Monster Girl Island 12 Chapter 5

“Shit,” I muttered under my breath. “Valea! Do you know anything about delivering babies?”

“I’ve done it once or twice before,” the blonde-haired hedgehog woman called back from across the ship. “Though it’s not something I want to make a habit of doing. Why do you ask?”

“Because I believe we’re going into labor!” Lezan declared with a massive grin as she gestured between herself and Nadir.

“Labor?” Mira gasped. “How… I thought we had more time.”

“Coonag pregnancies are very unpredictable,” Nadir noted. “Just like the Coonag people themselves.”

“You seem very, very calm about all this,” the golden-scaled warrior woman said as she looked Nadir up and down. “When Talise went into labor, she was really grouchy and screaming from the pain. It got to the point where other warriors had to carry her, since she could not walk on her own.”

“We’ll get to that point eventually, too,” Nadir said. “It’s just that right now we’re in the early stages of our labor.”

“Shit.” I gulped. “How long does a Coonag labor usually last?”

“It depences.” The racoon-woman shrugged nonchalantly. “They’ve been known to be done in as little as an hour, but sometimes they can last a full sun cycle, or a ‘day’ as you like to call it.”

“A full day of labor?” Ashanti gasped from her position on the right side of the deck. “I’m glad I’m not a Coonag. I don’t know how anyone could do that.”

“You get used to it when you are pregnant two or three times a year and can have anywhere from one to four children per pregnancy,” Nadir explained. “After the first one, you just kind of become numb to the whole thing.”

“Fucking hell…” I trailed off as I looked to the horizon.

We were still several hours away from the dragonkin island, and that was if everything went smoothly. Since we were out in the open sea, we could very easily get attacked by a giant creature from the depths or even get intercepted by a hostile fleet of orcs or any of the other sentient creatures we’d run into before.

However, what I saw off on the horizon was perhaps the worst option of all.

There was an eerie calm to the ocean as it stretched off into the distance, where the waves began to die down and the sky shifted from a bright baby blue to a dark, somber navy.

I’d seen this sight all too many times during my days in the Coast Guard, and each time it filled me with a sense of subtle dread.

A storm was approaching.

This complicated things.

It was going to be hard enough to try and deliver not one, but two babies on a moving ship. But a moving ship that was out in the middle of the ocean and caught in a massive storm?

It would take a miracle to get through that, and I wasn’t even sure if it would be enough.

“Ben?” Mira’s voice cut through my churning mind. “Are you alright? You look like you are in shock.”

“W-We need to find land,” I stumbled out. “Now. Tirian? Bungal? Can either of you do a little bit of reconnaissance?”

Reconnaissance! Bungal clapped his meaty paws together. What a glorious word! Of course, I shall indulge in a bit of the ‘ol recon, my good sir.

What are we looking for? Tirian asked. Because I can tell you right now the weather looks pretty bad up ahead.

“I know that,” I confirmed. “What I need you to look for is some land. Lezan and Nadir are both in labor right now, and there’s no way in hell we should try to deliver our kids on a boat that’s getting tossed and turned in the middle of the ocean.”

Right away, Benjamin, Bungal declared. We shall scour the seas to find you a piece of land, even if it takes us half a lifetime!

“First off,” I grumbled. “It’s just ‘Ben.’ Second, we don’t have a lifetime. We need to find land, and we need to find it as soon as possible. Seriously… I’d even take a tiny sandbar at this point.”

Bungal then spread his massive wings, flew up a few dozen feet into the air, and took off to the east. Tirian, on the other hand, sprang from the crow’s nest vertically and shot toward the clouds above like an ascending rocket.

Before long, both of the dragons were out of sight.

“Dad?” Marella asked as she and Cerin ran over. “What’s going on? Why are the dragons leaving us?”

“They’re not,” I explained. “They’re just trying to find us a safe place to wait out the storm and deliver your new siblings. Now, this is gonna sound like a really strange question, Marella, but--”

“I can help deliver them,” my daughter interjected. “Mom’s the best healer on the island, remember? She taught me how to help deliver a baby back when Arrick was still a toddler.”

“Thank goodness,” I chuckled. “Because it sounds like Valea is the only one here right now who’s had experience with the whole delivery thing.”

“You really don’t have to worry about it,” Nadir promised with a wave of her hand. “Coonag births are quite painful, but they are never complicated. When a child of our race is ready to come out, they will come out. By any means necessary.”

“Uhhh…” I gulped as my eyes widened. “Please don’t tell me our kid is going to go all Alien chestburster on you.”

“He wouldn’t be bursting from my chest,” Nadir scoffed. “If the baby gets desperate enough, they will simply chew their way out of the womb with their teeth.”

“Wouldn’t that kill you?” Mira gasped. “You’d bleed out in a matter of minutes.”

“That’s why it’s important to have good healers around.” The Coonag leader shrugged. “As long as the issue is addressed quickly, usually with a flaming torch pressed against the wound, the woman is fine.”

“I take back every bad thing I’ve ever said about childbirth.” Mira whistled. “It sounds like a Coonag pregnancy is something else.”

“It really is.” Nadir winked at the jade-haired warrior. “That’s why we are so strong as a people. If you really want to hear a twisted fact, did you know that-- Ahhhhhhhhh, frizzyfacks!”

Nadir doubled over mid-sentence and let out a long, painful scream. Then Coonag woman cradled her belly in both arms as she grimaced and tried to hide her agony, but it was clear her labor was anything but smooth.

“Are you alright?” Mira asked with wide eyes, and she made an aborted, half-motion toward the laboring mother.

“Breathe, Nadir,” Marella instructed as she placed her hand on the racoon-woman’s back. “I know it’s not going to take the pain away completely, but it’ll help keep you calm.”

My daughter then proceeded to instruct Nadir in a series of breathing exercises, though I wasn’t sure how much they were helping.

Meanwhile, Lezan didn’t seem to be affected by her labor whatsoever. The multicolor-haired Coonag woman wandered over to our position with a satisfied half-smile spread across her lips, and her hands rested lazily on her belly.

“Is everything alright over here?” Lezan asked in a somewhat mocking tone. “Shall I get you a barrell to sit on, Nadir?”

“Quiet, Lezan,” Nadir hissed through her pain. “My stomach may be the size of a giant coconut, and my child may or may not be attempting to claw its way out of my womb at the moment… But I could still put you flat on your back if I wanted to.”

“We’ve proven time and time again that’s not the case,” Lezan snickered. “Even when you weren’t about to burst, you couldn’t handle my superior axe-handling skills.”

“Why aren’t you in such pain?” Ashanti questioned.

“Because my child is less stubborn and complicated,” the Coonag woman giggled as her ringed tail flicked back and forth. “That’s what happens when they come from a superior line of Coonag. When it is this child’s time to arrive, they will just slide out into the world without so much as a single scream.”

“I hope they decide to claw their way out of you,” Nadir grumbled sarcastically through a labored huff.

“Don’t let her stress you out,” Marella continued. “It’ll just make things worse.”

“Thank you, Marella,” the raven-haired Coonag woman sighed. “I am glad to have at least one supportive person by my side.”

“Who ever said I wasn’t supportive?” Lezan shrugged. “I’m just stating the facts.”

“Laugh now,” Nadir growled. “Because I can assure you the tides will change before this is all over.”

“So… This is what it’s like to be pregnant?” Ashanti’s voice scoffed. “This seems awful.”

“I promise you it is worth it,” Nadir reassured the Cero woman. “It may not look like it from the point of view of a neutral party, but the child is worth more than you could ever imagine.”

I’m glad we dragons just have to lay eggs. Cerin shuddered. I can’t imagine pushing an entire living creature out of my body, especially with all its bony appendages and weird-shaped head and rough scales… I can imagine soooo many things going wrong.

“Not helping, Cerin.” Marella shot her bondmate a look that could strip paint.

Oh! the purple water dragon gasped. Sorry. I forgot she can hear me now.

“It’s alright.” Nadir held out her hand and stood back upright. “I think the labor pains are finally subsiding. Maybe it’s not going to be so-- Nope!”

The Coonag leader’s body went tense as she let out a grunt and gripped her belly again. Nadir’s eyes were full of tears and pain, and her legs were practically jelly beneath her weight.

As if to add insult to injury, Lezan just leaned back against a nearby barrel and smiled.

“Give her the barrel, Lezan,” I ordered. “Nadir needs to sit down.”

“No, I don’t!” Nadir protested as she forced herself back upright. “If Lezan can stand while in labor, then I can stand.”

Nadir must have gotten another contraction, though, because she suddenly let out a cry of pain and doubled over once more, but this time there was no snarky comment from Lezan.

Instead, the black-and-white-haired Coonag woman frowned as she watched her leader in agony. Then she grabbed the barrel and took it over to Nadir.

“Here.” Lezan tried to comfort the raven-haired racoon woman. “There is no shame in resting, Nadir. Actually, it’s a noble thing to do… Your child seems to be giving you much grief, and you need to be as relaxed as you possibly can if you want a healthy and beautiful child.”

Nadir glared at Lezan, but she then accepted the offer without much fuss. Nadir sat down on the edge of the barrel, leaned back so all the pressure was off her stomach, and let out a huge sigh.

“Thank you,” she grumbled to Lezan.

“Don’t thank me.” Lezan winked. “Ben’s the one who ordered me to do it.”

“Tirian?” I asked telepathically. “How are we looking up there?”

I’m not finding anything, Tirian admitted. All I can see behind us is long stretches of blue ocean, and in front of us the dark skies are obstructing my view.

“Bungal?” I asked the fat dragon. “Any luck?”

I’m afraid my luck is that of a boar headed into a dragon’s den, Bungal’s thespian voice huffed. The ocean simply stretches on for-- Wait… Huzzah!

“What is it?” My heart was now pounding a thousand beats per second.

Land ho, my friend! Bungal declared. There appears to be an island due east of your location.

“Does it look safe?” I asked.

It is hard to tell, the fat dragon admitted. All I can see are the vibrant colors of what appears to be a canopy of trees, interspersed with a few large bodies of water.

“We’ll take it,” I agreed, and then I turned my attention to the rest of my crew. “Everybody hold on tight! We’re making a pit stop. Set a course for the east!”

I turned the wheel of The Dragon Queen sharply to the right and then heard the sound of the mighty rudder as it crashed against the waves. Our entire ship suddenly lurched to the left, and I had to brace myself to stay on my feet.

Unfortunately, the Spindrel weren’t so lucky.

“Gah!” Shala gasped as she fell into Ura and Alvee and sent all three of them tumbling to the deck.

Pae grabbed onto Kehlaan, stabbed her stick into the wood of the deck, and then held on for dear life. Erel and Valea were both able to balance against the sudden lurch, though their eyes were wide as we turned.

Weeee! Swaer’s high-pitched voice cackled. Faster!

“Everybody brace!” I called out once our vessel was aligned with the east. “Port Side!”

“Which one is the--” Kehlaan began, but it was too late.

I grabbed the wheel to straighten out the rudder, and The Dragon Queen stopped with a violent thud.

Instantly, all seven of the Spindrels on board fell flat onto their faces.

Oops. I forgot these guys had never been on a boat before. They had no idea what the hell “port” or “starboard” meant.

“Maybe warn us next time?” Alvee growled as the brunette pulled herself to her feet.

“He did warn you,” Batari noted. “But it’s okay. Ashanti and I were not familiar with the sailing terms at first, either. You will learn in due time.”

“Hopefully, without so many sudden stops,” Pae sighed and then sprang up.

“I-I don’t know how much longer this is going to take, Ben,” Nadir sputtered through an anguished grunt. “Please hurry.”

Shit. We needed to get to this mystery island as soon as humanly possible, but the wind was not hitting us from the port side of the vessel. Sure, we could still sail forward with a bit of crafty sail positioning, but we would be at a major disadvantage. If we did that, I had no freaking idea if we would be able to get to land in time before either Nadir had her baby or the storm hit, or both.

That’s when an idea hit me.

We didn’t have to worry about the position of the breeze. We had a wind dragon on our crew.

Which meant we could make our own wind and literally chart our own course.

“Swaer!” I called out to the little furry creature. “How much breath you got in those lungs, buddy?”

“Are you joking?” Batari laughed. “If Swaer’s enjoyment of talking is any indication, he has enough breath to last for hours!”

Hey! Swaer protested. You talk a lot, too. Besides, it’s not like I’m actually using any breath when I talk to you guys… It’s all in our heads, remember?

“That doesn’t matter,” I noted. “I need you to get behind the ship and use your wind breath to get us to that nearest island, stat. Do you think you can do that?”

I’ll certainly try. The furry dragon nodded his head as he twitched his yellow whiskers.

Swaer then slithered off Batari’s arm, hovered in the air for a second, and then zipped around so he was behind our vessel’s main sail.

“Be careful, Swaer,” Batari warned. “If you blow too hard, you could rip the sail right in half!”

Don’t worry, the wind dragon promised. I know my own strength. I would suggest everybody hold on, though.

“Brace!” I commanded everyone on the ship.

This time, all of the Spindrel people either grabbed onto the nearest rope or mast and held tight. Ahwara, Jonas, and Theora all quickly tied a rope around their arms, while Lezan and Nadir dug their claws into the wood of the ship. Batari and Mira got down on one knee and stabbed their weapons into the deck, while Marella clung onto Cerin’s trunk of a leg.

Then there was Ashanti, who simply leaned back onto her Mierak with a smug grin on her face.

Hopefully, she knew what she was doing.

Swaer took in a deep breath, held it for a moment, and then unleashed a small gust of hurricane-level winds directly into the sails.

There was the sound of groaning wood as the masts were blown forward, though the little dragon was right… He knew his strength, and he was pushing the structural integrity of our ship to its breaking point.

However, he didn’t go one step further.

The Dragon Queen lurched forward under this new power source, and soon we were cutting across the waves like we were an oversized motorboat. Waves pounded against the ship as we shot forward like a bat out of hell, and each one threatened to knock us off our feet.

Still, we endured. We had to get to this island before the storm got to us.

After about twenty minutes of this high-speed journey, I saw the landscape Bungal had identified. Off on the horizon I saw the fat brown dragon hovering above the shoreline of white sand, with his forelegs crossed over each other at the wrist like an overexcited child.

Beyond the white beaches of the island appeared to be a forest of maroon trees that could only be described as a mixture between a conifer and a palm. They were pencil thin as they reached to the heavens, though I could see from all the way back here their branches were covered in wavy, long leaves like you’d find atop a California palm.

Most peculiar of all, though, were the trees’ colors. Instead of a traditional brown and green color scheme, these things had maroon leaves, with a bit of yellows and purples dotted across the canopy of the forest.

Dear lord… What exactly were we sailing into?

It didn’t matter. All that mattered was we get Nadir and Lezan to the shore and get them comfortable for the final leg of their labor.

What say you, Benjamin? Bungal inquired as we got closer to the shoreline. Does this island fulfill your every hope and desire?

“I wouldn’t go that far,” I mused. “But it’ll do the trick. Can you help get these two to shore?”

“Get me to shore?” Lezan scoffed. “I don’t need to be carried, Ben. I am more than capable of walking like everyone else.”

“I’m not taking that risk.” I shook my head. “Bungal’s gonna take both of you and watch you while the rest of us drop anchor. We’ll be there shortly. I promise.”

“I will be fine,” the multicolor-haired Coonag woman continued. “Bungal can take Nadir, but I’m going to--”

Before Lezan could finish her sentence, her eyes widened, and she stood straight up. Then the racoon woman’s tail stood on end as she grabbed onto her stomach and grimaced.

“You were saying?” I raised an eyebrow.

“M-Maybe Bungal should take me, too,” she conceded.

“I’m not sure…” Nadir grumbled through gritted teeth. “You were just going on and on about how you were fine. You should walk with Ben and the rest of the crew. Getting some exercise can actually help the baby come out faster.”

I am confused. Bungal frowned. Shall I take both of these feisty females, or just Nadir?

“Just take us!” Lezan cried out as she suddenly doubled over.

Indeed. The fat brown dragon nodded and then he hovered down, and he snatched up Nadir and Lezan delicately with his blubbery paws before he floated into the air once more.

“Get them onto the beach,” I commanded. “Tirian? Cerin? You guys grab Valea and Marella and follow Bungal.”

Way ahead of you, Cerin announced as she bent her neck down.

Marella mounted the water dragon like an equestrian, wrapped her legs tightly against Cerin’s sides, and then let out a commanding “yah!”

Cerin dashed off to the side of the ship and then, without missing a stride, sprang up over the edge of the vessel and landed in the ocean below with a splash. Within seconds, my daughter and her water dragon were halfway to the shore.

Tirian swooped down from the clouds, landed on the deck before the Spindrel women, and bowed his head.

The silver dragon transport, at your service, he declared.

Valea looked hesitant as she approached Tirian. Her eyes were narrow underneath her raised brows, and her lips were pursed into a tight pucker. The blonde hedgehog woman held out a hand as she slowly walked toward the adolescent dragon and then touched him gently on the side of the neck. Tirian let out a soft chuff to let her know it was safe, and then Valea lifted her leg over his neck. The Spindrel woman grabbed onto the dragon’s scales, took a deep breath, and then announced she was ready.

Tirian took to the air in a flash, accompanied by the fearful shriek of Valea.

We watched as the dragons approached the sandy beach, landed upon it, and then placed the two Coonag women at its center.

Meanwhile, the rest of us continued forward until we finally came to the shallows. We then lowered our anchor, climbed down into the salty, knee-high water, and waded up toward the island.

I could already sense the electricity in the air as I heard distant crashes of thunder. The dark skies were still a few miles away, but I knew with the way the wind was blowing, it wouldn’t be long before the storm was upon us.

We just had to make sure we were ready before that happened.