Monster Girl Islands 11 Chapter 1

My freaking head. Did somebody whack me with a two-by-four last night? My eyes felt so heavy as the first bits of light crept in through the tiny windows of the Cero women’s hut, and I instantly let out a groan as I forced them shut.

Looking at those small bits of sunlight felt like I was staring into a damn supernova, so I rolled over onto my side.

The last thing I remembered was chugging a whole bowl full of sweet palm-wine after being dared by Rikuri and then dancing the night away around a billowing fire, driven by the beat of Zamwae’s drums. What happened after that, I had no idea…

But one thing was for sure. I was paying for it this morning.

When I finally wrested the courage to open up my eyes, I realized the rest of my crew must have had an equally fun night.

The dragonkin elder, Jonas, was passed out in a nearby thatched chair. His limbs dangled down by his side like a scarecrow, and his head was leaned back over the back of the headrest. Jonas’ regal robe was bunched up and unkempt by his waistline, and I was glad the old man had decided to wear stockings under his clothes. The soothsayer’s snores were loud as a chainsaw, but everybody else in the room must have been too hungover to notice.

Meanwhile, Zarya and Darya, the beautiful dragon twins, cuddled up close together on the floor. Their golden hair was splayed out below them like a pile of pristine hay, and they spooned like an old married couple atop the carpet on the dirt floor.

Oh, how I wished to be the third spoon at that moment… Darya’s cute, fit ass pressed firmly against my cock… Her strong yet slender figure resting in my arms…

It would have been heaven on earth.

Nima the Niralope was laid out face-down on one of the hut’s tables, with her face buried in the stone surface and her nest of red hair tousled. Her smooth, bare legs were in a chaotic heap behind her, as one of them laid flat and the other was bent at the knee and rested against her thigh.

The golden-haired butterfly woman, Candara, had half of her body hanging off the bed of straw that stood at the far edge of the hut. Her blonde braids dangled down in a waterfall of beauty, while her green wings did a little sputter with each breath she took.

My beloved Mira was asleep in the carved out nook along the western wall of the hut, with her face buried deeply in the crook of her arm. Beams of sunlight shone across her body and reflected from her beautiful golden scales with a soft glow, and I chuckled when I realized what was going on.

Mira’s eyes must not have been ready for the daylight, either.

Anora was sprawled out on the floor just below Mira’s nook, though the dragonkin healer appeared to be sleeping the most peacefully of us all. Her emerald-green hair laid across the sunflower scales of her chest, which rose and fell with her calm, slow breaths. There was a smile on Anora’s face as she slept, and for a brief second I wondered what she was dreaming about.

My perplexion, however, turned to amusement when I saw Lezan and Nadir.

Both of the Coonag women must have taken it a bit too far last night, because they were both just laying in a heap in the middle of the floor. Their furry tails were puffed up and rustled like an unbrushed cat, and both of the racoon women were snoozing away in very different, uncomfortable-looking positions.

Nadir’s head and legs were turned to the left, even though the rest of her body seemed to tilt right. Her arms were in front of her body in a position that could only be described as a drunken robot, and her limbs were bent in a different direction at every pivot point on her upper appendages.

Lezan, on the other hand, was face-down in the dirt with her thonged ass raised high to the sky as if she was waiting for me to penetrate her tight tunnel. Her mouth was wide open, and her white-and-black hair cascaded down her face like two curtains at a color-blind designer’s house.

Damn. Last night must have gotten away from us in a hurry. These Cero women really knew how to party.

Then again, it wasn’t every day your Queen Mother and a quarter of the village decided to up and leave the island they’d lived on their whole lives.

It was the best damn going away party I’d ever been a part of.

Once my head stopped spinning, I slowly swung my legs over the side of the nook I was rested in, stretched out my arms as far as they could go until I heard a satisfying pop, and then limbered up my body for the day.

Still, I’d had enough hangovers to know there was still one thing I needed before I could become a functioning adult again… Water. Ice-cold water would at least help flush the remnants out of my system and get me alert once more.

We all needed to be fully alert today, too. Today was the day we set sail for the dragonkin island.

Although we’d had a lot of fun adventures on this savanna-like island, I couldn’t wait to get home and see my children and my women again. Just like a good vacation, it was always nice to get home after being gone for so long.

When I stepped through the door of the Queen Mother’s hut, my pupils instantly dilated, and my brain began to scream from within my skull. I made a makeshift visor with my right hand and put it over my eyes to block out the vile rays, but the dull throbbing in my head remained.

I walked across the grasslands, away from the “residential” area of the Cero Village, and toward the spot where they had their freshspring well. As I got closer to my destination, I saw a few of the Cero women gathered around in a circle.

The rhino-women were throwing their hands in the air and whooping wildly as I approached, and soon I saw two of the Ceros were standing at the center of the pack.

Ashanti and Baratu.

Both of the women circled each other like a pair of panthers waiting to strike, with their eyes locked firmly and their hands behind their backs. As I observed further, I realized their hands were actually bound together behind their bodies at the wrist.

“Are you gonna stand there all day?” Baratu scoffed with a bold frown. “Or are you gonna make your move?”

“Your goading won’t work, Baratu.” Ashanti just rolled her eyes. “The Cero who strikes first is almost always the one who ends up on the ground.”

“It’s like sixty-forty,” Baratu huffed and stamped her foot.

“What’s going on here?” I whispered to Rikuri as I slid into the crowd and beside her.

“It’s the Ceremony of Strength.” The black-haired Cero nodded her head with a somewhat evil smile. “My favorite of all the ceremonies!”

“So, what?” I chuckled. “Is this some sort of Cero woman fight club? Actually, scratch that… We’re talking about it.”

“I guess you could call it that.” Rikuri shrugged. “It is a fun little ceremony where we get together and attempt to push our sisters around using nothing but our horns. It’s fairly inconsequential, but it’s by far my favorite ceremony to watch.”

“Just watch?” I questioned with a raised eyebrow.

“Well, I can’t really participate.” The Cero woman grumbled and pointed to her snapped-off horn. “I mean sure, I might be able to push some of the weaker ones around, like Zikiu--”

“I heard that!” Zikiu’s voice hissed from somewhere to our right.

“But not having a horn anymore gives me a very, very strong disadvantage,” the hornless rhino-woman continued. “The real trick to winning this battle of pure brute strength is all about leverage, and you can’t really do that with this sorta damned flat stump.”

“Look at it this way,” I joked to Rikuri. “Having a stump but not a horn just means you can slam your head into theirs without the danger of stabbing them. I bet that’d knock them out pretty damn cold.”

“I like the way you think, Draco Rex,” Rikuri snickered. “But I think you’re missing the point. We’re not trying to ‘knock each other out.’ We’re just trying to push each other out of the circle.”

“Ohhhhh,” I drawled as the epiphany hit me. “We have that back in my world, too. Only in Sumo Wrestling, the wrestlers are trying to knock the other guy out with their guts.”

“Their guts?” The Cero woman raised an interested eyebrow. “Is it a gory ceremony?”

“Not their internal guts,” I explained and then slapped my belly. “These guts. It’s usually played exclusively by fat dudes.”

“That sounds… Very strange,” Rikuri admitted.

“Stranger than tying your hands behind your back and headbutting each other out of a circle?” I laughed.

“Okay, fine,” the hornless Cero sighed. “This does sound a bit strange from an outsider’s perspective. But I promise you it’s great fun. Just watch!”

Baratu and Ashanti continued to circle each other carefully with their feet dug into the ground and their bodies as tense as could be. Ashanti’s eyes were narrowed in preparation for the battle, though Baratu’s were glimmering with challenge.

Finally, Baratu made her move. The Cero chef took a quick step forward and slammed her head into Ashanti’s, and the two rhino-women locked horns. The crowd went wild as we watched the two opponents pushing against each other with every bit of strength in their neck muscles. They remained at a stalemate for a few seconds, until Ashanti ducked down and allowed Baratu’s own weight to carry her forward.

Baratu let out a gasp as she stumbled forward, but she quickly caught herself before she fell out of the circle. The blonde woman’s long ponytail whipped around wildly as she forced herself to a stop, and then Baratu spun around and crouched.

“What in Tembori’s name are you doing?” Ashanti huffed and pointed to her head. “My horns are up here.”

“Exactly,” Baratu teased before she launched herself forward like a charging bull.

The Cero chef flew upward at an angle, and Ashanti wasn’t fast enough to dodge the attack. Baratu’s horns slammed into Ashanti’s from the bottom and sent the Cero with the shaved head back onto her ass.

There were whoops and cheers as Ashanti landed, whipped her head around, and then let out a sigh of relief. The fabric of her loincloth was about half an inch away from the line in the grass.

She was still in this.

Ashanti sprang back to her feet like an acrobat before she lowered her head and stared down Baratu.

“Tembori must be smiling on you today.” Baratu smirked. “You should have been out.”

“Indeed he does,” Ashanti parroted. “That doesn’t bode well for you, I’m afraid.”

This time, Ashanti made the first move. Or, at least, she pretended that she was going to make the first move.

The three-horned Cero woman took a few steps toward Baratu, but I could tell from her angle she wasn’t on the path to actually hit her opponent. Still, Ashanti’s trap worked like a charm.

Baratu charged at Ashanti, who simply halted in place and let the chef zip right past her harmlessly. Baratu’s feet pressed firmly into the ground as she tried to halt her momentum, and she skidded to a stop about a foot from the circle’s edge.

That’s when Ashanti made her move.

Ashanti ran at Baratu just as the blonde-haired Cero turned around and reared back her head. Ashanti’s horns slammed against Baratu’s, and Baratu let out a frustrated grunt as the impact of the blow sent her stumbling backward and out of the circle.

“Tembori’s will does shine on Ashanti today!” the village shaman, Zamwae announced as she stepped into the circle.

I watched as the mystical shaman produced a crude stone knife, sliced the rope from Ashanti’s hands, and then raised the victor’s hand into the air as the crowd went wild.

“That was quite the battle!” Baratu declared as she approached her opponent. “I suppose you were right about the whole ‘striking first’ thing… I should be more patient in the future.”

“That?” Ashanti chuckled coyly. “I made all that up. I was just trying to get inside your head and buy myself more time until I could figure out an opening move.”

“Very clever,” Baratu sighed. “I guess that’s why the Queen Mother always chooses you for the dangerous journeys.”

“Former Queen Mother,” Ashanti reminded the chef. “Nargwai hasn’t sent me on a journey yet, and I hope she doesn’t have to in the next few hours.”

“The next few hours…” Baratu trailed off as Zamwae cut the ropes from her wrists. “It’s hard to believe we’re actually leaving this island before the next sunset.”

“You don’t have to go,” the newly-anointed Queen Mother, Nargwai, noted as she stepped forward. “As much as I believe Matrai’s cooking will be delightful, nothing’s ever going to be the same as what you do in that kitchen.”

“As honored as I am that you think that,” Baratu began. “Our old Queen Mother needs me more. Her and Zikiu. Both of them are going to be eating for two now, and I don’t know if those Dragonkin chefs will ever really be able to satisfy their cravings. They need a true Cero to fulfill their needs.”

“I think you’re gonna find Hali’s food is more than enough,” I chuckled as I announced my presence. “In fact, she’s probably gonna jump at the challenge of making something you Cero will enjoy!”

“Well, there he is!” Batari’s voice proclaimed from somewhere in the crowd, and then the former Queen Mother stepped forward. “We were starting to think you guys were never going to get out of bed.”

The infant wind dragon, Swaer, was wrapped around her right arm like a piece of armor. His angular head was raised up on full alert, and his little black eyes were full of wonder as his noodly whiskers twitched with glee.

“I told you they weren’t ready for the Festival of Mlajik,” Ashanti chuckled. “There was enough palm-wine consumed last night to bring down the Skaduwar himself.”

“You should see the others,” I said with a smirk. “At least I was able to drag myself out of bed. They’re all still laying in there like they’re dead.”

“My palm-wine will do that!” Baratu declared as she puffed out her chest proudly. “It is almost a rite of passage for the Cero people to get completely woozy on palm-wine, particularly when we are celebrating such a monumental occasion.”

“Then I guess you can name us all honorary Cero,” I chuckled. “But seriously, I really need some water right now, or else I’m gonna need to go find another place to lay down.”

“Then by all means,” Batari said. “I shall escort you to the well.”

“I remember where it’s at,” I reassured the former Queen Mother. “I don’t want to take you away from your turn or anything like that.”

“I insist.” The white-haired rhino-woman smiled. “It’s always wise to go to the drinking well in pairs. We’ve had far too many accidents, and in your current state, we’d be just asking for another one.”

“Okay, okay.” I rolled my eyes and shook my head. “I’m perfectly fine, though.”

Come on, Ben, Swaer’s high-pitched voice argued. She’s only trying to look out for ya!

“I know.” I smiled at the tiny wind dragon. “I’m just saying this isn’t the first hangover I’ve ever had, and I’m sure it won’t be my last. But if you’re offering an escort, then I’ll gladly accept.”

As I was speaking, I held out my arm, which Batari swiftly took in her own, and with our arms intertwined, the Queen Mother and I set off toward the well. The sun was high across the savanna as we walked, and a gentle breeze rolled across the landscape to create a sea of swaying grass.

The well was only about a five minute walk from where the fighting circle had been created, so we made it there in no time. There wasn’t much to it, either… It was a simple round structure made out of clay bricks, with a primitive stone bucket hung above the hole in the ground via a simple pulley.

We let our arms fall to the side before I stepped up to the well, grabbed the rope, and slowly lowered the bucked downward.

I coulda just flown down there with it, Swaer noted. I’m small enough to fit down that hole, you know.

“I do know,” Batari chuckled as she scratched her bondmate under the chin. “We should savor this time, Swaer. Give it a few season cycles, and you will be larger than even our largest land dragon.”

Really? Swaer’s dark eyes were wide as he looked at Batari in disbelief. I’ll be bigger than Huwar?

“Much bigger than Huwar,” the white-haired Cero promised. “In fact, if you grow as big as most wind dragons get around here, Huwar and the others will be able to ride upon your back.”

Wow… the little red dragon trailed off. That’ll be the day. Then maybe he won’t call me ‘pipsqueak’ all the time.

“Hold on.” I stopped pulling on the rope and held it in place about halfway up. “You’re able to communicate with Huwar? I thought he wasn’t dragonbonded with anybody yet?”

“He’s not,” Batari noted. “The dragons might not be able to communicate with Ceros or Dragonkin or anyone else of another species, but they are certainly able to communicate with their own kind. It’s usually nonverbal, of course, but they certainly try.”

What else am I supposed to think when the big, green dragon pushes me away from the food bowl and then starts munching away for himself? Swaer pouted. Or when he just looks at me smugly every time I want to test my wind breath out against him. He doesn’t take me seriously at all!

“And have you actually tried to use your wind breath against the guy?” I chuckled and resumed pulling up the water. “I’ve seen you ruin entire orc ships with that cannon you got in your mouth. I bet you could knock him over with just a little sneeze.”

Probably, the wind dragon said. But why would I want to show off my power right away?

“Exactly.” Batari smirked. “The best time to show your true power is when your opponent least expects it. I promise you, Swaer, that Huwar will be completely blindsided when the moment finally arrives, especially if he doubts your strength as you claim he does.”

“Yeah,” I chuckled. “It’s always a big ‘oh shit’ moment when Yoda busts out his lightsaber for the first time.”

The dragon and the rhino-woman both gave me a confused turn of the head, though by this point I was already expecting nobody to get my references.

“I’ll explain it to you later,” I sighed. “When we have about six hours to kill and I can walk you through the entire saga. But only in Release order, since that’s the only way to watch it.”

Soon, the stone bucket was within my grasp, and I snatched it out of the air with my hand. I pulled the edge of the container up to my lips, opened my mouth slightly, and then tilted it back in unison with my head. The ice-cold spring water tickled my tongue as I gulped down its refreshing goodness, and within seconds I felt like my entire outlook on life had been rejuvenated. I swallowed down the entire bucket before I let it swing back on its rope, wiped my mouth, and let out a long “ahhhh.”

“The palm-wine hardly affects me anymore,” Batari chuckled. “Though many of us had these same symptoms when we first discovered you could ferment the palmberries like that.”

“That’d be several decades worth of tolerance talking,” I joked. “Come back to my world, and I’ll make you try Jagermesiter. Then we’ll see who’s fighting the massive hangover in the morning.”

I gulped down another full bucket of the well water before I figured I was recovered enough to continue on with my day. Sure, I still wasn’t at one-hundred percent, but I felt like I could at least function as a human for the moment.

“Are you sure you’ll be okay to move the floating wood vessel?” Batari raised an eyebrow.

“I’ll be fine,” I reassured the Cero woman. “We’re not setting sail for a few more hours, anyway. I don’t want to be out on choppy waters if we can help it.”

“Either way,” the white-haired rhino-woman admitted, “I’m very excited. I’ve never been out on the ocean before… We’ve always just marveled at it from afar. Mainly because we’ve seen the sorts of abominations that emerge from its depths.”

“And we’re going to be sailing right over all those creepy creatures,” I reminded her. “Hopefully, they’ll stay beneath the waves during this journey, but that’s usually just wishful thinking. For whatever reason, the second we get out to sea, some creepy-ass monster gets it in their head that we’ll be an easy snack.”

“Are you an easy snack?” Batari smirked seductively, and I felt all of the blood in my body rush to my dick.

“Not a chance.” I winked back. “Ironically, usually the creature ends up in our bellies, after it bites off more than it can chew.”

“They made the most common mistake in all of nature.” Batari clicked her tongue. “They assume size is all that matters.”

“Well, it matters some…” I smirked, and the Cero woman’s cheeks turned red.

“Of course it does,” Batari confirmed with a giggle. “It does matter a lot. But sometimes the smallest creatures are actually the most deadly. That seems to be the case with you, Draco Rex. We’ve only been together for a few sun cycles, and yet I’ve watched you slaughter creatures double your size and overcome armies that vastly outnumbered your own. One thing is for sure… You are the Apex Predator of this world, and anyone who doesn’t realize that yet is a total fool.”

I honestly didn’t know what to say to that. There was a swell of pride in my chest at the kindness of Batari’s words, as well as a feeling of burning determination to prove them correct.

If I wanted to prove to this world I was the ultimate apex predator, then I was gonna have to hunt down the rest of the fire dragons and burn the fucking Orc Homeland to the ground. Then, and only then, would this world be safe from those brutish pirates and their barbaric wrath.

As I contemplated our situation, I saw a few more figures approaching the well from off in the distance, and when they finally grew closer, I recognized the colorful silhouettes of a Morpho, a Niralope, several Dragonkin, and two Coonag.

It was the rest of my crew.

“Good morning!” I declared as I threw out my hands in greeting. “Did everybody have a good sleep?”

“Don’t start,” Mira grumbled as she rubbed her forehead. “I saw the shape you were in this morning, too.”

“I think I’m going to die,” Nima bemoaned. “Were… Were we poisoned last night?”

“Technically, yes,” Candara noted in a whisper. “Our body responds this way because fermented juice is a poison, and it wants to get it out immediately.”

“Then why do we drink it?” Nima continued as she squinted in the mid-day sun.

“Because it tastes amazing,” the elder Jonas sighed. “And it allows us to be more loose and have more fun when we ingest it. None of us were complaining whatsoever last night.”

“I’m sure Jonas here has many stories involving such intoxication,” Mira snickered. “Stories that the fallen elders of our people wouldn’t want told.”

“Precisely,” Jonas noted. “Which is why they will stay out of the public record.”

I spent the next half hour helping my crew pull up water from the well and then distributing it around to all of my hungover friends, and we chatted away while we recovered. We talked about the journey home, the rations we still had available on the ship, and also explained to Batari how the “floating wooden horse” actually worked.

Before long, we heard the deep, howling bellow of a horn from the other side of the Cero village, and we knew what it signaled.

It was time to begin the journey back home.

My crew and I somberly ventured back to the hut, gathered up the few belongings we had carried with us, and then stepped out onto the savanna once more. As we passed through the threshold of the Queen Mother’s hut, Batari’s face fell into a frown.

The white-haired rhino-woman turned around, leaned against the side of the door, and let out a sigh as she took one last look at the place she had called home for decades.

“I know it’s hard,” I comforted the cloud-kissed beauty. “I miss my home sometimes, too… I mean, I only had a crappy little apartment in the middle of an urban jungle, but it was still nice to have a place to call my own, you know?”

“It’s a strange feeling,” Batari admitted. “Something like a mixture of happiness, sadness, and longing at the same time.”

“That’d be nostalgia,” I explained as I placed my hand on her stomach. “It’s one hell of a drug. But don’t worry… Once we get back to the dragonkin island, you’ll have a room just as nice as this one, and we can start making new memories. You, me, and the little horned baby who’s growing inside of you.”

“I know, Ben.” The white-haired woman gave me a soft smile. “That’s how I know this is the right decision. I’ve never raised a child before, but I can assure you Tembori would not want our child to grow up without a father.”

“I’ll give you all the time you need,” I promised. “Just come and meet the rest of us out here when you’re all done.”

I gave Batari a final pat on the shoulder before I kissed her forehead and headed out. The crew of The Dragon Queen had gathered around the front of the hut, as had the rest of the Cero women who’d decided to make the journey with their former Queen Mother.

Then, of course, there were the dragons. George, Tirian, Swaer, and Huwar stood around in a small circle as they seemed to converse in their own nonverbal language. All four of the dragons chuffed, hummed, and snorted at each other as they made sweeping gestures with their various body parts.

Huwar kept pulling back his lips as he snorted and huffed, almost like he was snarling. However, his eyes were full of happiness as he conversed, and his body looked about as relaxed as you could get.

Meanwhile, it was hard not to laugh at Swaer. The red wind dragon floated in the air above the rest of the dragons, though his body wasn’t even a quarter of the size as theirs. He made over exaggerated movements with his snake-like body as he twisted, turned, and tried to emulate the bigger dragons’ sounds, but all that came out were a few chirps and high-pitched chuffs.

Eventually, Batari came back out from her hut. Her eyes were filled with tears as she walked up to our crew, but she refused to show any bit of weakness on her face. The Cero leader gave us all a nod, and then we began to head to the other side of the village.

When we got there, the entire population of Cero women had gathered to bid us farewell. Nargwai was at the front of the group, and she wore a half smile and a large golden breastplate on her chest. The second we were before them, Nargwai stepped forward and placed her hand onto Batari’s shoulders.

“Words cannot describe my emotions in this moment, Batari,” the new Queen Mother admitted. “Your people are sad to lose you as a Queen Mother, but we will be forever grateful for your leadership. The Cero people would not be the strong, bountiful race we are today if not for you. Yet, it’s not a sad day at all… In fact, we should look at this as the first part of a new story for our people. No matter what the future holds for us as a people, Batari and her friends will always go down in history as the first Cero women to ever venture out into the world beyond, as well as the first two members of our race to ever bear Tembori’s gift of children. Thank you, Batari. For everything.”

“She’s definitely got the sappy speechmaking part down,” Rikuri whispered to Ashanti, and the two rhino-women shared in hush laughter.

Ashanti and Rikuri went silent when Batari shot them a dirty look, and then the former Queen Mother began to address her people.

“The thanks is all mine,” Batari announced. “Nothing in life has quite been as fulfilling as being your Queen Mother, and I will miss you all. But, as Nargwai has established, this is simply a new tale. Hopefully, you will be sharing the story of Batari and the Draco Rex for thousands of season cycles to come. Who knows? Maybe even to future generations of Cero children?”

“I would very much like that,” Nargwai said with a smile. “Farewell, Batari. Farewell, Draco Rex. Farewell, friends of the Cero people. Good luck, and know that you are welcome on our island at any time.”

“This is not a farewell forever, my friend.” Batari smiled. “We will hopefully be back some day.”

“I’ll take care of these guys,” I reassured the Cero women. “I promise.”

We all said our final goodbyes before my crew and I turned around and headed up the mountain at the edge of the Cero village. The Cero women made the trip on the backs of their giant ants, the Mieraks, while the rest of us just traveled on foot. The journey was long and tedious, but we’d done it enough times by now that it was practically second nature. We ventured down the other side of the mountain and then out onto the sprawling plains of the Cero island, where we traveled without much incident.

As we passed by the spot where we’d had our great battle with the orcs, I couldn’t help but smile with macabre delight. The bones of the fuckers were still scattered about the savanna, and they were now in various states of decay. Orc bodies had been picked clean by the scavengers of the Cero island, with only scant bits of flesh still remaining on their decaying bones.

Hell, if I hadn’t already known they were orcs, I never would have guessed.

“I still can’t believe you convinced the Cero to just leave all the bodies out here,” Darya noted as we passed through the newly-made graveyard. “If it were up to me, I would have burned each and every one of these disgusting pirates, just so I wouldn’t have to stare at their corpses.”

“It wasn’t that difficult.” Candara shrugged. “Strange as it may sound, decaying flesh is great for the soil. Which then means the grass will flourish, and the animals who inhabit this island will have more food to eat. The animals that eat the grass will be well fed, which means the predators will have good meals, as well.”

“I understand how it works,” Darya grumbled. “I just hate looking at orcs, even the dead ones.”

The grassy graveyard thinned out the closer we got to the shore, but the scattering of orc bodies never ceased. None of that mattered, though, when we got to our beautiful schooner ship, The Dragon Queen.

“There she is!” I proclaimed happily as I turned to the Cero women. “I’ll admit, I was a little worried I was never gonna see her again when we found out the orcs stole her. But here she is, in all her glory.”

“We’ll definitely need to have the maids clean this thing when we get back home,” Zarya grumbled as she pinched her nose. “I can smell the orc stench from all the way over here.”

“Okay, so she might need a bit of a bath,” I chuckled. “But we can get past it. Deep down below the orc filth, she’s still our beloved vessel.”

“Will… Will that be able to fit us all?” Zikiu gasped. “I’ve had to deal with some complicated space problems before, but nothing like this. How will that thing stay afloat if we have so many people, plus the dragons and the Mieraks on it?”

“Tirian and Swaer can fly,” I explained. “And I think George here will just be swimming along the side. If that’s okay with him, of course.”

It doesn’t bother me a bit, dear one! George proclaimed with a chuff. That just means I get the first chance to catch any of the animals we run into along the way.

Save some for us, Tirian declared as he motioned to Huwar with his head. The rations on the ship aren’t exactly filling for our giant bellies. Plus, we’ve got this big guy now, and he looks like he could eat a whole pack of wild boars.

Huwar tilted his oval-shaped head at Tirian, though I wasn’t sure if he actually heard anything or understood. When the land dragon bared his teeth and let out a loud huff, I figured he got the gist.

I will toss up the best creatures for you all to enjoy, George reassured. We’re feeding four instead of two now, after all. Though I’m not sure what exactly those giant insects actually eat.

“They’ll eat whatever you give them,” Batari chuckled.

“The boat will stay afloat,” I informed Zikiu. “I could go into a bunch of detail about the physics and buoyancy and all that, but it would be a lot easier if I just tell you to trust me.”

“I trust you, Draco Rex.” Zikiu nodded. “I trust you with my life.”

“Well, let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.” I winked at the Cero with red tattoos. “Now, come on, everyone… Let’s hop aboard and set sail.”

The Cero women were hesitant as we waded out into the salty water and approached our ship, and they were even more uncertain when they saw us climbing up the rope ladder that hung over the side of The Dragon Queen.

“Forgive me for asking, Draco Rex,” Zamwae said as she looked up the side of the vessel. “But how will Huwar get up there? I don’t think the rope will hold him.”

“That’s what the ramp is for,” I chuckled. “Somebody just needs to get up there and lower it down.”

“We’re on it!” Nadir proclaimed as she sprang up onto the rope. “If Lezan can even keep up with me.”

“I could beat you in my sleep,” Lezan scoffed. “I don’t even need the help of a rope. Watch.”

The multicolor-haired racoon woman leapt out of the water, stabbed her razor-sharp claws into the wood of the ship, and then began to scale the side of The Dragon Queen herself. Not to be outdone, Nadir began her ascent with the determination of a middle schooler trying to beat out their rival in gym class.

“Watch the trim!” I called up to the Coonag women. “We just had those redone before we left!”

It took the racoon women no time at all to get up to the top of the ship, and they then hopped over the side and disappeared onto the deck. Once that happened, it was only a few more minutes before we heard the clanking of metal chains and the groaning of moving wood, and the ship’s ramp began to descend.

We hurried up onto the deck of the vessel, where I then promptly dashed over to my spot behind the steering mechanism, grasped the wheel firml, and let out a happy sigh.

Even though the palace back on the Dragonkin island was my home, I always truly felt my best when I was here, behind the wheel of a ship out on the open sea.

As soon as everyone was in their positions, I began to bark out orders, and the ship itself seemed to come alive. My crewmates began to hoist the sails, tie down the ropes, and turn the mechanisms to raise the anchor, and soon I felt the ship underneath me shift as it floated up off the ground.

The Cero women were all petrified when we went buoyant, and I smiled smugly as I watched them all grasp onto their Mieraks for balance. Huwar, on the other hand, simply laid down on the deck as flat as he could, just like a dog that was trying to cower from a thunderstorm. When we finally caught our heading and started off into the ocean, the entire party of Cero woman let out a sharp gasp.

Even Rikuri and Ashanti, the “baddasses who could never be bothered,” held each other like fearful toddlers when they first experienced the sea.

“Tirian?” I asked the silver-scaled dragon via our dragonbond. “Are the skies clear enough for you to find our heading?”

Sure thing, Ben! Tirian responded. Nothing but blue sky all around us…

“What about those whirlpools?” Mira reminded me. “Please don’t tell me we’re going to sail through those again.”

“That’s what Tirian’s up there for,” I said as I pointed to the dragon above. “He’s going to keep an eye on the horizon. That way we can sail out really, really far and hopefully avoid those whirlpools a mile.”

“Let’s hope so.” The green-haired warrior nodded.

Thanks to the combination of Tirian’s vantage point, some smooth sailing on my part, and the amazing crew of The Dragon Queen, we were able to avoid the field of whirlpools altogether.

The trip continued onward without so much as a hitch or cloud in the sky, and George occasionally would let out an excited chuff before he tossed a dead sea creature up onto the deck, where it would be promptly devoured by the rest of the dragons.

Meanwhile, the Cero women eventually got brave enough to come down from the backs of their Mieraks. They stumbled around for a few seconds as they tried to catch their footing on the rocking boat, but it didn’t take long before they cautiously made their way around the deck.

“So, this is what it’s like to be out on the water, huh?” Ashanti mused as she walked over to my position. “I would have thought there’d be a lot more to it than just moving around some ropes and turning a wheel.”

“Would you like to try?” I offered sarcastically. “It’s waaaay harder than it looks. You see the rest of our crew here? If one of them slips up even in the tiniest of ways, we could find ourselves capsized or completely blown off course. Take it from me, Ashanti… That’s why it’s so important to have a good crew aboard. You literally have to trust these people with your livelihood and sometimes even your life.”

“So, it’s almost like the group exercises we do from our mounts,” the three-horned Cero woman observed. “There is one particular exercise we use to train ourselves for being surrounded and outnumbered. Basically, we have to form up into a circle, pick a target, and then ride around continuously. As we’re moving, we’re supposed to count, one enemy for every Cero in our group… Then we fire at that enemy. When that enemy goes down, we count again and shoot another one. It’s a great defense mechanism, but it only works if you can trust your fellow warriors to hit the correct target.”

“That sounds pretty comparable,” I admitted. “Though that also makes me think you’d be a natural at sailing a ship.”

“Me?” the rhino-woman gasped. “Impossible.”

“Anything’s possible when you’re part of the Draco Rex’s crew.” I smiled at the beautiful Cero. “I think you’d make a fine--”

Before I could finish my thought, I heard the sound of something erupt from the water on our port side. Suddenly, the blue-scaled body of George appeared over the edge of the boat, slammed onto the deck, and caused our entire vessel to tilt intensely to the side.

“Hold onto something!” Mira cried out as we continued to tip toward our port side.

The Dragon Queen moved until we were nearly horizontal with the ground, but thankfully she stopped before we were all capsized. As the boat began to teeter back upright, however, my eyes caught George’s assailant.

I couldn’t make out what it was exactly, but I saw the bright red skin of something as it slid back below the surface of the water and then swam away in a hurry.

“George!” I shouted to my bondmate. “Are you alright?

N-Never better, the water dragon grumbled weakly.

“What was that thing, Draco Rex?” Ashanti demanded as she pulled her bow from her shoulder. “A deadly creature from the deep?”

“Something like that,” I growled. “I just hope it decided to fuck off and leave us alone.”

Who knows? Maybe this thing was just a curious predator, like most of the sharks back on my world. Maybe the creature tried to take a bite of George, realized it didn’t like the taste, and then fled.

I should have known my luck wasn’t going to be anywhere near that good.

There was a sudden, jarring impact off the starboard side of The Dragon Queen, and I was forced down onto my knees from the impact. The next thing I knew, I heard a loud, scuttling sound, almost like two bones being rubbed together in rapid succession.

That’s when it came over the side of the ship.

Upon first glance, the thing looked like an oversized crab. It walked on six equally long legs, all of which supported its rotund body. The creature had two slitted eyes that sat just above its mouth, which itself took up half its body, and multiple rows of razor-sharp teeth stared back at me in a circular pattern as drool oozed from the lipless mouth.

Worst of all, however, were the damn claws.

Unlike the claws of a lobster or most of the crabs I’d seen before, this thing had two cleavers on its wrists each the size of a compact car, and their insides were both lined with spikes that looked downright lethal. Even the tips of the freaking things were curved into a lethal sickle shape.

The monster stood at least fifteen feet tall and about ten foot wide and was covered from head to toe in a glistening, bright red shell.

I didn’t know what this thing was, but one thing was for sure.

If we wanted to continue our journey, I was gonna have to turn this thing into a rangoon.