The dragon's harem

“I’ll heal you immediately.” Arad was about to start healing Gojo, but he stopped him. “Forget about me. I’ll be fine. Make sure she stays alive, or my effort will be wasted.” He pointed at Ice Brood Mother.

Gojo wanted to capture the Ice Brood Mother alive, then bring her and her brood back to the Arctic. Arad would’ve been against that, but after figuring out how important she could be for the monster’s ecosystem, he was more inclined to let Gojo do what he wants.

On top of that, and as Gojo explained before, he was a dragon, and back in the mortal world, this Ice Brood Mother won’t be able to go against his will. Taking her back wasn’t the problem, but the problem was staying with her here while staying safe. Gojo better have a way to put her on a tight leash.

Nodding, Arad went toward the Ice Brood Mother and looked at the wound on her head. It was ghastly, and her brain was already dripping out. Gojo had hit her hard enough that his arm shattered, so the damage had to be major. Healing her won’t be easy, but luckily, Haru was quite adept at healing magic, so channeling it should be too much of a burden on her.

But brain damage was always nasty and hard to recover from. Arad could try his best, but she could still die or lose all sense of self. But thankfully, she was a tough and durable monster, so she could survive. He healed the Ice Brood Mother just enough so she won’t die, and then returned to fix his brother. Albeit, he couldn’t do much with how burned out Haru was.

Being a healer is stressful, especially when you have to ration your holy magic and heal only the fatal injuries. As he healed Gojo, Arad could remember Isdis telling him about how the healers worked in the times of war.

The war healers almost never heal people fully; they only stop the bleeding and make sure you won’t immediately die, keyword, immediately. Then, the soldiers would have to survive on their own and stomach the pain. On a good day, an average healer can fully heal a maximum of seven people at death’s door, but if they just do the bare minimum, they can save tens of lives.

So, the only ones who got fully healed in a war are the important soldiers, or as the generals call them, the golden pawns. Arad was also surprised to hear that even Isdis herself wasn’t one of the golden pawns in the countless wars she participated in. In her case, she wasn’t a golden pawn, not because she was replaceable or useless, but because she wasn’t supposed to be in the war in the first place.

After a short while, Arad noticed that Gojo’s body looked a bit better. His pale skin looked fuller, his face relaxed, and the stench of death was fading away. Gojo’s shattered arm was mended, but not fully healed, so he couldn’t move it. His wounds closed, but any sudden move would cause them to open again.

As Gojo relaxed, Arad used magic to light a fire to keep him warm, then turned back to the Ice Brood Mother and made sure she was still alive. She was breathing, but knocked out. That was good, it means he can leave her and Gojo here for a few minutes and not worry too much.

First, Arad had to make sure their surrounding area was relatively safe, and find something to help him carry them both while leaving his hands free to fight. Otherwise, he would have to wait for Haru to rest, so he can heal Gojo, let him sleep to recover a bit of his mana, then have him walk.

Returning to the cave won’t be easy. Arad was able to move, but he still hadn’t rested well enough to be confident that he could carry both Gojo and the Ice Brood Mother back and fight any monster that might attack them on the way, and he won’t be able to just drop them in the snow and box a random animal.

So, after a quick round and making sure they were somewhat safe, he went back around the nest, collected black threads, and brought them back.

Arad didn’t know how to make a backpack, but he had seen Linda and Tina wrap Astra and Serin before, and so all he could do was wrap the Ice Brood Mother like a burrito.

After wrapping the Ice Brood Mother and covering her up a bit, and tying her arms and legs, gapping her fangs, and making sure she won’t be able to move an inch, he started trying to bandage Gojo’s body. All of that happened in less than an hour after the fight ended.

Arad was even surprised at himself. He knew how to tie someone better than he knew how to wrap a baby or bandage wounds, which was a bit concerning, especially since Eris was laughing her ass off at him.

If not for her, he might’ve harmed Gojo more than he helped him. Eris was the one who told him how to dress wounds, how to sew the wounds shut with a needle of stone, and how and where to apply healing magic to make sure Gojo heals quicker.

“Good job, that’s how you do it for a corpse… I’m not sure if it’ll work for a live one, though.” Hearing Eris’s voice inside his head, Arad cried. “What? You should’ve told me!”

Gojo woke up and stared at him. “It’s fine… I’m feeling a bit better.”

Arad glared at him. “And how do you know that?”

Gojo smiled. “I’m in a lot of pain, and I love pain. It means I’m still alive and kicking.” He sat up and leaned on the wall, “How is your beautiful wife doing back at the cave? I hope she recovered enough.”

“A bit.” Arad approached him and started casting healing magic once more. “But we’re working with drops and drizzles here. Even now, I don’t know if I can fully heal you.”

When Arad first tried to fix Gojo up while Haru was burned, he could only stop the bleeding and clog the wounds. Now, he managed to mend the shattered bones, repair the flesh, and stitch the skin shut. But it still left countless scars on Gojo’s body.

The most harrowing of the scars were akin to lightning, countless streaks running across Gojo’s whole body, burned on his flesh from when he moved his own body with necromancy. It was only for a short while, but at that moment, Gojo was on the same path as Vars.