Harem Quest (Beast Quest Harem X Male Reader)

Book 1: Ferna the Fire Dragoness - Chapter 1: The Mysterious Fire

y/n stared hard at his enemy.

y/n: Surrender, villain! Surrender, or taste my blade!

The blade, of course, was only a poker, and his enemy was a sack of hay hanging from a tree in the heart of the woods. But then again, y/n was not a knight, not even a soldier. He was training to be a blacksmith. The closest he came to thrilling quests was when he ran errands for his uncle Henry, who worked the village forge. Today, y/n was taking a sack of newly mended tools to farmer Gretlin. Along the way, he had stopped in the forest to practice his sword fighting moves on the dummy he had made a few weeks ago. He trained whenever he could. If he ever had the chance to have a real sword fight, he'd be ready!

y/n: One day, I'll be the finest swordsman in all of the kingdom of Avantia. Even better than my father, Taladon the Swift!

y/n had heard many people in the village praise Taladon for his swordsmanship, but he had never seen it for himself. y/n's mother had died of a fever when he was just a baby, that same day, his father had left on a mysterious quest and never returned. As head of Errinel village, and y/n's closest relative, Henry had announced that he and his wife, Maria, would raise him as their own son. y/n was grateful to his uncle and trained hard as a blacksmith's apprentice, but  he often dreamed of leaving Errinel, just as his father had. He wanted to taste adventure for real as dreams just weren't enough anymore. But most of all, he wanted to find his father and ask him why he had left. y/n shoved the poker back into the sack of tools.

y/n: One day, I'll know the truth.

Summer was giving way to autumn, and y/n shivered as he walked beneath the shadows cast by the trees' heavy branches. It was hard-going along the overgrown forest path. Branches tore at y/n's clothes and scratched his face. Stumbling over the roots, y/n struggled on. As he neared the edge of the woods, he smelled something strange.

y/m:*Smoke!*

y/n thought as the sharp smell caught at the back of his throat. He stopped and looked around. Through the trees to his left, he could hear a faint crackling as a wave of warm air hit him.

y/n:*Fire!*

y/n began to push his way through the trees. His heart pounding, he forced his way through a thicket and burst into a field. The village's golden wheat had been burned to inedible black stubble. A thin veil of smoke hung in the air as small flames still licked at the edges of the field. y/n stared in horror. What had happened? A shadow fell over him, as it it y/n looked and for a second he thought he saw a dark fleeting shape disappear behind a hill in the distance. On top of that, the shape seemed oddly, feminine. Had his eyes been playing tricks on him?

?????: Who's there?

Through the smoke, y/n saw a man, who he recognized as Gretlin, stomping across the field. Forgetting the shadow, he hurried forward to meet him.

Gretlin: Did you come through the woods? Did you see anyone who could've done this?

y/n: No one! I didn't see a soul in the woods.

Gretlin: There's evil at work here. Only ten minutes ago, this wheat was as tall as your shoulders. I was working in the barn when I heard a strange noise, like a fierce wind. I rushed outside to find...this. Mark my words, no ordinary fire did this. Just like no ordinary fire killed John Blake's horses.

A shiver of fear went through y/n. John Blake lived at the edge of Errinel, and two weeks ago he had lost three of his best horses during the night. Their bones were found the next day, in a smoking pit at the foot of the valley, roasted and picked clean.

Gretlin: The elders are talking in the village. They say dark forces are gathering.

y/n looked around at the burned field and felt a wave of anger. Someone needed to stop this, if only his Uncle would let him leave!

y/n: *I'd do it, I'd stop things like this happening in our kingdom.*

Gretlin: Go back to the forge, y/n. Tell your uncle what's happened here! I'm worried that Errinel is cursed, and maybe all of us along with it!