The dragon's harem

When morning came, Arad was exhausted, mentally drained, and a bit depressed, to say the least. Kali didn’t just drain him to the bones. He also had to deal with trying to find the mana drakainas and with the depression of failing two massive, potentially deadly creatures in his domain, no, in his very castle.

What broke Arad wasn’t the failure but the fact that he checked all the maids and servants in the castle. He must’ve checked the two drakainas as well and failed to discover them. He had brushed against them so close yet couldn’t find them.

Usually, it was natural for an adult dragon shouldn’t be able to detect older dragons when they are polymorphed. But Arad was always ahead of the curse. He could even detect dragons past their twilight like Gamond.

But Gamond is a Chromatic drakaina, and magic isn’t her strong suit. Someone like Luminous might or Malina might be a better comparison. Malina wasn’t much older than him and a steel dragon. It was easy for him to detect her, proving that his senses were, in fact, stronger than average.

Luminous is a magic dragon, a Light Drakaina that surpassed her twilight eons ago. She should’ve been a great candidate to test his senses on. Keyword, should.

Luminous as stealthy as the sun in the sky and as proficient in polymorph as a clown pretending to be a stick, even blind people would still feel the burning heat generated by her blinding light.

For that, Arad turned to the one person he knew who could help him. His father.

“You say two drakainas are hiding among the maids and servants of the castle? Mana Dragons? That name rings a bell, but it must’ve been decades since I’ve heard it. No, I remember. It was written on an ancient wall I found inside a mountain.” Alcott took a sip of his beer and looked at Arad, who sat beside him. The two were back in the guild, talking in the tavern.

Arad nodded, “I inspected everyone but didn’t find them. I’m sure I’ve missed something. I have strong senses, but clearly not strong enough. I can’t just leave two drakainas of that power hiding inside the castle without anyone’s knowledge. They might’ve not caused any trouble till now, but there is no telling in the future.”

Alcott took a big gulp and thought about it for a long while. “Drakainas are proud, more than most people think. They’ll never stay for long in your territory unless they are here to mate. You’re their target, and that’s clear.”

A dragon’s pride doesn’t work the same as humans. What dragons call pride is their indomitable will and determination to achieve what they want in the way they want it. A dragon would happily allow itself to be enslaved and used as a pet mount for decades if its goal included killing its master from under those circumstances. Nothing is below them besides failing to achieve their goals.

“Did you consider that they might be a twisted type of Claug? Instead of spying on people and watching their lives, they might prefer to live those lives themselves. Did any of the maids make advances toward you?” Alcott asked and quickly scratched the back of his head, “What am I asking? Of course, they did.”

“You drunkard!” A voice boomed behind them, and when they looked, it was Ginger standing there with Nina.

Ginger rushed at Alcott, “How many times I’ve told you not to drink during the day? Are you trying to mimic Amber?”

“Nina,” Alcott sighed, “You really brought her to me? You know she’ll pull my ears off, don’t you.” He finished his mug of beer and then looked at them, “But not today. I’ve got a new job, you see.”

He glanced at Arad for a second and then turned to Nina, “The job is to locate two drakainas, powerful ones. Older than an adult, most likely, mature or old.”

“That’s a dangerous quest. The collateral damage might be costly, depending on the location.” Nina sighed. Alcott was the second to last person she should worry about. The first was Arad. What worried her more was the collateral damage.

“That’s why I want to assemble a team, the old and reliable one.” He smiled, “Me, you, Ginger, Merlin, and Arad to replace Amber.”

Alcott stood, cracked his back, and looked at Arad, “Don’t slow us down. No, do slow us down. If we’re tracking dragons, nothing is better than being slow and steady.”

“I’ll go register the quest as private. I’ll leave discussing the complicated matters to you. Just call me when you need me to beat or restrain the dragons.” Nina left, and Ginger approached the counter and sat beside Alcott. “Then it’s better if we call Merlin. What kind of dragons are we talking about?”

“Two magic drakainas, Mana dragons, to be exact. Quite powerful and proficient in magic beyond what any wizard could hope to be.” He pulled his and Arad’s beer mugs together. “I suspect they are using a mixture of their draconic innate shapeshifting and spells to hide their presence beneath layers and layers of illusion and deception.”

Ginger flicked her finger and sent a notification to Merlin. She then leaned on the counter and looked at the mugs, “So, we overload them?”

“Possible, but I don’t think it’s a good idea to push them into a corner like that.” He looked at Arad, “They are hiding in his castle, among the servants. I guess you can understand what that means.”

“They are posted there looking for a mate. The only option is Arad. If their target was a human, then they wouldn’t be acting in the dragon’s way. We set them off, and the whole castle drowns in fire and chaos.” Ginger grabbed one of the mugs, “Can’t we make them expose themselves?”

“Dragons are hard to trick. And I guess they probably know about the castle more than Arad knows if they are acting as servants.”

“I inspected every servant and maid and didn’t find them. My draconic senses are useless unless I don’t know what I should be looking for.” Arad added, and Ginger frowned.

“They are older than you. It should be expected that your senses can’t detect them. But it’s you who we are talking about. I can’t say for sure. You might’ve just missed something.” She looked behind her and found Merlin already standing there.

“I heard something about Arad’s senses not detecting someone older than him. You aren’t talking about me, are you?” Merlin leaned on Arad’s back, drilling her elbow into his neck.