The dragon's harem

Arad was once tasked by the dark elf goddess Elis to find and free the shadow drakaina from her madness. It was supposed to be a simple mission: find her, then cure her. He was sure at the start that all he needed to do was find the drakaina for the goddess to pull some miracle and heal her, but he was wrong.

The goddess would’ve done that on her own long ago, and Arad was certain that finding the shadow drakaina would’ve been easy for her even without his help.

But the fact that the goddess didn’t cure her when he first met her made Arad certain that Elis wanted him to cure the shadow drakaina because she couldn’t. Awfully similar to the situation of some maids who live with him. A sickness that not even the gods can cure, and somewhat they expect him to be able to do it.

“You aren’t running away this time.” Arad approached, and the massive, terrifying drakaina took a few steps back. She could feel it in her bones. She isn’t his opponent and can’t even hope to scratch him.

If she could, by some miracle, pull him into the shadow realm, she might have an advantage there, but here, there is no chance of her coming on top. Even her psychosis wasn’t enough to mask the insurmountable mountain that is Arad. Too large, too deep, too dark to cast a shadow upon.

She had long since forgotten how to see people. The drakaina was blinded by her power, and she now could only see their shadows, the dark shades sliding on the cold stone.

The gnomes, Ganta, even the dragons she killed, all of them were nothing more than black shadows cast on the cast empty world, mere shells of the former people who lived in it. She was freeing them, sending them back to where shadows belonged, to the shadow realm.

But there was an exception. Only one person that she could see clearly, one other creature beside her that still lives, Arad, the large dragon glaring at her with two cold purple eyes.

^{Damn it, Arad. She is cursed beyond saving and from before birth.}^ Doma growled inside Arad’s head. Now that the shadow Drakaina grew stronger, larger, and easier to see through, Doma could determine the nature of her curse, madness, and psychosis.

^{One of her parents was a dark elf. The other was a dragon, a gold one. I can’t tell which was which, but I guess the mother was the dragon. Two went and did it while traversing the border between this realm and the shadow realm. I hate the careless people! Got pregnant in the borders.}^

Arad didn’t understand what Doma meant and how could the drakaina’s mother getting pregnant on the border between realms be a problem, but he could assume it was bad.

^{Arad! She doesn’t belong in any of the realms. That place had caused her to be born with severe disability. She is blind to the reality of the world.}^ Doma growled. ^{She could only see the world’s reflection in the shadow realm. To her, everyone in the world had already perished, and only their shadows remained. She is just on a crusade to put them to rest.}^

Arad smiled, ^So all I need to do is find a way to get back her sight?^

Doma shook her head, ^{No, she didn’t lose her sight. She didn’t have it in the first place. She has to live with that now. You have to convince her that the reality she sees is wrong.}^

“Would you mind if we talk?” Arad approached the drakaina and sat down. She looked at him for a few seconds and then shifted back to her dark elf form, taking a seat just two meters away from him.

“Last time, you punched me hard enough that I didn’t sleep for days.” She growled, looking behind at Eris and Ganta with scorn.

“You made me punch you.” Arad looked at her for a second and then smiled. “And we’re dragons, after all. You know that was nothing more than a love tap. I could’ve ripped your head off.”

“Out with it! You’re only leaving me alive because I’m the last living drakaina in the world. Kill me, and you’ll be living the rest of your lives with hollow shadows.”

Arad scratched the back of his head, “That’s what I want to talk with you about. What you see is wrong. Everyone is alive. They aren’t shadows. You’re just… mad.”

She frowned and cursed under her breath, “Damn it, you’ve already lost it. The last dragon is alive. My only choice in a mate is damn lunatic.” She shook her head, “I guess even dragons can’t endure this cruel world for long. I just wonder. When my turn will come to lose my mind.”

Arad looked at her eyes, “That is what I’m saying. You’ve already lost your mind. The world you see is wrong. People are still alive, they aren’t dead, and their shadows aren’t lost.”

“You’re the insane one. How many centuries have you lived among the shadows to degrade this much?” She sighed, “The gods are dead, the world has faded to darkness, everyone has already perished, and only their shadows are left to wander the world, eternally suffering until they were sent to the shadow realm where they belong.”

Arad stared at her with a serious face. “So each of us is certain the other one is crazy, right?”

She sighed. “You’re the crazy one, not me.” She then looked at him with a sad face. “If you want to mate, I’m open to the idea. As much as I hate doing it with a mad dragon, you’re my only option.” She smiled, “No offense to you. Besides your rotten brain, you’ve got one nice body, strong too.”

Arad studied her for a few seconds, and she shifted slightly, “I know I’m too weak for you, but you’ve got only me. Those shadows are mere illusions, phantoms created by your mind to endure the lifelessness of the world. I’m a shadow drakaina, and I can tell the difference between living people and shadows.”

^{Careful, Arad. She is still hostile toward everyone else besides you. I get the same feeling from her as Lydia, a hard nut to crack that head of hers. The only reason she isn’t attacking you is because it is obvious she would lose.}^