The dragon's harem

Chapter 1509: A Call for Blood

Ignis smiled and turned around, flying away. Everyone followed him as they headed deeper into the draconic city. Right now, they were heading toward the armed palace, the lair where most of the dragons’ collective wealth is stored.

Dragons lived a military life; the whole Star Mountain was a massive military camp where the chromatic dragons of the army lived and spent their time. The rest of their kind’s population lived all across the world, each one secluded in their own lair and land.

The Metallic dragons were the same; the reason their flying fortress is called a fortress is that it is a military fortress. The Chromatic dragons were the same, living in a military base.

Soon, they all landed at the mountainside, on a titanic balcony carved out of a single boulder. The stone was so massive that it would’ve qualified for a mountain anywhere else; the fact that Ignis, Arad, Gamond, and everyone else fit on the balcony, in their draconic forms, was stunning.

”This is our landing platform. Here we land, drop shipments and supplies, and do anything else related to that.” Ignis looked inside the massive cavern linked to the balcony. Several dragons were already approaching.

As they saw Ignis, they stomped on the ground and looked behind him to see who he had brought. He was with them just minutes ago before leaving to see who the dragons were making a ruckus about.

First, they spotted the massive Gamond, but before they could say or do anything, Ignis pointed at Alcott, who was sitting on Arad’s head alongside Eris.

”We’ve got guests, they’re here to see the queen.” He then looked at Balina in the back, ”Prepare the rainbow bridge. In the meantime, I’ll take them to the guest hall.”

The two dragons immediately ran inside. With Alcott being involved, the matter could be nothing but serious, and it was.

Most dragons only care about their children while they are young, but the moment they become young adults, they are kicked out of the lair to go and carve a piece of the world for themselves.

The Chromatic Queen Lola is the same; all of her children were treated like that, being left to fend for themselves the moment they grew. Unlike humans, there was no luxury in being a royal chromatic dragon, just a mountain of responsibility, a lot of expectations, and not a single drop of help.

But, Lola had to make an exception for Balina, because that daughter of hers wasn’t going to marry any random dragon, but Arad himself. He was an emperor, a powerful dragon with a massive empire, one that housed thousands of both Metallic and Chromatic dragons.

He was also the son of Alcott, making him an important person that she couldn’t ignore, and building a stable relationship with him was important. So Balina’s marriage became one of the most important events of this century.

The higher-ups of the dragons understood the importance of that, and they also were certain Arad wasn’t going to just marry their princess, but he would most likely snatch one of the Metallic queen’s daughters as well. His relationship to the two queens would reshape the war, and might even put an end to it.

Both sides have been at war for thousands of years. An era of peace would allow them to recoup and reorganize.

Ignis could see the numbers of the Chromatic dragons dwindling lately; many died, and the dragons’ reproduction cycle is slow, causing them to start lacking in mature adult dragons and older.

It would be nice if this marriage would give at least five hundred years of peace.

”Bring us some food, enough for everyone and a bit extra.” Ignis walked to a large stone slab and sat. Those were the dragons’ version of seats. Everyone sat around, waiting for the food.

”Arad, do you know why your marrying Princess Balina is important? The queen should bring this up when you meet her.” He smiled, and Arad sighed.

”You want me to do Alcott’s job, be a mediator. The Metallic and Chromatic dragons have been at war for thousands of years, and both of you are tired and wounded.” Arad looked around, ”The problem is that both of you are prideful idiots who would rather die in battle than ask for a truce or peace. That’s where I come in. If I marry Balina and someone from the Metallic dragons, I can be the one to suggest that both sides sign a peace treaty.”

”Smart, as the queen expected.” Ignis nodded, but Arad shook his head and pointed at Alcott.

”He figured it out.”

Alcott shook his head, ”It wasn’t me thought, the first to think of such a thing was Isdis. She told me that the dragons might be aiming to do something similar to what happened between the High Elves and the Dark Elves, use Arad as a catalyst to end the war.”

”Isdis is smart.” Arad smiled, and Alcott shrugged, ”What did you expect? Unlike common rabble, she was born and raised as royalty. She knows enough about politics to make a guess.”

”Common rabble, you two?” Ignis chuckled and looked back at Balina and Gamond. ”Do you agree?”

Gamond looked at Arad, ”I would say so. He sneaks out a lot to drink at the local bar with his father.”

Claug shrugged, ”Even though neither of them can get drunk.”

”Don’t know.” Balina looked at Arad, ”We still didn’t fight. Gamond beat me, and he beat her, but I still must try it for myself.” She looked at Denki beside her, ”Even this little girl got to fight him before me.”

Denki gasped and looked away, ”It wasn’t like that!”

Kory looked at Arad, ”He is a bit strange. Isdis told me that while Arad has more power than any king, he most of the time acts like a human, and sometimes like a dragon.”

Zul looked at Arad and smiled, ”It doesn’t matter really, he acts like Arad.”

Eris, who was sitting on Arad’s head, looked down for a second, thinking, ”Arad acts...”

She frowned, ”No, he doesn’t act like the common rabble of the humans, he acts like the common rabble of everyone, anyone. He sees and learn, mimics and changes with every new person he meets.”

She smiled, ”For example, once he met Baltos, the King of Ruris, Arad started acting somewhat like him, trying to be a proper king. But he seemed to mimic everyone. King Baltos is known to sneak into the food storage to steal cheese and eat it. Arad now does something similar, but sometimes I find him munching on a whole cow leg as a snack.”

Arad lifted an eyebrow, ”While I hunt monsters and eat outside, everyone needs a snack every now and then.”

”You could’ve just asked the maids to bring you something to eat.” Eris sighed, and Arad smiled. ”It’s heavy, and I like to cut my own meat, which makes it easier to pick the cuts I want.”

Eris smiled, ”And you learned that from who? A maid in Yog’s world. See? You change with time based on everyone you meet.”

Alcott watched them talk and then looked at Ignis, ”He is still impressionable. But beware, that doesn’t mean he is easily influenced by anyone.”

Ignis nodded, ”What about you? I’ve heard some news in the wind, but I didn’t want to assume anything.”

Alcott sighed, ”Sadly, your information is wrong. I’m not getting a second wife; that’s a maid. So keep me out of this, dealing with one is all my old bones can handle.”

But at that moment, Arad froze in place, went silent for a second, and then his magic burst outward, shaking the whole mountain. It only lasted for a fraction of a second before he calmed, but that was enough to put the whole Star Mountain on alert.

”ARAD! What’s the matter?” Eris asked, and Arad wasn’t even listening to her.

”FUCKER!” Arad growled, blood rushing to his head and all of his limbs. News from the Storm Titans had just arrived in Alina. Tyal’s father and his wives were all killed by Euri right after he left last time, and the bastard had escaped to hell.

Tyal was mentally in shambles now. Malina and Zenia are trying to calm her down, but nothing seems to be working.