In her palace, the Nightmare-dragon watched the events unfold with interest.

She had seen the slaughter of the horses and the kidnapping of the 3 dragons by mercenaries under the guise of vandal burglars.

She sighed as she saw the mess before her eyes.

A real Gordian knot.

She had her mother's black letter in her paw and no matter how much she turned it over, it made little sense because it said everything and anything.

In the end, the Destroyer relied solely on the judgment of her daughter, the Queen of Nightmares

In their previous meeting, she had promised a love affair soon but could say nothing.

Darkia had insisted that her mother, the guardian of time, was the one with whom she would find love.

Enka only replied that she would be a mother one day and that she would be happy, but she would not say anything more.

If Darkia loved her "mother", the notion of love was very different from humans.

It was more of a bond of kinship and not being blown up on sight by the monstrous entity.

The Destroyer had decreed that she was his daughter, so she was de facto the Destroyer's daughter even if she didn't remember the egg or her childhood. One day she was there...the day before, she doesn't remember anything...

To her, she was a dream created by a human dreamer and when he died, she came to life and existed. that was what Darkia believed but Enka was telling a completely different story... close but different.

Darkia was afraid of herself, of the reality that made her up, or rather the non-reality.

She thought she was 50% nightmare and 50% dragon or 100% nightmare who thought she was a dragon or a crazy dragon who thought she was a nightmare.

This tormented her, turned her upside down and she often fled the dream world for fear that her reality would disappear like a dream when she woke up.

Darkia was always afraid... And it had become a mania, a paranoia. She clung to her human form, to the Bucéphalus and its crew, and her friends.

She didn't have a bad heart, but her whole existence was about surviving the onslaught of dreamers and Assassins.

"Mother asked me to judge THAT!!!, that mess.... All I see is a handful of dragons from a fairy tale thrown out onto the streets and left to fend for themselves in a modern world. They are uprooted three times. Firstly, they come from a fantasy world and are flesh and blood, secondly, they come from the Middle Ages and are disoriented, and thirdly, they are dragons... thrown into a world of humans.

They have done no harm and are integrated.... is all I have to say but ...Arggh... little Felix... I can't abandon him like this... it's horrible...

Darkia remembered the island with the children mutilated to the core of their genes.

"I hate all those crazy biologists and scientists... I abhor them!"

Deep down she had a little crush on Felix who was a beautiful blue dragon... well a dragonet.

"Ah... in a decade or so... the little one would be really cute..." but she remembered her terror. Darkia was scary... normal... she was an arch-dragon, a superior dragon... but also maybe an arch-nightmare???

She also had to remain neutral and represent her "mother" by being on her best behavior, and, unfortunately, she had to keep her distance.

Especially if Enka demanded the killing of the dimensional refugees that the dragons had become.

Besides, Darkia had caught a glimpse of Exodus and it was like... love at first sight.

This dragon meant everything to her. Strength, power, dominance, a critical and organized mind and a pure heart for her family.

No... it was more than that... She was jealous of her family!

She was tempted to help them and ultimately curry favour with the handsome male dragon. Torin was no exception to this either.

In fact all the male dragons of Sosaria were perfect. Line, form, skill. As if they came from an ideal world.

She was not far from reality.

But she was shocked when Exodus stared directly into her eyes.

Something clicked with this dragon and perhaps a part of him had a divine spark.

But he looked away, but when he stared into the void, he met the crystal ball.

He couldn't see anything, but it was an impression and it was unnatural for Darkia to be stared at while watching from the realm of dreams.

Exodus must have been really strong.

She licked the crystal sphere.

"You will be mine! Beautiful dragon."

Disturbed, she flew back to the real world portal and found herself near a shopping mall.

Then she, as a human, rolled up her sleeve and saw Professor Dubuisson on her screen.

"Is everything all right on board?"

"No, Mistress!"

"How many times do I have to tell you to call me Darkia or Claudia!"

"But...I..."

"You are my friend, aren't you? So!!"

"Yes, Queen Darkia...but we are small.. and we are afraid and...afraid for you too. Every mission is dangerous and sometimes you ..er.. you.. come back with terrible wounds..."

Claudia smiled at her friend..

"Thank you Professor... but I think I found what I'm looking for.."

"The anomaly???"

"No... a beautiful male!!"

"Darkia... be careful... our sensors found traces of dimensional vectors and the proximity alarm sounded. We wouldn't be alone...

Maybe another ship. We haven't located it, but it's not far away and sensors indicate the presence of celestial weapons. So very powerful."

Darkia: "Any immediate danger?"

Dubuisson: "No.. it's not energised, no radar or scan presence and no protective fields. We may have been wrong but be careful... You have plenty of tricky enemies.."

Darkia sighed...

"It's endless! Even here! When will I find peace?"

Then she was drawn to mana.

"Mana here?"

And she walked towards the Crossroads and felt the faint trace of draconic beings.

"But... is this an invasion or what???"...

She sniffed the tarmac again...

"Kobolds!! It's not true!!! No wonder Mother's mad!!!"

She looked left and right and collapsed into the shadow of a van in the car park.

She entered the darkness and in her dragon form she found herself just below the exhibition grounds, the old Holiday Inn Hall.

The renovations were complete and despite some traces of dimensional violation, the hole was well sealed. There were not even any traces of amber, the dimensional glue filling in the cracks made by a poorly made passage.

It was stable and the destination was in the void.

Weird! Beings from the void! But their trail showed that they were alive and well.

"Only divine intervention could create living things out of nothing... I'll make a note of it and she made a prayer to Enka to inform him of the progress of her investigation..."

Now she would go to phase two: Secure, and eliminate if necessary.

Her powers told her that there was a strong concentration of mana around Exodus and his family, especially his entourage...

What reassured her was that the dragons lived in harmony with the authorities without making a fuss and without excessive use of magic. Forbidden in her eyes. She detected spells of enlargement/reduction and sometimes healing, but no necromancy or summoning spells and especially no spells for opening dimensional passages. This was the death penalty in her opinion. Opening a passage or deliberately violating space-time was an immediate death sentence. She would show no mercy! And she knew what her mother, the Destroyer, was capable of

From the darkness, she returned to the car park and headed for the chew shop.

As a long-haired Claudia, she looked in the window and the shop assistant smiled at her.

"You know, ma'am, with the dragons on the farm, it's almost carnival time all the time. I think some little dragons were even here yesterday. With all those fancy costumes, you can get confused but their walk was weird, and their steps had like claws. You could hear the ticking when they walked. I'm sure they have little ones on the sly! They like treats a lot!!! Just like humans...!

One of them had fiery eyes with slit pupils...

Claudia : "Thank you ma'am, give me a dozen big chews then..."

"And do you know if they have returned???"

"Oh.. they were with Christophe, the guard and his wife. They must be back by now!"

And do you know where they live?

I think it's Grivegnée on the heights near the road to Herve.

"Herve??"

"Yes... the cheeses... you don't know the stinky cheese? the Herve??"

I smiled. The comparison was comical. but I had everything I needed.

I headed for the bathroom and plunged back into the darkness.

With my terminal, I found myself near the church and the mana detection kicked in again.

There was a huge park and an old military barracks and. A lot of old underground tunnels.

A real maze and full of vegetable gardens that formed the boundary between the forest and the houses on the street.

It didn't take me more than 5 minutes to spot the rue des châlets and an old electric workshop converted into a house.

I felt several presences and I hid my aura, I did not want to make the same mistake as with Felix.

I wanted to go and save the boy, but Mum's mission had priority.

In fact... I was dying of fear of her... She could turn me into a Kobold, a Kirin or anything else, or simply make me disappear as if I had never existed. But deep down, I thought she would never do such a thing. I mean... I hoped, but I was still afraid... very very afraid... and I was afraid of losing my friends... my only family..

and I thought again of Exodus...and Felix...and I looked at my flat stomach...

"I wish I had eggs."

I groaned as I walked back to the house...

I was also afraid of ruining everything... I had to investigate and I hoped in my heart that everything would be alright... That Enka would leave me alone... leave us alone and that I could finally be free, be Darkia myself, be able to fly and walk freely as a dragoness wherever I wanted and greet and be greeted by people and other dragons... To have my own home... a cosy bed without fearing the military and scientists...

I realized that I had my finger on the doorbell and that I had just pressed it...DAMN!

My head is spinning!

A big dog came and wanted to growl but the next moment he ran away, pissing in the corridor and shaking in a corner, crying with fear.

Christophe arrived 5 seconds later and said "Hello Miss" then turned his head.

"Byron??? Byron???"

It was the first time he was so scared.

Then he looked at me and turned his head.

"Sorry, my dog is weird lately... don't mind me...

What can I do for you?"

His wife wanted to come and see, but he gestured behind his back with his left hand to stay put, watching the Kobolds

"My name is Claudia... and... I'm a dragon specialist..."

I didn't have time to finish my sentence when the door slammed shut

and through it he shouted.

"Leave me alone with this bullshit... I have nothing to do with any of this... go away!"

My powerful hearing allowed me to hear everything.

"Honey...we were followed...we're in trouble...what are we going to do???"

Christophe: "Children... not a sound... "

Grimm felt the mana outside and spotted with his keen senses that it was a dragon.

A dragon disguised as a human... but something prevented him from rushing towards the dragon... something was not right... it was not entirely a dragon but an abyssal being.

Her joy turned to terror and she clutched at Christopher with all her might, pointing with her clawed finger at his snout... not to speak or make a sound!

Christophe felt that she was trembling

The Kobolds, mechanically, as one person, put themselves against each other surrounding Christophe and his wife. They were terrified. Christophe took Grim in his arms and gave her a kiss on the cheek: "I promise we won't hurt you.

He took his mobile phone and sent a "Code Red" signal

He received a confirmation text, 5 seconds later... "We're coming!"

"Come to the cellar... I have an armoured door...

Everyone went downstairs and Christophe put the kobold on the floor, locked the door and took out a special forces revolver...

"Shh... not a word..."

Byron was at his feet, fearful but obedient with his finger and eye.

He switched on a monitor and with his joystick scanned the entrance to the house.

As he had worked before as a cash courier after having his own shop which he had to close a few years before, he was afraid of brigands or bandits who might attack him or his family. So he had set up a fortified room, a hideout to keep himself safe.

This made Darkia laugh as she watched them from the darkness of the room.

At least a human risking his life for Kobolds... and a shaman who didn't break the rules.

But the weapon was dangerous. She was wary. It was of the same caliber as the assassins sent to kill her a few months ago. The assassins of the Vizier. It was a status quo, though she had eliminated most of the killers, but her nemesis was still at large... And it was also possible that they were coming here.

But I had to know... I had to question the Kobolds.

With a flick of my sleeve, I twisted Christopher's arm, closing the gun safety, and he fell to the ground.

"Byron!!! ATTACK!"

But the dog cried and the lights came on.

Chrisophe was on the ground, holding his sore arm, I had my foot on his gun, his wife between me and the Kobolds and Grimm holding out a sceptre with a red gem, ready to fire at me.

"I'd avoid raising a paw on an archdragon if I were you.."

Then the next thing I knew, Grimm and the Kobolds were on their knees, no, flat on their backs imploring me and Grimm licking my boot.

Christophe's wife immediately raised Grim.

"Monster! I know who you are. You can tear me apart but you won't hurt the Kobolds anymore!!!"

She had her arms outstretched to protect the little ones.

Christophe slowly stood up, hands outstretched as if in surrender, not daring eye contact, but towards his knees... a non-provocative move learned with special forces training.

Christophe had felt Darkia's insane strength. She was not a human being before him.

He didn't even dare ask how she got in here.

The Kobolds were crying and it was deafening.

"SILENCE!" I shouted in my dragon voice.

If there had been flies, we would have heard them flying.

It was like a cannon shot.

But I looked at Grim who had her eyes closed, waiting for imminent death.

She was on her knees, leaning back on her long red tail. These kobolds were evolved and practically small dragons. They were shaped like them and looked a lot like Rubix.

"YOU... the kobold shaman... How do you call??"

"G...g..rimm????"

"Well, GRIM, you are from Kobolds... and what are you doing here! ????"

But Grim wanted to protect her mistress and would not say anything..

"Christoff... Helpp!!!"

I stepped forward and the humans were no match for me as I pushed the woman aside with the back of my hand to grab the shaman by the throat.

I lifted her up. They were teenagers and they understood perfectly well what I was asking of them.

With her little paws she tried to get my hand, which was like a vice, to let go.

To show who I was, my head turned back into a human-sized nightmare dragon and my hands became claws.

My tail spread and slammed the two helpless humans against the wall.

Christopher still picked up the gun, but he was tackled to the wall as he dropped the weapon.

I could not detect any spell or charm to control the humans.

"You're lucky you didn't use magic against those humans who defend you. It's because of them that you still have your head on your neck."

The Kobolds hissed in terror at the sight of my crystalline teeth, hundreds of teeth all as sharp as those of a monstrous barracuda.

"ANSWER!!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE!"

I squeezed and Grimm struggled, determined to die.

Then...I let go...

"You are brave! Little Kobold... You defend your master to the end... I wish I had servants like you!"

Grimm huffed and held his sore throat.

"I went to the farm... and I saw Valtrax, Exodus, Frizor, Rubix and Torin..."

Grimm threw himself at my feet.

"Please... Please... not Valtrax... or Exodus... take me instead..."

The humans and Kobolds were curled up in a corner.., looking at me, cornered and scared...in shock.

"I saw the passage and it was closed. How did you get here?"

Grimm sighed and swallowed, holding her sore throat.

"We saw the trap but it was too late, we wanted to warn Mistress but it was too late. Too many knights and the humans if they were at peace with the dragons, the Kobold hunt still existed!!! and we fled into the abyssal dungeon... We got stuck and the dragons left through a red door... and when the humans left in turn, we came out of our hiding place and did what the dragons did... we took a red crystal and I activated it. The door reappeared and we got here. The door is gone..."

I stepped forward with a threatening look. "So you're the one who opened a passage! I moved forward to kill this time...

"No... please... The doors... Selene... the goddess Selene.... please... I don't want to die!"

I had the Kobold lifted by the hind leg and ready to slit her throat.

At Selene's words, I dropped her like a stone and she hurt herself on the concrete of the basement.

"I have nothing against you, little Kobold, but I must eliminate all those who transgress the dimensions..."

One of my talons expanded like a dagger and I was about to skewer the Kobold.

One hand, then two, then three grabbed my arm and their eyes begged me to spare their big sister.

"Not big sister Grimm... not kill... please!!!"

I was defeated and then I started to cry...

"I have no choice...!!!! It's her or it's me..."

Grim: "The passage existed and it was Lord British who activated it...! I was a witness... it's not us... It's Shepard... the hero from here!!!"

"Hero?? "

Everything clicked in my head... I was going to kill innocent people...

Suddenly, I disappeared in a black cloud..., dematerialized...

I found myself in the Oblate forest, behind the house, and I staggered along...stunned and in shock at what I was about to do...then I realized my mistake.

If the Kobolds tell Valtrax...I could never get close to Exodus....

I hit a trunk and the impact uprooted the tree, which collapsed into a sort of trough below with a great crash.