Fugitive's Flight (Dragon Castaway Book 2)

Chapter 3

Afterwards Jake lay on his makeshift sleeping bag, listening to Wyena's contented breathing as she slept peacefully next to him. He had to admit that he'd been pleasantly surprised by her. For a person born into a world that was very sexually conservative by Jake's standards she had jumped into the new experience with both feet.

"Not that she ever got along with this place's expectations of her anyway and thank all the gods for that." He mused not taking his eyes off her sleeping form as he gently stroked her light blonde hair.

This world might not have had the same explicit religious prohibitions that had been found back on Earth. But there was still a very strong taboo, at least among the nobility, regarding female sexuality. Like on Earth women were expected to be virgins at the time they were married, even if that wasn't always practical.

Like the many of this world's other customs the similarity had bemused him at first. Though he had quickly reasoned that the concept marriage in this world had probably developed from the same line of thought that it had on Earth, regardless of religion or country. In the end it always came down to property and ensuring that it was passed to one's true born children.

That had been the reason that male and female sexuality had had such a double standard back home where male promiscuity was often shrugged off while female promiscuity had been treated as a matter of life and death. So it made perfect sense to Jake that it would've been the same way here.

All he had to do now was knock the look that Ragnarok always shot him off his smug face and he'd really be in business. The mischievous dragon was far worse than the proverbial dog watching you from the foot of the bed. Jake needed to find him a mate really badly.

Despite his promise to Wyena he remained unable to sleep, his worries once again came creeping back unwilling and unwelcome. No matter how hard he tried he just couldn't shake the feeling that Istis was hiding what he knew from something far more sinister and dangerous than the dragon lords and their toadies.

Being careful not to disturb his companion or the still slumbering dragons that surrounded them. Jake quietly got up and stood closer to the fire. Gazing into the deep blue flames he closed his eyes and attempted to center himself.

His brief meditation was interrupted as he felt a gentle pressure on his shoulder. Opening his eyes, he saw that Valkyrie was awake and gently nuzzling his shoulder. Even without the bond Jake could see the concern for him in her shining blue eyes.

"You too eh?" Jake asked quietly as he patted her muzzle. "Don't worry about me girl I'm ok, just feeling the weight of the future and damned if it isn't heavy."

Valkyrie let out a low croon and Jake could feel her skepticism though their bond. Clearly she had remained unconvinced by his feeble explanation. He had never been able to explain it, but somehow Valkyrie had always been more sensitive to him and his emotions than Ragnarok. Maybe it was her motherly instincts. Whatever it was, Jake was just glad that she wasn't the jealous type.

"Still calling bullshit on me eh? Well I did need to convert some of my favorite toys, so I guess now is as good a time as any" Jake said with a sigh before grabbing his pack and retrieving several grenades from it.

Moving with careful precision Jake picked up a grenade and unscrewed the fuse top before inserting a nitroglycerine detonator and resealing the bomb. He finally felt himself start to relax as he repeated the process several more times. A short time later he had amassed a small pile of impact grenades at his feet.

"Heh, not too many people can say that playing with explosives calms them down" Jake said to himself as he tried his best not to laugh at the absurdity of the situation. "Thank you for fucking me up royally dad! Couldn't have survived for long in this crazy world without you and your paranoia!"