Storm Harem: House of Storms
Dragon Guardians 5
Scarlett Grove
Contents
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Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
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Chapter 1
Lieutenant Ragnar of the House of Storms blinked his eyes open as the stasis pod cover slid away. Taking a rumbling breath, he sat up and shifted his legs over the side of the pod. Looking around the stasis chamber, he noticed the pods on either side of him were opening.
Captain Hanish, Prince of the House of Storms, hopped out of his chamber and stretched, issuing commands without missing a beat. "Yuki, check our systems. Akash, check our location on this planet. Zephyr, check the health of each member of the crew. Ragnar and Raiden, I want you on reconnaissance."
"On it," Ragnar said in a low, gruff voice.
"We are currently several thousand leagues below the surface of the ocean," Akash informed them.
Captain Hanish went to check on the last pod. The lid slid off. Inside was the pride and joy of the House of Storms, the infant Tor.
"There's my boy." Hanish lifted Tor from the stasis pod and smiled at the giggling dragonkin. "Yuki, updates on the systems."
"Our systems are operational," Yuki said. "I'm bringing the AI online now."
"Greetings, House of Storms. It is good to see you awake again," said Azure, the ship’s AI.
"Hello, Azure. What are the current environmental and social conditions on the planet? We must have been awakened for a reason."
"Yes, Captain Hanish. Welcome to planet Earth, population seven billion humans. Human beings evolved from the more primitive species the dragons of Dragonia encountered upon arrival a million years ago. From my preliminary analysis, I would conclude that the DNA seeding of this planet has been a success."
"Look at this." Akash filled the holographic screen above them with images of humans.
"We've been asleep for a million years?” Ragnar grumbled.
"The primitive bipedal species certainly has evolved." Zephyr scanned the crew’s biometrics with his wrist device.
"These humans are…wow,” Raiden said in a moment of uncharacteristic speechlessness.
"Indeed," said Akash. "The females appear quite fertile."
There was a moment of silence as the crew stared up at the holographic screen displaying the lovely human females—their eyes, their smiles, their curves. Ragnar’s inner dragon rumbled to life, spewing lightning across the backs of his eyes.
"The ship will be at sea level in five…four…three…two…one," Azure said.
“We’ll be off then.” Ragnar swatted Raiden on the back.
"Everyone appears in top physical condition," Zephyr informed Hanish.
"Good, good." Hanish bounced baby Tor on his knee, making cooing sounds and smiling in an overly animated fashion Ragnar was unaccustomed to seeing on his captain.
"I have located the House of Flames, Captain Hanish," Azure said. "Would you like me to contact their AI?"
"By all means, Azure. Please contact the House of Flames."
Ragnar moved silently through the halls of the ship, headed for the hatch that would take him to the exit. They had been sleeping for a million years? He still couldn’t grasp it. As a thousand-year-old dragon, he had already seen millennia pass before his eyes, but a million years? It was too much. Approaching the exit hatch, Raiden, the quick-moving fighter, jumped ahead and opened the door.
"After you," Raiden said with that toothy grin he always wore slathered across his face.
Ragnar grunted and walked through the exit hatch into a pressurized chamber. Raiden quickly opened the door to the outside, and they both stared down at the waves lapping against the hull of their spaceship.
"It looks like we’re swimming." Raiden jumped into the water and transformed into dragon form before he hit the surface.
Ragnar followed, shifting into his powerful, electric-pink storm dragon form. They activated their stealth shields and dove through the waves. A moment later, Ragnar jetted up into the air with Raiden close behind him.
"The nearest population center is a city named Seattle off the coast of the Pacific Ocean in a country called the United States of America. The House of Flames owns an estate nearby. I suggest you find what is called a real estate agent to purchase your own. And once you have procured said estate, you should immediately hire what humans call a nanny to look after baby Tor," Azure informed them through the mental link.
Ragnar watched his internal map as he flew toward the population center to get a firsthand view of these humans everyone found so lovely. He found them lovely as well. How could he not? Their feminine curves and bright smiles made his inner storm dragon rage with need. He had never felt this kind of urgency, even after the countless battles he had fought and won against the vampire scourge back in his home system. His dragon had never been in such a tumultuous state.
Ragnar was a man of few words and even less inclined to share his feelings. But the stirring of his lust and the raging of his dragon were too much to ignore.
"My dragon is giving me some serious attitude," Raiden told him through their mental link. “I’m going into half-shift form.”
"Greetings, House of Storms," a voice said through their mental links. "This is Kian, Prince and Commander of the House of Flames."
Ragnar listened to Kian and Hanish greet each other and converse with great enthusiasm.
"You must come see us," Kian finally said, "at your soonest possible convenience. We have much information to share."
"We will arrive as soon as our reconnaissance team returns."
"In that case, we will begin preparing a feast," Kian said.
"You know I love a feast, Kian," Hanish said.
"Indeed, I do, old friend," Kian replied.
The conversation ended, and Raiden continued chatting to Ragnar about his dragon's uncontrollable behavior. Ragnar had to admit he felt something similar. The beast was out of control. For that reason, Ragnar had chosen to fly in half-dragon form, a bipedal and winged fighting form that offered greater cognitive power.
They arrived at the city under their stealth shields and flew low over the streets. The stench of the city filled his nose, but something far sweeter mingled with the smell of asphalt, tar, and garbage. It was the smell of human females. Each time Ragnar got the slightest hint of a female scent, his dragon thundered and spewed lightning, electrocuting his mind. Ragnar growled, gritting his sharp teeth.
“We have arrived at the population center,” Ragnar informed Hanish through the mental link. “We’re sending back information now.”
Ragnar projected his vision through the mental link, allowing his crew to see what he saw.
“We can mate with the human females?” Raiden asked.
“It would appear that way. Seeding the planet with the souls of ancestors has been successful. We learned from our brief conversation with Commander Kian that the members of the House of Flames have all found their fated mates.”
“Don’t get ahead of yourself, Raiden,” Hanish said. “There is still much protocol to be followed.”
“But there are so many of them,” Raiden said.
“We will learn more at our meeting with the House of Flames. We will be departing upon your return.”
Ragnar wanted to shift into his stronger, faster-moving form, but the dragon within was barely rational.
“We are on our way,” Ragnar grunted.
“Why is my dragon acting like a maniac?” Raiden asked.
“I am checking with the technician from the House of Flames about this,” Akash said. “Apparently, everyone at the House of Flames had their mating impulse activated the moment they awakened because of the presence of Dragon Souls. It is safe to assume that that is happening to us as well.”
Ragnar gritted his teeth and growled. No wonder. Once activated, the mating impulse could only be soothed by finding one’s fated mate and claiming her. There was no telling how long that would take. Back on his home world, he never would have expected to find a mate. Now, his life depended on it.
His crew had left their home system a million years ago. For thousands of years, the dying sun had caused the female dragon birth rate to decline, until only one female dragon remained. She was born a Dragoness Prime, capable of mating with any dragon, not just a single fated mate. She could produce children with anyone she chose. The Dragoness Prime had given birth to a dragonkin from each house, and Tor was one of her brood. But hatching so many young from so many different subspecies of dragon had taken a toll on even her. She had chosen to give her life for her people and the continuation of their species even as the elder dragons refused to evacuate.
A few brave souls from each house took the last dragonkin hatchlings and escaped the fiery cataclysm of the dying sun. Ships from each house set out across the galaxy, looking for a new home. It had taken them months of searching, moving at warp speed into undiscovered territories, before they found this habitable planet. When they’d arrived, the environment had been primordial.
The bipedal mammalian creatures who had been living here were primitive, but the dragons recognized a spark of potential within them. The dragons seeded the planet with the souls of their ancestors, dragon DNA, in the hope that the primitive creatures would evolve into a new race, suitable to carry the souls of the dragons’ fated mates. It was a last-ditch effort to save their race from extinction.
Once the seeding was complete, the dragons climbed into their stasis pods, powered down all unnecessary systems, and went to sleep. They hoped one day, when they woke, they would find a world full of advanced, intelligent, sentient creatures carrying the spark of the Dragon Souls inside them. It had been a slim chance, but the pride in the heart of the dragons had shown through, and now the Dragon Souls walked the earth.
Ragnar considered these things as he flew on his half-shifted wings toward the House of Storms’ ship. He and Raiden arrived at the hatch and landed inside. The moment the door closed behind them, Hanish told them they were leaving, and the ship jetted through the air in stealth mode.
Ragnar shifted back into his bipedal form, a form similar to the human creatures that now inhabited this planet. When they had arrived, the bipedal creatures were hairy and short. But now they were tall and hairless except on the top of their heads. They had intelligent, gleaming eyes and looked so similar to the dragons’ bipedal form that it was unnerving.
“Dragon DNA has clearly played a role in the evolution of humanity,” Zephyr was explaining to the crew when Ragnar walked into the room.
“My dragon is out of control,” Raiden said. “I couldn’t even fly in dragon form.”
“We are all suffering the effects of the mating impulse,” Hanish informed him. “When we arrive at the House of Flames, we will ask them about the process of finding our fated ones.”
“It can’t come soon enough,” Ragnar grumbled.
In Ragnar’s lifetime, he had only known of three females. Two of them had died years before the cataclysm, and the third was the Dragoness Prime. Hanish, as Prince of the House of Storms, had the honor of sending his seed to her for artificial insemination. But that was the closest any of them had come to a female. Now, they lived in a world where there were three point five billion of them. It was nearly inconceivable.
“Cato, the House of Flames technical officer, informs me that Dragon Souls make up point zero one percent of the human population. But that is still a fair number of individuals,” Akash said.
“More females than we have ever seen in our lives.” Yuki’s eyes widened. He fiddled with a gadget he’d been working on before stasis. Yuki was a highly skilled mechanic and engineer but was far more useful in a fight than the crew’s scientist, Zephyr.
Hanish kept Zephyr as his closest counsel; the man’s cool rationality was an asset to the mercurial captain. Ragnar’s role was a simple one: fight, kill, destroy. And that suited him just fine.
“Approaching the House of Flames,” Akash informed them.
Akash was Hanish’s cousin and the duke of the House of Storms. Before the cataclysm, Akash had been a historian and a professor at the Grand Academy of Dragonia. He was also skilled in diplomacy and cultural integration, skills that would prove useful in the world where they had awakened.
“We will disembark and fly down, keeping shields up,” Hanish said. “We don’t want the humans to be aware of our presence.”
Hanish took baby Tor and carried him down the hall to the exit hatch, where he half shifted and jumped into the air. The rest of the crew followed suit, flying quickly to the lush grass behind the home of the House of Flames.
The dragons of the House of Flames emerged from the building, four human women at their sides. Kian held the dragonkin born to the House of Flames. Ragnar remembered the child’s name, Ember, because Ember was a girl and a great rarity and joy for all dragons.
Hanish and Kian bowed in the formal greeting of Dragonia. Kian then showed Hanish how humans shook hands, and all of the dragons shook hands. Ragnar shook hands with Dax, the biggest warrior of the fire dragons, a fighter for whom Ragnar had great respect, Aiden, the quick and decisive rogue, and Cato, the scientist and technician for the House of Flames.
They introduced their mates, Aria, Winifred, Penelope, and Everly. Everly had a rounded stomach, which Ragnar was quickly informed was a sign of human pregnancy.
“She will be the first dragonkin born on Earth.” Kian beamed. Another daughter. Kian was a lucky man.
The group walked toward a stone patio with a long table covered in food. Ragnar’s mouth watered. He hadn’t eaten in a million years. Everyone sat down for the feast, and the chatting began. Ragnar typically didn’t interject his words into such meetings, preferring to observe and listen. He learned much during th
e meal.
“The vampires are here,” Kian told them. “We don’t know why, but we estimate they arrived ten thousand years ago.”
“They prefer to feed on Dragon Souls,” Cato continued. “But we have discovered that once mated, a Dragon Soul’s blood becomes poison to a vampire.”
“At first, we couldn’t injure the vampires. They got faster after we left our system all those years ago. But if you listen to my mate, Aria, singing, you’ll be able to catch them,” Dax said. “She’s magical.”
“Aiden and Aria recorded an album,” said Winifred, Aidan’s mate. “It’s shipping out tomorrow.”
“Now we can share our magic with the whole world,” Aria said.
“It is the sworn duty of the House of Flames and all dragons to protect humans and Dragon Souls alike from vampires. We have asked them repeatedly to give up kidnapping and murdering humans and Dragon Souls, but they have refused. They could use the blood of animals or purchase blood from blood banks, but they prefer their violent means, having had the run of this planet for so long.” Kian wore a solemn expression.
“How did they get here?” Hanish asked.
“We’ve theorized that without the presence of dragons in our home quadrant, the vampires would have demolished all of the other species within a few thousand years. They then would have had to find a new hunting ground. We don’t know where they were or what they were doing between the time they left our home system and when they arrived here. It could be any number of things. Perhaps they were lost in a black hole. Perhaps they too were in stasis, or they found another populated planet and spent time there before arriving on Earth. Whatever it was, they are here now, and they have entrenched power and status in society. Fighting them is our primary occupation. But it is not an easy one,” Cato explained.
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