The dragon's harem

?Tempo looked at Arad and the beaver. “A NICE PLACE. DO YOU LIVE HERE?” He shifted his attention to the beaver.

“Lower your voice down.” Arad stood between the beaver and Tempo. “You’ll scare him.”

Tempo’s eyes shifted toward Arad, “I AM SCREAMING?” He pulls a pill from his pocket and swallows it.

“How about now?” He coughed, rubbing his throat.

“That’s much better. Is it a fault with your Shapeshift or polymorph?”

“That should be the case. We’re loud by nature. The wizard who helped me get this body was an expert at shifting a body, but not changing voices. I have to contend with the pills made by an alchemist.” He showed Arad the pill. “It numbs the vocal cords.”

Arad took the pill from Tempo and stared at it. “Can I have this? I’ll try to make one that last longer.”

“You’re free to try, but if you succeed, that’s going to get our alchemist depressed.” Tempo smiled. “Do your best.”

Arad swallowed the pill; it wouldn’t take effect if he didn’t consume it. For now, it’s simply stored in his stomach.

They then headed deeper into the swamp until they reached a part abandoned by people, a forgotten section of the swamp that was so muddy and filled with bugs that no human could hope to reach it. But after walking a bit behind the beaver it became clear that all of that was but a barrier to keep humans out.

The swamp cleared inside the barrier into a lush forest with countless small streams of water running across it. All the trees had bite marks and scratches; this was the beaver’s territory.

“Do beavers use magic?” Tempo stared at Arad.

“Don’t ask me. It’s the first time I’ve seen one. But I doubt it.”

“[Most monsters are born when the animals get soaked in the local mana. Some turn into vicious beasts and some gain a bit of intelligence.]”

The deeper they walked into the wet and luscious forest, the stranger the place started looking with chipped trees, dams, and even signs of a small village of beavers.

The beavers poked their heads out of the small dam houses and started at Arad and Tempo, it was unheard of to see humans in this place, but the chieftain had informed them that they might arrive soon so they weren’t freaking out.

“Shiver me timber!” A muscular beaver wearing wooden armor and holding a sharpened stick rushed at them. “Flatail. You’ve brought two humans. I never believed you could do it.”

“This druid is quite thick! He’s strong.” Flatail smiled and puffed his chest as his tail tapped the ground, “And this red-haired one is quite hot. He has fire!”

“The chieftain is waiting, let’s hurry.” The guard rushed away.

“Was that beaver wearing clothes? What did he say?” Tempo turned toward Arad with a confused face.

“Something about me being thick and you being hot, they also said something about how we need to reach their chieftain quickly.” Arad replied.

“You’re indeed THICK. But I doubt I’m that hot unless they are talking about fire.” Tempo smiled.

“You’ve understood it completely wrong.” Arad sighed as they followed the beavers, careful not to damage the small bridge they made over the little streams.

Soon enough they reached a large hut the same size as one that a human would build. It was made of logs and hay, all tied by ropes and held together with clay. Moss and grass grew from its wall which helped hold it together by the roots.

“A beautiful house, I wish I could live here in the middle of nature.” Tempo looked at it with a smile. To him, it was a refreshing shift from the marble architecture of Titans or brick and wooden building of humans.

“This house is the peak of our timbertech. Follow me.” Flatail walked inside and Arad and Tempo followed him.

“Chieftain, I’ve brought two humans, one of them is a druid.” Flatail said with an enthusiastic voice, shaking in excitement. “We are saved, aren’t we?”

As Arad and Tempo walked inside they found themselves face to face with a massive old beaver almost a bit larger than Arad, he was sitting on a throne with the flaps of his hide dangling to the side, his eyes closed and could barely move. Both Arad and Tempo could sense one thing from the chieftain, death. He was about to die and didn’t have much longer.

“Haaaa.” The chieftain gasped, barely forcing his eyes open. “Shiver me timber. Flatail…those two aren’t human.”

“You can tell?” Tempo smiled.

“From what I know, monsters can tell our true nature by instant. He isn’t a normal beaver, he’s a monster beaver. And that isn’t normal fat, he mutated into this shape.” Arad had dealt with enough animals and monsters in his land to know.

“I’m indeed a monster, my dear guests. We’re called the beaver kings, we grow too large and heavy to move or care for ourselves, but in exchange, we develop intelligence and live for centuries to teach and build a beaver colony.” A faint chuckle escaped the chieftain’s lips.

“Wait! Chieftain, those two aren’t humans? What are they then?” Flatail started glancing between Arad and Tempo as the guards slowly raised their weapons.

“Guard, drop your weapons. We have no chance against them, we can only ask for help.” The chieftain took a deep breath. “The muscular one is a dragon, and the red-haired one is a fire titan. Both could wipe us with a sneeze.” And he sneezed.

“How could it be?” Flatail started crawling away with the guards in fear. He mistakenly brought two agents of destruction into the beaver’s heaven.

“We’re here to help. Can you tell us what happened?” Arad sighed and approached the chieftain.

“Heard of Dracorage? The meteor that drives the dragons mad and causes them to rampage?” The chieftain looked at Arad.

“I heard of it, but I don’t know the details.” Arad turned his face to Tempo. “Do you know anything?”

“Only that occurred after the god way five thousand years ago.” Tempo nodded.

The chieftain tried to nod, but his head couldn’t move. “The meteor is a great spell conjured by the evil abomination Nyar, the king of the outer horrors. It’s his last attack on the mortal world after his loss in the war.”

“How do you know that?” Arad approached him further.

“It’s a story that was passed through generations. Beneath us, deep far beyond what anyone could dig is a sealed abomination. He’s one out of twelve ones scattered around the world. If two were to be free at one time, the meteor would accelerate further and hit the world within hours.”

The air slowly grew tenser.

“A man called Jordan had caught wind of the ley lines linked to the seal and managed to speak with the abomination. That horror gave the human power in exchange for him to help free him.” The chieftain started coughing and the guards rushed to him with water. He’s been talking too much for his old throat. But this was important; he needed to get it out before he died.

“Please fix the seal underground, and crush Jordan’s plan or the world will crumble to pieces. Don’t let people pray to Jordan and turn him into a real god, that’s what the horror beneath wants he’ll steal that power back and free all other abominations at once.” The chieftain looked at Tempo and Arad.

“Who’s stronger? The abomination or Jordan?” Arad asked.

“The abomination, even if Jordan is a demi-god now.He is nowhere near the abomination’s power. Those horrors fought the gods. The easiest way is to fix the seal, go underground, and lock it back up. The underground colony is under attack.”

“I’ll check it out, but don’t count on me. I don’t want the world to end, but I’m certain the gods would smite Jordan and the abomination in the blink of an eye if they were to succeed.” Even if he wasn’t a believer in any god, he knew they wouldn’t let the world end.

“What is your name, oh great dragon.”

“Arad, Arad Orion.”

The chieftain’s eyes opened while he wheezed…. “AHHHHH! My timber!” He pushed on the chair with all of his might and fell down on his face, crawling toward Arad.

“What’s happened to you?” Tempo and Arad gasped and the beavers rushed to help their chieftain, but they couldn’t get him to move.

“Arad Orion, I never expected to live long enough to see you. O’oh! The mighty one above the stars, the nuclear chaos, How long have we awaited, it’s been five thousand years, our dear one.”

“Calm down!” Arad lifted the beaver chieftain with Gravity magic and laid him back on the chair. “What happened to you?”

The chieftain rolled back to bowing, he couldn’t stand sitting while Arad stood. “May this lowly being ask of you but one thing? O’oh! Mighty one.”

“What are you talking about? I’m just a dragon, strong but not deserving of being called a mighty one?” Arad was getting confused quickly, while Tempo kept a calm face, trying to decipher what the beaver was saying.

“Haven’t awakened yet, I see, it can’t be helped. Please seek your son, the greatest human of all, he’ll be sure to guide you back to glory.” The chieftain was shaking in place.

“I have a son?” Arad gasped. “Wait, that can’t be true. You’re mistaking me for someone.”

“What a blessing this is… to be the one to see you first…

A….Oooooooooooooo.” He fell silent.

“Chieftain!” The other beavers screamed and rushed toward him.

“Wait! Did you die?” Arad pulled a healing potion.

“No. He’s just lost conciseness out of exhaustion. I doubt he moved in the past century.” Tempo checked the chieftain and confirmed he was indeed alive.