by Logan Jacobs
“This doesn’t make any sense,” I pondered aloud. “What would orcs have to gain by keeping the Morpho queen in stasis? They’ve always been more of the ‘rape and pillage’ type of conquerors…”
“Unless we’re not dealing with orcs,” Jonas gasped in horror.
“What do you mean?” Sela retorted. “Who else would come to an island, kill the men, and try to capture the locals? This fits them to a tee.”
“In concept, yes,” I argued, “but this is way too intricate to be an orc setup.”
“But the boots?” Lezan noted. “We saw boot prints on the beach that matched up perfectly with what we’ve seen of the orcs…”
“I don’t care who did this,” Ahwara’s voice was wrought with rage as she approached the cocoons. “I’m tearing these out, and then I’ll punch a hole in the ceiling myself!”
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” a grating, disembodied voice warned from behind us.
We all spun to face our new assailant with our weapons drawn, but when we saw who stepped through the shadows, our jaws dropped in shock.
There were ten men, all of whom were skinny and fit. Their bodies were naked, save for a few pieces of white fabric wrapped around their waists like a Greek toga and a belt that held a folded-up fan blade, but what gave them away the most were the wings on their backs.
Multicolored butterfly wings.
These were Morpho men, alive and well.
And as they stepped into the light, I noticed their leader was wearing a pair of boots.
Motherfucker.
Chapter Thirteen
“Are those… your men?” Jemma gasped. “They’re still alive!”
“They aren’t ours,” Ahwara muttered before she stepped forward and tried to recompose herself. “Who are you? And why are you on our island? Don’t you have your own group of Morpho women to tend to right now?”
“Why would I want them when this island has a much more powerful bloodline to choose from?” The man at the front, who I assumed to be their leader, winked.
He was about six feet tall with a frame that made him look like a sock monkey, but he was the most fucking jacked sock monkey I’d ever seen. Despite his slender appearance, his muscles looked like they were bulging off his body and threatening to pop through the top layer of his tan skin, and on his head was a nest of dark green hair tied into a single braid and laid over on the left side. His eyes were silver, his face was blessed with a perfect square jaw, and on his back sat a pair of black wings peppered with speckles of crimson red.
He was also the only one of the Morpho men who wore extra clothing, which included a pair of black boots on his feet and two tight, juniper-colored gloves on his hands.
“Don’t give me that load of hopper droppings,” Holara warned, and the purple-haired pixie narrowed her eyes. “We all know it’s not that simple. Every male and female tribe of our people are assigned their mating pairs. We aren’t yours, so you better get off this island before we make you.”
The leader seemed completely disinterested with the women’s comments, and instead he turned to me and Jonas.
“Are they always this feisty?” he questioned. “Please tell me it at least makes them worth it in bed.”
“Shut the fuck up,” I growled at the ringleader. “You’d better start talking, or we’re going to put you and your boys into a world of hurt.”
The green-haired man placed his hand on his chest and feigned shock. Then he shot a look back at all of his friends, and they all chuckled mischievously.
“Somebody needs a lesson in Morpho etiquette.” He whistled. “Maybe you’ll act more civilized if I give you my name. They call me Ardwen. And who are you?”
“Draco Rex,” I spat. “King of the dragonkin.”
Ardwen’s eyes narrowed when he heard my title. “So, you’re not a Morpho? Fascinating…”
“Are you going to answer her?” I demanded and jerked my head at Ahwara. “Why are you here? Were those your boot prints on the beach?”
Ardwen frowned, and then he looked down at his boots as he stuck out his foot.
“These old things?” he chuckled. “I got them off an orc I killed on the Island of the Thorns. I’m glad somebody appreciates them. Just between you and me, the men of my tribe have absolutely no taste in fashion at all.”
“If those were your boot prints on the beach,” Mira growled as realization set in. “That means--”
“You… You killed them…” Zerandrie trailed off, and the small redheaded woman took a frightened step back. “You killed our men.”
“Ohhhhhh.” Ardwen clicked his tongue. “That must be the smart one. I call her, fellas.”
The fucker’s words made my blood boil. These weren’t his women to call dibs on, and I didn’t know what kind of sadistic fuck even thought that way. So, I raised my sword, pointed at Ardwen, and scowled.
“You’d better start talking,” I demanded. “Why did you kill their men?”
“And what have you done to our beautiful queen?” Ahwara added.
“Ahhh, you can say that again…” Ardwen looked at the cocoon longingly. “She is beautiful, isn’t she?”
“You’re here to kidnap the queen,” Jonas concluded.
“If only it were so simple.” Ardwen shook his head. “Kidnapping would imply we’re taking her somewhere else. Oh, no… This island belongs to us now, and with Queen Dalwen, we shall create the greatest, most pure bloodline of Morphos the world has ever seen!”
“Like hell, you are,” I growled.
Ardwen’s men must have noticed, because they all instantly whipped out their fan blades and popped them open.
“Whoaaaa, whoaaaaaaa.” The Morpho leader motioned for his men to calm down. “There’s no need for bloodshed today, friends.”
The Morphos lowered their weapons, and for the first time I noticed they were much more intricate and developed than the ones of the women who lived on this island. The spines weren’t bone, but rather a dark, hardened iron. Meanwhile, the leather holding it all together was a brown, thin material that didn’t have a single blemish in its pattern.
“That’s right,” Ahwara said as she stepped forward. “There’s no need for bloodshed today. All you have to do is leave right now, and maybe we’ll let you go with your balls still attached to your bodies.”
“How dare you talk to me like that, woman!” Ardwen spat, and his calm face furrowed into an expression of rage. “We’re done taking orders from the fairer sex, especially your stuck-up Queens. From now on, we’re in control of our lives, our travels, and our mating cycles. And trust me when I say that now, there’s going to be much more of the latter…”
Realization dawned on me as I soaked in Ardwen’s words. It was a horrible realization, one that made me sick to my stomach and made me want nothing more than to eviscerate this man right where he stood.
“You sick fucks…” I hissed. “You’re just going to wake her up whenever you want to rape her, aren’t you?”
“That’s far too strong of a word,” Ardwen gasped, and he put his hands to his chest in mock offense. “No, we’re just going to use Queen Dalwen for her natural breeding purpose, and nothing more. Once she’s given all of us a child, we’ll put her back into her cocoon and turn out the lights until it’s time to go again.”
This time, I couldn’t contain my anger, so I stepped forward and held my sword out to Ardwen’s throat. His men all went to attack, but the smooth-talking Morpho held up a hand and calmed them down.
“Last chance, fuckface,” I snarled. “You and your band of merry men turn around and get off this island, now, or I separate your head from your shoulders. Got it?”
“I like your gusto, Draco Rex.” Ardwen whistled, and then his eyes did a once-over on all of my friends. “No wonder you have all these beautiful women at your disposal.”
“That’s the difference between Ben and twisted bastards like you,” Mira sneered. “We follow him because we love him and because
he’s a strong king.”
“They aren’t ‘at my disposal,’” I added. “They’re my loyal followers. Now, do I need to ask tell again? Or should I just save us all the trouble and decapitate you right here?”
Ardwen’s mouth twisted up into a half smirk as his silver eyes looked up and down my weapon. “That’s quite a nice sword you have there, Draco Rex. In all my travels, I’ve never seen anything like it. I suppose it’s not as fragile as it looks, though?”
“Flattery won’t get you anywhere,” I reminded the green-haired Morpho.
“I noticed you looking our weapons over earlier.” Ardwen shrugged. “I just wanted to return the favor. Plus… I wanted to know what I was up against.”
Before I could utter another threat, Ardwen lurched backward, drew his fan-blade, and knocked my sword away from his face in a single motion. Then he took a swipe at my stomach, and I only had seconds to jump back before I was disemboweled.
Fuck, this guy was fast.
“Fuckers of mothers!” Mira hissed as she drew hefted her own weapon.
I heard the thwap of Jemma’s bow string, and then an arrow zipped past my position and headed straight for Ardwen’s face, but the crimson-winged Morpho nonchalantly knocked the arrow away with his fan-blade before he turned his gaze to my friends.
“Kill the other man and the boy,” he ordered. “Take any woman you can alive, unless they’re too much hassle.”
“Oh, ‘hassle,’ doesn’t even begin to describe what you’re in for,” Ahwara sneered from behind me.
The other men charged forward, as did my crew. Ardwen, however, remained laser-focused on me. I was the only other man in the room that challenged his delusion of being an alpha-male, so he wanted to make sure he took care of me himself.
I was more than happy to fight him.
I lunged forward and took a downward swing at Ardwen’s legs. The Morpho man instantly fluttered a few feet into the air, out of the way of my attack, and countered with a slash of his own, but I stepped back and parried the fan-blade before I stabbed my weapon up into the air where he hovered.
Ardwen darted off about ten feet to the left before he hauled back and threw his fan-blade like a frisbee, and adrenaline pulsed through my veins as I ducked down out of the way. The fan-blade swished past a few inches over my head, and I shuddered to think what would have happened if I’d been a second later.
However, now I had a chance. Ardwen was unarmed.
From my crouched position, I sprang forward and aimed for the bastard’s heart, but he dipped to the right just as my blade was upon him, so the translucent blue weapon stabbed harmlessly into the side of the domed wall of the room instead.
Just as I tried to pull out the weapon and reorient myself, Ardwen’s foot slammed into the back of my leg and sent me down on one knee. The next thing I knew, a wave of pain washed over me as his fist struck me in the side of the skull, and I went down onto the ground.
“Almost got me, there,” Ardwen chuckled. “I usually don’t miss with my blade, you know.”
“I don’t give a fuck,” I growled as I wiped a bit of blood from the corner of my mouth.
Without looking, I threw up my right elbow and slammed it into the Morpho’s stomach. He let out a loud “oof” as he doubled over, and I used his disorientation to my advantage. I came up with an uppercut, which landed squarely on Ardwen’s jaw and sent him flying back onto his ass.
The slimy Morpho man quickly reoriented himself, but his eyes were wide with fear. He was a cocky fucker, but now I suspected he was realizing just what he’d gotten into.
So, I pulled the seaglass blade out from the wall of the room, held it at my side, and began to approach my opponent.
Ardwen shoved two fingers in his mouth and let out a hasty, shrill whistle, and the next thing I knew, two of the other Morpho men bounded over to save their leader.
Little fucking weasel.
I parried the first fan-blade before I jumped out of the path of the second. Then I planted my right foot, reversed my momentum, and used it to take a shot at the Morpho on the left.
The added momentum made my attack too fast for the fucker, so my blade connected with his armpit.
He screamed in pain as his left arm was severed from his body, and then he proceeded to stumble backward as he fumbled at his wound. It was no use, though. What looked like several gallons of crimson blood was gushing out of his freshly-made stump, and he was done for.
However, I couldn’t gloat for too long. There was still the other guy to deal with.
As I spun to face my next opponent, the second Morpho threw his fist into my chest and sent me stumbling backwards. Thankfully, the blow stung, but I was pretty sure it actually did more damage to his fist than it did to me. So, while my opponent was still stunned by unexpectedly ramming his fist into armored scales, I threw up my foot and kicked him in the chest.
The fucker went down onto the ground, where I proceeded to stomp my boot into his stomach and then stab the end of my blade straight through his skull like a toothpick through an olive. There was a wet crunch seconds before the Morpho’s wings went limp, and his tongue flopped out of his mouth.
I turned around to survey the battlefield and saw Ardwen was now on the other side of the room, engaged with Ahwara and Candara. The two Morpho women had their hands full with the green-haired man, but nobody seemed to be taking the upper hand. All three of the combatants twirled and slashed at each other in a deadly dance of blades, yet none of their attacks landed.
Meanwhile, I saw Lezan and Nadir were struggling to get a handle on their opponent. They outnumbered the dark-haired Morpho man two-to-one, but his fighting style gave them a run for their money.
The man darted around with the grace of a gazelle while the two Coonag women mostly attacked with powerful swings of their heavy axes, and though they came awfully close to connecting a few times, the Morpho was just too fast for them.
Up in the air, Zerandrie, Elzara, and Holara were engaged with another Morpho, and all three of the women were zipping around on their wings and chasing after the man as he evaded their blades. It honestly looked like something out of an old Bugs Bunny cartoon, with the four combatants chasing each other around in circles to not much avail.
Jemma seemed to be holding her own, though. She repeatedly fired arrows at one of the butterfly men, who continued to knock them away with his weapon, but her ploy seemed to be working, since the Morpho wasn’t able to come any closer.
Now, the Niralope just had to pray she didn’t run out of arrows.
Last were the dragonkin. Jonas was hiding at the very back corner of the room as he watched the others taking on their assailant. Mira and Sela were working like a well-oiled machine, and each blow was swift, calculated, and in unison. The Morpho they fought seemed to be taking several body blows, yet he was somehow able to avoid their spear tips.
Then Mira lunged forward, and I caught sight of my son beside the warrior woman, sans his dragon bodyguards, and my heart skipped a beat in my chest. He must have snuck back in when the fighting started.
Arrick was engaged with the man, but his attacks were awkward and heavily projected. Thank goodness Sela and Mira were there to protect him… If not, he wouldn’t stand a chance. A part of me wanted to go protect my son, but I knew Mira and Sela wouldn’t let anything happen to him, so I gripped my sword tightly as I jogged over to where Ardwen and another one of his cronies were fighting the two Morpho women.
“Coward!” I declared. “You couldn’t beat me, so you just run?”
“You call it running,” Ardwen chuckled as he knocked away Ahwara’s blade. “I call it ‘making the smart move.’”
“Yeah,” I growled, “because you know you’re nothing compared to me.”
Ahwara came at Ardwen once more, but he simply dodged the attack, spun around, and turned his attention to me. He parried the orange-haired Morpho’s attack once more, but this time he barely even made an effort to acknowledge her.
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I came at Ardwen with my sword, but he craftily timed his counter. Then the fucker quickly caught Ahwara’s fan-blade with his, yanked her in his direction, and then gave her a quick shove.
It took everything in my power to stop the blade, and it halted a few inches in front of Ahwara’s soft, sun kissed head.
The woman let out a gasp of shock, and I had to push her out of the way just as Ardwen’s blade came down where she’d been standing.
I lunged forward and slashed upward with the seaglass sword, but Ardwen was quick to roll out of the way.
This time, however, he wasn’t fucking quick enough.
My sword caught the very edge of the bastard’s wing, and a large chunk of his velvety flesh flew up into the air with a small burst of blood.
Ardwen let out a yelp of surprise, and then his jaw hit the floor when he saw what I’d done.
“M-My wing!” he gasped. “My beautiful wing!”
“It wasn’t that beautiful,” Ahwara scoffed, and the orange-haired Morpho leader caught Ardwen off-guard and slashed her fan-blade across his pecs.
There was a small mist of crimson as he lurched backward and fumbled at the large gash on his chest, but I wasn’t going to give the Morpho bastard a chance to recompose himself.
So, I slugged him in the face and then lashed out at his neck with my sword.
Ardwen somehow stumbled out of the way of my attack, though, and he countered with a swipe of his blade.
Straight into my right leg.
Fire shot through my right side as one of the spines stabbed into my calf. The iron was hot as it tore through my flesh on its way out, and warm blood began to ooze down my leg as I went down onto one knee. I instinctively held up my sword to counter and then felt the fucker’s fan-blade bounce right off.
“You bastard!” Ahwara suddenly tackled the man with her body and took them both up into the sky. Then she slammed him up against the wall so hard it sent a crack spiderwebbing up the side of the structure, and the male released his grip on his weapon.
However, Ardwen wasn’t going to let that setback be his downfall, and he instantly began to slam his fists into Ahwara’s lower back like an MMA fighter stuck in a submission hold.
