The dragon's harem

The orcs were basically forced into choosing peace. If they had a way to fight DelTaDa and win, they would’ve chosen that route. They were soldiers tasked with invading and conquering this world, so dealing with the aliens was absolutely out of their comfort zone. But now, all of their attention had shifted to survival. Unlike Arlo’s crew, who chose death over peace, those orcs here weren’t as built as they were.

While this makes them more reasonable and easier to handle, it did make them weak. They are manageable, not an unreasonable threat. The thing that made Arlo’s team so scary is that they weren’t going to bow down without a fight, and unlike those, they didn’t fear either death or pain.

Arad and his wives were the same as Arlo’s team. They are a crazed bunch that would fight to the last drop of their blood, especially Arad, who doesn’t fear either the gods or the abominations. That is what makes him powerful, and what truly turns him into a horrifying opponent to face.

As DelTaDa stared at the orcs for a few seconds, he smiled, and to the orcs, that grin was even scarier than his passive draconic face. "You can stay here under my protection, but I don’t need to warn you, do I?" He glared at them. "Damage to the forest is absolutely forbidden. The same way you want peace and quiet here, those under me want the same." He looked at the bunny. "If you threaten his life, I threaten yours."

It was simple for the orcs to understand. The dragon won’t attack them first and will only retaliate after they do. That gave them the option of trying to kill him in a single shot, but that was impossible with the weapons they had.

Then, knowing that they have a food problem thanks to Merlin, DelTaDa gave them a quick notice. "And, if you want food. You’re free to gather and hunt up to your body weight of adult males..." Then he went on to give them size requirements for the bears, reindeer, and all kinds of monsters living in this forest. Overhunting was a huge problem, and he had to make sure the orcs didn’t mess anything up. But there was a special requirement, and it was that all creatures that can talk should not be hunted.

For example, the bunny they were talking to. So, with that done, the orcs now felt a bit at ease in this frigid forest. As long as they don’t cause a big problem or tell DelTaDa that they are invaders from outside his world, they should be safe. Their focus immediately shifted toward trying to contact the other orcs or even their homeland, so Merlin immediately asked Alcott and his group to sit tight and wait.

"What are you talking about?" Alcott sighed, and the pigeon beside his head spoke. "We wait. The orcs in this mountain are trying to contact the other orcs around the Arctic. If I could intercept their signal, I would be able to locate them all, highly accelerating our search. We will only confront them after I’m certain of everyone’s location."

The pigeon flapped its wings. "As I expected, I can do it. Another group of orcs is a hundred and twenty kilometres south, slowly making their way and trying to get out of the Arctic, and there is another group hiding east in the Yeti mountains."

She then sighed. "But their signals are quite hard to track like this. Those are the ones I could easily decipher before their messaging ended. I’ll need them to try and contact the other group several more times. I’ll think of a plan; you sit tight and stay on guard." The pigeon flew away, and Merlin stood up from her golden throne and stretched her arms. "AH... that is exhausting."

Lucy looked back at her. "Did something happen? You looked to be analysing those messages just fine." As she shifted her head, Merlin smiled. "I also need to investigate DelTaDa and try to find who Zaleria Shadowend is and just how powerful she is."

Lucy stood as well and Moby appeared by her side. "Are we done flying around?" She asked and Lucy nodded, "For now."

Merlin walked past them with hurried steps. "Nar took Amber into the Elemental Plane of Fire to train for a short period, and since DelTaDa says Zaleria is there, she might know something." She quickly flicked her fingers, sending a quick call to Nar, and surprisingly, she replied immediately and even teleported into the throne room.

"Really, Merlin, you want to find out about Zaleria? I advise against it." Nar crossed her arms in an X. "She is dangerous, and quite moody to be trifled with."

Merlin frowned. "Knowledge about her isn’t forbidden; otherwise, Yog would’ve come to nag me." She then summoned a large table, chairs, and even a tiny seat for Nar. "All I need to know is what she is up to now, how powerful she is, and whether she will eventually be our enemy or ally. I expect the latter since she crippled Nyar."

"Zaleria Shadowend started her life as a regular red drakaina, but just like her mother Kossuth, she managed to kill Tiamat as a mortal and ascended into godhood, becoming the goddess of flames. Zaleria was just as broken." Nar smiled, "She and Arad are pretty similar in how they think and fight, so you can guess how nasty she can get in a clash."

"Like Arad..." She could already imagine Zaleria as a large, buff woman running around and punching everything with fiery explosions big enough to swallow the entire mortal world. "But why is she staying in the elemental plane of fire? Is she living with her mother, or just prefers the warm place?"

Nar shook her head. "Neither; she is too hot to exist anywhere else at her full power and be relaxed. She mostly stays in her humanoid form, which is a tall woman with oak skin, long black hair, burning green eyes, and crimson long nails. She can be found in the Flame Royal Palace relaxing in the Lake of Liquid Fire." Nar smiled, "She has an entire entourage of beautiful Fire Djinns serving her, an all-women army called the Ifrits."

What Nar said actually horrified Merlin. "I expected that I would need to beg or suck her toes, but she easily accepted and should be teaching Amber fire magic now; the two are getting along pretty well."

"What!"

In the Elemental Plane of Fire, Amber was staring at a burning fireball, and Zaleria, who was behind her, sighed. "Come on, there is a difference between Dragon Fire, Spirit Fire, Elemental Fire, and Djinn Fire. You’re like an uncultured fool who can’t tell the difference between wine and beer."

Amber looked at her. "Aren’t they all bad? I like drinking, but they waste a lot of money, and I always need money." Hearing that, Zaleria laughed. "Always? You got a sugar daddy called Arad giving you unlimited money now, and let me tell you. Your body isn’t good enough to warrant all of that."

Amber made the fireball fade away and stared at Zaleria. "Listen, I’ve got a decent enough body, and I’m useful more than that."

Zaleria smiled. "Are you stupid? I meant every word. Your body is useless, a mere fire spirit. Even if you reached the level of Nar, you won’t ever be helpful to Arad. To be useful for anything more than just sex, you have to discard that body and wear your flame around your soul as I do."

Zaleria died long ago when she crippled Nyar, but now she had created a body for herself made of her own compressed flames. "You need to become fire itself, not just use it."