The dragon's harem

DelTaDa stared at the invisible steel machine in front of him, a bit confused and amused. To think there is something out there that could camouflage itself so well that it can hide from his draconic senses for so long and even go unnoticed until it was pointed out to him. If Alcott and his group didn’t come and warn him, he would’ve never looked around, and those orcs could’ve hidden from him indefinitely.

The strange steel carriage captured light from each of its sides and released it on the others, perfectly blending into its surroundings as if it were made of highly transparent glass. It relied on an internal energy source, so it never released anything into the air; it didn’t smell, and it even operated silently enough to be masked by the sounds that already exist in the dense frozen forest. The damned thing even piled snow on its track to mask where it came from or where it was going.

So how did DelTaDa find it so quickly? It was simple. He had mainly two ways that allowed him to both track and detect it. The first was heat. Even if the carriage perfectly masked its heat, due to how cold this place is, DelTaDa could detect even the tiniest fluctuation and track it. Due to his perfect eyes, he could just fly high up and survey his entire territory with his eyes, track every tiny mouse and fly, and find the orcs.

The second way was, of course, using his snitches. The monsters and animals of the forest told him that there was something strange moving across the land, and even offered to help him track it. An Arctic Bear mom was already keeping an eye on the orcs from miles away.

Thanks to her contributions, she now had the protection of the dragon and would never worry about her territory within his land being taken by another monster. It was a simple reality. While a dragon would rule over a vast piece of land, they usually have a hands-off approach, leaving the monsters to act naturally and divine the land as they would do if the dragon wasn’t around. That way, they can live freely, multiply, and become a stable source of food for the dragon.

^What should I do?^ DelTaDa thought about his next move. He can attack them, show up to speak, or put on a show to intimidate them. He doesn’t want them to panic and blow up, so dealing with them felt like trying to approach a really cowardly hamster. Surprise them even a bit, and they’ll die of a heart attack, but here, the result won’t be a dead rodent, but a thermonuclear burst and an entire dead ecosystem.

He extended his massive claw toward the carriage and decided to just tease them a bit, get them primed for when he shows up. Without revealing himself, he knocked on the back of the steel carriage. He could immediately feel several things move inside the carriage, and they moved violently as if surprised and caught off guard.

Of course, the poor orcs were horrified. Nothing was showing on their radar, and something had just clearly tapped on their armored carriage with enough force to nudge it. Is there some invisible ghost around, a horrifying alien that they had never seen before? It couldn’t be a defect in their instruments since the entire armored tank moved, which is literally impossible without the force to move several tons of reinforced alloy steel.

DelTaDa was satisfied with that reaction; it meant they were now expecting something massive and powerful to show up. Now, for the approach itself. He can show up, send an animal to speak with them instead, talk with them in quizzes to make them calm down and think, or even attack head-on.

What would his ancestor Zaleria have done? What would the oldest and wisest of his family do in this situation? Zaleria was and still is a proud fire drakaina, and she would rather take a direct approach rather than play games. She would most likely grab the entire steel carriage and throw it into orbit while threatening them that she would save them unless they wanted to kill themselves and explode.

She was literally the being in the universe besides AO who saw Nyar’s true form and said. "Bet, I can mess that bastard up so badly that he will never walk again for the rest of his life." The most surprising part was that she did it. Jumped into the portal and, using her entire power, detonated her entire existence with a single kick sent down the abomination’s throat. She puts him and all other red dragons to shame, as none of them could even fathom the way she thinks.

DelTaDa decided to take a safe approach and send some of his minions to do the job for him. From the snow, a tiny and fluffy white bunny showed up and approached the carriage. The bunny stood still for minutes, glaring right at the carriage. Soon, one of the orcs decided to check it out. Either kill the tiny alien or find out why it can see the carriage.

A white Pigeon landed on a tree right beside where DelTada’s head was, and even the dragon was surprised that Merlin could find him. That woman was horrifying. He quickly sent her a telepathic message, ^You can locate me?^

^Of course, I do need to keep an eye on beings far scarier than you. Talking about Arad and his wives.^ The pigeon didn’t even move. ^But I’m surprised, you can talk with animals and even sent telepathic messages.^

^There was once a tribe of druids living in this forest when I was a young dragon, and to appease me, they offered me one of their daughters as a sacrifice. I was about to eat her immediately, but since she was so horrified, she begged and offered to teach me druidic magic if I kept her alive, so I did.^

^Then you ate her when you had nothing else to learn?^ The pigeon glared at him, and DelTaDa smiled. ^I ate her tribe instead. She spent five years with me, and then I flew her south, where she spent the rest of her life.^

^You’re surprisingly nicer than I thought.^ The pigeon sighed, and DelTaDa glared at her. ^Don’t be naïve, wizard. I might’ve spared one sacrifice, but I ate hundreds. One deed of what you humans consider good doesn’t change the fact that I’m a dragon.^

He slowly opened his massive maw, as if showing his fangs. ^Me, your mate Arad Orion, all of us are dragons. You can raise a pet tiger their whole life, but they are still a wild animal. The tiger didn’t go crazy and eat its master; the tiger went tiger, and the foolish human paid the price.^

^I know that. I didn’t say you were nice; I said that you were nicer than expected. It is rare to see dragons who care to consider how the others react to them. Here you are helping us, and you even honored your deal with that woman.^ Merlin was right about that part, but DelTaDa still disagreed.

^I just saw more value in letting her live. Even now, I’m working with you, but that is mainly because of Arad Orion, Alcott Demorian, and Orion herself. The biggest gift that Arad is giving you is his name to use, so treasure that well, wizard. Your body and magic aren’t worth its weight. Take this as advice from an old dragon that had probably lived longer than you. To him, you’re nothing but a tiny bug crawling around him. You don’t know how lucky you are to be acknowledged by him.^

To Merlin, what DelTaDa said now was right. Compared to how powerful, crazy, and horrifying Arad is, she is nothing but a tiny bug incapable of reaching even a fraction of his might. To dragons who only chose their mate based on strength, it was a miracle that Arad’s human side allows him to consider other things.

That was the very reason Arad was sleeping now. No one can endure the presence of his draconic self without his human soul to shackle it. Beatrice, Samantha, and most importantly, that bastard who injured Arad’s soul. She would skin them later when their souls wake up.

Apparently, death brought their souls and gave them to Baal as an apology to Arad for letting her power seep and harm his soul.