“LOAD THE CANNONS!” A man shouted at the top of his lungs the ship groaned, the deck cracking. SPLASH! A massive brown tentacle rose from the sea, grabbing one of the sailors and throwing him into the water.

BAM! The watcher on the crow glared down, the black flag flapping above his head, “Accursed kraken!” His eyes darted down toward the cargo’s chamber, “Cannon charges…” He grabbed the rope off the sails and jumped down, cutting it with his skeleton as he glided across the splashing waves.

The Kraken swung his tentacle at the man, hitting the rope. CRACK! The tope twisted, and the sailer’s body spun in the air. He fell face first but didn’t remain down. His legs moved on their own, rushing to the cargo room.

^I must get it,^

BAM! The tentacle rushed behind him, swinging the massive barrel.

The sailor jumped at the door, breaking it and rolling into the chamber. His eyes darted around, spotting the cannon charges. Small leather bags filled with black powder.

He smiled, snatching two of them and running outside. “Monster! Come here,” He shouted, hiding the bags beneath his shirt.

SPLASH! A tentacle rose from the sea, rushing at him.

^Fool monster, I will be your last meal.^ He smiled.

Thud! The tentacle stopped at the last moment. The said, stood surprised, but it didn’t take him long to notice why. Even he could tell the wave of magic rushing toward them.

“What?” In that split second, he turned his head seeing a black mass rushing toward them across the sky. A large body, massive wings, and claws, glittering beneath the stars.

The water started shaking as the air rumbled. “DRA…”

CLAP! Before the man could finish his scream, Arad flew past the ship, snatching the Kraken by the tentacle with a bite.

The kraken’s massive body got pulled from the sea as Arad soared to the clouds causing a massive wave that threw the ship into the sky.

SPLASH! As the ship fell back on the water, the surviving sailors rolled on it and one of them cried, “What was that?”

“A dragon! Look!” Another pointed with his finger at the sky.

The sailor dropped the charges, staring at the sky, “Maids?!”

The other sailors looked at him, “What?”

“At that moment, I think I saw two maids crying on top of the dragon.” He said, staring at the other pirates.

“Who cares about your death fantasies? Get the sails down, and let’s get out of here!” The captain shouted in the back, “We’re lucky a dragon was hunting nearby. We must leave before he comes for us.”

****

In the sky, Arad flew into the clouds as Isdis shouted, “We got him!”

CLACK! The Kraken wrapped his tentacles around Arad, tying his wings and neck.

With his wings, Arad couldn’t keep flying naturally. His body flipped upside down, and the twins fell off. Only Isdis managed to stay by holding onto her saddle.

“GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!” Rey and Ray screamed as they fell across the sky.

ROAR! Arad roared, swinging his claw at the Kraken’s head.

CLACK! The Kraken had tentacles to spare and managed to hold Arad in place.

CLANG! Isdis pulled her sword, “Grilled Octopus!”

SWOSH! A tentacle rushed at her.

Thud! She jumped from Arad’s back and fell in the air, landing on the tentacle and running toward the Kraken’s head.

SWOSH! The Kraken sent another tentacle at her, but she managed to dodge it with grace, “Boneless blob!” She swung her sword at the monster’s head.

CLACK! A tentacle wrapped around her body, squeezing her in place.

“AHHHHH!” She screamed, before starting to laugh, “Freeze!” CRACK! The Kraken’s tentacle froze and shattered as Isdis lunged forth and stabbed him in the head.

“Brain freeze!” She laughed as the ice spread across the monster’s head.

CRACK! Arad ripped the tentacles around his body and swung a claw at the Kraken’s head, killing and absorbing it into his stomach.

The twins fell at high speed, approaching the water. Ray closed her eyes as they were about to crash.

FLAP! Arad flew down and caught them at the last second, “Are you okay?” He asked.

“We almost died!” Rey cried, while Ray almost lost consciousness.

“We told you to hold tight,” Isdis said as she looked at them with a smile, “You were supposed to be my bodyguards, right?”

“No one said we could ride dragons!” Rey said with a sad face, “Where did the monster go?”

“We killed it. I didn’t expect to see a Kraken around here,” Isdis replied with a smile, “This was the first time I fought mid-air and I love it,”

“You’re insane!” Rey sighed. She couldn’t believe how weak is their princess’s sense of danger.

“I can see the island, get ready to land,” Arad said as he saw a patch of land emerge on the horizon. The girls looked to see it, “We really reached it,” Rey gasped.

“I’m quite fast,” Arad replied, “But I can go even faster if you weren’t on my back,”

“What do you mean this isn’t even your top speed?” Rey giggled.

Arad stopped flapping his wings and glided down gently until he landed on the beach. 𝐞𝗼𝘃𝐞𝐥．𝗰𝐨𝗺

The girl looked down from his back, “Do people live here?” Isdis asked.

“No, only monsters,” Arad replied. The island was small enough to fit in his range, and he couldn’t sense any intelligent creatures.

After the girls got down from Arad’s back he transformed back to his humanoid form, “We’re finally here,”

Rey and Ray looked around. AWOOOOOOOOO! They could hear dire wolves howl in the forest behind the beach. The cold wind washed over them as they stared back at the sea, “What are we supposed to do here?” They asked.

An isolated island filled with monsters and in the middle of the night above all else. Normally, surviving here would be impossible.

Even with that, the twins weren’t that afraid, either because they were too exhausted to care, or because an apex predator was with them.

“That was a dire wolf howel, right? It sounded strange,” Isdis had a sharp hearing, and she asked Arad.

“Dire wolves aren’t that big,” Arad replied, “This one is a massive lizard,”

CRACK! As Arad said that, the trees at the forest edge cracked, and a massive creature walked out. The ground shook from its weight.

“HE!” The twins jumped to hide behind Arad, and even Isdis walked back, sweating, “This might be a problem,” She gasped.

The creature was massive, standing on two legs like a chicken but featherless. It had a massive skull with a terrifying jaw, small eyes, and front arms. Its gigantic tail swings from left to right helping it balance. That’s a t-rex, some scholars think they are the dragons’ ancestors. But that’s a false claim.

“Stay here,” Arad walked toward the monster with a smile, glaring at it, “Get back to the forest,”

ROAR! The t-rex roared, preparing to lung at Arad.

Arad looked back at the girls, “Close your ears. This one only understands screams.”

CRACK! Arad took a deep breath and opened his mouth, ROAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR! His voice boomed across the whole island, shaking the forest to the core. Even people standing at the kingdom’s shores could hear a faint whine in the sea.

The moment the t-rex heard Arad’s roar, he could understand. The image of an even bigger monster than him showed. The island has been isolated for centuries, people do come here, but none was like Arad.

Thud! The t-rex backed away, running back into the forest.

“Now, let’s eat dinner,” Arad looked back at the girls with a smile.

“That was loud,” Isids said with a smile on her face.

“Monsters here are quite strong, so don’t wander far from me. Try to stay at least within one kilometer,” Arad said with a smile, and the girls stared at him, “We aren’t getting ten meters away from you.”

Arad extended his hand and pulled a large table from his stomach alongside the camping equipment. “Food should still be hot, but let’s ignite a campfire. I want to grill some of that Kraken.”

Arad and Isdis started eating without a sign of stopping, while the twins found it hard to swallow any food.

“You won’t eat?” Arad looked at them.

“We’re a bit too exhausted.” Rey sighed. “Sister is right. Who knew we would fly all the way here,” Ray added.

“You two wanted to come with us,” Isdis stared at them.

“We thought you were going to eat at the garden’s table or in the city,” Rey stared at Isdis, “With you like this, you’re putting your father to shame with his night trips to the tavern for cheese and beer.”

“Are there any monsters that you can’t defeat?” Ray looked at Arad. “I never heard of a half-dragon that can transform into a dragon,”

“Stronger dragons and probably some types of large monsters or special ones,” Arad replied.

“He isn’t omnipotent, and monsters around the human kingdom aren’t that powerful. Go to the demonoid-infested east, and Arad won’t survive for long.” Isdis said, waving her spoon.

“Demonoids?” Arad looked at her, “Tieflings?”

“No, tieflings are half demons. True demons live in the abyss, while demonoids are monsters with demonic blood.” Isdis explained, “Demons rarely harm humans as the demon lord lives with us, and tieflings are normal people. That only leaves demonoids to cause trouble.”

“I see,” Arad nodded as they finished dinner.

****

“So now,” Arad lifted his hand and conjured a massive bed, “Kin and Gin aren’t around, so we should have some privacy.”