The dragon's harem

Chapter 878: Unstable

In the evening, Arad and Hank were sitting in the garden talking over some tea when Hankʼs wife walked in carrying one massive bag, ”Hank, so you found him.” She smiled, waving her hand from over the fences.

”Come in, itʼs open.” Arad lifted his hand and pulled the gate open with gravity magic. ”Everyone is inside cooking; we canʼt cook so weʼre waiting here.”

”Did you buy everything?” Hank stood and approached her. She showed him what was inside the bag, ”Still didnʼt find some, but that shouldnʼt be a problem.” She smiled and looked at Arad, ”How is the little wyrmling doing? He seems to have grown a bit bigger.”

”Only a tiny bit,” Arad smiled, tapping his head, ”Fattened up a bit. My wives are feeding me well.”

”You do indeed smell different,” She looked at Arad and then at Hank, ”You sensed it as well, fresh blood isnʼt so fresh anymore.” She giggled.

”Heʼs no more a welp, but a fully-fledged predator. And a vicious one at that, one look and youʼll see the beast growling inside him through those burning eyes.” Hank tapped Aradʼs shoulder, ”Youʼre far stronger than before.”

”Did you tell him about the village?” Hankʼs wife, Selena asked with a simile.

”I did, I even told him how to find it, in case he wanted to come to visit us. The people he saved before are all living there in peace, relatively speaking.” Hank looked at the sky, ”We still need to deal with the vicious beasts of this jungle.”

”Thatʼs the life of a hunter, kill to feed or be killed and fed upon.” Selena nodded.

”Iʼm a lumberjack, not a hunter. I cut trees, not run between them and hunt monsters.” He shook his head and sat beside Arad, ”Heʼs a hunter.”

”Iʼm not a hunter and an apex predator. I stand at the top of the food chain of the monsters you two hunt.” Arad smiled.

”So, youʼre well aware that whenever you go, nature itself shifts around dragons.” Selena started at him with her eyes glowing golden, ”There is no greater hunt than the fresh blood of a dragon. The beasts of this land canʼt lift a candle to you.”

”You think Iʼm free to hunt and live here...” Arad giggled, ”Sorry to say this...but you seem to be a bit too naïve than me.” Arad looked at her, his eyes burning purple, ”Donʼt you sense it? Iʼm not the apex predator of this jungle.”

As Aradʼs eyes looked over the mountains, he could see the ghostly figure of a massive silver beast. A titanic nine-tailed wolf of great power, resting upon the lands, rivaling in her eternal dominion. ”The eternal queens of these lands. Iʼve faced some powerful beings, but none of them come even close to their claws.”

”Are you talking about Hati? That lazy queen never gets out of her soft bed. Iʼve seen her once, her milk jugs are her best aspect, nothing more, nothing less.” Selena shook her head, ”And old queen...wait...you said queens?” Her eyes opened wide, ”What do you mean?”

”I can sense it from here, whatever insane power the queen has. I can see another faint figure behind her,” Arad pointed at the stars, ”She has two souls in her body, and they are both just as strong. The queen had double the power told by her myths and stories.”

”The overgod was right...” A gentle voice came from behind Arad and he rapidly swung with a clenched fist, only for it to get stopped by the queenʼs hand. ”Welcome to me and my sisterʼs land, little boy.” The queen standing behind them had a different aura than what they all knew; her body was reeking of earth magic.

”Youʼre the queenʼs second soul...that was a 10% punch, and you stopped it so well that there was not a single impact or a shockwave.” Arad said, sweating.

”I killed the force by diverging it to the ground. Iʼm the strongest earth element user in existence, Tarrasque has more innate ability, but sheʼs wild and lacks refined control like myself.” The queenʼs sister took a step back, the moon behind her back growling large.

”My name is Skoll, Hatiʼs twin sister. I came to deliver you a message, hunt for food, but donʼt over-hunt and destroy the jungleʼs ecosystem. My land is eternal, and Iʼll protect that with everything that Iʼve got.” Her body turned into dust and disappeared with the wind, not leaving any traces.

”Aron, what was that magic just now?” Merlin walked out of the house and found Arad standing with Hank and his wife Selena. ”Was it her? No, sheʼs...” Merlin could sense that Selena was a powerful werewolf.

”I just got a message from the one ruling this land, said to not over hunt.” Arad smiled, ”Itʼs usually dragons that rule wilderness and even cities that fell in their domain, but here itʼs a bit different.”

Merlin looked at him with a stern face, ”Itʼs the land of the divine beast Fenrir, thatʼs the eternal queen of the beast lands, Hati.”

”The story runs deeper than that,” Arad approached Merlin, ”Dinner is ready, right? Letʼs talk about this later.” He looked at the sky, ”Iʼm not feeling that good about this night, itʼs probably just me being uncomfortable in anotherʼs land.”

But Arad had no idea about the chaos brewing in the world, the creeping madness slowly consuming.

****

Back in Alina, Cain was sitting at his desk, mixing several potions for his customers. Beneath a single candle, his hand raced with his pen over the papers writing prescription for each of them. His eyes looked dead down, not even blinking for a second as they flickered with magic. From the shadows behind him, a hand approached silently and tapped his shoulder. He jerked back, looking into the empty room, sweating. ”Jemima?”

The door opened and Jemima walked in, ”Master, did you need anything?” she asked with a gentle bow.

”Ah...can you get me a new cup of tea?” He lifted his empty cup, ”Iʼve already finished it.”

She looked at his face for a second and approached, ”Are you all, right? You look exhausted, you know how strange that is in your case.”

”Iʼm old and fragile, writing those is mentally exhausting.” He smiled and she took the cup, ”Donʼt force yourself. Iʼll tell them to wait when they come tomorrow.”

”No, Iʼll finish work in a second and get to sleep.” Cain replied as he went back to work and she left the room.

Writing and weighing the doses, Cain stopped mid-work and lifted one of the empty papers. In the blink of an eye, he drew Jemima on it and looked at his creation, ”This is beautiful...” But in a second, he ripped it to shreds and started giggling, ”It looks better like this....” The papers burned into ash as he turned back with a crazed smile, ”Iʼll...”

Jemima was standing behind him, ”Iʼve brought you tea, what are you doing?” She looked at him, and Cain paused for a second, grabbed his forehead, and pinched his nose bridge. ”Nothing important...I just...” He looked at her, and could only see blood, ”Iʼm feeling a bit exhausted from sitting all day.” He took the tea from her hand and took a sip, ”I wish it all

ends up.”

Looking at her face, nothing that makes sense came to his mind. One second, he was thinking of ripping her apart, and the next he was thinking of what if he gave cows wings and made their milk naturally mixed with chocolate if they were fed cocoa beans, but then the chocolate milk dripped into the ground like mud, and quickly turned into humans dancing around a

massive pyre.

^It doesnʼt make sense, to resist me, you know? Iʼm a part of you.^ Cain could hear his own voice whispering in his head, ^Tell me, who are you?^

^Not you.^ Cain replied, ^Scram, I donʼt want to hear your vile thoughts in my head.^

ɅYou mean your own thoughts, weʼre one and the same. In fact, Iʼm the real you, how dare you pretend to be normal?^ The voice inside Cainʼs head giggled, ^You think Arad Orion would grow in time, no he wonʼt, youʼre insane to think thatʼs possible...^ The voice stopped for a second, ɅWait, it makes sense for you to think that because youʼre insane, but that making sense isnʼt a part of the madness, which makes sense but at the same time doesnʼt....fuck it, letʼs kill everyone and start over from the beginning, another RESTART!^ ^I said shut up, Iʼve ignored you for thousands of years, what makes you think that Iʼll listen

now?^

^Of course youʼll listen...look before you. When Cain blinked, he could see Jemima ripped to shred, her blood painting the whole room as he stood there, dripping red. ^Come on, you arenʼt growing weaker, but stronger, thatʼs why Iʼm taking over. Iʼm your true self, give up and let me take over, itʼs already too late for you.Ʌ

SLAP! Cain immediately gasped as something landed on his face, he was still in his office but Jemima was fine, glaring at him with a worried face, she was the one who slapped him. ”Wake

up! Can you hear me?”

”Jemima?” He gasped.

”For your own sake...rest for a bit.” She grabbed him by the hand and dragged him to bed,

”Rest, Iʼll get Gracie to check you.”

****

Eating dinner, Arad looked outside the window at the forest, some of the trees seemed like

laughing faces to him, and for a second, he could swear he heard a giggle in the background as

if the world itself was mocking him, he had never felt such a creepy sensation in his life.

”I indeed donʼt feel right here...” Arad mumbled, thinking it was because of being in Hatiʼs domain, but it was far greater.