The dragon's harem

Arad managed to skin the bear in record time and fashion a coat and some simple boots for Gojo from its warm hide. It was hard, but unlike most people, he had a wife who was an expert at making clothes. He had seen and helped her many times, even if his massive fingers were clumsy with a needle.

This time, the bear’s thick hide made it easier for him; he didn’t need to worry about using large holes or thick leather strands instead of threads. When he finished the coat and boots, they looked like an amateur’s job, poorly made and rough around the edges, but for their purpose, they worked just fine.

“It’s a bit warmer, but we should’ve tanned the leather first.”

Gojo felt weird wearing the coat; it was still fresh out of the bear’s carcass. It’ll keep him warmer than Arad’s shirt, but he still didn’t like the smell and stickiness of some parts. He had felt that Yog’s grippers were disgusting enough, but now he had found something worse.

“Let’s hurry. The meat won’t spoil in this cold, but we’d better find shelter soon.” Arad said as he walked just a few steps behind Gojo, carrying the bear’s carcass on his back. He had thrown all of the organs out except the heart and liver, then carried everything else with him to cook later. While cold didn’t harm Arad as much as it harmed Gojo, hunger did him far worse.

Arad was massive, and he needed a lot of food and rest to remain awake and active. He had a mound of stamina, but his endurance could only take him so far before running out. Food, shelter, sleep, and then repeat. As long as he gets his basics, Arad won’t die in the harshest of wilderness.

Soon, they reached the forest and walked through its great oak trees and pines, looking and listening around for any other animals or monsters. While they did leave most of the bear’s organs back to draw the attention of monsters, they still carried a lot of meat with them. A pack of great white wolves would be enough to end them both if they were caught off guard.

Gojo had his magic always at the ready, looking around for anything to kill. If it moved and it wasn’t Arad, Gojo would blast it away on reflex. He didn’t care if it was a harmless squirrel or a rabbit; he had once seen what a pack of killer bunnies could do.

The two brothers walked through the forest, slowly but surely, they were heading toward the mine. At their pace, they should reach it before nightfall, which would allow them to settle inside and set camp.

But soon, they saw something strange, and Gojo almost unleashed a massive fireball. The forest had fallen silent, only the creaking of wood could be heard. The shadows seemed deeper, and the cold sharper.

Two silver wolves, headless, but stuck mating. Their severed heads were resting in a fruit basket just a few feet away from their lifeless bodies.

The disturbing scene caused the two brothers to reel back a bit, stare in confusion for a second, before walking past it. The mere fact that a fruit basket was there meant that other people were around; someone had to make it after all. Unless this is an elaborate prank by Yog.

Looking around, those two wolves weren’t the only ones. The entire pack was scattered around in pairs, stuck dead in the same position with their heads displayed like decoration. The birds on the tree, a bear, and even two snakes coiled around each other, headless and frozen into solid ice.

“What do you think? Should we worry?” Arad asked with a worried face. The two wolves’ position was weird, and their bodies looked fresh. Whoever created this scene had to be close and sick to the core. The wounds were also too clean, so it had to be a skilled fighter, someone that Arad probably can’t defeat without proper weapons in his current body.

Of course, unless he slaps them to death. Dalla’s martial art was one of Arad’s most useful and versatile weapons, and she deserved all the thanks for it.

“YOG!” Gojo growled. “Yog! What are you doing, is this… one… of… your…” Gojo halted, looking forward with a pale face. In front of them, the trees had been replaced with naked people, headless corpses mating, a macabre scene from hell.

The corpses’ heads were displayed on their hands like hanging fruits, some fresh and still bleeding, but some had long since turned into clean skulls.

They looked back, and the forest behind them had disappeared as well, only endless darkness expanded where the radiant white snow should’ve been. They were too late to react, they should’ve run away the moment they spotted the wolves from afar.

“Gojo! We need to run back, snap out of it! Why are you dozing off?” Arad shook him, and Gojo mumbled.

“She is gone. Yog had been severed away from us.”

It was only then that Arad realized he couldn’t use magic anymore. Which was more worrisome than just losing a part of their power, it was the fact that something could sever them away from Yog’s bond; it had to be a being equally powerful or at least holding an uncanny power.

Soon, they saw it, where the mine should be. A large wooden building, built from oak and pine and decorated by black flowers, growing vines, and the skulls of the dead. It was a shop with a sign that just said [Door]

At the door’s left side was a small garden of dark purple flowers, all surrounding an empty grave with a silver gravestone. Pale mist surrounded it, sparking with shadows and darkness.

On the door’s left side, a small garden extended for a few meters. In it, several things were planted, living beings. Humans, elves, and many other races were all planted in the ground, screaming and crying as one maid approached them with a scythe in her right hand and a hoe in her left.

Just looking at the maid was enough to freeze both Arad and Gojo in place. Her maid’s outfit was conservative with a skirt going as low as her ankles, a baggy top, and a pale white apron decorated with frills and flowers. Her short, silky black hair was smooth, her bangs clipped to the side with a skull-shaped pin, and her purple eyes looked as dead as those of a corpse, looking down with cold indifference at the screaming people.

With one swing, she mowed them down like grass with an emotionless face. Her moves were graceful, trained, and perfectly calculated. As the last of the heads rolled, she elegantly stood up and leaned on the scythe, looking in the brothers’ direction with her dead, dark purple eyes.

Without saying a word, she turned around and walked toward the door, getting inside the shop and closing the door behind her.

Arad and Gojo looked at each other for a second, pondering what they should do next. Darkness engulfed everything around them, only allowing the path to the wooden shop to be visible. They didn’t have much of a choice but to move forward.

Once they arrived, Arad stood in the front, and Gojo was behind him. Their magic had long disappeared, so Gojo was pretty much useless in a fight compared to Arad.

Arad lifted his massive arm and knocked on the door, three knocks, gentle and well spaced out. He did want to just kick the door open, but had this dark feeling that only death awaited them inside if they angered the maid.

A second later, a voice came from the inside, melodic, calm, and eerie. “Who knocks on Death’s door?”

The door slowly opened with a loud creek, and it revealed the maid standing inside, staring at them with cold dead eyes.