by Logan Jacobs
The fight between Sela and Darya didn’t last as long, but was somehow more brutal. Sela drew a good bit of blood from Darya when she slashed the outside of the twin’s thigh with a spear. This distracted Darya just enough for Sela to sweep her off the post. The two women congratulated one another with a hug, but not with the enthusiasm and good sportsmanship the other two had shown.
Then there was a quick breather while the last two contestants prepared for the final battle.
“Well, what do ya think, George?” I murmured as I looked down at my scaly companion. “Liking the games so far?
I’d been petting George the whole time the games were going to ease the tension I was feeling. His dragon hum was quite loud, and I thought it went a long way to keep me and Nerissa calm. I was not fond of these women beating the hell out of one another for my affections, but that wasn’t all they were getting out of the deal. It was a chance for them to procreate and secure the future of their tribe, but at the end of the day, it was still my dick they were fighting over.
Which felt ridiculous … but a part of me revelled in it.
Sela and Mira took their places on the posts after a few minutes of respite, and as Isla signaled for the fight to begin, I held my breath.
It didn’t take long for the fight to turn dirty.
Within moments, I could see where both women were bleeding from various cuts on their bodies, and the jabs they were dealing out to one another were getting closer and closer to vital parts.
My stress was beginning to skyrocket, but I was trying to keep my cool so the queen didn’t get upset. I risked a glance at her, and she met my eyes. We both had the same expressions of concern on our faces.
George had moved closer to me and placed his head in my lap. I was still caressing his soft scales to soothe my nerves, but the fight was getting brutal enough that my dragon wasn’t able to keep me calm. Soon, George started making a weird noise, again. It wasn’t the hum or the chuffing, but something of a whooshing sound deep in his throat. It got more and more progressive, and it concerned me enough to pull my attention away from the increasingly violent fight.
I looked down at my water dragon, and he appeared to be choking on something.
“George?” I gasped in shock.
I started trying to pry his mouth open so I could see what the hell was stuck in there, but then he suddenly opened his mouth, and a shiny chunk of something came flying out and landed in my lap.
Nerissa had also turned her concern to the water dragon trying to die in my lap and saw what I picked up off my lap. It looked like… a piece of glass the size of a walnut.
Was this the infamous sea-glass?
I wrapped my hand around it and looked up just in time to see Sela take a swipe at the space directly over Mira’s heart, and Mira returned the favor by slicing toward the other woman’s throat.
They were going to kill each other.
I stood up before I even had a chance to think, and all I saw were splatters of blood.
“Stop the mother fucking fight!” I screamed at the top of my lungs.
Suddenly, a sharp pain ran up both of my arms, and I saw the skin start to bubble where the pain was.
Before I could acknowledge what was happening, my world went dark, and I lost all consciousness.
Chapter Thirteen
“We’re gonna need a bigger boat!” I yelled as I bolted upright.
Then I groaned and palmed my head as it throbbed in protest.
“What the fuck?” I muttered and squinted against the pain. I’d just had the weirdest dream about swimming through the water, but I was swimming faster than humanly possible and urgently trying to get somewhere. Then the dream switched to me being on land surrounded by people I’d never met, including kids, and I felt the pressing urge to get them on the boat. A boat that was way too small to save them all.
I blinked several times to clear the stars from my vision. Everything was too bright, too clear, and with too many details. The sky was dark overhead, pinpricked by a billion pale stars, and I was able to count the eyelashes on all the sets of eyes staring at me. Most of the faces were in shock, though some looked terrified, and a few seemed overjoyed.
The closest person was Nerissa, but she was still a few feet away from me. I tried to ask her what happened, but then a sharp pain bounced off the inside of my skull like a rubber ball, and I slammed my eyes shut against it.
“Fucking hell, which one of you drugged my drink this time?” I groaned as I rubbed my throbbing temples and tried to find the strength to look around again. If that’s what this headache was, I swore to the gods, I was carrying a flask with me from now on and never accepting another drink from these crazy women.
“Ben,” the queen said quietly, but her voice shook with an unidentifiable emotion, “nobody put anything in your drink. You need to open your eyes and look at what has happened.”
“The way you say that,” I answered with my eyes closed, “makes me think that’s the last thing I want to do.
I heard her tinkling laugh along with a few others, so it couldn’t be all that bad, right?
“It is a lot to take in,” she admitted, “but I have faith you will handle it just fine.”
“Where’s George?” I asked as my heart started to pound, but my eyes remained shut. The last thing I remembered was him choking on something, and I didn’t know what I’d do if he was dead, killed by a fish bone or something.
“He is right beside you, Ben,” Nerissa said gently. “He is fine. He won’t let anyone get close to you other than me. I moved back after making sure you were unharmed. He was quite distressed.”
Wait, that’s right. He coughed something up into my lap, and I grabbed it right before yelling for the fight to stop. Mira and Sela had been trying to kill one another.
“Mira?” I asked. “And Sela?”
“We are here,” they both answered at the same time.
“Good,” I grumbled with my eyes still closed, “now I can yell at you both myself.”
“Not if you don’t open your eyes,” Mira huffed.
I grumbled and slowly cracked open my eyes. Everything was still too bright, but it wasn’t as shocking as it was the first time. Then I looked down to see George laying with his head in my lap. He was so bright, so shiny, I almost closed my eyes again at the attack on my pupils. Instead, I decided to reach out and touch his glowing scales.
As soon as I did, everything in my vision calmed down back to mostly normal, except I could still see in greater detail. Instead of seeing the grass I was sitting on as a whole, I could tell each blade was unique from the one next to it. I looked at the wooden pillars the women had been fighting on, and I could see each grain that wove together to create the tree trunk. I turned my head to the night sky again and could see heavenly bodies I’d never known existed up there.
Then I glanced back down to the dragon in my lap, and I could see the individual swirls of copper and amber in his eyes as they studied me. Dozens of bright, iridescent colors exploded together to make up the scales that covered his body, and those same scales spread onto my hands and arms and blended the two of us together so well, it was hard to know where George stopped and I began.
Sweet fucking hell. I had scales. Dragon scales.
My heart picked up pace rapidly and sounded like a high school drumline was trying to make its way out of my chest. I felt bile swish around in my stomach, and it threatened to come spewing out all over the place. Then I started to hyperventilate. This was it. I’d been pushed over the edge, and I was going to freak the fuck out and lose every bit of my mind I had left.
So long, sanity. Been nice knowing ya.
Suddenly, George crawled up into my lap and put his face right in front of mine. I got an overwhelming sense of warmth and peace from him, and immediately, every ounce of panic I had just disappeared and faded away like a bad dream. I could breathe again, and my heart slowed down to its normal pace.
I leaned in, and the w
ater dragon put his forehead to mine.
“Calm yourself, dear one,” said a deep, ancient voice.
I jumped back to see if George had really spoken, or if I’d indeed lost every bit of sanity I had left. I had a good feeling it was a mix of both.
“Did … did you just talk?” I whispered so only he could hear me.
“Yes,” the water dragon replied, and I could have sworn he sounded amused, “but only you can hear me. We have much to discuss, Ben, but you need to deal with the issues at hand right now. Stand up and speak with your queen. I will be right here.”
“Hold on,” I whispered frantically, “wait just one damn minute. How is this happening? How are you in my head? I don’t even know if I want you in there!”
“I will explain everything to you very soon,” the dragon assured me. “Right now is neither the place nor the time, dear one.”
“I’m just supposed to accept that answer?” I demanded.
“Yes, Ben,” was the only answer I got.
“The fuck I will!” I said as I slammed my eyes shut again. “I want to know who you are, what the fuck just happened to me, and what in all the gods names are you doing in my head! Right fucking now!”
I might have been overreacting a bit, but how much was I supposed to fucking take? Everything from the washing up on an island, to webbed feet, to four legged sharks, to impregnating two women, to fighting ugly orc-like raiders, to now having scales and a dragon in my head came crashing down on me all at once.
“I am Ladonis,” the ancient voice added. “You and the young dragon have soul bonded, and I am here to guide the both of you through your bonding, Ben.”
“I swear,” I grumbled as I took a deep breath, “there is only so much of this cryptic bullshit I am willing to take.”
“All will make sense soon, Ben, I swear.”
After a few minutes passed and I didn’t throw up or die, I finally started to calm down. I still wasn’t sure I could do this. It was all too weird, to say the least, and I’d just about had enough of this bizarre shit happening to me. I started to protest again and demand answers, but when I opened my eyes to confront the dragon, I found myself staring into the eyes of the glorious animal.
Suddenly, like a warm shower on a cold day, I felt so much relief knowing I wasn’t alone. I didn’t understand exactly what was going on, and I was still pretty freaked out about the scales and superhero vision, but a magnificent water dragon had my back, and that said a lot and calmed me a good bit for reasons I had yet to figure out.
So, I stood up, dusted myself off, gathered my composure, and addressed my pregnant queen.
Damn, I’d been through a lot today.
“Nerissa,” I said, and I sounded steadier than I thought possible, “what happened?”
“You gave us quite a scare,” she said as she fought to keep her lips from trembling. “You yelled for the fight to stop, and then you dropped to the ground and had some kind of seizure. Suddenly, you were surrounded by a bright light, and when it died down, you had the dragon markings and you were unconscious.”
I looked around at the women who surrounded me and found nothing but looks of shock and awe. I felt like a one-man freak show at a traveling circus.
“I take it by the look on your faces this is something you have never seen before,” I said to all of them with a cocked eyebrow.
“Not to this extent,” my beautiful queen replied as she shook her head fervently, and her eyes were wide with awe. “I was fairly young when my late mate Zale bonded with his dragon Geysis, but it definitely wasn’t quite that extreme. Your bonding seemed to be a hundred times more dramatic.”
“I’m not sure how to feel about that or what it means,” I told her with a frown. “I definitely have more questions than answers.”
“My first thought is maybe it is because you aren’t from here, so your body had to adapt more,” Nerissa mused. “When you brought George back to the village, because you weren’t of our kind, I had no idea this was even possible, or I would have warned you.”
“Your queen is correct,” the ancient voice in my head remarked, “you had to become dragon-born to bond with a dragon.”
“Something has definitely changed with me,” I explained and pointedly ignored the voice, “so that makes sense. Do you know if Geysis talked to Zale? Like inside his head so only he could hear his dragon?”
“Yes,” she nodded, “they spoke like that often. It was kind of funny to just hear one side of a conversation, but I got used to it.”
“That makes me feel better,” I sighed. “Could he see and hear things a lot better after the bonding? I mean, like it’s insane how clearly I can see all the different shades of blue and green in your eyes from where I sit right now.”
“That is something I don’t know about,” she smiled, “but I promise to help you figure it out in any way I can.”
“Thank you, my queen.” I smiled back before I took a deep breath. “I will put all of this away for now. Let’s take care of the warriors and enjoy our feast.”
One thing at a time, Ben. One thing at a time.
“But how are you feeling?” Nerissa asked with a frown, and she reached out tentatively and put her hand on my newly scaled arm.
I wanted to tell her I was fine, but this woman was going to carry my child, so I decided to tell her the truth.
“To be honest,” I sighed, “I feel like I’m one step away from falling off a cliff, but I’m doing my best to wrap my head around all of this.”
“It is certainly a lot to take in,” the queen admitted as her eyes roved over my newly improved body, “but I must say, these changes rather suit you, Ben.”
“Yeah?” I asked with a grin, and I flexed my arm under her fingers. “You like my new look?”
“Very much,” Nerissa replied with a glint in her eyes.
“Yeah, I agree,” Mira chimed in, and I turned to see the warrior raking her gaze over me, too.
In fact, all the women were studying me with thinly veiled lust in their eyes.
This shit might be crazy, but a guy could get used to this.
“Good to know,” I chuckled before I turned my attention fully to Mira and Sela, and they at least had the decency to look ashamed after trying to kill one another. Mira looked like she’d fared better, but not by much. Both warriors had bandages on deep wounds, their clothes were splattered with blood, and the crowd was tense and quiet as they waited to hear what I had to say.
“Ben--” Mira said hesitantly when she caught my look, but I cut her off.
“I am not happy with either of you,” I frowned, “both of you are too precious to lose, and you put yourselves and the whole tribe at risk today. I don’t know who started fighting dirty first, but--”
“It was me, Ben,” Mira interrupted, “I drew first blood, and I did it intentionally.”
“Why would you--”
“Ben,” Sela cut me off, and I sighed.
These women were never going to let me speak.
I turned to stare at Sela, and she flinched a bit at my glare.
“Mira only drew first blood because I missed her on my attempt,” she continued under my scrutiny, “I had every intention of nicking the tendon at her exposed ankle so she would fall and, and I, uh, missed. Mira blocked my move and countered with her own, as she had every right to do so.”
“We got lost in the moment, Ben,” Mira added with a contrite expression, “but understand we would never do grievous or deadly harm to one another. Sela and I have always competed ferociously, but at the end of the day, we are like sisters, and we love and value each other.”
“I guess I should have realized that,” I admitted with a nod. “It’s just that seeing blood flying from both of you put me on edge. I should have trusted that you knew what you were doing, though.”
“I would never let it go too far,” Nerissa reassured me as she put her hand on my shoulder. “I have seen these two fight for so long, I didn’t think to warn yo
u that it could get a little ugly.”
“Alright,” I chuckled, “but I’m just glad no one got really hurt. Now, I don’t know what to do about the games. Should they restart the match?”
“I think I have a better idea,” Nerissa said with a mischievous smile before she turned to the gathered crowd and raised her voice. “Winner of the Third Right of Mating belongs to both Mira and Sela, but it will be postponed until they have both healed. Also, it’s been an eventful day for Ben, so waiting will be best for all involved. Now, let us enjoy the feast Hali has prepared and celebrate our two victors!”
A loud eruption of cheers broke out at her words, and everyone made their way back to the tables set up in the courtyard.
I hoped the distraction of the feast would be enough to alleviate some of the stares directed at me, but I was very wrong about that. While many of the women’s faces still held a lot of shock, much of that had shifted to blatant desire. I looked out and saw women lick their lips, bite their bottom lips, and twist their hair around their finger in such strong overtures of lust, it caused my dick to pulse in response to all of them.
Finally, though, the food arrived, and my attention could be refocused on that. Huge platters of the smoked boar made their way through the tables, along with roasted little new red potatoes, fruit, and more of the mash made from the coconut. I was surprised to see the potatoes, more than anything. It hadn’t been that long since the new fertilizer had been put in a test patch and the potatoes planted in it. I could hardly believe there had been enough time for anything to grow, much less enough to feed all of us.
“Are these the potatoes we just planted?” I asked Nerissa. “How is that possible?”
