"So, Cabal? What do you suggest in terms of deployment of our units and the dwarves?"

Cabal: "I know that the dwarves have built a fortress with some kind of armored train on the stone bridge and they have automatic ballistas with golems reloading the spears and they have a series of catapults but the elves have magic arrows that can deflect and enter the gaps according to the report of the dwarven military. Basically, if they know how to aim they are also vulnerable and that's how they fell under the arrows of the elves.

They are better at hand-to-hand combat, but few of them managed to reach the elves' knees.

Worse, you know with the dew....They can send waves and waves of them getting slaughtered and after a few days they are available again..."

"Indeed, it is heartbreaking..."

"Master, I suggest an extermination bottleneck well before the fortress which is good for medieval combat but the area offers too many nooks and crannies for the elves to hide in."

Then I started thinking about Vietnam...

"Yeah, we're going to snub their revival... Agent Orange? Do we still have some in stock?"

Cabal: "Yes, a few tons in military reserves. But what are you going to do with this herbicide?"

"We're going to make those vegan herbivores sick by poisoning their environment.

"Then we'll provide the dwarves with two old anti-aircraft Shilka, positioned on bunkers buried on the top of the plateau. The fairies will arrive from the east.

Waspy will infiltrate them and locate their villages. She will drop asphyxiant gas at night and plant a few larvae here and there to clean up the area after the battle.

Star will lead a squad of terminator drones and I'll finish the dirty work."

Indeed, we could see the troops in large numbers accumulating south of the Dwarf mountains and we could also see an accumulation of giant birds to the north, in the mountain passes that were preparing to take the Dwarves in reverse and bombard them with rocks and incendiary pitch.

And there was a heavy concentration of magic.

After a long debriefing, I flew to the dwarf capital and saw with pleasure draperies with a coat of arms representing Hydra in gold on a black background with little stars here and there.

The statues of the deities were gone and huge doors had been placed for me to enter the dwarf fortress.

They had done a good job.

Also, a tunnel had been dug between my lair and their network with a rail line to bring parts and materials to my site, under the supervision of one of my robot technicians.

The dwarves had quickly learned the metric system, the standardization of tools, threads, grooves and hydraulics, the reading and drawing of industrial plans and laptops with CAD programs allowed them to simulate the parts to be fitted together and optimized before building them.

They had made a 1000 year leap in general mechanics, of course helped and supervised by some incomplete or broken but still usable robots.

We planned to repair them and make more, later, when we had made the leap in electronics but I kept my reservations about chemistry, explosives and electricity reserved for the robots.

I had to see their dedication and they had to prove themselves.

But I was satisfied because Kate, seeing me arrive, almost jumped on my neck and covered me with kisses.

I finally had my dragoness who looked happy for the first time.

"Honey, this is Pixel, my best friend..."

She gave me a royal bow and I reassured her.

"Pixel, I thank you for bringing back the smile to my wife. I will be infinitely indebted to you. You can ask me anything you want and I will do everything to grant it.

She began to cry.

Pixel: "We are all afraid... This is war, but don't give up on us, Lord Carnage..."

At that word, Kate gasped and wondered why they called him Lord Carnage instead of Lord Hans...

"If I have entrusted you with my wife, it is because I never intended to abandon you. In fact, I am here to tell you that there is an underground train line to transport civilians to my base should it fall, but fear not... The Goddess is watching and she will know what is true and what is false, friend and foe. You must have faith!, my child."

I liked this little girl. She was brave and she had succeeded where I had failed...

She had transformed my image from monster to divine protector.

She retreated with Kate, but Kate stopped.

"Hans? Why do they call you Carnage?"

I took her front paw and lifted it to my lips and gave her a loving kiss.

"I'm still Hans but I'm also a dragon...resurrected and you know that chickens don't make dogs.... I came out of an egg and the egg had a mother..."

She could see where I was going with this

"But your human body?"

"It perished in Tibet, in the Shangri-La city. I was killed by enraged Tibetan monks, Buddhist guards who had killed the scientists, and dying, I lay on a lifeless egg...and I was in the egg...

It was a very ancient egg and I had the wisdom and knowledge of my dragon ancestors and my celestial mother, our goddess and creator but also the keeper of time and dimensions."

"Who proves to me that you are Hans and not a copy with his memories..."

"Nobody can prove it. I could ask you again..."

Kate: "Yes... Your clumsiness is the same... and your lack of communication is legendary..."

Then she kissed me and our tongues met.

"Hans... my love... I trust you.... and... I would like to have your children again..."

"I promise you... ! but I kept quiet, so as not to ruin our moment of tenderness"

We flew behind the mountain and embraced for the first time as dragons and she was fulfilled as ever.

And deep inside me I felt Enka's blessing pass from my belly to hers...

We purred together until the early morning.