The dragon's harem

Arad and Gojo ran through the cave and followed the distressed Yeti. It wasn’t easy at all with how slippery the floor was, and one fall would leave them dead, but they managed to keep their balance. Arad was too skilled with his body to slip easily, and Gojo used magic to stabilize himself. But their skill alone wasn’t enough, so the two ended up saving each other more than once.

Arad could remember seeing Tina yelling at the maids for running around the wet and slippery hallways of the castle. He couldn’t imagine how she would be fuming if she saw him and Gojo running in this cave. The floor wasn’t just more slippery than a wet floor; it was also filled with spiky and sharp stalagmites.

This cave wasn’t a dangerous slip hazard; it was a deadly one.

Not long after, Gojo noticed they had gone through a part of the cave that wasn’t supposed to be there. Last time he saw the map in his castle, this part of the cave should’ve collapsed long ago.

“We’re going through a part that I don’t know. Be careful.” Gojo moved to Arad’s side, and the two jumped into the darkness after the Yeti, slipping through the cracks and narrow crevices of the cave. Soon, they were hit with a salty and acrid smell, a strong stench, and a wave of warm air brushed over their hair.

Then suddenly, the two found themselves jumping into a massive and vast cavern illuminated by large blue mushrooms, dangling luminescent vines, and countless fireflies the size of birds.

The ground beneath them was vast, and covered by countless massive gours of flowing hot water, painting the edges golden with sulfur. The water itself dripped from the ceilings and the rightmost wall, all emerging from rigid yellow crystals.

“A water terrace, here underground?” Gojo looked around, and his smile quickly shifted into a frown as he saw some of those beautiful water pools getting painted red with blood.

A long black river of cold seawater flowed in the middle of the cavern, separating it into two halves. On the half where Gojo and Arad were now existed a tribe of Yetis, the ones the distressed Yeti belonged to. On the other side, though, there was another tribe, an even bigger one that had tamed a flock of Qallupilluit, monsters that looked like the ugly version of mermaids, the lower half of a seal, and the upper side of a woman, with a mouth that looked like it belonged to a frog.

The distressed Yeti had already jumped in to assist his kind in battle, leaving Arad and Gojo alone to watch.

“Monsters fighting for territory. It’s a common thing, but those ones seem to be losing.” Arad quickly noticed that their side was losing; it didn’t have that many members left, and the Qallupilluits were winning with their water magic. The Yetis that sent those Qallupilluits seem to have sustained no damage at all, letting the Qallupilluits do all the work.

“Strong monsters using weaker monsters as attack dogs.” Gojo looked around the battlefield. “Those Yetis on the other side, they tamed those Qallupilluits and just sent them to attack. I bet that swimming across the river is impossible for the Yeti’s; they’ll freeze to death, so that was their only option.”

“They can climb the walls to cross, but they’ll get pelted with stones… so our side here, who doesn’t have any slaves to attack for them, ended up just enduring the constant assault.”

Gojo nodded. “Yeah, this side can only defend. The other side is just waiting for the Yetis here to get weak enough before attacking them directly.”

Arad pointed across the river at the other Yetis. “So, if we don’t take those out, they’ll kill the Yetis on our side and eventually make it to the camp?”

“Not really, it’ll take days or weeks. We can just go back and lock the cave. We’ll spend our night, then leave safely in the morning. Picking a side in a monster war is like picking between rabid dog A and rabid dog B. There is no difference.” Gojo lifted his hand, and a magic circle started spinning above his palm.

“But, we could use a few bodies in the ruined city. Those steel golems are too hot, so a Yeti’s cold breath could rapidly cool and cause them to crack and shatter.” His eyes flashed with magic, and Arad touched a stalagmite, forming it into a long javelin.

Arad was right, strong monsters enslave the weaker ones and bend them to their will. The Yetis on the other side of the cavern have dominated the Qallupilluits. So now, it was time for Arad and Gojo to act like dragons again and take control of the Yetis.

Arad swung his arm and shoulder, turning his whole torso in one motion, and released the javelin, sending it flashing through the cavern like a falling star.

The javelin flew down and hit one of the Qallupilluits in the face, pinning her to the floor and killing her instantly. The battle stopped, and everyone looked back. What they saw was nothing. Arad had already jumped down and was rushing between their ranks.

Arad quickly reached the frontlines and didn’t stop running. Instead, he clenched a fist and swung it at the first Qallupilluits he faced, smacking her in the face so hard that he cracked her skull and sent her rolling back, knocking two more down.

All of the Yetis finally spotted him, and the distressed Yeti lifted his fist, thumping his chest.

“GOOHOOOOOOO{Fool fool}! HOHOHOGOOOOOOO{What are you doing}?”

Of course, Arad didn’t speak the Yetis’ language, if that could even be called that. He didn’t understand what the distressed Yeti said, or even if he was speaking. But Arad had one thing that he knew he must do, and it was to fight and win.

At that time, two Qallupilluits had charged at him, one from the right and the other from the left, each aimed to kill him. Arad dodged the strike directed at his throat and grabbed the Qallupilluit’s clawed arm, then kicked the second one in the face, breaking the first one’s arm in the process, before stepping on the second’s face and popping her skull like a melon.

The Qallupilluits stopped attacking for a second as they saw what Arad did to their kind. Unlike the other Yetis, he knew how to fight and move; they might match him in raw strength, but not in martial skills.

Arad looked around, then his eyes stopped at the black river separating the cavern into two parts. He then looked over and saw the chieftain of the other Yeti tribe. They had a chief, but the distressed Yeti’s tribe didn’t. Most likely, he was killed in one of the past skirmishes.

Arad made one swift move and flew past the Qallupilluits, picking his spear from the corpse of the first Qallupilluit he killed, and hurled it once more with all of his strength, sending it flying over the river, across the other part of the cavern, and toward the face of the other tribe chieftain.

The spear almost hit the chieftain, but the bastard was too nimble and managed to dodge with just a light scratch on his cheek.

“I guess I can’t kill him from here.” Arad mumbled, and all of the Yetis started freaking out.

For the first time in what felt like forever, something of their side reached the other chieftain.

Arad took a step forward, forming another stone spear as he approached the frigid black river.

Another Qallupilluit cut his path, standing in his way and glared at him, ready to fight. But the closer he got to her, the more she shook. When he reached her, she lunged at him with an open maw, aiming at his neck.

Arad’s hand flew like lightning, and the back of his palm clapped her face like thunder, sending her rolling on the floor and screaming like a mountain lion.

“I’m going on. Catch them alive if you can, we’ll need numbers.” With that, Arad jumped into the freezing water.