The dragon's harem

As Arad took to the sky, the color of his scales changed to meld into the cloudy sky.

ACHOOO! Merlin sneezed as the icy wind blew across her arms, "It's cold. Winter is close."

"Really?" Alcott looked at her, "It's not that cold for me,"

"It feels nice," Nina stared at her.

"You two are the strange ones," Ginger pulled a blanket from her pocket and curled into a ball.

"Too cold for you, human!" Arad growled, "Bask in my great flames!"

A mane of red flames burst on Arad's neck, covering the carriage in a gust of warm wind.

"You don't need to act while only us are here," Merlin stared at him, "But, thank you,"

Nina gave her axe to Alcott, "Can you sharpen it for me..."

"Still can't do it?" Alcott sighed, pulling his tools.

"I tried, but I ended up damaging the edge." Nina replied, "I'm not that good with skill work,"

"Skill work, you say," Alcott stared at her, "You don't have patience, that's all." He smiled, "Look, sharpening a weapon takes time and care. It's a skill you develop through the years and not something you can master by trying it several times."

After flying for a while, Arad heard screaming in the distance. "I hear screaming."

"I only hear the wind," Nina replied, "I can't hear it as well," Ginger and Merlin added.

"Dragons have sharper senses than us," Alcott replied and stared into the horizon, "Can you see it?"

Arad squinted his eyes, "A medium-sized, fenced village, humanoids covered in fungus are attacking. It's the one before the mountain that Riverside is behind,"

"It's on our way, fly over," Alcott pulled his sword.

Nina stood and cracked her neck. Merlin pulled staff and Ginger a wand.

FLAP! FLAP! Arad flapped his wings, shockwaves bursting around his head and shoulders.

Thud! As Arad got close, Alcott jumped from his back with a smile. "Alcott!" He screamed.

"You back, you idiot!" Ginger shouted.

"Let him be," Nina smiled, jumping as well.

"You too!" Arad screamed, "We're four kilometers above the ground!"

Merlin sighed, "Those two are always like this," She waved her wand, flying out with magic.

"Wait for me!" Ginger extended her wings and flew after her.

Arad sighed, "I hope you can survive the fall. I'm not catching any of you!" He flew up, turning mid-air and diving straight down.

****

"RUN!" A man shouted, standing with a shield and sword in hand, his wife beside him carrying a spear.

"I'm fighting as well," She growled and pointed the spear forward.

The man looked back, seeing the other villagers and children run away. "Stay behind me," He stood forward, defending with his shield.

His wife stood behind him. He's the defender with the shield, and she would stab anything that he blocks.

GROWL! The fungal zombies rushed in, growling like frenzied dogs. 

BAM! He blocked the first with his shield, stabbing it in the chest with the sword. His wife rushed from behind him, stabbing the infected in the eye with the spear.

"One down!" She smiled.

CRACKLE! Tentacles wrapped around the spear from the zombie's head and started pulling. The wife growled, "It's alive."

The man swung his sword, cutting the tentacles. But, almost immediately, other tentacles tightened around the spear.

Other zombies lunged in, and the man screamed, pushing his wife back and swinging his sword at them.

BOOM! At that moment, something crashed from the sky between the man and the zombies, releasing a massive dust cloud.

"AHHH! My ass broke!" Alcott growled, "Feather fall boots, my ass broke you damned Damsul." He stood, rubbing his lower back. The feather fall boots he bought failed to activate.

The man gasped, seeing Alcott standing in front of him, staring at the zombies with an exhausted face. "And I was looking forward to a graceful landing,"

"Who are you?" The man growled, trying to figure out if Alcott was an enemy or not. As far as he knew, humans don't fall from the sky.

Alcott looked back at them with a smile, "Fighting with your wife?" He started patting the man's shoulder, laughing, "Two hands are always better than one,"

The zombies remained still, their gazes fixed on Alcott's back. They can feel it, one move, and he would dice them.

"I asked who are you?" The man pushed Alcott's hand away, "We're getting attacked."

"Don't worry, don't worry," With a gentle smile, he touched the handle of his sword. "Close your ears,"

CLAP! Alcott blitzed across the zombies, sending a shockwave strong enough to crack the building around them.

A painful ringing plagued the man and his wife's ears as they watched the zombies fall apart, cut into cubes.

"I'm getting my edge back," Alcott smiled, sheathing his blade. "Cain's herbs are no joke,"

CRACK! Nina appeared at the end of the street, covered in blood and gore as she dragged her axe around. "Alcott, did you finish here?"

"Yeah, what about you?"

"Everything dead on my side."

Merlin and Ginger flew in from above the building, "We cleared the place," Ginger landed beside Alcott with a smile.

Merlin showed them a small glass bottle with a zombie inside, "I captured one for research. I bet I can make something out of him,"

"That's my brother!" The man's wife shouted.

Merlin stared back at her, "He's my test subject now,"

"You can't do that! He deserves to be buried," The woman screamed.

"I will give him to you after I'm done with him," Merlin replied, "Studying him to save others is the right thing to do."

"He already suffered enough. It's right to put him to rest."

"The morally right thing to do is burying him, and the logically right thing to do is studying him." Merlin stared at the woman with a sharp glare, "I picked the first one I came across. The rest are buried. He was just unlucky,"

"GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" People's screams echoed across the sky, and the man and his wife panicked. "Did they catch them?" They glared back. It was the direction the people ran into.

"Don't worry," Alcott smiled, staring at the two, "He's over there."

****

"Carry them over!" A man screamed, looking back at the people lifting the elderly and children over the fence. He then pointed his sword at the approaching infected, "Hurry! They are coming!"

As one screamed, the zombies stopped moving, staring at the wall.

"Mom! Look!" a kid pointed up, and when the people looked they could spot the vague shape of a dragon moving above them.

As Arad's camouflage lifted, the people could see him towering over them, fire gushing from between his massive fangs.

With the horrifying presence of a dragon, everyone who could see him froze in place, contemplating their next move.

Even the infected knew it. The hivemind controlling them didn't want any troubles with dragons, as they are known to be nothing other than a pain to deal with.

Arad glared down, seeing both humans and infected staring at him, awaiting his next move.