by Logan Jacobs
“On the count of three, pull with all you have!” Mira instructed. “One, two, three!”
The four of us pulled the boar fairly easily up into the air with the help of the meat pole, and I quickly tied it off on the pegs and secured it as tightly as I could. When I looked at our finished product, the boar was hanging so its hindquarters hung at a ninety-degree angle, and its throat was perfectly positioned over the hole that Darya had dug. This was all due to Mira’s expert knowledge, and I knew it.
So, when we stood before the boar, I handed her the spear.
“I would like you to have the honor of gutting what I hope is the first of our many kills together,” I said with a smile.
Mira grinned at me before she took the super sharp spear from my hand, easily opened up the abdominal cavity of the boar, and then slit its throat ear to ear. We watched as gravity worked for us, and all the innards fell into the hole, followed by the steady stream of blood coming from the jugular vein. A few of the organs fought against gravity, though, so Mira and I had to reach in and pull them out.
While we did this, the twins opened up the birds, removed their heads, and quickly cleaned them out over the hole next to the boar. The skinning and plucking could wait until we got them all back to the village, now that they had been bled and their insides were removed.
We let the boar hang for as long as we dared, but I was pretty confident it was well drained, so Darya quickly buried the offal, and we slowly let the boar down onto the hammock.
Just as we were about to finish packing up and heading back to the village, I heard a low growl from behind me. I picked up my spear and whirled around to hurl it at whatever was stalking me, but right as I was about to let loose, Mira reached out and grabbed my arm.
“Ben, don’t,” she said in a hushed panic. “That’s a water dragon!”
Chapter Eleven
At the mention of the words “water dragon”, the twins moved forward to get a better look. I had been warned by the queen herself to be cautious of these creatures, but the women with me seemed to be anything but wary. They were more in awe than anything, so I lowered my spear and kept as still as possible.
Then the creature growled again and peeked its head out of the bushes.
I could see how this could have once been considered a majestic creature, but the beast before me was seriously lacking in the magnificent category. I didn’t know the gender of the dragon, but I operated under the assumption that it was a male for now. His eyes were undoubtedly intelligent, but they lacked any liveliness. His scales would likely shine like all the colors of the sea if they were healthy, but instead they were falling off him and leaving red blotches on his hide.
As if he could sense I was studying him, the dragon moved out of the bushes and closer to where I was standing. I didn’t know how big these things got, but this fella was about the size of a border collie with a three foot long tail. His feet were large compared to the rest of him, which made me think this one still had some growing to do. He seemed almost skeletal, and I thought surely these beasts packed more meat on them than that.
Then I turned to look at Mira and saw tears in her eyes.
“This is a baby, and a small one at that,” she whispered, “most likely the runt of his litter. They are herd animals and generally never alone. That makes me think this one is lost, but more likely was left behind because he was too weak to keep up. He is starving, Ben.”
I looked back at the tough warriors who had just slayed birds in the jungle and gutted a boar that outweighed them. All three of the women had tears rolling down their faces, and I knew I had to at least attempt to befriend the beast.
Hopefully, I didn’t lose any of my appendages in the process.
“Here goes nothing,” I muttered under my breath.
I picked up one of the birds and started to throw it to the dragon, but then I realized it was probably too big for him to eat all at once, and I didn’t need a damn dragon choking on bones right now. So, I took my spear and made quick work of dividing the bird into quarters. Then I tossed a piece to the dragon, and he snatched it out of the air.
It took him a few minutes of crunching to get the meat chewed up, and I was damn glad I’d cut it up for him. I held out another piece, and the dragon moved a few feet closer but stopped just out of my reach. He was a smart little guy, I would give him that. I tossed the next piece to him, and he made quick work of that one, too. The next piece I held out within arm’s reach, but I didn’t throw it, and I watched as he contemplated taking it from my hand.
He did this little move where he was sort of hopping on his front feet, like I’d seen several dogs do when they got excited about treats, and I heard the warriors behind me let out a collective “awww.”
I had to admit to myself, but only myself, that it was an adorable move on his part.
The little dragon finally got the confidence to take the piece from my outstretched hand. I expected him to snatch it and run, but he stayed where he was and happily chomped on his prize. I held the last piece close to me, and this time, he didn’t even do his little dance before coming and taking it out of my hand. Then he sat down right in front of me and ate without a care in the world.
When he finished that piece, I swore he looked me dead in the eyes and then at the other birds behind me. I glanced over my shoulder to see one more had already been cut into pieces, and I cocked an eyebrow at the three women behind me.
They all shrugged their shoulders, but they also all looked guilty.
“Okay, hungry fella,” I said to the dragon, “one more piece for the road, and then we have to head back to the village. You are welcome to join us, or you can go about your own business.”
I handed him one last piece of the bird, and he slurped it right out of my hand and chomped happily away while we gathered up our things to go. I kept my eyes straight ahead for the first several yards, since I was afraid to look back. I knew my heart would be broken if the little guy wasn’t following, and I would also worry about him out here in the jungle, all alone and starving.
The warrior women seemed to have the same thoughts as I did, because none of them looked back either. It seemed temptation got the best of Mira, though, and I watched as she slowly turned her head to look behind her.
A smile crept onto her face, and she motioned with a chin nod to the space between me and Zarya.
I glanced over my right shoulder to see the dragon prancing along behind us. If he had been a dog, his tongue would have been lolling out of his mouth, and his tail would have been wagging at top speed.
I felt a huge smile come to my mouth. This was definitely a day for the records.
As we approached the village, I felt the dragon draw closer to me for protection. He did his best to hide behind me, but he never stopped moving forward. He already seemed to trust me to watch over him, and I wasn’t going to let him down.
We were initially greeted with cheers, since the first thing the village saw was the enormous boar we were toting between us, but Mira and Darya did their best to keep the noise down by holding up their hands and shushing the women we passed.
The dragon was soon noticed, and hushed whispers started to float all around us. There were gasps of shock, and some women openly sobbed at the sight of the water dragon. Word spread ahead of us quickly, which was both a good and a bad thing. The noise was kept to a minimum, but every single woman in the village came out to get a look at the little guy.
I watched the dragon move up to walk between Zarya and me, and he sniffed the air along the way. I guessed he figured he was pretty safe, and soon he was prancing again and taking in the sights.
We made a beeline directly for the palace. This was all too much good news not to deliver it straight to the queen firsthand. Word must have reached her moments before we got to the courtyard, though, because just as we approached, Nerissa came rushing out of the same side door we’d used to enter the ceremony hall last night.
She met my eyes
, gave me a bright smile, and took note of the boar and even the hammock we were carrying it on. I knew the moment she set eyes on the dragon, because one of her hands flew to her heart and the other one flew to her mouth. Then tears bloomed fast in her eyes and poured down her cheeks without hesitation.
“Oh,” was all she said, but that one word held a lot of emotion in it.
Hali appeared directly behind the queen, and she also had to place her hands over her mouth to curb her reaction. She composed herself quickly, though, and motioned for the four women behind her to relieve us of the boar and the hammock.
I managed to snag one more piece of the bird before they took the hammock away. I was interested to see if the water dragon would stay with me, or follow his stomach and go after the boar. He had moved closer to me when the women came to take the fresh meat away, but he didn’t cower behind me. I watched as he sniffed the air when they walked away, but he stayed put right next to me. So, I handed him the bird as a reward for not leaving, and he happily munched that right down.
The sight of the dragon taking food right out of my hand was too much for the queen and a few of the other women in the courtyard. They let out a few shrieks of joy and laughter at seeing how much he already trusted me.
The little fella jumped a bit, but adjusted quickly back to his happy self. He seemed to know they were all excited about him, and he pranced around in a circle before sitting down right next to my feet.
“Great, you’re a showoff and an attention seeker,” I said to the dragon, and I swear, if he could smile, he was doing just that. He also looked at me as if he understood every word I’d just said.
The queen took this opportunity to approach us slowly so as not to scare him. The dragon didn’t appear the least bit phased as she got closer, and he actually seemed excited about her presence.
I wondered if he was picking up on my feelings because I was definitely thrilled to have her closer to me.
“Ben, I just can’t believe this!” Nerissa cried with wide eyes. “You leave to search for manure and come back with a wild boar and a water dragon!”
“Oh, shit!” I slapped my forehead. “I forgot all about the fertilizer!”
“I think that is definitely something we can forgive, considering what you returned with instead,” she laughed. “Please, all of you come sit down and tell me how this happened.”
We followed her over to a table sitting under a pergola covered in the woven seagrass just like all the huts were. That reminded me of my additional plans for the bamboo we’d discovered, and I added it once again to my mental list.
“Your Majesty,” I said, “in addition to using the bamboo for making bows, I think we can use it to secure the roofs of the huts and palace so when the storm season hits, rain won’t leak through, and the buildings will retain heat better.”
She gave me a curious look and then burst out into laughter.
I frowned. Hell, I thought it was a good idea.
“You never cease to amaze me, Ben,” she replied and assuaged my fears. “That is a brilliant idea, and one we will get started on soon, but first, please tell me about today’s events.”
Between the warriors and myself, we told the story about finding the ample amounts of bamboo just a short distance into the jungle, discovering the stream, and following it to where the birds were nesting, where each woman took her turn in describing how they killed their birds. Then Darya told the queen how the boar tried to attack her and how I managed to kill it with two successful hits. Zarya described the trek out of the forest and how she spotted a variety of flora that she planned to bring back to Talise. Then Mira took over the story with how she remembered the meat pole her brother and father had built, and as soon as she saw the alcove, she knew it still had to be there.
I finished our tale by explaining how we cleaned the boar and birds and how that got the attention of our little dragon friend. I detailed out how I coaxed him closer with pieces of the bird and how he just followed us back to the village.
Nerissa stood up from the table and walked over to get a closer look at him. She kept a respectable distance between herself and the dragon, but he didn’t seem to mind that she was there.
“He is very young,” she said as she studied the creature, “maybe two moon cycles at the most. He still has his baby teeth and hasn’t blown his first piece of sea-glass yet. When he does, it will cause his baby teeth to loosen and fall out, where they will be replaced with beautiful but fierce adult teeth.”
“Will instinct tell him when it’s time to produce the glass?” I asked.
“I believe so,” she said, “or at least I hope so. I know that if he doesn’t lose his baby teeth, there is no way they can keep up with the demands of his body, and he will perish from starvation.”
“Do you think that is what’s happening to him now?”
I couldn’t tolerate the idea of losing this little guy. I’d already grown rather fond of him in the few hours we’d spent together.
“No,” she reassured, “his scales are still soft enough that they can fall off with ease. He has some time. There is no need to worry just yet. We will just make sure he is very well taken care of and has the proper nutrition he needs, and I think it will all go as it should.”
This went a long way in making me feel more secure about the little guy’s future. I knew the women of this village well enough to know this water dragon wasn’t about to suffer one single bit.
Speaking of food, it had been a long time since I scarfed down the cakes that Talise had given me this morning, and my stomach growled and churned at the neglect it had suffered.
As if on cue directly from my gut, plates of food started to arrive along with pitchers of water and a light ale made from citrus. I poured myself some water and noticed a large basin full of water had also been brought to the table. I assumed that this was for our new friend, so I sat it down in front of him.
He lapped at it cheerfully and even stuck his foot in it. He reminded me so much of a goofy labrador puppy that I had to laugh at his antics. He looked up at me when I did, and I noticed some of the dullness had faded from his eyes, and they seemed to have a new bit of sparkle to them.
I turned to help myself to the food laid out on the table and saw Talise approaching with a tray in both of her hands and a huge smile on her face.
“You all have had a big day!” she exclaimed as she approached.
The water dragon looked up at the new voice and tilted his head as if to study her. Then the healer placed both of the trays down on the table and turned to greet the dragon.
“Merry evening to you, ancient one,” she told him.
He looked at her for a moment, and seemingly satisfied with her greeting, continued to play with his water.
In typical Talise fashion, she giggled at his antics and proceeded to kiss and hug each of us at the table.
“I come bearing special gifts from Hali!” she declared.
I looked at the trays she had set down. One of them was piled high with raw, fresh fish, and I had a good idea who those were for. The other dish was more of a mystery, but still smelled delicious.
“These are the birds you caught earlier today,” Talise informed us, “I am supposed to tell you Hali has big plans for the boar tomorrow, but she hopes these dishes will keep you satisfied until then.”
I was beyond excited to try the bird and see what magic Hali had worked on it. It looked like it had been roasted along with some wild green onions and mushrooms and laid on a bed of greens and some kind of mash. My stomach practically screamed at me to get started, so I helped myself to a big serving of the bird and trimmings along with some of the fruit and bread from the other trays.
“Would you like to have one of these, George?” I asked the dragon as I held up a fish.
“George?” Mira giggled. “Why George?”
“I really don’t know,” I answered, “I just looked at him, and the name popped into my head.”
“Say
it again and see if he responds,” Nerissa encouraged.
“George,” I said, “are you hungry? Would you like a fish?”
The dragon looked at me as if he knew he was George and to let me know that yes, he would very much like a fish, please and thank you.
I handed him the top fish off the pile, and he took it gently from my hands. He wasn’t as ravenous as he was earlier, so he took his time to eat the fish.
Mira erupted into a fit of giggles, and it spread like wildfire as I laughed openly and unapologetically. I didn’t know if I had ever felt this much joy in my life before, but it was quickly becoming an everyday occurrence with these beautiful serpent women.
Once the laughter died down a bit, we all grew silent as we dug into our food. The bird was absolutely divine and reminded me of a Thanksgiving turkey. I was pretty sure the mash was made out of coarse ground coconut, almost like a polenta, but it was so delicious with the greens, mushrooms, and wild onions I didn’t even care that it was coconut. I ate a second helping of all of it, along with too many pieces of the flat fry bread to count, and I decided it was the best meal I’d ever eaten.
I handed George fish throughout our meal, and by the fifth one, it looked as though he had finally gotten full. He only ate the soft middle part of that fish and left the head and tail on the ground. Then he stood up to stretch and then walked off to the side of the courtyard presumably to relieve himself. I picked up the remnants of the fish while he was gone and set it on the tray with the other bones. No sense in letting him play with it and make a mess.
George returned a few minutes later, took a few more drinks of water, and plopped down right on top of my feet.
I was the proud owner of a labrador dragon named George, and I couldn’t be happier.
The warrior women repeated the story of today’s adventure to Talise while I sipped the fruity ale and just took the time to enjoy the moment. The sun had set a few hours ago, and the day was starting to take its toll on me. I yawned heartily and knew it was time to retire to the hut with Talise, so I gave her a look across the table, and she flashed me a knowing smile. Then I gently nudged George awake with my foot and stood to say goodnight to these amazing women. I hugged and kissed all of them before I offered my arm to Talise.
