The dragon's harem

They are talking in draconic, so no one in the village understands them.

"A divine punishment from the goddess of fire. I took it and threw it down on Vlad." Arad replied, walking with Kinryuu toward his house.

"The punishment was for you or him?"

"It was supposed to be for me."

"And even with that, you carried it to Vlad and blasted him." Kinryuu combed his beard, "I never heard of such a feat before. The closest I can remember is a story from history,"

"I was alive at the time as well," The red general replied, "When Kussuth killed Tiamat."

"That was an angry mom if I ever saw one," Kinryuu giggled, "It comes to show how dangerous we dragons are."

"What happened?" Arad looked back at them.

"The chromatic dragonkin was looking for a mate and came for her. She refused since she already had two daughters, so they fought."

"Let me guess, she won?"

"She wiped the ground with him. Her husband was weak, and she acted quite tame. To humans, it was close to a gentle mother. Everyone thought she was weak."

"Why would he go after her if she was weak?"

"The chromatic king was experimenting with genetics at the time, and he had his eyes on her," Kinryuu replied.

"I was a mere young at the time, and I saw it happen for the sidelines." The red general replied, "But in the short story, she won, and Tiamat wasn't happy as she was supporting the king's experiments to make the chromatic dragons stronger."

"So," Kinryuu looked at Arad, "Tiamat cursed the two daughters Kussuth tried to protect to kill each other."

"Tiamat is still out there, right?" Arad looked at the red general.

"Not the same one. Tiamat had changed three times. The one Kussuth killed, the one after, and then another. You can say currently Tiamat is a duality of the second and third ones." The red general explained. "The evil one died for good."

"Kussuth murdered her well. Since that day, dragons were the first race to be able to kill gods without divinity. She just went to her and clawed her down." Kinryuu swung his fist with a smile.

"So, why this reminds you of what happened to me? I took a divine punishment. I didn't face any god." Arad looked at them.

"Since that red drakaina is the fire goddess now. She's the one who sent that divine punishment after you." Kinryuu looked at him, "If she killed a goddess as a mortal, then what now as a divine being, what she did to you was immensely tame."

The red general approached his head to Arad, "Kussuth is the goddess of fire, her older daughter Morena is the goddess of undeath and undead, and the young one Zaleria is the goddess of war and inferno."

"A family of monsters...wait!" Arad gasped, "What's their family name? Is it shadowend?"

"It is," Kinryuu replied. "How did you know?"

"I faced a demon while disguised as a red dragon. He suspected me of being a shadowend when I said I'm from a family of fire sorcerers." Arad scratched his chin, "So this is why they fear that family name..."

"Pretty much,"

"If that's the case, do you know anything about Orion?"

"If you're asking about your mother, there is only one, and all the higher dragons know her. She's a weird one," Kinryuu said, and the red general nodded.

"What do you know?"

"She's too powerful to walk the earth in her draconic form. She uses a humanoid body that she controls from her lair to live multiple lives as if she's playing a game." Kinryuu sighed.

"Some dragons believe she was given a divine mission by the overgod. But an extremely boring one, and that's why she plays like that." The red general looked at the sky, "That being isn't malevolent nor benevolent. I'm sure she got paid in some way, but we don't know."

"She didn't tell anyone?"

"I met her once," Kinryuu looked at Arad, "And I asked her that question."

"What did she reply?"

"She said to tell anyone who asked me the question. Look for it on your own. You're old enough, big idiot." Kinryuu said those words and paused for a second, "Wait a damn minute! Why I'm only remembering this now?" He smacked his own head, "I knew it!" He growled, pulling a strand of magic.

"That's!" The red general gasped, "A memory thread."

"The bi... Ahem! That drakaina," Kinryuu growled, "Arad, she seems to have put a memory thread in my head to remember that at this specific moment. She probably meant those words for you."

"Is that spell pre-configured or controlled from a distance?" Arad gasped.

"Too complicated for me to say," Kinryuu squinted his eyes at the fading magic thread.

Arad smiled, "It's worth a shot," He looked at the sky, "Mom. If you're watching, I'm getting married soon. Drop by if you can."

"Think she's hearing you?" The red general said, "As far as I can tell, there is only one weirdo watching you,"

"You mean her?" Kinryuu looked at the clouds, "I'm sure she's watching,"

"I sent her a magic letter yesterday. It should reach her tonight." Arad replied as he walked with Kinryuu across the village.

"Lord Arad," An old grandma called him, "Do you mind helping me move the cows? They are quite unwilling today,"

Arad stopped and looked at her.

Kinryuu smiled, "Well, of course they would be." He approached the farm, "They are sick, the cold drinking water wasn't that good for them." He jumped over the fence.

"You're going to help her?" Arad asked.

"Yeah," Kinryuu replied, "I will deal with this, can't just sit around, can I?" He turned toward the grandma, "Let's go, I can heal them."

"What did you need from the cows?" Kinryuu asked.

"Milk of course. We need it to make butter, the lord is marrying soon and the ladies are scrambling to make sweets." The grandma replied.

"Then let me help you." Kinryuu smiled, "I might not look like it, but I'm a farmer as well."

"Really?" She looked at him, "I saw you with the lord, and thought you're some kind of noble, especially with those fancy clothes."

"I'm no noble, just a humble soldier who owns a farm he works on in his downtime."

"At that age? You might consider retiring." She giggled.

****

Arad reached his home with Grandma Shir, opening the door, "I'm back."

"YO! Scaly one, you're back!" A short, red-haired halfling waved her hand at him, standing proudly on his living room table to appear taller.

Arad blinked twice, "I didn't invite you."

"I invited myself. And I came for Merlin, not you. Gotta attend for my most talented student."

"Leave."

"Make me,"

"Fine, what do you want?"