The dragon's harem

Yog landed beside Kali, “The situation is worse than I thought, but not bad enough that I can act. The magic needed to clean this mess would probably cause more harm than just leaving it.”

“The hell did Merlin create?” Kali looked at her, a bit worried that the power she granted to Merlin played a big role in whatever problem that Yog found.

“It wasn’t your blessing. Merlin is a high human wizard, just like him.” Yog sighed, “Humans are smart when making things, but they are dumber than a rock when it comes to predicting the consequences of their creations.” She started floating.

“Like Overgod Cain, but he is a whole other monster. You know better than anyone that he stopped being a mere human long ago.” Kali looked at her, and Yog shook her head, “As I said, Merlin walks the same path. He modified his body to grow stronger quickly, and she modified her body to survive. But in the end of the day, they both turned into abominable chimeras.”

“Abominable Chimeras? When a creature grafts the organs, flesh, and bones of many other creatures into its own body as upgrades or replacements. Are you saying her body played a role? What’s this labyrinth doing now?”

“The labyrinth? It’s trying to multiply through mitosis, and for that, it needs mana. A lot of it.” Yog glanced at the labyrinth, “I doubt Arad and Merlin are having a good time inside. If she doesn’t manage to take control of the place in the next day or two, both of them would end up dead.”

“Then we should…” Kali was about to jump inside by Yog stopped her, “Go inside and you’ll be giving the labyrinth a large fatty chunk of mana. Those two would die in seconds when that happens. It’s slowly sucking on them like a piece of hard candy in fear of killing them before getting enough power, so don’t make them useless.”

****

Inside the labyrinth, Doma was trapped in a large, dark prison, sealed away from everything.

A large smile crossed Doma’s face. ^And I thought I was the only fool in the world.^ From the womb of darkness, her giggles echoed out like a pack of bloodthirsty hyenas. The shadows around her danced as curses slowly rushed out of her skin and eyes, burning the cage and chains that were chaining her down.

^If you play with fire, no matter who you are, you’ll eventually get burned.^ Doma sat cross-legged with the curses rushing out of her body; slowly but surely, she ate at the darkness of her prison.

She looked up, ^But to think this happened again. At least this time I managed to wake her up before I got sucked away.^

****

Arad retuned to his home where Merlin awaited him with a worried face. “Are you okay? You’ve been out for too long.” She expected him to return sooner, just an hour walk or so, not spend half a day outside.

“I had to finish what I’ve started. Got the tree chopped and sent to the sawmill.” He pulled the gold pouch from his pocket and put it on the table.

Merlin looked at the pouch for a second. “You managed to go there and cut it? Did you regain your memories?”

“No, but I do remember things when I see them. Walking down the road, I naturally made my way back to the forest like I always do. When I looked down at the village, I knew where the tavern was. And even if I can’t remember people, the moment I see them, I can remember a few things about them.” He took his boots off and walked inside.

“If that helps you regain your memories, then I’ll accompany you tomorrow for a walk around the village.” She grabbed the gold pouch and took it into their bedroom, throwing it inside where they kept all of their money. Albeit that stash was almost empty now, thanks to the healer… Arad’s injury was worse than just a bump on the head.

“Just a walk?” Arad looked at her as he sat on a chair to rest a bit, “I have to work. I doubt we have that much money left, do we?”

“I know.” Merlin walked toward him, “But we can do without money for a few days. You must rest. We’ve got some hens behind the house, their egg and meat can last us for a while. I can also forage for some wild spinach downstream. Mushrooms can be picked on the forest’s edge, it’s safe enough in the day.”

“Do you think I’ll sit here and let you go out like that? The forest isn’t safe, and the hens are more useful for eggs than meat.” Arad leaned back, “We’ll only slaughter them when they are too old to lay eggs.”

She looked at him with a lifted eyebrow, “Wait? You remember how old the hens are?”

Arad thought about it for a second, “No, it just came to me.” He leaned forward and then looked at Merlin, “This is what I was talking about.”

She approached him with a large smile on her face, “Then it’s decided, I’ll accompany you tomorrow. I want to see you cut trees.” She sat on his thigh.

“If you stay far enough won’t get hurt.” He said, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, “I know. If a bear like you ended up like this, a pretty daisy like me would end up more than just dead.”

“OW! Careful.” Arad gasped with a smile on his face, “My head still hurts.” He carried her and let her stand in the kitchen. “Should we make lunch now and take it with us? Or go to the tavern for a meal?” He looked a her.

“Lunch? For tomorrow.” She thought about it, “It’s been a while since I’ve been to the tavern. But it’ll be nice to have a quiet meal in the green forest. How about I make some fried spinach with eggs to be a snack, and we’ll go to the tavern for an actual meal?”

“Good idea.” Arad nodded, and the two stayed in the kitchen until dinner was ready. After which they headed to bed.

****

Arad lay on his bed, looking at the ceiling, his mind swimming in thoughts. He can’t shake this feeling that he is forgetting something important, and each second it grows stronger.

“What are you thinking about?” Merlin approached him as she took her underwear off and threw them into the basket beside the bed. Leaning forward, she crawled into the bed at his side and pulled the blanket over them. “A lot of things,” Arad replied and his eyes turned toward her face.

“Not today, you must rest.” She hugged him like a pillow and gave him a gentle peck.

“Say… I want to ask you something, but don’t get angry.” Arad asked, and she looked at him with a lifted eyebrow, “You know it’s not easy to make me angry.”

“Do you know any woman with long brown hair, golden eyes, and a lot of spikes coming out of her back?” For the first half of the sentence, Merlin looked a bit worried, but hearing the second half made her more confused than anything else. “Spikes out of her back? A porcupine? Besides, there is no woman with brown hair and golden eyes in the village.”

“I see…” Arad sighed.