The dragon's harem

Chapter 1108: Shared Nightmare

Merlin was fast asleep beside Arad, hugging his body like a massive warm pillow. But then she suddenly found herself in a strange dream. Asleep on her back, a woman was squatting on her chest, making it impossible to breath.

Large, naked, and muscular body, long brown hair, and burning golden eyes with spikes coming out of her back. Even in a dream, Merlin immediately remembered that this must be the woman Arad talked about.

”Who are you?” She tried to growl with what little air was in her chest.

The woman reached back and broke one of the spikes. ^Survive!^ She pointed that spike at Merlinʼs chest, directly above her heart. Merlinʼs eyes opened wide, but before she could scream, the woman pushed the spike down, stabbing her.

”GAAAAAAAAA!” She cried, sitting up, holding her chest. Arad immediately woke up, ”Whatʼs happened?” The moment he looked at Merlin, he noticed a faint purple light flashing deep within her eyes.

”Arad!” She turned around and grabbed him from the shoulder, ”You must kill me! This reality is fake… If I donʼt die, you canʼt escape this thing…” The purple light in her eyes faded, and she grabbed her face, growling, ”My head…”

”Are you okay?” Worried, Arad grabbed her by the shoulder and shook her. ”Me… I donʼt know. I feel like I had a horrible dream.”

”About what?” Arad asked and she tried to remember but was unable to recall it.

”You just said I should kill you and that this reality is fake.” Arad looked at her, and she lifted an eyebrow, ”Did I? Was I mumbling in that dream?”

”Probably,” Arad pulled her back down to the bed and hugged her, ”Youʼll be safe at my side. Just close your eyes, breathe deep, and rest well.”

With her heart still racing and hands shaking, Merlin closed her eyes and tried to relax. Listening to Aradʼs heartbeat helped her calm down, and soon she was fast asleep again. When Arad was sure she fell asleep he slept as well. Soon the woman came to his dream, this time sitting on his chest like a boulder.

^Kill her, to survive.^ She said with a passive voice, her toenails growing into sharp claws and digging into his chest. The pain radiated up from his ribcage to his skull. ^She must perish for us to survive.^

^You…^ Arad looked at her, ^Never explain anything, do you?^

The womanʼs eyes finally moved as her skin started morphing into a brown shell of scales. Her arms grew longer and ended in sharp claws, her legs also transformed and ended un long dagger-like claws, her maw turned to resemble that of a dog and a crocodile, and her back got covered with a large spiky carapace.

^Kill her!^ She growled, her large fangs an inch away from Aradʼs face. Blood gushed out from beneath her scales and ripped on his body, burning his skin like acid.

Arad gasped and opened his eyes. Merlin was hugging his neck a bit too tightly. He sighed and took a deep breath, pulled a bit on Merlinʼs arms to release the pressure on his neck, and went back to sleep.

****

Morning came. From the smoke vent in the ceiling of the kitchen, a rooster jumped down, landing on the table. Flapping his wings he raced through the living room and arrived at Arad and Merlinʼs room.

With one eye and a tilted head, the rooster looked at them, slowly making his way over the bed and standing over Aradʼs chest. He looked at him for a second, then… Cock-a-Doodle-Doo! Straight into Aradʼs ear.

Arad opened one eye with a yawn, seeing the roosterʼs peak just an inch away from his eye. CLUCK? CLUCK?

The rooster jumped from Arad to the foot of the bed and once again screamed into the heavens, COCK-A-DOODLE-DOOOOOOOOOOO!

Arad and Merlin both woke up and looked at the rooster, ”Arad…” Merlin mumbled, ”Can you go feed them? Iʼll get ready…” She yawned, and Arad stood up, quickly throwing his pants on and going out with the rooster.

Walking into the shed behind the house, Arad pulled the chicken feed back from the stable and went to feed them. The rooster proudly stood over the fence and kept screaming its lungs off.

After making sure the chickenʼs water and food are topped off, Arad crawled inside to check the nests for eggs. Which wasnʼt an easy task for someone his size. Inside, he found a total of nine eggs. ”Nine? Iʼll take four then.” He picked four and looked at them, they were kinda small and probably wonʼt be enough.

Merlin isnʼt a big eater, and lately she was trying to lose weight; sheʼll probably try to put very few eggs in her spinach… but he, on the other hand, eats like a bear. He could eat two whole roasted chickens in one sitting and still have space.

”It wouldʼve been better if it were five.” He could take another egg, but he and Merlin had long agreed to only take half or less of what the chicken laid. The rest are going to be left to hatch and grow.

One of the hens looked at him, ”CLUCK?” And an egg popped out of her rear end, rolling on the hay. Arad looked at her with a smile and pulled the feed bag. ”Never seen a hen that lays eggs on command. That deserves some extra feed.”

With ten eggs in the pen, Arad took five and left five. Four for him, and one for Merlin.

When Arad returned, Merlin was already in the kitchen preparing both breakfast and their lunch. Arad gave her the eggs and she noticed that one of them was still wet and warm. ”Did the hen lay this this morning?”

”I only found nine eggs, so I squeezed one of the hens to pop another one.” He clenched his fist, and Merlin giggled, ”Last time I checked, hens donʼt work like that.”

”And what do you know? Iʼm strong enough to make it happen.” Arad replied with a proud face.

”Itʼs not a matter of squeezing hard enough…” She laughed and approached him, ”Now go wash your face. Weʼll set off right after breakfast, as you usually do.”

Soon, the two were on the road to the forest, Arad walking beside Merlin like a giant, even with her being considerably tall at 1.9m {6ʼ3ʼʼ}, her head barely reached his shoulder as he towered over her at 241.3m {7ʼ11ʼʼ}. His axe, which was twice the size of a normal axe, rested on his shoulder.