With each passing day, I felt sleepy. But I wanted to make the most of my children while they were still children.

Then, at the meetings with the races, I always wanted to have a little piece of elf or gnome, but I saw faith in them again. Ah... if there was a heretic... just a little piece! I salivated but it was unworthy of my image.

Tiamat influenced me in the sense that she made me work on my image and wanted me to be a worthy commander of her army.

She often thought of the late Demodragon...his brute spider snake...but an excellent teacher capable of working miracles...through unparalleled cruelty...

She told me how he cured her great-granddaughter who was addicted to space spices.

She shed a tear, knowing that she was elsewhere and in another time...

Then she told me about her last general, a dragoraptor with human origins... Tania.

This name was totally unknown to me but her name reminded me of the Soviet secret service. I was not far from the answer...

Tiamat: "She must be hibernating somewhere in the depths of the universe like you did"...

I corrected her. "Except that I was awake and suffered martyrdom!!!"

She swallowed, thinking of the suffering but that was inevitable for immortals..

Tiamat: "I guess it's our fate to suffer time.."

Her prostheses were off and she was still limping a bit but the regeneration was accelerating.

Bulbs from other heads were beginning to emerge. By the end of the year, she would certainly have all 5 heads back.

As her mind became much clearer, information popped into her head.

She gave me a tongue-lashing.

"Hans, don't you want to go to Faerune? We could recover together and make little..."

"No! That's out of the question! Enka has forbidden it and you know that you are on probation! It is also your trial and your Djizira! If you disappoint Enka, you disappoint me too! Don't forget that you owe her everything too! If she hadn't put you in the ice, you would have perished! Don't forget that you also have a family waiting for you."

She frowned with scaly eyebrows...

"Tiamat...you are no longer a demon...old habits will destroy you...make a new start with us!!! I, for one, look forward to having the Doom ready and feasting on the infidels..!!"

Immediately, the smile reappeared..

"We're not demons, but we're kind of devourers...right? "

Tiamat: "Hans... I forgot to tell you, but we are in immense danger..."

Kate and the children ran into the room laughing like whales.

"Jour P'a! " the little ones said to me.

Darkia also made her appearance.

"The Doom and the Repressor are ready! And our egg is about to hatch!"

Darkia immediately stood between me and Tiamat and, as if to establish her rank as the primordial wife in the harem, she kissed me in front of Tiamat.

She was jealous but not afraid of any other dragon.

Tiamat dared to challenge Darkia.

"And I was taking Hans? what could you do to me?"

Darkia: "You want to try? Then get ready to lose sleep..."

Tiamat then realized the danger and the threat that Darkia was.

Her power rivaled that of the gods. She could bring any power to its knees, turning every night into a nightmare, inexorably sapping health and sanity.

Darkia was a true monster and in her own way more dangerous than any demon.

And what made Tiamat angry was to see Hans playing in the palm of the Queen of Darkness...

Tiamat: "You won, Darkia... I'm sorry... but I also have feelings for Hans... I was jealous..."

Darkia took Tiamat's paw and kissed it.

"I don't have anything against you, Tiamat...and what you just did makes you feel great and... I like you too..but...beware of betrayal! We trust you, don't let us down!"

Tiamat: "Enka?"

Darkia laughed. "No... just us! We've all had our troubles and disasters, but it's time to turn the page and look to the future... You too will have your turn and I'm sure you will see your family again in due time. If Enka has sent you here, it is because you have a role to play. Don't forget that she is protecting us... and you are not blind... you have seen her wounds as we have... If we're here, it's so that we have a chance to live. "

Tiamat lowered her head... "Yes... you're probably right... It must be the Hydra..."

Darkia looked Tiamat straight in the eye: "What do you know about the Hydra?

Tiamat: "She is above the primordial and royal demons... She is the absolute evil and everything that comes from her is not a good sign. Among the arch-demons like me, we were unaware of this presence, not really demon but from another world, another dimension... But we know that an emperor reigns over a part of the known space and several dimensions. His empire is limited by the distance but it is like an energy farm for this emperor.

All we know is that he has reactivated one of his heads and is visiting/harvesting energy from this side of the universe... it's only a matter of time before he gets here.

Darkia: "And what can we do against him?"

Tiamat: "Nothing..except play his game to buy you time and live another day..And the scars on Enka... It's him! Everyone in hell knows it... He spared her because she is the keeper of time, but he raped her!!! and since then she hides in a black hole..but it's no use... He is a living black hole all by himself!"

Then tiamat looked at Darkia again.

"He never sleeps and he is mad as hell..! you can't do anything to him! All I know is that he has an ancient name from the time of the pharaohs. The black pharaoh, Nyarlartoteph! His pleasure, other than devouring, is to inseminate the seed of madness and he loves to see the devastation of the chaos that ensues. It's sad to say but it's the only way to survive...go mad or be devoured!"

I shook my head...

"Enough of these bogeymen...we are scary enough as it is to drive people crazy! no need for a pharaoh or a scarecrow..!"

Meanwhile, Vermillion was working with his brother on a weird transmitter that was in the ship's plans.

Arnold: "Vermillion, it must be an energy transport system or a space folding system... It's very sophisticated..."

Louise: "Yes, we could try a probe or see if it sticks to something?

Glacias: "I'm bored, I'm going hunting with the raptors... I'm getting bored..."

Vermillion: But we could take our raptor friends to hunt in the unexplored territories.."

But at the end of his sentence, a power cut and suddenly a noise of herd...

The raptors had escaped from the containers and were running towards their "masters" like any good dog wanting to go for a walk or hunting...

They arrived in the room and Vermillion turned around and... his tail hit a lever that lowered, starting the infernal machine.

By the time they realized it, a light came over them and there was a flash.

Then, nothing.

Phew... they were still there... except that... the cockpit, the window did not give on the jungle... but in space...

Immediately, an alarm sounded and the raptors were stunned then lay down and started to cry...

Vermillion saw that Glacias was with them, Louise too but Arnold was not there. Vermithrax was not there either.

Then the alarm was cut off and an airlock opened, revealing a large raptor with clothes and a belt carrying an unknown gun.

"GROAAAR??"

The raptors threw themselves at his feet and licked him like an alpha.

Then he drew his revolver, pointing at us.

Louise raised her hands and Vermillion, like Glacias got down on her stomach and groaned.

In a rough draconic: "Who are you? What are you doing here?"

The little ones were panic-stricken, the psychic connection with their father's knowledge was cut off. They acted like children... crying...."

The raptor called for reinforcements and the room was quickly secured.

A beautiful dragoness entered the room and her gaze fell on the younger Vermillion.

The dragoness was pink like Vermillion and she said to the raptors: "Put down your weapons... they are children...!"

To Vermillion's astonishment, the raptors were sentient!!! and had a dragon-like quality about them...

She motioned for us to follow her and we arrived in a huge room.

The ship was huge and we arrived in a garden, like a jungle in space. It was beautiful.

"If you listen and are reasonable, no harm will come to you. We only eat our enemies!!!"

Vermilion swallowed in terror but the overwhelming aura of the dragoness prevented him from speaking.

The presence was very strong and they had never experienced this.

Don't betray dad! Don't say anything!

Vermillion whispered to her sisters, "Don't say anything for mercy! "

They understood that they were trapped by an unknown force.

"My name is Octavia, and I am a dragoness, but where are you from? Who are you? And how did you get here?"

Vermillion tried to keep his cool, but he was shaking with fear.

Glacias had urinated on her and Louise didn't dare to move.

Seeing that this would lead nowhere, the dragoness lightened her aura to make the discussion more comfortable.

She lay down on a trunk and looked around.

"Here is a ship that is also my home.And there is a jungle with unique plants... they come from the planet of dad.. Vegeta. I never knew it but most of the dinos here knew it and they were happy there. You are on an ark but also a warship. The Midway.

Alice, the ship, tells me everything and the ship is also like my big sister!

You can talk, but the raptors that follow you... Why?

One of the raptors growled at the terrified, recumbent raptors.

"Commander Octavia, they are...like us at first..."

The dragoness turned, interested...

"So where you come from, there are raptors and dinosaurs???? So there is a jungle too, right?"

One of the officer raptors brought a dish with dried meats that excited the young dragons.

"You can help yourself!"

Vermillion reached for a piece of smoked ham and expected a hit... and closed his eyes but nothing happened. The next moment the meat melted in his mouth.

Immediately he calmed down.

"Vermillion... my name is Vermillion" he apologized, his cheeks turning red. Obviously, the dragoness charmed him. He was naturally attracted to the pink dragoness like him...

"Vermillion... a very beautiful name... Say, Young dragon... are these your sisters???"

He looked at them and nodded "That's Glaçias, the ice dragoness and Louise, my older sister.."

Octavia stared at the human "Hello Louise.. "

She begged, "It's an accident!!! I swear... we don't want to hurt anyone!"

The dragoness relaxed.

"So, what are you doing on an experimental teleporter?"

Vermillion could see that lying would not help.

"We were playing with our raptor friends and... we wanted to hunt with them.. and. my tail pushed a button and a big flash.. and we got here..

I'm scared.. I want mommy and daddy!!!"

Then the dragon started to cry like a 10 year old..

Octavia stroked him to reassure him and saw that they were telling the truth.

Then she turned to the officer raptors, "Treat them right, they can't stay like this... we'll see what we can do with them."

Octavia "Girls, a small room will be assigned to you. you can play in the garden or in the playroom. the rest is off limits. If you want, Vermillion, you can go and join them. In two hours, we'll eat together but you can stay with me if you want.."

Vemillion took her courage in her hands and followed Octavia.

The corridors were huge and organized like the Repressior: Made for dragons before humans.

They passed humans and other dinosaurs all in uniforms! There was even a triceratops with a robotic arm that allowed it to "work."

"You see, Vermillion, we are all family here... but also survivors. Then we arrived in a huge room with a terrifying presence. A Raptor Dragon Queen.

She had tattoos on her face reminiscent of a bloody head plunged into a prey.

Vermillion almost fainted at the sight of her.

"Octavia?" asked Dantinne... Are you bringing me a snack?

The dragoraptor was almost five times the size of the young dragon.

"Mommy!! it's Vermillion, you're scaring him!"

Dantinne: "It's on purpose!!!You are too soft on spies.."

Next to the dragoness, an even more terrible but silent presence was watching. The prince emperor Nicolas... Behind him, a black disk was floating. A membrane.

He had his elbow on his knee and a presence that was more human than dragon.

But everything screamed dinosaur and savagery. This was no child at heart.

Nicolas: "Leave it Dantinne. They are refugees like us...I can see it in his eyes...They are dragon children...and I can read their aura. They are like Augustus and Octavia..their parents must have died like us...and the raptors seem to love them.. "

Dantine relaxed. "Yes, if the raptors like them, then they are good dragons...but look at them...they are skinny, and without muscles...though."

Dantinne "Young dragon, how long have you been hunting with the raptors??"

Vermillion stammered, "6 months... sorry... don't eat us!"

She turned to her male. "Yes, very young hunters! Then she turned to the human and was disgusted. Clearly, Dantinne hated everything human, except her first circle friends.

"Why does the male dragon call you big sister? Explain yourself..."

Louise: "We... have been in the eternal ice....the horrible Ummites!"

At this name, Dantinne stood up the next moment she hugged Louise to her heart... "my poor child... Tell me everything! I want to know everything about these monsters!

Louise cried and looked at Vermillion who nodded... which did not escape Nicholas, Dantinne and Octavia.

Louise: "Dad has been fighting them for centuries to free us...and he became a dragon and...mom too...and Vermillion, Glacias and Vermithrax were born.."

Dantinne: "We... there were many of you?

Louise: "Yes, hundreds and with my little brother Arnold... but daddy went snap and snap and boom... and he killed Tyrant! and freed us, with Vermillion, and Glacias. They were horrible.. they let us suffer in the ice so that our horns would grow and cut off our heads or saw them off to put on their horrible helmets.."

Nicola stood up in fury!

"I must congratulate your father!! where is he?"

Louise did not know how to answer...

"At home...on earth.."

Nicolas frowned... he knew something...

"Vermillion... we'll take you home but we need to know more... Tell us about your home... I'm not asking you to speak against your parents, I have my dragon dignity and I would never abuse a child's weakness... If you don't want to say anything about your daddy or your mommy, we'll understand and it won't change anything... On the contrary, I admire your courage... I understand that your silence protects them and you are right!!!"

The young dragons relaxed.Obviously, their hosts were not wild monsters.

But Dantinne added, "However, do not forget that here I am queen and all decisions are mine! I am not human and I don't think like one.

I am a Raptor queen and our tribe has priority over everything! We only respect the strong and the brave. We eat the weak."

The message was clear.

Octavia: "Mom! "

"Octavia: This is our problem now..and take a cue from me! If their father killed a god, don't underestimate these dragons..as a raptor princess, you must never let your guard down and trust your instincts. We are on a mission and we must not take any risks."

The dragoness gritted her teeth, and instinctively put herself between Vermillion and her mother, as if to protect him.

Vermillion was terrified. Let's not talk about Glaçias who was just a trembling ball.

"But mom.. he is beautiful! I want to play!!!"

Dantinne was disturbed by these words..

"Vermillion... so your father killed Tyrant... how?"

"I don't know... but he had grown up and had axes and he slaughtered him with his big tail!"

Dantinne began to smile. "I'd love to see your daddy! and Nicolas I'm sure a nice axe fight would make a great show."

Nicolas: "But the Ummite fleet?"

Vermillion was dropping information without knowing it.

"His secret cannon went boom!" and we played with the wrecks... and repaired one of the ships to play and explore with our raptor buddies... and voila... we're here!"

Louise: "Vermillion! Shut up!... "but Dantinne continued "Louis, so you were a prisoner of the Ummites and your daddy came to rescue you. That's Raptor! He's not afraid. I'm beginning to like your father!

Louise: "Daddy is the strongest. but.. then she fell silent, wanting to say that he was weak as anything.."

Dantinne felt that there was something...

Dantinne: "He's hurt, isn't he?"

Louise said nothing so as not to betray her daddy.

"Our world is destroyed... the ummites let the earth burn and dad is the last survivor with mom... and some astronauts who landed much later."

Nicolas looked at Dantinne, "The synchronization of the worlds..."

The dragons sighed.

"This is your home... until we finish our mission, we'll take you home unless you want to stay with us..."

Vermillion "We want to see mom and dad and Arnold and Vermithrax again!"...and then he continued: "and our Raptor friends...what are you doing to them?"

Dantinne "They also have the right to speak! We dragonize them! But they will remain your friends!