Kate waited in secret for the humans... if they would ever come out and, lying on a hill in the shelter of some trees and rocks, she saw the 3 humans safe and sound.

In her head, she relived in loop the admonitions of Hans...That she had lost...

She regretted her gesture and her words.

She understood, but too late, that Hans was a real dragon and not a transformed human.

She also thought that she was lucky to have his head on her neck. He had given her one last chance... But she was afraid now...

Hans was not the monstrous human... He was a good guy, a little crazy and ethically borderline, but he did everything for her and her children in the face of the apocalypse. And her "male" was a whole dragon with the memories and part of Hans... but he was a heavenly beast... not a monster...

She looked at herself and also saw that she was beautiful... maybe even more beautiful than ever... and she had screwed it up..

Hans was not angry at her for her evil deed but for not protecting the little ones..for failing twice as a mother...

She was now angry at herself for her weakness.

Then, when the humans, returning on foot, for a long road... very long road without water or food... she made the decision to bring them back... Threats or not... she had to pull herself together.

So she flew, looking left and right for an anti-aircraft system and hovered over the Humans.

Raven: "Look. It's Kate! "And she waved to him.

Kate landed immediately and lowered her wing.

"Come on...climb on my back...we're going home.."

Then, she took off and the humans, this time were happy to have Kate to bring them back..

Bello: "I know that Hans' words are very hard... but you are kind and you will always be our friend... You are part of our family and if you have to leave the village...we will come and settle with you. We will never leave you..."

He was splashed with tears of joy from the dragoness: "Thank you...You saved my life..."

They arrived in sight of the Village which now looked like a city. There must have been 50,000 inhabitants now... and there were cranes everywhere and concrete was flowing... The surrounding valleys and meadows were huge fields of wheat and various vegetables.

The elves were using their magic to the fullest to grow the necessary foodstuffs as quickly as possible to avoid a famine... But Sarah was managing.

Kate landed at the entrance, but what was her surprise... 2 Kobolds dragons under steroids were already waiting for her!

They were real Carnosaurs, with wings too!!!! They had bags and equipment like a military campaign, ropes and accessories placed like saddles on their backs and sides.

They were in front of the entrance and stood up with a stern look in front of the village entrance. They had been blocking the entrance for two hours.

They also had a huge rifle each but the barrel was huge. And, although they were half Kate's size, they were not impressed.

Bello jumped off the back of the dragoness as well as the kids.

"Kobolds! Kate is our friend...if you hurt her or bite her...Hans or not...we will find you. I'm a hunter too!!!"

They looked at each other and assessed the human...and approached. They saw that he was not afraid and that he had a combat knife, his hand on the handle..

Then one of them blew through his nostrils, and turned around. He made an innocent sweep and... the next thing he knew, Bello was on his back, his hands holding his horns and the blade against his throat...

The dragon stopped and lowered his head for the human to leave. The message was clear. Bello was a skilled hunter and was capable of killing the two drago Kobolds with his bare hands...

"You pass... Bello.."

They walked away and Kate followed them without a word, her head down and full of regret...

Bello threw a walkie-talkie at her and she grabbed it in flight by her mouth.

One of the Kobolds glared at her.

She had to rebuild everything... regain their trust and make amends.

But she didn't whimper and just watched without asking questions.

They went to the river and took wood and rope and made a net.

Then they threw rope and pieces of wood at her. She had to do the same.

Kobold: "You eat what you catch! And we don't share with you...TABO!"

She swallowed her saliva. It was hard... very hard... "I'm sorry... I'm sorry"

Kobold "Save your tears.. We could eat you if we wanted. But you're just shit... And it tastes bad..."

There were fish, and to catch them you needed traps, but that wasn't enough...Kate had big legs and it was more difficult than for the Kobolds...

"I have difficulty with my claws..."

"Fuck that... That's your problem.. "

Then she managed to put rocks to prevent the fish from running away except towards the creel.

She was able to catch 3 of them. But it was tiny for her stomach...

The Kobolds had 10 each and they looked huge...

They had put them on spikes over a fire they had started.

It took her half an hour to find and cut the spikes for the fish and she began to cry at the grains of rice as her only snack.

She wanted to approach the kobolds to cook those little fish but they stood up...

"OUR FIRE! LIGHT YOURS!"

The kobolds looked like they were stuffing their faces and were deliberately mocking Kate..

But she endured in silence and swallowed her tears.

But how do they do it? their fish were the same size as mine... but how are they so big???

Then...she felt...concentrated...

The fish had magic on them???

She had to observe them.

The Kobolds were teaching Kate the hard way. They were guides... not waiters... no more castle life, no more luxury... now Kate was reduced to a beast... but she thought about Bello's words... With one eye, she watched as one of the Kobolds carved a rune into the flesh of the fish... then it began to grow... That's it... a magnification spell!

The Kobolds saw that Kate was watching and they looked at each other with a growl.

Kobold: "I'M GOING UP ONCE! "

Then he showed the fish, took a knife and carved a rune on its skin. And he transferred Ki into it, or mana to be more exact, and it grew to 10 times his size.

Kate wanted to take the knife but couldn't.

"YOUR CLAWS ARE KNIVES!"

And so she did and her 3 little fish quickly grew to 20 times their size. The mana of a real dragon made all the difference between her and the drago Kobolds.

After many tries, she managed to cut her hunger at last... a little... but fish without spices....C is bland.. But the Kobolds liked it.

They fell asleep around the fire, a hard day was about to begin... the traps, the traps and more traps... They showed all kinds of plants, vines and tall stems.

Fish, frogs... young alligators... carp...

Kate was brave but she couldn't get used to it... and she sobbed every night, thinking about her friend Pixel, the dwarfs and the humans...

After 10 days of swamps, rivers... Kassus, the chief hunter, spoke to Kate.

Fish is easy but there are not all seasons... it's autumn and fish will be scarce. We are monsters and predators...and we have to eat everything to survive. Fancy food is for the party...and not every day.." We'll move on to bark, roots, grubs and insects... It's full of protein and avoids eating rotten flesh and catching death. Also, the river here is safe but also the river is the meeting place of super predators, Some are powerful enough to grab you in the water and drown you before devouring you. Or others will come in dozens to tear you apart in the water..Like giant catfish. Some are your size."

They walked and their footsteps echoed from their 5 tons on the ground..especially when there were roots.

Then there were downed trees.

"Your dessert... it has all colors..."

He pointed to multicolored larvae..

During this hell, Bello had joined Sarah who hugged her children...

He had a tablet with a message from Hans. and the situation was clear...

General Andromagus was summoned.

It was the Chancellor who wanted to speak to him alone.

"Lord Andromagus... we have made some discoveries concerning the disappearances of your men... The Vespalians...they have captured my children and Captain Bello...and..Hans is alive. He has delivered a message for you.

"Dear Archmage and General Commander of the Elven forces... your losses... are many but as you know, it is still possible to act like civilized people... I know all about your origins, your destroyed planet and your allegiance to the Guide/God Tyrant... It would be wise for you, as well as for the humans, to stop this madness of living off of a ... well, our adversary... This will be the last and only way for you to stop this massacre.

I offer you the one and only audience with our supreme goddess, the Destroyer, to plead your case. I guarantee your integrity and safety. Word of Carnage, son of Enka.

You will see for yourself that the abomination is not an illusion."

Please come alone. I know everything and I have the means to see everything...and I guess A'arnateth must tell you something, right??? So, I'm counting on you... an automatic shuttle is waiting for you at the exit of the "Village".

He dropped the tablet on the board table... and took his head in his hands...

This nightmare... This second state, of divination and weakness... if Hans had access to it... No... that's not possible and he looked at Bello.

Bello: "This is Darkia... his new wife... She goes from the dream world to the real world... and the wounds she inflicts in the dream world... we die here... She can deprive us of sleep and kill the most hardened warrior... She's a monster worse than Hans... a monster on her level.... I am sorry..."

Andromagus: "Tyrant will dream and kill her, then it will be Hans and his army will crush the Vespalians..."

Bello nodded his head negatively.

"He has more resources than you think... Stay neutral and live with us here... This is our land for thousands of years... Let them kill each other."

Andromagus: "What did they promise you?"

Bello: "No more than the Ummites... but we would be free and equal to them... They don't want anything from us. They want us to educate the dragonets and the children of Hans...caught in the ice...that's why, this war.

These are images stolen from sabotaged shuttles.

Tyrant's collection... the dark elves, ice elves, wood elves... their leaders and their best warriors taken as trophies... Hans' dragonets... magical and mystical creatures and your sacred beasts... a whole collection... And this is what awaits us all... you too... The earth is a theater where they laugh at your misery. I have seen their Goddess. But now I pray to her...she exists and finally...I can say nothing more... Darkia listens...

Andromagus: "It's more complicated...well I'm going to meet another deity...but Mondeville is going to board an Ummite cruiser..he's going to negotiate Earth's entry into the empire.. It is too late..."

Bello: "There is still time for you...On our side the people want peace and will follow us. The ummites are brutes

The ummites are bullies