crowd. “My daughter has foreseen this in her visions.”

A hush went over my subjects as Talise’s black hair bobbed up to the front of the group, and then the dragonkin healer finally stepped forward and away from the rest of the group. Our daughter, Marella, was right behind her, and the young woman wore a concerned and nervous expression on her face as she looked back at the angry mob and gulped.

“Is this true, Marella?” Queen Nerissa asked. “Have you seen the Draco Rex bringing orcs back to our island?”

“It is.” Marella’s voice cracked a bit as she spoke. “I-I have seen…”

The dark-haired girl began to shake nervously as she continued to address the crowd, and she started to trip over her own words.

Just then, Kehlaan ran over to my daughter and placed a hand on her shoulder.

“It’s alright,” the Spindrel boy said to the soothsayer. “They’ll believe you. I know they will. You’ve never been wrong before.”

Marella looked back over her shoulder at Kehlaan and, for a second, I expected her to give him some sort of snarky comment, but the snark never came. Instead, my daughter smiled at the boy, nodded, and turned back to the Queen.

“I saw our people living in harmony with the orcs,” Marella declared.

“Impossible!” one of the dragonkin women gasped.

“There’s no way,” Shala, the short, dark-haired hedgehog woman said as she shook her head. “Not after what these guys did to all of us.”

“Their way of life caused our men to lose their fertility,” Ahwara growled as her pink wings fluttered behind her. “Our race was nearly extinct because of them.”

“They slaughtered my son!” Jira, the white-haired Coonag woman, spat. “They cut down our future king and my pride and joy in his prime.”

“The orcs hunted us like animals, Ben…” Theora said with eyes filled with tears, and the Niralope sniffled as her lower lip trembled. “Most of my family and friends are gone because of them.”

“That was the Grand Gar,” I tried to explain. “These orcs had nothing to do with it.”

“It’s true,” Arrick said as he stood beside me. “These women hate the Grand Gar as much as we do.”

“How?” Nevar asked with her arms crossed tightly over her chest. “They are the same race.”

“That doesn’t mean anything.” I shook my head. “We’ve had it all wrong this whole time, guys… It’s not the orc race that’s evil. It’s just the Grand Gar and his cronies. Who make up, like, sixty-percent of the orc population.”

“What do you mean?” Queen Dalwen asked as her purple eyes narrowed. “You told us the orcs were bloodthirsty killers.”

“Woooooow,” Hilda said with a scoff behind me.

“That’s what I used to think,” I continued. “Until I met these women. And the actual orcs on Isla Gar. Hilda and her crew were treated like garbage by the Grand Gar’s followers, just like all of the other orc women on the island. Hell, Thyra here was actually the wife of the Grand Gar at one point, until her friends helped her escape that horrible life.”

“So, orc women aren’t as evil as the men?” Ainsley asked, and the strawberry-blonde pursed her lips. “Then I suppose it would make sense that we could live alongside them without much incident.”

“Um, there were orc men in my vision, as well,” Marella clarified, and the crowd broke out into murmurs once more.

“Not all orc men are evil, either.” I shook my head. “I was there, in one of the poor districts of the island. The orc men who lived there were treated as basically one step up from slaves. They were forced to work in the dangerous factories for several long hours a day, and they were seen as inferior to all of the Grand Gar’s lackeys. I know it’s hard to believe based on what we’ve seen of orc men so far… But they all seemed like regular people to me. It’s the Grand Gar that’s the problem, and once he and his loyalists are out of the picture, I can easily see us living in harmony with the orcs.”

“That’s-- that’s a lot to take in, Ben,” the Spindrel Magnus Dux, Pae, said, and she sighed as she fiddled with her silver hair spikes.

“That’s not even the tip of the iceberg,” I said with a click of my tongue and then held my hands out in the direction of Cartram. “Everybody, meet Cartram, the shadow dragon. The former protective barrier of the orc island.”

“So, you disabled the shield?” Nerissa asked as a smile twisted up her supple lips. “The orc island is now unprotected?”

“It’s wide open for attack,” I confirmed. “Which means we need to get to training ASAP. There’s only going to be a short window of opportunity before they either wrangle up another shadow dragon or they try to launch a preemptive strike against us first. But we can’t really do that if we’re fighting about our new guests here, can we?”

My loyal subjects all frowned as they looked in the direction of the crew of The Valtras, but their scowls began to fade as the orc women stepped out from behind me and revealed themselves. Finally, Nerissa, Dalwen, Pae, Ainsley, Nevar, and Kwah all looked at each other and nodded.

“If you are friends of Ben and enemies of the Grand Gar,” Queen Nerissa declared as she walked forward, “then you are friends of our peoples. Welcome to Seashuna, ladies.”

“Thank you,” Olga said with a slight bow. “My name is Olga, and I am the captain of The Valtras.”

“I’m Yrsa!” the musclebound, blue-haired orc said as she raised her hand and giggled.

“Signe,” the orc woman with the three-cornered hat and curly black hair introduced herself through pursed lips.

“I’m Hilda,” the red-haired orc said as she walked out from behind us. “I can’t wait to kill a bunch of orc men at your side.”

“Thyra,” the blonde orc woman said as she crossed her arms across her chest. “That’s all you really need to know about me.”

“Don’t mind her,” Gudrun said with a roll of her eyes. “Thyra is a bit course until you get to know her. My name is Gudrun.”

“Nice to meet you all,” Nerissa said as she looked over the orc women with her gorgeous aquamarine eyes. “Your ship and crew will make an excellent addition to our fleet.”

“A fleet that appears to have doubled since we last saw the Draco Rex,” Rikuri said with a half smile. “Not bad.”

“Have you thought of a name for your third ship, Ben?” Elzara asked, and her butterfly wings fluttered behind her as she smiled at me.

“I have!” Mira interjected. “It is my vessel, after all.”

“Oh?” the dragonkin warrior, Sela, asked with a raised eyebrow. “And what have you decided to call ‘your’ ship, Mira?”

“The Saltare Mortis,” the golden-scaled dragonkin woman declared as she puffed out her chest.

“The dance of death?” I asked with a whistle. “I fucking love it.”

“Indeed.” Mira smirked. “For when any enemy vessel goes up against my ship, they are engaging in a dance of death. One that will always end up with their ship at the bottom of the ocean.”

“Sounds like a productive journey,” Alvee muttered. “What else did you find?”

“Well…” I trailed off as I tried to think of a way to put the next piece of information lightly. “You guys might want to brace yourself for this one. You know how you thought all of your men were slaughtered and a bunch of your women friends had been killed, too?”

“I don’t see where you’re going with this,” Nerissa admitted as she frowned at me. “But yes, of course we do.”

“Well… They’re not,” I said with a sigh. “At least, not all of them.”

“Theora?” Jemma took over as she dismounted Tirian and walked over to the dark-haired Niralope. “Perhaps you should sit down before I tell you this information.”

“What do you mean?” Theora asked as her green eyes widened.

“It’s Ciradin, Theora…” Jemma continued with a bittersweet smile. “He’s alive.”

“N-No.” Theora shook her head and stumbled back a step. “No way. T-The orcs killed him. I don’t know what kind of a sick joke you’re trying to play here, but it’s not funny.”

“It’s not a joke!” Jemma protested. “I would never joke about something like this. Ciradin is alive, Theora.”

“It’s true,” I added. “I saw him with my own eyes and talked to him.”

“H-How?” Theora asked as crocodile tears started to run down her cheeks. “How is that possible?”

“They kept a bunch of your friends alive,” I explained. “For breeding purposes. Particularly the dragonkin, Niralope, and Coonag.”

“My brother is alive?” Theora asked again through her blubbering. “I-I’ve thought he was dead all this time.”

“He’s as alive as you or me,” I assured her. “For now. But that’s all the more reason we can’t dilly-dally around and wait to finish this war once and for all.”

“You said they were kept alive for breeding purposes?” Dalwen questioned, and I noticed the butterfly queen’s face was pale. “What breeding purposes?”

I took a deep breath, and then I went into everything I’d seen on Isla Gar. I explained how the Grand Gar was trying to emulate my model of reproduction, and how he’d attempted to cross-breed the races of people they’d been holding captive. I explained that several of their friends and family members were still alive on Isla Gar and that there were a large number of orcs who were good, which was why we couldn’t just go and firebomb the entire damn island. I also told them about Cartram, and how the poor guy had been stuck in a constant stream of torture and agony.

As we spoke, Cartram slowly lumbered over behind us and plopped his rear down on the beach. I heard him let out a few chuffs and rustle around, but right at the point where I had caught everyone up to speed, he suddenly made a much different noise.

A noise that sounded like he was gagging.

Egads! Bungal gasped. Does anyone know how to dislodge a piece of stray food?

“I don’t think he’s choking,” Batari said as her eyes widened, and her mouth twisted into a smile. “I think he wants to do this.”

He wishes to gag on his own mouth juices? The fat brown dragon gagged. What a strange fellow.

Bungal… my bondmate George said as he shook his head. You and I both know that’s not what’s happening. We’re witnessing another beautiful bond being formed.

I turned around and watched as Cartram continued to make the sound of a cat with a hairball. The shadow dragon lowered his chin down onto the ground as he went prone on his scarred belly, and then his entire body started to tremble. Finally, the gagging noises ceased, and Cartram let out one final gurgle before his cheeks became full.

Then Cartram leaned forward and opened his mouth at Olga’s feet, and as he did so, a thin black scale the size of a dinner plate plopped out onto the ground.

Olga looked down at it with a grimace of disgust, but she simply patted the dragon on the head and then tried to shoo him away.

However, Cartram wasn’t going anywhere.

The dark dragon nudged the scale closer to Olga with his nose, but she didn’t seem to get the hint.

“I don’t want your leftovers from last night,” the brunette orc captain grumbled. “That’s gross.”

“Olga?” I chuckled. “I don’t think that’s his last meal. He’s trying to bond with you.”

“He most certainly is,” Jonas said. “Cartram has chosen you as a bondmate, so you must eat the scale and then complete the process.”

“Me?” Olga scoffed as she placed a green finger on her chest. “It picked me? Why in the bloody fuck would it pick me?”

“Yeah,” Hilda teased. “It must have some real bad taste.”

Olga rolled her eyes and elbowed Hilda playfully in the side of the ribs.

“I don’t know why he picked you.” I shrugged. “But if you pick up that scale and complete the bonding process, you can ask him yourself.”

“How do I complete the bonding process?” Olga raised an eyebrow. “And if I do that, does it mean he’ll be in my head like all your dragons?”

“It’s not exactly so simple,” Mira explained. “You will be able to understand their thoughts, and they will be able to understand yours, but it’s not as if they can just read your mind all the time without permission.”

“Also, you’ll be able to communicate with all of the dragons nonverbally,” Jemma added. “As well as anyone who has formed a dragonbond on this island.”

“That sounds like it’d be really useful, Olga,” Gudrun said as she looked down at the black scale. “Especially once we go back and launch our final assault on Isla Gar.”

“What do I need to do?” the orc captain asked as her yellow eyes locked with mine. “How do I complete the bonding process? Do I need to go through some sort of ceremony? Say a few magic words?”

“It’s not that complicated.” I shook my head. “All you have to do is put the scale in your mouth and let it dissolve.”

“You’re kidding, right?” Signe asked with a scoff. “That’s got to be a joke.”

“He’s not joking,” Batari said. “That’s how the process works. It’s not complicated, though it is a beautiful, intimate, sacred thing nonetheless.”

“How am I going to eat that, though?” Olga’s eyes widened as she looked down at the scale on the ground. “That’s half the size of my body.”

“You think you have it bad?” our navigator, Isla, spoke up. “I had to ingest one of Seashuna’s scales!”

“You’re bonded with Seashuna herself?” Olga asked as she looked over at the one-eyed dragonkin. “How did you make that work?”

“One bite at a time,” Isla said with a chuckle. “It’s not that bad, actually. You just have to put bits of it in your mouth and let it dissolve against your tongue. It might take a little time, but it’ll be finished before you know it.”

Olga hesitated as she turned back to the scale on the ground. Then the orc captain looked up at Cartram, who simply tilted his head and let out a somewhat impatient snort as he nodded to the scale.

“Okay, okay,” Olga said as she held up her hand defensively. “I’ll do it.”

The brown-haired orc woman bent down and scooped up the black scale in her hands, and she eyed it carefully as she turned it to and fro. Then Olga took a long, deep breath before she opened her mouth, held the scale up, and took a bite. Her face crinkled up as if she had just taken a bite of a sour lemon, but Olga powered through it. We all watched silently as the orc captain inserted piece after tiny piece of Cartram’s scale into her mouth, until eventually it was all gone.

Finally, Olga made one last sour face before she took a step back and shuddered.

“Now what?” Signe asked. “Is it done?”

“She’s friends with the dragon!” Yrsa proclaimed as she clapped her hands together.

“Friends” is an oversimplified way to put it, a stern, Frasier Crane-like voice answered. Your friend Olga and I are now intertwined in a bond that has its roots in the old gods of the past, and we will forever be connected until one of us passes away.

“Is-- is that you, Cartram?” Olga’s yellow eyes got as wide as saucers as she looked up at the shadow dragon. “Are you talking to me?”

Who else would I be talking to? Cartram asked with a sarcastic snort. You are my bondmate now, after all.

“Why me, though?” the orc captain asked. “There were a bunch of other badass people on Ben’s crew you could have bonded with.”

Indeed, there are many wonderful choices. Cartram nodded. But I picked you for two very, very specific reasons. First, you seem to be a strong leader with a good heart, and that is something I always look for in a bondmate.

“Awww,” Jemma said as she listened to the conversation. “How sweet.”

Secondly, Cartram continued. Choosing an orc to be my bondmate after the way the orcs have treated me in general is a bit of an ironic jab at our enemies. They have been my tormentor for many years, and now I will come back and help slaughter them with the help of their own people.

Huzzah! Bungal interjected. I see he is a man of culture like myself. We shall surely become best friends.

George, Nixie, and their two children all looked at each other with amused smirks and a roll of their eyes, but none of them said anything. Meanwhile, Olga took a few steps toward Cartram and held out her hand.

“This is amazing!” the orc captain breathed.

The dragonbond is one of nature’s miracles, for sure, Cartram said with a nod. I look forward to working with you, Olga. And the rest of you. The ones who can hear me, of course.

“Welcome to the team, Cartram,” I said as I grinned from ear to ear. “We’re glad to have you, and I’m glad we could free you from those orc bastards.”

I’m afraid your job is not done yet. Cartram’s eyes narrowed. Not so long as the orcs continue to torment a single prisoner, and not so long as the Grand Gar is breathing. Until all of your friends have been liberated from the orc injustice, our job isn’t complete.

“Wow,” Nadir whispered under her breath. “I think I love this guy already.”

“Seriously,” I laughed. “I feel like he’s gonna scream ‘freedom’ in a Scottish accent at any second here.”

As the original bondmate of this island, George said as he lowered his head in a bow, I welcome you, Cartram. It’s always good to have another dragon on the team.

Particularly one so eloquently spoken as yourself! Bungal added. I cannot wait to pick your brain on the latest hubbub of the world.

Maybe after we finish our mission? Ethala suggested. For now, we need to figure out our plan of attack for Isla Gar.

“I’m with Ethala,” I sighed. “As much as I want to just lay down and never think about the orcs again, we can’t. The Grand Gar will be sending out every single boat in his fleet to search for us, so we need to be on our toes.”

“And we need to be far, far away from the orc island,” Isla added, and then she looked in the direction of Seashuna’s head. “We are ready to go, Seashuna!”

Where to, my dear? Seashuana’s heavenly voice echoed through my brain.

“Anywhere but here,” I said with a frown. “We need to be way outside of the Grand Gar’s territory.”

With that, Seashuna turned her ruby-and-white neck back toward the horizon and then let out a long, guttural chuff. The entire island trembled beneath our feet as the gigadragon lowered her head back down into the water, and then the earth began to move underneath us.

We were on our way.

“So, now what, Ben?” Sela asked as she stepped forward. “We don’t have a moment to waste. Shall we begin to draw up maps and discuss battle strategies?”

“Maybe in a bit here.” I held up my hand. “We’re all freaking exhausted right now… I know I just said we don’t have any time to spare, but I think a few hours of rest are in order before we try to do anything.”

“I’m with Ben,” Batari said through a yawn. “I haven’t had a good night’s sleep since we started this journey.”

Swaer’s tiny mouth opened in a giant yawn, as well, and then the little guy closed his eyes and wrapped his lanky body around Batari’s neck. The wind dragon smacked his lips as he nuzzled into the Queen Mother’s shoulder, so she reached up and scratched him on the head.

“Some rest is most certainly in order,” Mira agreed. “Then we can discuss battle plans.”

With that, my loyal subjects and I headed back to the large clearing where we’d been constructing our new home. The buildings had come a long way in the months since we’d arrived on Seashuna, though they all had quite a long ways to go.

“What kind of dwellings did you live in, ladies?” Zikiu, the brown-haired Cero woman, asked the orcs. “I’m in charge of logistics around here, so I need to know how big of a change I need to make to my master plan.”

“Uhhh…” Hilda trailed off. “We’ve been living on a ship for the last year.”

“And before that, I was locked in a dingy castle,” Thyra added.

“And before that we were all in simple houses that were smaller than most of your dragons,” Olga said with a laugh.

“So, what I’m hearing is you want a more… luxurious place?” Zikiu nodded. “Got it.”

Suddenly, a chorus of screams echoed across the clearing. I spun around and prepared to draw my sword, but then I let go of the hilt when I saw all of the Morpho women doubled over in pain and holding their bellies.

“My Queen!” Holara gasped. “What’s wrong?”

“I-I don’t know,” Dalwen admitted through gritted teeth. “It feels like something is trying to burrow out of my body!”

“It’s okay, my friends…” Talise said as she smiled. “Oshun looks down upon you this day. You’re not injured at all.”

“You could have fooled me,” Ahwara grumbled with a scowl. “What in Cacoo’s name is going on?”

“I think you’re in labor,” Talise said. “All of you.”