“What is all this stuff anyways?” Eli asked as he carried the barrel of heavy liquid towards the portal.

He closed his eyes and breathed out as he entered it to avoid the dizzying sensation associated with travelling between realms. When he emerged on the other side he immediately began moving, making room for one of his few travelling companions who wasn’t helping lift the strange cargo.

“I told you, I need it for the ritual.” The redhead replied as she emerged behind him, flicking her ginger hair back.

“Uh huh.” Eli said, placing the barrel next to the others on the cart which had been prepared for them. “I meant more specifically – how are you planning on using them?”

“Do you always ask this many questions to those above your station?” She responded, clearly annoyed about having to work with others.

Eli clenched his jaw in frustration as he ran his hand through his buzzed blonde hair. He was about to respond in kind when his fiancée placed one hand on his shoulder from behind. Her brilliant blue eyes locked with his as she shook her head and smiled. Her formal blue dress looked out-of-place in the rugged realm of Targe Maraz, but to him she looked radiant and beautiful. “Remember when I warned you about dragons.” She said softly enough that only he could hear.

Her earlier words echoed in his mind. They’re as proud and arrogant as they are powerful.

Shaking his head, he ran one hand through his fiancée’s long blonde hair and pulled her in for a kiss. As their lips met he felt his anger evaporate, replaced by feelings of deep romantic love and trust. When they broke apart they were both smiling again. “Deep breaths love. You need her help just as much as she needs yours.” She said, patting him gently on the chest.

“Princess Aria Hightower, I love you.” He said with a smile. “What would I do without you?”

“Probably put your foot in your mouth.” She joked with a grin.

“Are you two lovebirds done?” A voice called from further away.

They glanced upwards to see Lilly giggling. Given that the realm they were in was heavily forested she chose to stay in her natural dryad form. Her green skin was covered by strategically placed vines and roots which writhed and moved as she pulled a thick braid of chestnut-brown hair across her front, playing with it as she continued to grin mischievously. Her green eyes locked with Eli’s and she blew him a kiss.

“It’s a bit rich for you to call someone a ‘lovebird’ Freya!” Aria responded good-naturedly to the woman standing next to Lilly.

Eli glanced over at her. She may have been the latest addition to Eli’s harem but as a longtime handmaiden of Aria’s, she fit in perfectly with the group. She was wearing her signature pink dress that showed off a significant amount of cleavage, and she’d put on just enough makeup to accentuate her perfect pink lips and icy blue eyes. A stranger might expect a coldheart phoenix like her to have an aloof and frosty personality, but anyone who knew her knew better: her bubbly persona and bright smile was enough to light up a room.

“She’s just jealous because she wants a kiss.” Another voice said from behind them.

“Are we giving out kisses now? Because if so, I want one.”

Eli turned around to see the last 2 women in his harem. Eli recognized the first voice as coming from Zee – a desert elven warrior-turned-spy. She wore a set of brown leather armour which matched her olive skin and black hair. On either hip she had a sheathed short sword, and her black hair was tied into a braid which ran halfway down her back.

The voice demanding a kiss came from Naz – a female orcish warrior. At 8 feet tall with green skin and powerful muscles, she was an imposing enough sight to ward off most potential threats. Her enormous breasts were confined to a matching set of leather armour, and her ever-present battleaxe was secured to her back. She grinned broadly, locking eyes with Eli.

“Everyone will get kisses.” Eli assured her. “And a lot more when we get home.”

“I’ll hold you to that.” Naz replied.

“I’m counting on it.”

Finally, the 2 more members of Eli’s regular retinue appeared – his desert elven retainers, Sira and Ziran. They dispelled the mirages they were using to hide while scouting, nodding to him respectfully before delivering their report. “The dragon bones are exactly where they’re supposed to be - outside the town walls.” Ziran started. “There is a group of orcs around it.”

“What tribe are they from? Azrak’s?” Eli asked, referring to the former orcish warchief he’d fought alongside.

“It doesn’t look like it.” Sira replied. “I don’t recognize any of them and they’re not wearing any markings. They seem to be examining the bones themselves – something Azrak specifically told them not to do.”

Eli frowned. A few weeks after they’d taken down the bone dragon together, Azrak asked Eli what he wanted them to do with the remains of their fallen foe. Dragon parts were incredibly rare, and as soon as the story of the bone dragon leaked out collectors began reaching out to Eli by the dozens, offering exorbitant sums of gold in exchange for the remains. Eventually, they’d decided to sell the remains to the highest bidder – something that attracted the attention of the final member of their little group.

Isla. Eli thought to himself, shaking his head as he looked at the red-haired dragoness.

As the sister of the dragon who had been resurrected by a trio of liches, she’d come to Eli offering to pay a significant sum of gold from her hoard in exchange for the remains. Together with Azrak he accepted the proposal, excitedly offering to guide her to the site where the bones were being kept.

His initial giddy excitement quickly faded as he got to know her better. Thus far, Eli found Isla to be frustrating to deal with. She regarded both Eli and the members of his harem with disdain, making comments about them being ‘lower’ beings to her. She also demanded they carry a significant amount of cargo to the remains – something that she likely could have done with ease in her draconic form, but refused to do saying that it was ‘beneath her’.

“Are we finally ready to go?” Isla said, examining her nails. “I’d rather not spend any more time in this realm than I have to.”

Rolling his eyes, Eli transformed into his orcish form. He felt his entire body lengthen and grow, adding considerable muscle to his already-strong form. The ground seemed to move away from him as he grew from 6 feet to almost 9 feet tall. Stretching his neck and back he grabbed one of the two ropes attached to the cart, with Naz joining him and taking another. Together they began to pull the barrels of mystery liquid towards the old dragon bones.

He did his best to distract himself from his rising anger by glancing around at the stone-and-wood buildings surrounding the portal. The orcs made great progress restoring the buildings and walls of the aptly named town of Bonecrusher Crossing. The area had become a hub of activity since the trade treaty with Eyilean was signed, causing orcs and other races to move to the area and set up new homes.

“Remind me.” Naz said softly as she glanced backwards at Isla. “Why are we letting her boss us around?”

Eli grunted in response. “I need to get on her good side, remember?”

“You really think she’s the dragon you’re looking for?”

Eli cast his mind back to his conversations with his harem and in-laws-to-be about his vision from Athena. Every one of them had given him the same guidance about dragons: that they were rare and tended to keep to themselves. Additionally, when Eli had spoken to Talaedra about the problem she revealed that dragons only shared their ‘true’ name with people they felt exceptionally close with – even going so far as to deny their true name to someone who correctly guessed it. Given that the only name Athena had shared with him – ‘The Scarlett Claw’ – was a ‘true’ dragon name, this made the task even more difficult.

“No idea.” Eli replied finally. “She’s a redhead, but that doesn’t necessarily mean anything. I’m hoping it’s either her, or she can introduce me to the right dragon.”

“Ugh. You mean we’re going to have to deal with more of these pretentious overgrown lizards?” Naz groaned in reply, causing him to chuckle lowly.

“I know how you feel, and I don’t like it either. But you didn’t see Athena’s face Naz – she seemed scared.”

“I’m not saying you’re wrong, but… you really believe her? About there being billions more magical creatures? Nexuses other than Earth? A conquering force coming for us all?”

Eli pursed his lips. He’d been struggling with that same question since Athena appeared to him in the vision. Her claims flew in the face of ‘conventional’ magical knowledge, making them tenuous at best.

At the same time, she was right about me being Royal Blooded. Eli thought to himself. So I don’t think I can dismiss it out of hand. Besides, it’s helping distract me from-

Before his darker intrusive thoughts could take over, Zee appeared next to him. Clearly having heard the entire conversation, she jumped right in. “Let’s say Athena is right for a second, and that there’s a mysterious force coming to conquer and consume us all. How does you going to meet her solve that problem?”

“To be honest, I don’t know.” Eli responded, shaking his head. “She wasn’t exactly forthcoming with details. All I know is that she needs my help to turn the tide.”

“I just wish we knew what we were getting into.” Zee said, shaking her head.

“Agreed. When we go to meet her, I intend on getting all the answers we need.”

The wood cart they were pulling hit a bump as they exited the town through the main door, causing the mystery liquid to slosh precariously but not spill. From further ahead Isla glared at them, but said nothing. They resumed pulling, turning the cart towards where they knew the dragon bones were.

“So how do you plan on getting close enough to dragon lady that she’ll let you know her true name?” Zee asked.

“I think you should fuck her.” Naz said with a grin. “That’s one way to get close, if you know what I mean.”

Eli chuckled. “I don’t think that’s going to work.”

“Why not? She’s a brat. I bet a good spanking would set her straight. Besides, I saw you ogling the way she looks under that toga – I know you’re into her.”

“She’s a dragon, Naz. She’d probably incinerate me for trying.”

“You could change into your desert elven form.” Zee countered. “Then you’d be heat resistant. And as an added bonus, you’d get access to a dragon form and draconic magic! Think of how incredible that would be.”

Eli shook his head, exasperated. “Zee, Naz – no. You’re missing the bigger problem.”

“Which is…?” Naz said.

“When I bond with someone, they get a boost in powers too. I can’t just give that away. Do you trust that she’s not going to abuse that? Look at what her brother did all those centuries ago – terrorizing the orcs until the first warchief took him down. How do we know she won’t do the same?” He paused for a moment, then continued. “I only want to bond with women who we’re ready to invite into our harem. Can either of you imagine her living with us right now?”

Zee snorted with laughter. “Fair point. I just thought it might be useful for you to be able to transform into a giant fire-breathing dragon.”

“Once I unlock my coldheart phoenix form, I’ll be able to fly and throw giant icicles. I feel like that’s just as good.” Eli replied, his eyes glancing up at Freya.

“How’s that going by the way?” Zee asked. “I know you’ve been practicing with Freya every morning.”

His shoulders slumped in reply. “It’s…well, I’m struggling. I can cast a basic ice magic spell, but I still can’t take a phoenix form. Freya thinks it’s some sort of mental block.”

“That makes sense though.” Naz said. “The first time you took your orcish form was…chaotic.”

“That’s putting it mildly.” Eli responded dryly.

Not wanting him to dwell on the painful memory, Zee changed the subject. “Back to the problem at hand though: are you against bonding with Isla ever? Or just right now?”

“Assuming she’d be interested in joining the harem, and assuming her attitude towards the rest of you improves…I’d be willing to at least explore the idea. But I’m not doing anything until she learns how to treat you better.”

“You’re a good man, Eli Grayson.” Naz said, leaning over and kissing him on the cheek.

Grinning, he turned to her. “Hey, I know I haven’t said it recently but… your elvish is pretty good.”

“I’ve always understood elvish, I just couldn’t speak it all that well with my tusks.” She replied, pointing to her lower jaw. “Now that I don’t have them anymore, it’s not a problem.”

“You’ve been practicing though, I can tell.”

“Well yeah, of course I have. Lilly and Freya don’t speak English all that well, and I want to be able to communicate with them, so…”

They continued pulling the cart, its 4 wheels creaking as it crested a small hill. As they joined the rest of their group at the top they looked down to see a group of a few dozen orcs standing around an enormous pile of bones. Most of the orcs had turned to face their group as they came into view.

“That’s…odd.” Eli said, his eyes narrowing.

“What?” Zee asked.

“See that orc over there, kneeling near the bones? She’s casting a spell. Naz, you said that most orcs don’t use other schools of magic right?”

“Yeah. That is weird.” Naz agreed.

“So the orc learned how to use a different school of magic. Who cares?” Isla asked, clearly frustrated by how long this was taking.

“Just…hang on?” Eli said, pinching the bridge between his nose. “Something seems off. Isla, would you like to come check it out with Naz and I?”

“Anything to get this over with faster.” Isla said with a huff.

As she started to march down the hill Eli turned to the rest of the group. “I’m not saying that there’s going to be trouble, but…”

“Be ready for trouble?” Aria finished his sentence with a grin. “Got it.”

“Yeah. Do it subtly though.”

“Of course.” Aria said, before starting to confer with Zee.

Not wanting to give Isla any more of a head start Eli turned and jogged down the hill with Naz quickly falling in behind him. Their long legs allowed them to catch Isla before she reached the orcs – something which Eli was grateful for.

I really don’t want to have to separate an angry dragon from a group of orcs in a fight. He thought to himself.

As they neared the mysterious orcs they turned to face him and Eli raised one hand in a friendly salute. “Hello friends!” He called out to them.

The group of orcs nearest to him looked at each other nervously. Finally, one of them stepped forward. Her eyes darted between Eli, Naz, and Isla before speaking. “Hello.”

“I don’t think we’ve met before. My name is Eli, and I’m a chieftain. I fought alongside Azrak here during the battle.”

“Oh.” The female orc said.

There was an awkward silence as Eli waited for her to introduce herself. When it became clear no introduction would be forthcoming, he decided to continue. “Are you from Azrak’s tribe?”

She furrowed her brow for a moment, as if thinking about the question. Eli noticed some of the orcs spreading out around them, as if to flank them. Finally, she answered. “No.”

Naz stepped up next to Eli. “Azrak said he posted some guards around these bones. You haven’t seen them anywhere, have you?”

“No.”

Eli’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. He saw Naz move as if to scratch her back, but as she did she subtly loosened the straps holding her battle axe in place. Locking eyes with the mysterious orcish woman he continued. “Well, that’s a shame. What tribe are you from? Who is your chieftain?”

The orcish woman shifted nervously again, not speaking. He saw that unlike most of the orcs he’d encountered before, they each wore jewelry. The assortment of necklaces, rings, earrings, and bracelets seemed to clash with everything he knew about typical orcish utilitarian attitudes. Beside him, Isla looked up to see one of the orcs continuing to cast spells on the bones and lost her patience. “Stop that! These are my brother’s bones, and I will not see them desecrated by some filthy orcs!”

That got their attention.

One by one the remainder of the mysterious group turned to face the trio as her words registered with them. The front ranks of them began drawing an assortment of weapons from bags and pockets. In response Naz drew her axe – a motion which no doubt caught the attention of the rest of Eli’s group at the top of the hill. In a last ditch attempt to prevent violence Eli held both hands up in front of him, summoning his mana but holding off on casting any spells.

“Folks, let’s not let a simple misunderstanding end in bloodshed. Let’s do things the easy way and back off, just like the lady suggested. Then we can start this conversation over again.”

In response, an orc from one of the back ranks finished his spell. He launched a bolt of sickly green acid at Eli. His lightning-quick reflexes allowed him to dodge most of it, but the spray still managed to catch one arm and burned through the top layers of skin and muscle. He roared in pain, the sound echoing across the landscape.

Why do they always choose the hard way?