The dragon's harem

As the carriage approached the Dark Elves’ capital’s gate, the guards cleared a path for it and herded all of the commoners away.

No inspection, no talking, and no one getting within twenty meters of it. Arad’s arrival wasn’t a matter they could mess up. They already saw Arad and recognized him, so there was nothing for them to do.

All the soldiers understood Arad’s power. They know that neither their walls nor gates can stop him. An inspection won’t mean anything since he already has a vampire army inside his stomach. They can only hope is that no fool would set him off and cause the whole capital to fly into the moon.

The carriage passed without an inspection and headed through the cleared streets, making its way straight to the capital without stopping. It was snowing now since it’s winter here. But when summer arrives, the searing heat would turn this capital into a dense sea of fog and blinding light.

The city was called the Dark Moon Bay, and the castle built in its heart was the Dark Moon Palace. That was where Jasmine lived, a castle that put Arad’s hastily built castle to shame. It boasted a history as old as many thousands of years. By human records, this city was ancient, from times before most of their kingdoms existed.

Cerilla didn’t miss a chance to poke Jasmine and tell her how the High Elves’ castle is bigger and better, which Jasmine couldn’t argue with. In the mortal world, the High Elves’ castle had existed since before the elves divided, and it was probably the biggest castle in the whole world, if they didn’t count the Flying Steel Continent of the Metallic dragons, and the Star Dragon Peak of the Chromatic dragons.

Now that Arad thought about it, he still has to go meet those two queens. Even if the dragons mostly stay out of people’s business, they are forces that can’t be ignored.

Seconds later, the carriage rolled past the castle’s massive drawbridge and stopped in the inner garden, with almost a hundred soldiers lining a path toward the main keep.

Arad stopped the carriage and jumped down from his seat, looking at the heavily armored royal guards. None of them moved, but he could notice the tension in their eyes that glowed behind their visors. Everyone here knew that if he went on a rampage, no one could stop him.

This was the reason Arad hid his identity when attending the university; this fear was quite annoying to deal with.

The carriage’s door opened, and Jasmine walked out, stretched, and looked at Arad. “Welcome to my castle. We won’t be staying for long, but I hope you’ll like your stay.” She then looked behind her as Cerilla and Dalla walked out, accompanying Frella as she carried her child.

The guards tensed even more as they saw Cerilla, but their eyes opened wide when they saw Frella with them.

They expected Arad, expected Cerilla her guard Dalla, but what was Frella doing here? She was supposed to be in the lighthouse atop the mountain.

Cerilla approached Jasmine, “Call the healers at once. We’ll take care of Frella so we can work at ease.”

Jasmine nodded and waved her hand, calling the cleric, who looked to be sitting in the back and watching from afar. “Come and hurry!”

The cleric rushed in, and royal knights opened a path for him.

“Your Majesty!” He bowed, and Jasmine pointed at Frella. “Take care of the child in the royal quarter, and make sure neither of them comes to any harm or discomfort.”

“As you order!” He bowed and hurried away with Frella. Taking care of her child was now of utmost importance.

Arad looked at the guards and then at Jasmine. “Before that, how do you intend on dealing with the trolls?”

She looked at Arad in silence and then shifted her gaze to one of the royal knights. This one had a golden badge on his shoulder and a crimson cap.

“We’re slowly cutting down their food sources and habitats to drive them deeper into the mountain with as few casualties as possible. They should be dealt with in a few weeks.” The knight bowed; he was the general of the land troops.

“A sound plan.” Arad looked back at the mountain, “But your plan is about to fall apart. You’ve taken them as nothing more than mindless beasts, and that was a mistake.”

The general wanted to growl and say that the trolls were indeed mindless beasts, vile and violent, barbaric fiends. But he kept his mouth shut, for he was talking with someone who could blow the whole place to the moon with a sneeze.

“What do you mean?” Jasmine noticed that her general was intentionally staying silent, so she asked the question instead.

“The troll clans are working together, slowly getting closer to uniting under one massive troll to raid the capital.” He was silent for a second. “The soldier’s attempts to drive them away only gave the trolls a reason to work together. Your plan wasn’t working; they were baiting you in and gathering their power.”

The general finally opened his mouth, “If they are forming an army, then we must strike first and break their ranks.”

Arad shook his head, “They already accounted for that. The storm is covering them well now. If you march, your army would be weakened.”

Jasmine looked at the mages, “So? High magic?”

“No, I’ll deal with them.” Arad bent his knees a bit and sighed, “Time to work, I’ll be back soon.” And he jumped, causing a blast of air and several cracks to show in the ground.

With that one jump, he flew across the sky and clouds like a meteor. Seconds later, he landed at the peak of the closest mountain to the trolls and looked down at them from the sky.

The trolls heard and saw him hit the peak, so they all looked up, freezing in place as he glared down at them.

“Foolish white, what did embolden you so much that you wish to attack the Dark Elves?” Arad’s voice shook the ground like a roar, and the trolls moved away.

A large white dragon rose from beneath the snow and snorted, expanding his wings and glaring back at Arad. “This is my land.”

“No, it’s not. It’s Zephyr’s land, and you’ll be sitting down. You’ve ruled the mountains in peace for decades, I guess, and now you dare expand to the Dark Elves?” Arad sighed, his eyes burning purple.

“It is my land, it shall be mine. Wealth belongs to those strong enough to take it. And that land is ruled by the weak elves. I refuse to let such a lowly race limit my land.” The white dragon stirred.

“Emboldened by pride, reaching with your talons to what isn’t your right. Someone must break your claws.” Arad jumped down, landing with a blast. “I’ll deal with you myself.”