The dragon's harem

After cleaning the city, Arad flew back out to Alcott and the others, finding the villagers they met before emerging from the forest. They have made their way here, seeking refuge.

"No way," The village chief stared at the city, falling on his knees, "How could it be,"

"There was nothing we could do," Alcott replied, "Vlad isn't something we can fight without preparation,"

"Damnable blood-sucking fiends," The chief growled, standing up and looking at the other villagers. "Who had family here," He shouted.

Several people approached, and Arad pulled the city map for them. "Can you point out where they lived so I can pull them out for you?"

One after another, each family who had relatives had Arad bring their corpses out for one final look. The shriveled, bloodless bodies only served as a reminder of how cruel the world is to the powerless.

"Where do you want to bury them?" Merlin asked.

"Not here," A man replied, "We would prefer them to be close so we can visit them."

"The graveyard of whatever city you move in," Merlin scratched her head, "Alina is our only choice."

Arad sucked the corpses back into his stomach, keeping them organized.

The village chief looked around, "By the way, where is he?" He looked at Arad, "I don't see that red dragon,"

"He..." Alcott was about to reply.

"It's me," Arad shifted into his draconic form, then shifted his red scales back to black. "Even though I was here. Even though everyone was behind my back. I couldn't protect them."

The village chief smiled, "Don't say that. You once saved us, protected us from monsters." He approached Arad, "To everyone their limit, the fiend was just too much."

The village chief turned, walking toward the other villagers. "From today, we are nomads, no village and no city. We have to way, travel, or settle beside Alina."

Everyone looked at each other, and then one of them replied, "We're over a hundred. I don't think Alina can support us. Finding a job there would be difficult."

"Not to mention they would have to deal with what happened here," A woman looked at Riverside's wall.

"The city won't house us inside the walls. We have to build another village." A man scratched his head, "Getting land would be a pain. It could take months if not years. And winter is coming. Are we camping that out in the snow?"

The village chief nodded, "Even if the lord decided to give us land immediately. It would take at least a month to get approval from the king."

"I can help with that," Arad said in the back, "If you're camping out anyway. How about you start building in my domain? I own the mountain range beside Alina."

The villagers froze, staring at Arad, "Really?"

"Wait!" The blacksmith growled in the back, "When you said something about a castle being built beside Alina..."

"That's my castle," Arad replied. "I got the land and a noble title from the king. I also get the ground's approval itself, so no one should have a say beside me in whether someone could build there or not."

"Now that you said it," Alcott stared at Arad, "You're a noble now, aren't you?"

"I mean, does it really matter?" Arad looked back at him, "Loci already granted me the land,"

"Alina's lord will allow you to build immediately anyway," Nina stared at the village chief, "The problem is getting you there," She looked around. Among the one-hundred-plus villagers. There were elderly, pregnant women, and children. Traveling for days isn't going to be easy.

"It's either we move or die in the coming snow." The chief replied.

"How many villages were around Riverside?" Alcott asked.

"Twelve," The chief replied.

"No way," He then looked at the forest, almost crying as he saw more people walk out. The whole twelve villages were destroyed, and the survivors slowly marched to Riverside for help.

"Over one thousand," Alcott growled, looking at the coming people, "This is going to be a slow trip back,"

Arad looked back at the city, "Let's salvage carriages from the city and start moving immediately. We can't let the snow catch us," He turned and slowly walked toward the city's main gate, pushing it open.

The village chief explained what happened to the other survivors, and everyone agreed to move to Arad's domain in Alina.

After having Arad pull the decision to their families again, they finally started getting ready for the trip.

They lined over ninety carriages and wagons only for people to sit in carrying only what they needed. Arad stored everything else.

"Lord Arad," The village chief approached Arad.

"No need for lord, Arad is enough,"

"All horses are dead. We couldn't find a single alive animal in the city to pull the wagons."

"I already know," Arad replied, pointing at the forest with his claw. "I called for some help."

From between the trees, packs of dire wolves and demonic vipers emerged.

"Monsters!" The village chief cried, hiding behind Arad's massive legs.

The monsters approached Arad, bowing to him. "They are under me," Arad said, "Weak monsters submit to dragons like how dogs submit to humans. Those are the ones who will pull your carriages,"

The monsters moved toward the carriages to be strapped like horses. "They are safe as long as I'm close," Arad said, looking at the villagers. "But please keep kids away from them. They can still harm them," He made sure to warn them.

After getting everything ready, the convoy of carriages slowly moved with the children riding on Arad's back so they wouldn't mess with the monsters.

The trip took almost two weeks, and luckily, no one died thanks to Arad's healing potions and heat that kept the weak ones alive during the trip. Fall's cold was only bested by the hard frozen nights of the coming winter.

At night, the people built their tents around where Arad sat, basking in the heat generated by his body.

***

Arriving at the edge of Alina, Loci was the first one to greet them, "Arad? I see you brought a lot of people,"

The villagers behind Arad gasped, seeing a tree talk.

"Refugees, or should I say they would live in my domain from now on?" He looked at her, "It's a long story,"

"Everyone is coming to help," She replied, and the apes immediately showed up on the trees. "I've been training them well. They can help with anything until you reach the foot of the mountain. Anything I should inform Alina with?"

"Rations and healing potions, I'm almost out. Also, get some builders under Mira to start planning a village that could handle over two thousand people while prioritizing the building of enough to handle one thousand as soon as possible." Arad slowly explained everything to Loci as they kept marching toward the mountain foot where his house was.

****

It only took them half a day to march through Arad's domain into the mountain foot, finding Mira already gathered a bunch of builders from Alina.

Alina's lord approached Arad, asking about the situation with a hopeful face, but it was too grim.

As everyone focused on slowly getting the villagers a home, Arad, Eris, and the village chief went around the forest trying to find a suitable place for a graveyard.