by Logan Jacobs
The auburn-haired woman wandered out of the kitchen, followed by Theora and Brenna, who also wanted baths before breakfast.
“What sort of a creature?” Mira flipped the unshaven side of her jade-green hair over her shoulder as she strode over and grabbed a piece of the prepared bacon off the plate Hali had left on the table.
“Mira, that’s for later,” Hali chuckled in exasperation, but we all knew Mira wouldn’t wait for everyone to sit down to eat.
“It was something I’d never even seen before,” I told the warrior in answer to her question. “It was huge, silver, and with a bunch of fangs. The girls took care of it, though. You should have seen them. They killed the fuck out of it. You would have been proud.”
“This island is always full of surprises, is it not, Draco Rex?” Mira grinned at me and plopped down into one of the bamboo chairs on the other side of the table. Then she sneakily glanced at Hali, whose back was to us once again, before she carefully slid her hand across the table straight for the plate of bacon.
“If you take one more piece, dear Mira, I will kick you out of this kitchen faster than a haeye crawls across the sand,” Hali warned with her back still turned.
“She must have eyes in the back of her head,” Mira hissed, but she reluctantly slid her hand back into her lap. Then she turned to regard me more fully. “I wonder what sort of creatures those other islands will have. I am quite curious to find out.”
“As am I,” Ainsley announced as she and Nerissa walked into the kitchen, hand in hand, with matching smiles on their pretty faces. Nerissa had braided Ainsley’s strawberry blonde hair in a similar fashion to her own silver strands, and the plait cascaded down over the deer-woman’s shoulder and hung just above her pregnant belly.
Ainsley had only begun to show just recently. It was nothing much, a barely visible bump, but I’d gotten so used to her taut, lean stomach that I knew it was her pregnancy. Every time I saw the bump, it reminded me I would soon have another child. This one would be a hybrid, though, both dragon kin, or whatever kind of human-dragon hybrid I’d become, and deer-woman, and I was so damn curious to see just how those different genetics would manifest.
“I have good news,” Nerissa declared with a proud grin as she stepped into the kitchen. Then she paused and looked around. “Where is Talise?”
“Sleeping,” Mira replied. “Marella decided to wake her up before dawn this morning, and I do not think Talise was very happy about that. That girl is going to get herself in a lot of trouble one day soon.”
Mira said the last sentence with a shit eating grin, and I knew she just relished the idea of Marella being a little troublemaker. I may not have known Mira in her teenage years, but something told me she had a penchant for getting herself into sticky situations just like my eldest did.
“Oh, well, in that case, I shall tell you all later,” Nerissa replied, and she spun around as if to leave.
“Uh-uh, stop right there,” I called out after my queen. “You can’t just make an announcement like that and then leave us all hanging. Spill!”
“Alright,” Nerissa sighed and slowly spun around to show us all as she grinned from mahogany colored ear to mahogany ear. “I am with child for the second time.”
At this point, I’d had five children and survived four, almost five, pregnancies. I would have thought the immeasurable joy I felt at an announcement like that would have settled down some.
But it hadn’t. Not one bit.
“Yes!” I shouted and pumped my fist up into the air. I flew out of my seat and dashed over to Nerissa, then swept her up into a spinning hug.
“I am every bit as excited as you, Draco Rex,” the queen murmured as she clung to my neck, and I felt her soft lips smile into my warm skin. “Let us pray to the gods this pregnancy is as easy as the last. I hope to avoid Talise’s experience.”
The healer didn’t have an easy pregnancy. She’d had a pretty damn hard one, in fact, what with all of the vomiting and then the early labor. In contrast, the only effects Nerissa had felt were extra hormones and a serious increase in her sexual drive.
I kind of hoped this pregnancy was just like the last one. Screwing the queen all night, every night, had been one of my greatest pleasures.
Damn. It was great to be the dragon king.
“I am so happy for you, sister.” Mira smiled.
“Nerissa’s child will be born before mine,” Ainsley pointed out. “Our child will be blessed with so many older siblings, Ben.”
“And many younger ones.” I winked at Ainsley, and a slight blush rose to her pale cheeks.
“Alright, everyone to the patio,” Hali called out. “Breakfast is ready.”
I grabbed a hot piece of bacon off the plate as the red-head passed and crunched right into the crispy, fatty meat.
“Ben,” Hali admonished with a grin.
“I know, I know.” I put my hands up after I stuffed the last bite of bacon in my mouth. “But I have to go talk to your grandfather. And I figured you wouldn’t want me to skip breakfast.”
“Skip breakfast?” Hali’s emerald eyes went wide, as if she could think of nothing worse in the entire world. “Here, have another.”
She shoved a second piece at me, which I gladly took as I made my way out of the kitchen and down the leftmost hall, to where Jonas’ bedroom was.
As was common with the old soothsayer, I found him cross legged on his bed, deep in a meditative state. I leaned against the doorframe for a second and watched as he concentrated.
Then, without even opening an eye, Jonas lifted one eyebrow and spoke. “What can I do for you this morning, Draco Rex?”
“How’d you know it was me?” I laughed.
“Your presence feels different than the others,” Jonas replied as he opened his striking blue eyes. “More powerful.”
“I’ll take that.” I grinned. “Where do you go when you do that?”
“Anywhere and nowhere,” the soothsayer replied. “Sometimes, I receive visions when I meditate. Other times, I simply sit in the quiet of the universe, absorbing the feel of being one little part of an enormous entity.”
“That sounds both cool and terrifying,” I chuckled. “Someday you might have to teach me how to do that.”
“Someday.” The old man nodded. “Now, I assume you did not come to hear the ramblings of an old man?”
“Well, not today, at least,” I laughed. “I just wanted to get your opinion on my travel plans. Since you can see the future, and all. I thought you might have some insights about where I’m supposed to go next.”
“The future is a tricky thing, so I cannot see it whenever I want to,” Jonas explained. “Still, I will happily look at the map with you and help you choose, but I cannot promise my visions will come to me and help us on our path, my king. Be prepared for that.”
“That’s as good an answer as any,” I replied. “Here, take a look.”
I produced the worn-down map from the back pocket of my trousers. I always carried it with me, just in case. Even when I slept, it was right there on my bedside table for when I woke up in the morning. I had no real reason for it, but I supposed I just felt closer to these unknown islands I was meant to help save when I had the map with me.
We spread it out over Jonas’s bed and looked at the islands drawn on it. It struck me, not for the first time, that whoever had drawn the map was rather skilled artistically. I would have been surprised if any orc was actually able to do achieve this, though, since all the ones I’d met were both stupid and brutish. I had to wonder if they’d stolen it from some poor, unsuspecting individual on one of the islands they’d conquered.
And if they had, that meant there was another culture out there that had the technology and the inventiveness to sail the seas. If this were true, the implications were limitless.
“I have to wonder if these are all the islands that exist,” Jonas murmured as he ran a crooked finger over the large island in the center of the crescent. “Something
tells me they are not, but that could, of course, be the random intuition of an old man, and not a truth from the gods.”
“I’ve been wondering the same thing,” I reassured him, “But I don’t think we’ll have an answer until we know who drew the map. And even that is something we might never know.”
“I have faith the gods will always reveal everything you need to know,” Jonas replied, and his gaze softened as he seemed to look inward.
“Just like they told you about me?” I guessed.
“Precisely.” Jonas smiled. “Now, let us choose your next destination, hmm?”
“Right,” I replied and glanced back down at the map. “I have no idea which one to sail to. I wish there were a dozen copies of me, and I could go to everyone of them all at once!”
“Be glad there is only one you,” Jonas chuckled. “I can show you how to choose with your intuition, though. As Draco Rex, and as a man bonded with a water dragon, you will have an inner sense, just as I do.”
“Alright.” I shrugged, but curiosity took hold of me. It might be neat to have the same sort of intuition Jonas and Marella displayed. Of course, I couldn’t see the future, but even having some sort of knowledge about the correct choices would be helpful.
“Look at the map and listen to your mind,” Jonas instructed. “Do not think. Just choose.”
I took a deep breath and did as he instructed. I gazed over the little islands drawn across the map, some a little bit bigger than others, some so small they were only tiny little dots. Slowly, my eyes drifted over to an island about four over, which looked like it might be three days’ journey away, if the map was accurate. I couldn’t figure out why, but I knew I was drawn to it. That was the island I needed to go to next. Maybe it was intuition from the gods, or maybe I’d just tricked myself into believing that.
Either way, I let my finger settle over the circle.
“This one,” I announced.
“Hmm.” Jonas nodded and squinted his eyes. “I would say ‘good choice,’ but I know nothing of these other islands. Still, I am sure you will do great things there.”
I looked down at the scraggly circle, drawn on the worn, tanned paper, once more. I didn’t know why, but I knew Jonas was right.
I’d do great things on this island.
And I couldn’t wait to find out just what the hell they were.
Chapter Two
Now that we had our destination, it was time to figure out who would accompany me on the journey. The orc ship needed a pretty big crew, but there were still nearly triple the amount of women in the village.
Which meant somebody would have to make the hard decisions about who did and didn’t go.
I knew for certain Jemma and Mira would accompany me on the journey. Nerissa and Ainsley would need to stay behind, though, because we didn’t know what sorts of dangers we’d encounter on the journey. I couldn’t risk them getting hurt since they carried my growing babies inside of their wombs.
I left Jonas to go down to the patio, where the women sat and enjoyed the last of their breakfast and made conversation.
I paused for a moment at the edge of the last step and observed the village full of women as they chatted excitedly. They weren’t even excited because they knew I had already started to plan our next mission. The women were all just happy to be together, without the stresses that had weighed on them so heavily before I’d come along and saved them.
Jemma and Theora’s faces were flushed as they discussed what must have been a very intense topic. Jemma waved her dainty hands around wildly, which caused her auburn hair to spin out and slap both Darya and Zarya on the sides of their heads. The twins didn’t mind, though, because they weren’t even paying attention to Jemma’s conversation. They were, instead, focused on Netta and Nima as the red-headed women spoke, and I could tell from the way their full lips moved one after the other that the sisters finished each other’s sentences.
Darya, Zarya, Nima, and Netta could almost always be found together, and I suspected it was the bond of their sisterhoods that made the four of them a little pack. Even though Nima and Netta weren’t twins, the two were so alike that if anyone didn’t know Netta was older, they probably would have assumed they were the exact same age.
They were a far cry from Talise and Hali, or Nerissa and Mira, though. All the sets of sisters loved each other, of course, but the cook and the healer were so very different, just as the queen and the warrior were.
“You appear to be quite deep in thought, my king,” Nerissa murmured into my ear.
I hadn’t even heard her slither up to my side, but the queen leaned in and kissed my ear as she snaked a warm hand around my waist.
“A bit,” I chuckled. “Did you have a good breakfast?”
“I did,” she replied. “This child you have given me seems to be quite the carnivore. I just could not get enough bacon this morning. I even sent Hali back to the kitchens to make me more.”
“Good.” I grinned. “Meat is like the ambrosia of the gods.”
“I am not complaining,” Nerissa laughed. “I will take any excuse I can to indulge myself a little more than usual.”
I reached out and laid a hand softly over the swell of her stomach. I could just barely feel the beginnings of a small bump there, and I hoped we would return from our journey before my child was born. I knew, though, that even if we didn’t, my queen would be surrounded by loving women who would make her delivery as easy as possible.
“This one’s going to be a handful,” I said absentmindedly.
“And the others are not?” Nerissa quirked a silver eyebrow at me as she smiled sneakily.
“Touché,” I laughed.
Suddenly, Nerissa got quiet and gazed into my face for a moment, and I watched understanding swirl through her bright aquamarine eyes.
“You are leaving again, Draco Rex,” she murmured. “When?”
“I haven’t decided yet,” I replied. “Jonas and I chose our next destination, though. It’s about three days away, if the map is accurate.”
“And if it is not?” she asked.
“Not a clue,” I chuckled. “I’ve got no idea if we’ll even find anyone on this island. But I have a feeling most of the islands are populated, just not with any seafaring folk.”
“You are trying to sail to as many as you can.” Nerissa nodded in understanding. “Do you think you will bring them back here, if there are any people on the island?”
“Probably.” I tilted my head to consider the thought. “But I would like to find a place that might be better suited for a base. Safer, you know? This island might be fine, but I’m hoping we can find a place we can use to launch from and attack the orcs. After we find their island, of course.”
“You are going to build up a magnificent army.” Nerissa grinned at me. “And you will lead them to defeat the orcs. I know it. That is why you came to this world.”
“Well, I might’ve come just so I could find you, too.” I smiled at my queen, and she spun in my arms until she was right in front of me, nearly eye to eye. Then I dropped her into a dip and kissed her lips, in a classic pose that copied the famous World War II photo. Of course, none of my women would recognize it, but I’d always wanted to make this move.
“Take me to my bedchambers so you can satisfy me again,” Nerissa moaned into my mouth.
I was about to accept the offer when Marella raced up to me.
“Daddy!” she called out.
Nerissa laughed as her niece approached and stood up straight.
“Good morning to you, too,” I chuckled.
“Yeah, yeah, that,” Marella panted. “I just had a vision, but I have no idea what it means. It’s the first time something like that’s happened to me.”
“Tell us about it, child,” Nerissa ordered quickly.
“I just saw fire,” Marella said as her brow furrowed. “A lot of it. It burned along the ocean water, which shouldn’t be possible, but somehow it did. It was like the water was
its fuel. And then I saw you.”
“Uh, was I on fire?” I clarified. If I was about to be lit on fire somehow, I definitely needed to know.
“No.” My kid shook her head vigorously. “But I felt this urge. I can’t explain it, but all of a sudden, I just knew I needed to tell you it’s time to leave. You need to travel, because that’s how you’ll find the fire.”
“And I’m supposed to find the fire that burns on water?” I asked with a raised eyebrow. “Because that’s not what most people want to seek out in life.”
“Daddy, I’m serious.” Marella rolled her eyes in a fashion that was so spot on American teenager, I had to cover my mouth with my hand to hold back the laughter.
“I’m sorry, I know you are,” I replied sincerely. “Okay, well, I suppose it’s time to make my announcement, then.”
“I will get everyone’s attention,” Nerissa said as she withdrew from my arms. Then the queen walked regally back over to the platform, and I followed her as she brought her glass up and tapped on it lightly with her long nails.
Instantly, the attention of every woman in the village turned our way. Conversations halted and eating dwindled as all of the women concentrated on Nerissa and me.
“Hope everyone’s enjoying the brunch feast Hali prepared this morning.” I grinned at them. “The harvest is nearly ready, and we’ll have no shortage of amazing food to enjoy soon.”
“I am so excited,” I heard Hali breathe behind me. I didn’t even have to look to know the red-headed cook nearly vibrated with excitement at the prospect of even more food to cook.
Murmurs and nods of appreciation rippled throughout the crowd of women, and I could tell they were all ready to finally reap the benefits of the last few weeks of hard, and smelly, work.
“I have an announcement to make regarding my travels,” I continued. “As you all know, there are so many more islands out there the orc king and his nasty goons have ravaged. So many more islands we need to help and save. And this morning, I realized it is time for our next adventure.”
As the crowd began to murmur in excitement, I decided not to mention Marella’s vision, at least for the moment. The prospect of fire that burned along the water probably wouldn’t go over too well, and I’d learned from past experience my intuition always knew when it was the right time to divulge information to the village full of women.
