Monster Girl Islands 2

by Logan Jacobs

  I felt waves of peace trickle through my connection with my dragon, and I immediately felt better. I was still scared as all kinds of hell, but my hands no longer shook, and I was able to think much more clearly.

  “Thank you, dear friend,” I said back to him. Then I took a deep breath and walked into the delivery room.

  Nerissa was now on her back and had lost all of the peace and composure she’d mustered before I’d gone to get cleaned up. Tears were rolling down her face as she labored to deliver our child, but she didn’t make a sound. She just let the tears fall freely as she focused on what needed to be done.

  I rushed to her side and got behind her to support her, and when the contraction was over, Nerissa collapsed back against me with unbridled exhaustion. I took the cloth from the basin of cool water sitting next to the bed and washed her face and the nape of her neck.

  At my touch, this incredible woman looked up at me with aquamarine eyes full of determination and just a little fear.

  “Hello, beautiful,” I murmured and brushed a sweaty lock of hair from her face.

  “I’m so glad you’re here,” Nerissa whispered.

  “I killed all of those fuckers as fast as I could just so I wouldn’t miss this,” I said with a smile.

  “You’re the best,” the queen rasped before she was overtaken by another contraction.

  I massaged her back as she fought through the pain of the latest contraction, but I didn’t know what else I could do. I’d never felt so helpless in my life.

  We repeated this cycle through several more contractions until I didn’t know how she could keep going. I knew the stress of it all had to be showing on my face, but I couldn’t hide it.

  I was terrified.

  “Ben,” Careen murmured as she came up behind me and placed a hand on my back, “go take a break. It is getting close to time for her to push, and she will need you. Take a break now while you can.”

  “I’m okay,” I argued stubbornly and turned back to Nerissa.

  Come walk with me, dear one, George said in my mind. A small break will calm you, and you will serve your queen better.

  I apparently wasn’t going to win this argument, so I let Careen take over holding Nerissa, and then I walked outside to be with my dragon.

  George and I paced around the palace grounds in silence while I got my head on straight, but I couldn’t stop my mind from thinking up the worst possible outcomes to everything going on. My victory on the battlefield was a distant memory and didn’t mean shit if I couldn’t save the woman I loved and my unborn child.

  “Isn’t there some kind of magic I can do?” I grumbled as I pivoted and paced the opposite way across the palace courtyard. “Something to help Nerissa and get the baby out of her sooner?”

  No, George chuckled from where he calmly sat a few yards away, not even you are powerful enough to speed up nature, Ben. These things must run their course, as they always have. The queen is strong. I have every faith she will bear you a healthy offspring.

  “It’s not only the baby I’m worried about,” I grunted. “If something goes wrong, Nerissa could … ”

  I trailed off. I couldn’t even say the possibility aloud.

  My agitation grew palpable as I continued pacing back and forth in the palace courtyard. My breathing was short and heavy, I was constantly running my hands through my hair, and I could barely contain the desire to scream in frustration.

  I was on the verge of losing my mind when I felt a huge and peaceful presence lean against my back.

  I turned to see my glorious dragon suddenly right behind me. He had gotten down on his stomach and was curling himself around me right where I stood. I had half a mind to tell him I didn’t have time for his silly dragon games, but then he raised his giant head up and used it to pull me into his body.

  “George!” I yelped as I was enveloped in a giant dragon hug. “What the fuck--”

  Shhh, he interrupted, just be still.

  I wanted to argue that I didn’t have time for this, but before I could get the words to form, my dragon started humming, and all the anger and fight left my body. It was replaced with peace, calm, and hope, and I suddenly felt better than I had in days.

  “You always know what I need,” I muttered when I reluctantly pulled out of the dragon hug a minute later.

  I just made you set your stubbornness aside, that’s all, George laughed, and his tongue flopped out of his mouth as he bared his fangs in a draconic grin.

  “I am glad somebody can,” I chuckled and shook my head. “Okay, I think I’ve calmed down enough. Let’s get back to the queen.”

  I left my dragon by the same door we’d come out of and returned to the delivery room. Things had progressed, and it was time for Nerissa to push our baby out and into this world.

  I resumed my place at her back and loaned her all the energy and peace George had given me. She seemed to have more strength with me behind her, and she was able to push as hard as she could. The tears still rolled down her face, but she wasn’t shaking anymore, and she seemed to be able to focus much better.

  “Nerissa,” Talise said from the foot of the birthing bed, “you are almost there. Just the shoulders and the head are left.”

  The queen took another deep breath and pushed again. A pained cry slipped from her lips, and she ripped my shirt in the process, but this time, she had enough strength to push the baby all the way out.

  As soon as she did, the two healers rushed to grab the baby and finish the delivery process.

  I watched and waited silently for the sound of crying that never came. Nerissa had collapsed against me, and I couldn’t see what was going on. The only thing I could see was the fright and concern that crossed Talise and Careen’s faces before they took the baby to the nearby bathing table.

  Before I could even react, Mira appeared at my side. She’d washed all the remnants of the battle off her and had put on a pale gold wrap that accented everything about her. Her green hair was still damp, and she smelled of honey and jasmine.

  “Go to the baby,” she said gently, “I will hold my sister.”

  “Thank you, Mira,” I rasped as my heart hammered overtime in my chest, “I don’t know what I would do without you.”

  I kissed the warrior on the head, pulled my ripped shirt off, and quickly went to see my newborn child. When I got to the table where the healers were, Careen turned to go back to attending the queen as Talise madly worked on getting the baby to breathe.

  “What can I do?” I whispered to the healer, and my heart sank into my gut at the sight of the still baby.

  “Pick up a towel and help me get the blood flowing,” she ordered matter-of-factly.

  I grabbed a towel and helped Talise rapidly rub the baby to stimulate it, but to no avail.

  Things started moving in slow motion as the time ticked by without the baby breathing. Suddenly, my whole world was falling apart around me, and I refused to let it happen. I felt like there was nobody but me and this baby in the room. Everything else disappeared around me, and I went into a sort of tunnel vision as my instincts took over.

  “I got this,” I said out loud. “I’m not going to let this happen.”

  I stepped over to my child, and without even thinking, I placed my mouth over the baby’s nose and mouth and blew a breath into its tiny lungs. I repeated this a few times and then used two fingers to press on the baby’s sternum as all my CPR lessons flooded back into my brain.

  I was not going to lose my child so easily.

  “Come on, baby,” I groaned, “you’ve got my blood in you, and that makes you a fighter. So, fight! Breathe, damn it!”

  I repeated this process for what seemed like forever, and just as I started to think all my efforts might be useless, the little baby finally took a breath on its own.

  Then another breath.

  On its third breath, it let out a very loud cry that was music to my ears.

  “I knew you could do it!” I laughed as my heart pr
actically swelled to bursting. “Keep breathing!”

  Hot tears sprang to my eyes, and before I could do anything about them, they came pouring out.

  I’d done it. I’d saved my baby.

  Talise rushed in with her stethoscope made from a conch shell and listened to the baby’s lungs and heart. I wasn’t sure how she could hear anything over the miraculous crying, but she looked up at me with tears pouring out of her own eyes.

  “He sounds perfect!” she exclaimed and broke into bubbling laughter.

  He. She’d called the baby a he. I had a son.

  I gently picked my boy up and held him against my bare chest. He immediately stopped crying and looked up at me with intelligent gray eyes. His head was full of silver hair just like his mom’s, he had mocha colored skin that was a combination of mine and Nerissa’s, and his scales were a sapphire blue.

  “You beautiful, amazing boy,” I whispered as I cradled him against me. “Let’s get you cleaned up.”

  I held him over the basin of warm water and washed all the remnants of birth off him, just like I did with Marella when she was born. I never dreamed I would be doing this with my first daughter and now my first son.

  “I have so much to teach you and so much to show you.” I murmured, and my son blinked up at me with those big gray eyes. “I will teach you how to hunt and how to fight. We will explore this world together.”

  After he was all cleaned up, I wrapped my son up in a blanket and carried him over to Nerissa. The healers had gotten her and the bed all cleaned up from the delivery, and she looked like an exhausted angel in her snow-white gown with her silver hair piled in a bun on her head.

  I gently placed our son in her arms, and like an old pro, he latched on to nurse from her breast as the queen let out a sigh of relief and contentment.

  “He is perfect,” Nerissa whispered as she caressed the back of his head.

  “He is definitely a fighter,” I chuckled in agreement.

  “He looks so much like my brother Arrick did when he was born,” she told me with a fond and wistful smile. “He even has the same colored scales.”

  “Then we should name him Arrick,” I blurted out without thinking, but it felt right.

  “Are you sure?” Nerissa gasped and looked into my eyes.

  “I’ve never been more sure of anything.” I smiled. Her world had changed as much as mine did when I landed on this island, and we were all practically starting over, but I could give Nerissa and Mira something to remember their brother by.

  It was an excellent start to our family, our dynasty.

  “A name worthy of a prince,” the queen murmured and looked back down at the nursing babe.

  I blinked in shock at her words. Oh, shit. A prince. How did I forget that?

  I sat there dumbfounded for a minute before reality brought me back to the here and now. I didn’t know anything about being a prince, so I was going to have to rely heavily on this amazing queen to teach me how to help raise a prince.

  Royalty was not in my bloodline … but now it would be, starting with my son.

  As if sensing my distress, Nerissa patted me lovingly on my chest.

  “Don’t fret, Ben,” she smiled, “we are in this together. But, seeing as I had a rough time bringing this guy into the world, it is going to be up to you to present him to the village.”

  “Wait, what?” I asked as I gaped down at her.

  “A prince has been born, Ben,” she chuckled, “it is tradition that he be presented to the village soon after he is born. And who better to do this than his father, the king, Draco Rex.”

  “I like the sound of that.” I grinned at the title before I took a deep breath and sighed. “Okay, I can do this.”

  Arrick finished up with his first meal, and then I took him from Nerissa so she could get some rest.

  Talise was standing nearby and handed me a small piece of material as shiny as mother of pearl and softer than anything I’d ever felt.

  “What is this?” I asked the healer with a confused frown.

  “It is the ceremonial gown for the new prince,” she explained with a smile. “Dress him in that and go meet Mira out in the hall. The village is gathering in the courtyard, and Hali already has a feast underway. It’s time, Ben. Go show the world your son, the first boy born in over ten years.”

  I puffed out my chest in pride and took the ceremonial gown for Arrick.

  If I was doing this, though, I was totally going to do The Lion King bit.

  Chapter Three

  “You look great all dressed up.” Mira smirked as she watched me approach.

  I’d just gotten changed into the clothes made specifically for me to wear when I presented the newborn prince to the village. The outfit was made from the same material my son Arrick’s ceremonial gown was woven from, and it was softer and shinier than anything I’d ever worn.

  “This is much too fancy for me,” I groaned. “I will be glad to get back into my regular clothes and back to my regular self.”

  Mira chuckled at my discontent as we walked to the main hall of the palace. She was dressed in a sapphire blue wrap that perfectly matched the scales scattered on Arrick’s face, and I knew this hadn’t been unintentional. The warrior had teared up when she learned what we named the new prince, and she’d given me the biggest hug to let me know how happy and honored she was.

  Currently, my son was curled up into a little ball and fast asleep against my shoulder, but he’d watched me intently with his steel colored eyes the whole time I dressed him in his fancy party clothes. He was barely an hour old and already seemed to have a sort of intelligence about him.

  This boy was going to keep me on my toes.

  We met Talise and Marella just outside the doorway that led to the same dais we’d used for all the previous ceremonies. The healer was dressed in a deep plum colored wrap, and my daughter wore a lavender gown that made her pansy eyes shine with life.

  “You look quite elegant,” Talise grinned, “I’m impress--”

  “Da-da!” Marella interrupted when she saw me, and Talise rolled her eyes fondly at our daughter.

  “There’s my girl!” I laughed.

  She started squirming and held her arms out for me, so I gently handed Arrick to Mira and took Marella from her mother.

  “Da!” the baby girl squealed, and then she kissed my whole face when I took her from Talise.

  “I missed you, too!” I laughed and nuzzled her cheek. I hadn’t seen her since before the battle when she’d given me her ominous warning.

  “See Ack!” Marella demanded with a severe pout.

  I frowned. “Ack?”

  “See Ack!” she repeated as she held her chubby little hand out and pointed to the baby in Mira’s arms.

  “Arrick?” I asked as I looked between my children. “Do you want to see your brother, Marella?”

  “Jes, Ack!” she said with a giggle and squeal of excitement.

  “How did she know his name?” I looked at Talise with a dumbfounded and questioning look, but the healer just shrugged her shoulders at me.

  Yet another mystery to solve at another time.

  For now, I carried Marella over to where Mira held Arrick in her arms. His eyes were wide open, and he was looking around with that wise expression of his. His eyes lit up in recognition when he saw me, but seeing his sister was enough to put a smile on his tiny little face.

  “Ack! Bebe!” Marella giggled when she saw her new brother. Then she leaned down and kissed his whole face like she’d just done to me.

  My daughter certainly wasn’t lacking in the ability to express affection.

  Arrick answered with the cutest of baby coos, and this only made Marella laugh some more.

  I swore they spoke gibberish to one another for a few moments before we were interrupted by Isla.

  “All of the village is ready and waiting,” she said, “the dragons as well.”

  I smiled at the woman who I’d mentally dubbed the party planner
, since she seemed to be able to throw together a ceremony or feast in a moment’s notice. She also looked gorgeous in her butter yellow wrap that perfectly accented her golden scales and auburn hair.

  “I guess we better get this show on the road,” I told the ladies as I handed Marella to her mother and took Arrick from Mira.

  They all gave me weird looks at the metaphor, but just shrugged it off and made their way to the doorway, so I guess they were getting used to all the weird shit I said.

  “Talise will go in first with Marella, and then I will walk in and introduce you,” Mira explained as she fell back in step with me.

  “Okay.” I nodded. “Do I need to do anything special?”

  “Just hold Arrick where the village can see him, and then introduce him as prince and the first male born in ten years,” Mira instructed with a smile. “Also, the dragons want to give him a blessing like they did Marella, so give them time to do that.”

  “Easy peasy, lemon squeezy,” I chuckled, but really my mind was churning. I was about to introduce my son to his people, and then let him be blessed by dragons. I wasn’t complaining by any means, but how did this become my life?

  “You are so odd,” Mira groaned, but she also grinned at me before stepping through the doorway.

  As soon as she did, the noise and chatter from the courtyard immediately quieted.

  “My good people, may I present to you Ben, our Draco Rex, beloved savior and fierce military leader!” Mira announced in a loud, echoing voice.

  I took a deep breath, and a loud cheer went up as I stepped out onto the dais. The sound made Arrick jump a little bit and stick his bottom lip out, but his eyes were too busy taking in his surroundings for him to put up too much of a fuss.

  White and deep blue flowers adorned the stage and all the tables, while satin-like ribbons made of the same shiny material the baby and I both wore draped over the pergola covering of the dais.

  I stepped up to stand next to Mira and held Arrick out in front of me for the world to see.

  “Please meet my son, Prince Arrick, heir to the throne and the first male born on the island in over ten years!” I bellowed so the whole crowd could hear.