Monster Girl Island 12 Chapter 8

“Do not touch that!” Erel commanded as we stared at the deadly plant. “In fact, everybody should probably take a few steps back, just in case it decides to spray.”

She didn’t have to tell me twice. If this really was the plant that wiped out the entirety of the Spindrel population, then I really didn’t want to suffer its wrath.

“What is a death-sprayer doing here?” Pae pondered aloud. “Is this where they are native?”

“Maybe,” Alvee mumbled. “Could be a transplant.”

“I doubt that,” Ura argued. “What are the chances the same plant would accidentally end up on two separate islands. Islands separated by a whole lot of ocean.”

“Tembori’s tusks,” Batari whispered. “We should get off this island immediately. Aside from the Spindrel women here, none of us know if we would actually be immune to the virus or not. If this whole island is littered with these plants, we cannot stay here.”

“I don’t think that’s the case,” I admitted. “If these plants were native to this island and all over the place, then why would the goblins set up shop here?”

“They work for the orcs, Ben,” Mira noted. “They are most likely here because the orcs told them they had to be, safety be damned.”

“That still doesn’t make any sense.” I shook my head. “You guys told me the virus spread through your population like wildfire. Where are all the goblin bodies? Shouldn’t they all be dead, too?”

“Their entire species could be immune,” Pae suggested.

“It doesn’t matter if the goblins are immune or not.” Batari shook her head. “We have two newborns on our crew, and at least four of us here are pregnant. I don’t want to be anywhere near that sort of danger.”

“Normally, I would agree…” the Magnus Dux trailed off. “But--”

“Of course there is a ‘but’ in this situation,” Batari sighed and crossed her arms over her busty chest.

“This is an opportunity we didn’t get the last time around,” the silver-haired hedgehog woman explained. “By the time we realized these plants were the cause of all the death on our home island, it was too late. We did not have a chance to study them whatsoever… We simply stamped them out. Maybe if we allow Valea to study the plant this time around, she could be able to figure out a cure. Or at least where it comes from.”

“Besides,” I added. “We can’t just leave the island. There’s obviously a reason the goblins are here, and I want to know exactly what those dumbfuck orcs are up to.”

“Just… Just keep the plant far away from our shelter, okay?” Batari sighed. “I don’t want anyone getting sick.”

“We won’t let that happen,” Pae promised. “And I swear to you, Batari, we will destroy this horrid flower once we have discovered its secrets.”

We all took several steps back as we watched Alvee, Pae, and Erel walk over to the death-sprayer plant, fumble around with its roots, and then pull it from the ground.

“Head back to camp,” Alvee declared. “We will walk downwind.”

“Good idea,” I chuckled.

The Spindrel women, with their plant in hand, walked several feet behind us as we ventured back to the beach. Soon, we appeared through the massive opening Bungal had created in the treeline and were greeted by the sights and sounds of the beautiful beach before us.

A brisk ocean breeze was in the air, though the sand was still a tad wet. The waves of the ocean crashed against the shoreline in a dull, thrashing sound that was like a lullaby to my tired ears, but what brought me the most joy was what I saw down by our shelter.

Nadir and Lezan were both outside, and they rocked their babies in their arms. Marella, Valea, Shala, Cerin, and Kehlaan all sat in the sand beside the Coonag women, and they were all smiles as they chatted it up.

When they saw us approaching, however, our crewmates quickly sprang to their feet.

“What happened out there?” Shala demanded. “I heard lots of screaming, but I figured it was you putting the hurt on the other guys.”

“Have orcs infiltrated this island, too, Dad?” Marella asked with a twinge of fear in her voice.

“Not orcs,” I clarified. “Goblins.”

“Goblins who are doing the bidding of the orcs,” Jonas added.

Yeah, Tirian huffed. Goblins who have some sort of special powder that takes your breath away, literally.

What do you mean? Cerin cocked her triangular head to the side.

I mean the powder literally makes it so you can’t use your breath attack, the silver-scaled dragon sighed. I can’t breathe fire, and I bet if you got hit with it, you wouldn’t be able to breathe water, either.

They can do that? the purple water dragon gasped.

“Apparently,” I admitted. “I don’t know how they did it, but they did. Let’s just hope we take them all out before they get another chance to use it. Maybe they’ve got a stash hidden somewhere on the island or their ship that we can burn.”

“Don’t be too hasty, Draco Rex,” Jonas warned. “Though the goblin’s powder has been… very inconvenient to our mission, it could be a very valuable asset to us. Remember the full-grown wind dragon we fought after the Morpho island?”

“How could I forget?” I whistled. “That was probably the closest we’ve ever come to ending up in a watery grave.”

“Now, imagine if we had a weapon like the powder at our disposal,” the soothsayer explained. “Imagine how simple it would have been to defeat the wind dragon if we were able to take away his greatest power?”

I had to admit, Jonas had a point. Sure, this stuff could be our greatest enemy in the wrong hands, but it could be a great asset to our arsenal, as well. Especially when we finally got to the orc island.

I didn’t know for sure, but I was certain the wind dragon wasn’t the only trick the orcs would have up their sleeves. Whenever we finally got to the homeland of the orcs, we needed to come prepared with every single advantage we knew.

This stuff could definitely be one of those advantages.

“Magus Dux!” Shala suddenly shrieked. “W-What is that in your hand?”

“A death-sprayer plant.” Pae nodded to confirm from where she stood several yards away. “We wish for Valea to study it.”

“Far away from here,” Batari added. “Very, very far away from here.”

“Why would you want to study such a horrific plant?” Shala growled. “That thing is responsible for the deaths of everyone we ever loved, as well as the near-extinction of our people. And you want to study it? Good luck finding anybody who would take on the insane responsibility.”

“I will do it,” Valea agreed.

“You will?” Shala’s jaw hit the floor. “But, Valea…”

“I am immune.” The blonde Spindrel woman shrugged. “As are you and the rest of the Spindrels who are here right now. As long as we keep it away from Ben and his crew, there should be no reason to worry. In fact, something good may even come out of this.”

“Something good?” Shala scoffed. “Nothing good can come from that plant.”

“We shall see,” Valea sighed. “But for now I suggest you calm down. Your auras are telling me you are on the verge of a mental breakdown.”

“Oh, yeah?” the dark-haired hedgehog woman joked and then made some sort of gesture with her two arms intertwined. “What do the auras tell you now?”

“I don’t need to read your auras to tell me you’re upset,” Valea chuckled. “And also in a somewhat brazen mood.”

“When is Shala not in a brazen mood?” Ura chuckled. “She’s the brazen queen.”

Valea hurried over to Pae and Alvee and then took the death-sprayer plant in her arms.

“I shall take this off into the woods to study it,” the blonde hedgehog woman confirmed. “I will make sure I’m far enough away so you will not inhale any of its spores. However, if you see me come running out of the woods waving my arms, know that all is lost and we need to get to the ship right away.”

“That’s encouraging,” Theora grumbled.

“Would any other Spindrel want to assist?” Valea asked her friends. “Obviously, Shala is out of the question, but I will need some help.”

“I’ll do it.” Pae nodded. “It would be selfish of me to reap the benefits of this dangerous study without being present.”

“I’ll come, too,” Alvee added. “Dangerous studies are the best.”

With that, the three Spindrel women turned and headed off into the forest, and my eyes couldn’t help but wander to their beautiful asses as they walked. All three of them were only covered by the slimmest bit of fabric, and their tight butt cheeks jiggled with each step the women took.

My manhood throbbed inside of my pants as I watched them saunter away, but I didn’t dare run up and try anything.

I wanted to keep my insides, well, inside my body. And apparently getting the virus was not the best way to do that.

So, instead, I turned to the two new mothers.

“How are you two doing?” I asked Lezan and Nadir. “You look a lot better than you did when we left.”

“I was fine,” Nadir declared as she ran her hands through Hokir’s soft hair. “I just needed a small nap to recharge my energy. We are crepuscular, after all, and we’ve been awake for most of the day.”

“I didn’t even need the nap,” Lezan mused. “I just took one because Nadir needed one, and I didn’t want to make the leader of the Coonag people look weak.”

“How thoughtful of you.” Nadir stuck out her tongue at her friend before she turned back to me. “So, Ben… What did you discover out there in the woods?”

I spent the next few minutes elaborating on the details of our story. I told my friends and family all about the goblins, and how they were sent to this island by the orcs and to “study flowers” in the hopes of eventually killing me.

“Maybe that’s why they were here,” Lezan noted. “They wanted to find that plant so they could poison us all?”

“That seems way too smart for the orcs to think up,” I sighed.

“That’s why they’re making the goblins do it,” Jonas explained. “It is a classic ‘strong-arm’ tactic, Draco Rex… Though the goblins are much more intelligent than the orcs, they are much weaker. And, unfortunately in this world, physical strength accounts for much more importance than intelligence.”

“So, you think the goblins are planning something?” I pondered aloud. “Without the orc’s supervision?”

“It would make sense,” Mira agreed. “If the orcs know the goblins are so intelligent, then I don’t see why they wouldn’t trust them with such a task.”

“Well, we can’t just sit around and let that happen,” Nadir declared as she stood from her seated position. “When do we head out to find the rest of these goblins and put them in the ground?”

“Hold on…” I trailed off. “What do you mean ‘we?’ You’ve got two babies to take care of now.”

“So?” The raven-haired racoon woman shrugged. “It’ll be good for them. In Coonag culture, the sooner a child gets thrown into battle, the better.”

“I get that,” I chuckled and shook my head. “But when they’re only a few hours old? Their eyes aren’t even fully open yet.”

“It’s not like I am going to throw my children at our enemies,” Nadir huffed. “I will simply fight with grace and speed so my opponents cannot even land a blow.”

“Yeahhh….” I cringed. “I’d really prefer it if you didn’t get into life or death situations with our children strapped to your back.”

“Is that a suggestion?” Lezan raised an eyebrow. “Or an order from our King?”

“Order from your King.” I nodded. “You two need to stay out of trouble until we can at least get you back to the dragonkin island and find a suitable sitter for our children.”

“Marella could watch them,” Nadir suggested. “She is great with children, and she normally does not get involved in confrontations if she can help it.”

“I’m not a babysitter.” Marella crossed her arms and frowned. “I’ve been trained by my father, Sela, and Mira. I bet I could kill more of those little goblin things than almost anyone else here.”

“Jonas, then?” Lezan suggested as she pointed to the soothsayer. “He normally does not get involved.”

“I beg your pardon?” Jonas gasped and placed a hand on his chest. “I have stared multiple dragons in the eyes and have lived to tell the tale. I always get involved.”

“If you call cowering next to the dragons ‘getting involved,’” Nadir snickered.

“That’s not fair, Nadir,” Lezan said. “I’ve seen Jonas use his dagger before. He is quite lethal with it when he wants to be.”

“Thank you, Lezan.” Jonas smirked. “I will have you know tback in my heyday, I was a great fighter. Of course, previous kings and queens usually kept me off the battlefield since they viewed my abilities as an irreplaceable asset… But I could fight along with the best of them if I wanted to!”

“I bet you were a regular Zorro back in the day,” I reassured him.

I don’t see what the big deal is, Swaer’s high-pitched voice interjected. I was out there fighting orcs when I was only a few days old.

“It’s different for you,” I explained to the furry dragon. “You’re quite literally one of the most powerful beings that exists in this world. Even if you were only a few days old, you could probably kill anything you wanted with the proper use of your powers. Except maybe Bungal here. I’m not sure there’s any amount of wind that would actually be able to displace him.”

I sense sarcasm in your voice, Bungal interjected. But I take that as an utmost compliment!

“Don’t be so tense, Ben,” Lezan sighed as she placed her hand on my shoulder. “You know Nadir and I would never let any harm befall our beloved children. If we do end up in a fight, we will make sure their safety is priority number one.”

“By handing them off to Jonas and Marella,” Ashanti snickered.

“Besides,” Nadir added. “There is no getting around it… We will most certainly have another skirmish before we return to our home island. You must trust Lezan and I have the skills to protect both ourselves and our babies, even when the situation appears dire.”

I supposed they were right. The Coonag women were tough as nails, but they were anything but uncaring. No matter what happened, no matter how many goblins attacked us or how many strange plants we ran into during our stay here, I knew our children would be safe with their mothers.

“If it makes you feel any better,” Lezan offered. “I once fought off a wildabear while I had my first child swaddled against my back.”

“You didn’t ‘fight it off,’” Nadir scoffed. “You snuck around it silently until you were able to get close enough to do a cheap shot with your axe. Then it panicked and ran away. After it knocked you into the next season cycle, of course.”

Unsurprisingly, that did not make me feel any better.

“Look,” I finally conceded. “All I’m asking is you two stay out of trouble if you can avoid it. And if you can’t? Then protect our children at all costs.”

“I just hope Valea and Pae come back with good news,” Batari interjected.

“I hope we Spindrel are all still immune,” Ura noted. “For all we know, this could be a different variation on the death-sprayer plants, and it could be carrying a completely different illness inside its leaves.”

“We’re gonna assume it’s not,” I sighed. “The last thing we need right now is more stress on our end. Not with a bunch of crackhead-energy goblins running around the island. Hell, they’re probably wondering where all their little friends got off to right about now. If they send out a search party to find them, they’re really not gonna like what they find.”

“Surely they wouldn’t know it was us,” Mira suggested. “For all the orcs know, we are still back on our home island.”

“The ones we attacked seemed to know who we were,” I reminded the jade-haired beauty.

“Of course they did,” Theora chuckled. “There is literally only one dragonkin male who travels around with a bunch of dragons and women of different races. It wouldn’t take a genius to realize who you are.”

“We didn’t leave any trace of our presence back there,” Erel reminded me. “If the other goblins were to find the bodies of their friends, they would just see several corpses full of puncture wounds, correct?”

“That’s right,” I confirmed as it dawned on me. “Tirian’s fire breath was taken out of the equation, and Bungal didn’t engage whatsoever.”

“For all the goblins know,” Erel continued. “Their friends may have been killed by a rampant wild beast.”

“A wild beast that shoots arrows?” Ashanti mused. “Theora and I made a bunch of those sorry mudwallowers look like you Spindrels’ hair.”

Damn it, she was right. I’d yet to encounter any creature in the wild that could fire man made arrows at their prey.

Then again, with all the crazy shit I’d seen over the last year, nothing would surprise me at this point.

“Hopefully, Valea and Pae’s investigation will conclude quickly,” I sighed. “Or maybe the goblins are as selfish as the orcs, and they won’t even give a shit that their friends never came back? All I know is I don’t want to stick around on this island any longer than we have to. I’ve had this strange vibe ever since we landed.”

“Are you sure it’s not simply nerves?” Mira smirked. “I remember how nervous you were when Talise and Nerissa had her first child, so I can only imagine how panicked you must have been to have an emergency birth at sea.”

“I definitely was panicked,” I admitted. “But I think it’s more than that. Every single fiber of my reptilian brain right now is telling me this island is bad news. Maybe it’s the goblins or the death-sprayer plants or who the fuck knows… I just want to stop whatever those little gray bastards are doing and then high-tail it back home.”

As beautiful as this place may have appeared on the surface, there was something about it I couldn’t quite put my finger on. My brain was screaming “danger” since the second I saw it on the horizon, and even here on pristine sandy beach, I felt a leering sense of dread washing over me.

I didn’t want to be here, and I didn’t want any of my friends or children to be here, either.

My expression must have laid my emotions bare for all to see because soon Ashanti slid off her Mierak with a soft thud and then approached me slowly. The three-horned rhino-woman wrapped her right arm around my left before she patted me gently on the shoulder.

“You know what always helped ease my tensions back home?” Ashanti asked rhetorically. “A short walk through nature, alone.”

“Uhhhh…. ” I blinked rapidly. “I thought on your island it was suicide to go out onto the plains by yourself?”

“Not if you know where to go.” The woman with the shaved head winked. “Now come, Draco Rex… I shall help you ease your mind.”

My heart began to thump in my chest as I heard the fliration in Ashanti’s voice.

“I guess a little walk couldn’t do any harm.” I smiled. “Do you think you guys can literally hold down the fort while I’m gone?”

“Is that even a question?” Shala chuckled. “Go ease your mind, Ben. You deserve it after the day you’ve had.”

With that, Ashanti and I turned away from the crew, exited our wooden shelter, and then headed for the treeline.

I wasn’t sure why Ashanti had suggested that we go on this walk alone, nor did I have any clue what was going to happen while we were on it.

My brain told me it was an innocent, calming walk through the woods, but my manhood told me something different.

I guess I was gonna have to wait and see which one of my heads was right.