The dragon's harem

Soon enough, the two found the back entrance of the cave, a large quicksand pit hidden beneath a massive dirt mound. The earth dragon seems to have hidden it well. So well, in fact, that plants started growing on the mound, masking it pretty well with the foliage of the forest.

“Are you sure we won’t trigger any trap by messing with the mound?” Ganta asked with a worried face as she crouched beside the mound and reached toward one tiny red flower.

“You’re right. The quicksand pin below is trapped. It must be deactivated from the inside. The magic barrier also checks for mana waves and is a bit more complicated. Wait here, I’ll teleport inside, disarm it, and come back for you.” Arad lept out of her cleavage and disappeared into thin air. Seeing him leave, Ganta felt a shiver run down her spine.

She slowly sat on the ground, sweat slowly building on her forehead. She didn’t trust his ability to keep them both safe. This mission was deadly, but now, with him gone, that sense of doom had grown even bigger.

If she was known for one thing, it was her sense of danger. She never failed to know when it was the time to turn tail and run away. This was one such time. Arad is inside, and she doubts he’ll make it back.

She should turn back and run away, but what should she tell Aella then? That she left Arad to die and ran away to save her hide? As if she didn’t have enough trouble with her elven friend to begin with.

As the wind gently played with her long hair, the tree branches danced, causing the shadows to move, but even that wasn’t enough to mask the horror from Ganta’s sharp gaze. Ever since she heard their target was a shadow drakaina, Ganta had been keeping a close eye on the shadows around her, especially her own shadow.

That shadow just moved. It was a small mistake, but she noticed it and immediately jumped away. Sadly, she was too late to react since the fact her shadow moved meant the shadow drakaina already got her in her grasp.

Ganta’s body froze. Her muscles spazzed as she saw her own shadow disintegrate. Her vision got washed in red, pain surged across her whole body, and she could smell nothing but her own blood. A loud, painful screech of agony escaped her throat as her body jolted, her eyes fixed on the sky in horror and pain.

Her limbs spazzed, her fingers twisted, and their joints almost cracked under the weight of her own muscles going over their limit. But the damage to her body wasn’t the only thing she had to worry about. With her shadow damaged, the impact reflected on her very being.

In the same way that if a man was cleaved in half, his shadow would be cleaved in half, if a shadow disintegrated from reality, the shadow’s owner would suffer the same fate.

Ganta felt her soul and body getting ripped apart and sucked into the darkness of the shadows beneath her feet, quickly drowning her in cold silent darkness.

Thud! Ganta fell on the cold stones, her whole body in so much pain and agony that just breathing made her want to cry. This was exactly what she feared, and damn it, Arad wasn’t able to keep her safe after all.

She looked up, seeing a massive dragon, no, a massive shadowy drakaina standing several tens of meters ahead of her, looking at the wall with a distant, crazed look in her red glowing eyes.

“Fuck me… who would’ve guessed.” She forced herself to stand. The shadow drakaina didn’t seem to have tried to kill her. She just used the shadows to teleport her deep underground. Arad said the drakaina was insane, so it was to be expected that she wasn’t that gentle with her hands.

The shadow drakaina slowly turned her head and looked at Ganta, a deep sense of hunger and madness boiling in those red eyes. Ganta smiled, blood rushing down her lips, painting her teeth red.

“I see, you might be insane, but still want to set a trap for Arad.” Ganta took a deep breath and giggled, “And if you think my sweet ass is enough to draw him here, you’re fucking insane.”

Ganta could barely stand, drowning in pain, she knew that her death was near. She is only alive since this drakaina seemed to want her to be bait for Arad. Quite intelligent for an insane monster, but those are the dragons, madness probably had a different meaning in their context.

Ganta reached down, grabbed her shirt with one hand, and ripped it off with one pull. A large smile appeared on her face, it was time to fight to death. This wasn’t a battle that she had chosen, and neither was it one that she wanted to fight.

With one fist, she smacked her chest, and then smacked it again with another, pounding her chest with all of her might. A second later, the pounding grew louder than war drums and her body grew larger, covered in black and silver fur. Her maw shifted, her horns grew longer and her hair burned with golden sparks.

The drakaina moved, lifting her head, and glared at the transformed Ganta with malice as if urging her to stand down and be an obedient bait.

Ganta roared, pounding her chest again as she burst into a fit of rage, smacking the ground and the wall with great enthusiasm and vigorous attitude.

That was a clear threat, if the drakaina doesn’t allow her to leave, Ganta is going to fight to the death. Gorillas are usually peaceful and like to avoid conflict, but when pushed into a corner, violence might become the only option.

The drakaina roared and Ganta lunged at her, running on all four then jumped at the wall. She used her powerful arms to latch onto the small cracks and swing around with great dexterity and speed, soon reaching the ceiling above the drakaina and dropping down with both fists ready for a slam on the winged lizard’s back.

The drakaina’s head moved so fast that Ganta couldn’t even see it, ready to bite her in half mid-air. But, Ganta already expected such an attack. For most dragons, when they are faced with an attack from above, their counter is a bite of their own. Knowing well that the bite was coming, Ganta positioned her arms just in the right place to land with her hands and legs on the drakaina’s nose and chin, glaring right down at her massive eye.

OOOO! Oooo! Oooo! AAA! AAA! AAA! OOOOOOOOOOOOO! Ganta swung her fist down at the drakaina’s eye, aiming to rip it out.