The dragon's harem

Hiking down the slope wasn’t easy, but it was far better than climbing it. Now, if they rolled down, they’d be reaching the destination instead of square zero.

If they only had something to slide on.

To get down, Arad had to anchor himself and slowly let the sledge slide down with its ropes so it wouldn’t tumble. No one wanted to spend an hour trying to find all of their stuff in the snow. Arad himself was so massive that one wrong step could send him rolling down, as the snow could barely carry his weight, so he had to take it slow.

Luckily, the slope wasn’t that steep, and they could just take their time. Soon, they reached the base of the hill, and the cave they wanted to shelter inside was just a few hundred meters away.

A relatively short distance, but an awfully long one when they are trying to move across the deep snow.

As they walked and pushed through the snow, time was running out, and night approached. The wind grew louder, the snow colder, and the shadows deeper.

Days are just too short here, and it takes hours to climb hills that would be crossed in just minutes if not for the snow. This was the entire reason that the first thing Gojo did when taking over the Arctic Lands was to use his draconic power to build roads and shelters all over the place.

This place just isn’t meant for humans to travel on foot. Even animals are rare here. Only monsters prowled these lands, with the occasional bears. To be honest, a big enough bear could as well be called a monster.

There was a saying in the Arctic Lands: if a bear shows up to you, it has been tracking you for days.

Today, Gojo won’t have time to build shelters. At best, he would only be able to block the cave’s entrance with magic. Block it with stones, clean up the insides, and build tunnels for the smoke to escape. Just the basics, and it won’t take much time.

But there would be just one problem left, if a monster lived inside the cave. They are mostly going to be fine, but the chance wasn’t zero that a yeti would show up.

Thinking about it, a yeti is just a hairy Arad… how would that go? Hopefully, they won’t need to find out. But now, they must hurry before they die.

The Arctic Lands weren’t just cold; it was frigid, and only now did Arad and Haru realize the extent of that distinction when the sun faded behind the hill.

This was the silent killer.

Temperatures rapidly dropped, and Haru suddenly wasn’t able to move, shaking in place as she felt all heat disappearing. Each breath froze in front of her face, her nose burned, and her blinded eyes started itching beneath her mask.

The rapid change in temperature shocked her body, and since she was more used to heat than cold, the shock affected her more than anyone else.

“We need to hurry!” Gojo looked at the sky, then growled. He didn’t spot Haru freezing, but he was just about to warn them. The sun is a major source of heat here, and when it’s gone, the temperature drops sharply, which can be deadly.

That shouldn’t be a huge problem as long as someone is moving. But if they were sick, tired, or somewhat weak, they would fall. Gojo sadly didn’t expect Haru, the pure devil, to be the first one to crumble in the cold.

He was more worried about himself and Liliana.

He could feel it, the wind picking up, the cold growing harsher, and the night approaching. They have half an hour at most, ten minutes if they are unlucky, before the cold becomes unlivable.

As he expected, the cold shock almost dropped him down as he was the thinnest of them, but he was still able to hold himself and kept generating heat.

Liliana growled. “Haru can’t take it anymore. She’s passing out.” She could see the devil’s face turning pale, her lips fading to purple, and her entire body trembling like she’s having a seizure.

Gojo’s head rapidly spun around and saw Haru turning pale. “KEEP HER MOVING!”

“Move!” Arad rushed back and opened his coat, lifting Haru whole with one hand and covering her in. He then pulled the fur hide they used as bedding and wrapped it around his torso, holding Haru in.

If Haru can’t generate enough heat by moving to survive here, he has to keep her warm. How didn’t she see this? She should’ve known and warned them about her fall… no, if the cold slowly took in, she might’ve not realized it herself.

“You’ll freeze too! Don’t open your coat like that!” Gojo glared at him, knowing well how quickly humans can die when hit with such harsh and sudden cold. But Arad was different; he was built like a giant.

What protected him from the cold wasn’t the clothes, but the thick layers of muscles beneath his skin.

“I’ll be fine.” He reached down and picked up the entire sledge, tying it to his back with the ropes he used to drag it around. Both of his legs started sinking in the snow, but that wasn’t going to stop him.

“Let’s hurry!” Arad lifted one foot and formed a large pad with barrier magic beneath it. They were minutes away from a shelter, so he could waste mana; in fact, he isn’t even wasting it.

Battles are fought to survive and save lives, and this too was a fight. There was no big and scary monster around, just the white snow, the humming wind, and the silent cold, all of which were dreadful horrors attempting to take Haru’s life.

Arad was saving his mana for a serious fight where lives are at risk, and this was that fight.

In the blink of an eye, he burst running on top of the snow like a monster. He had to reach the shelter as quickly as possible and warm Haru before she could die, and he wasn’t willing to fail.

As Gojo saw his brother fly away like a galloping horse, he sighed. “What should I do? He’s always like that.” He flicked his fingers and formed a huge platform.

Looking at Liliana, he smiled. “Ladies first.”

She glared at him for a second.

“You scoundrel, guys first. Get up, I won’t be sitting face to face with the blowing cold wind.”

But as Arad ran in the front as fast as he could, from the snow, another brider burst out.