A tractor beam docked the wreckage of the Helldrake and the Repressior hangar opened up, letting in a tangle of scrap metal.

Large Vespalians arrived and one of them, a space engineer, was able to recognize the plates, axles and parts.

In a few minutes, the scrap metal was separated from the rest of the Helldrake, to realize that in fact, there were two of them so entangled that it looked like one single piece.

Then he told Bello: "This is a living organometal. It is necessary to treat the metal with a degreasing oil saturated with nanobots that can regenerate the structures."

They carried the carcass also covered with rust, mud and petrified slime, almost stone and they were bathed (actually in a tank and sprayed with nanobots taken from the Bucéphalus.

Darkia recovered and tried to reason with Tiamat.

But the hydra was lying down, all its eyes closed like a frightened lizard and only one pair of eyes, the one of the white head, which could see in the ether as well as in the astral remained half-open.

"I am lost this time...They are all gone...frozen, killed, or dead...and he is coming to finish me off..."

Darkia: "No one is coming to kill you...not while I'm alive.."

She turned her head to look out a giant window...

He's already here.

And she began to squeak...

Darkia immediately felt the "presence"...

On her comm, she shouted. Turn on the engines, they must flee.

But Tiamat put his paw on Darkia's..

He will catch up with us. If I surrender, maybe you'll live.

She stood up, her heads almost on the ground except for the white one.

Darkia jumped against the fallen hydra.

"No...you're family... I know... I saw everything... It's terrible but we are here!... Arnold and his sisters and Vermillion.. They are counting on you. Their daddy is away and you saw Kate, she's a human in a dragon's body...Arnold needs you now more than ever..

Tiama fell on her belly, crying with happiness to be so recognized but also having so little time...

Desperate and trapped, and most of all, reluctantly... she begged..

"Goddess Enka...Destroyer of worlds...I beg you...help us..."

There was silence and the beating of 2 dragon hearts could be heard. then...clap clap clap.

It was Enka... she was in human horned form, like a great succubus.

A throne appeared out of nowhere and she sat on it, looking at the two flattened dragons on the ground.

"Mom...???"

Enka stood up and went to caress and kiss Darkia..

"Ah... my faithful daughter... then she turned her head towards Tiamat who was shaking, terrified..."

She put her hand on the white muzzle.. Tiamat had all her eyes closed in terror.

"Well, Tiamat... you are progressing. Don't worry, everything has a reason but your time has not yet come".

Tiamat: "I don't want... please... not the ice cream..."

Darkia: "Mom??? why?? I saw what she saw..."

Enka: "You will know in time... they are safe... trust me..."

Darkia: "And Hans?? I have his egg!! release it!! for God's sake!!!"

Enka: "All in good time!!!"

Darkia started to lick her mommy's foot.

"I love him... mommy!!!"

Enka: "I love him too...but he needs to be protected..."

Darkia: "I don't understand...he has always served you...he is your child too..."

Enka stroked the black dragoness' muzzle... "He is in danger...but I can't tell you. You can take refuge in the dream world...

Darkia: "And Tiamat?"

Enka: "Stop! We have a problem that "happens".

Then the goddess disappeared and her huge stellar mass appeared outside the ship.

For comparison, it was the size of the sun...a black hydra emitting its own spectral light of dark energy.

It stared with its 8 heads at a bright point, like a star in the infinite.

With a wave of its paw, the ship was moved an astronomical distance away and the hydra faced a light that intensified.

Enka's voice echoed through the ship.

"ARNOLD!!! THIS IS NO LONGER A GAME. CHOOSE: PEACE OR WAR!"

A few minutes later, Arnold, backed by Vermithrax, his dragonette sister, stood in the Tyrant costume, a child version of himself but radiating his divine power.

The light stopped in front of Enka and a huge Winged Lion radiating sunlight stood before her.

"I AM SOLARIUS, MIDAS, AND ARSLAN DIVINE ANIMAL OF LIGHT"

"WHAT IS THE DESTROYER DOING HERE"

Enka: "I am protecting my grandchildren and great-grandchildren... from Absolute Evil"

The lion was circling the hydra to assess it but he felt that it was more powerful than him and was able to break him, even swallowing his light which represented his strength.

Solarius: "I felt my bond with Tyrant break... his scent leads me to you! You devoured him! Why?"

Enka: "There are survivors of his tyranny. KATE! get out of the ship and show yourself! you are safe".

The lion looked at the ship.

Then he smiled.

"Ah... Tiamat... I feel her presence.. she is marked . Yet she survived... no one survives golden corrosion..

Enka, let me finish her off... She's a demon!"

The airlock opened and the white dragon, followed by the red hydra, Tiamat emerged from the ship and they lay prostrate on the hull, facing the two deities.

The Lion's stern gaze scanned Tiamat and noticed that his demonic aura had disappeared.

Tiamat cried out in fear.

Solarius: "Why did you release her? Why is she not a demon anymore?"

Enka: "Look at Kate, the white dragoness and see her suffering and you will understand the cruelty of your master. But all is not lost. A part of him, what was good... is in one of my children... the high human Arnold. Kate here is his mother, the last survivor from the old world. Everyone knows that it was Tyrant who caused the solar flare using your powers. You are also responsible for the extinction of a world."

Solarius looked down. "I understand now.."

Then he smiled at Kate: "I will protect you even if the dragons are my arch-enemies. I see in Arnold a guardian and a guide." Then he turned his head towards Tiamat "For your redemption, watch over the little one! Otherwise, you know what awaits you..."

Then he roared and an explosion of light shook the whole area and Enka had to close all her eyes not to be dazzled.

The next moment, a ray of sunlight crossed the ship and entered the heart of Arnold who fell to his knees, a golden tattoo on the palm of his hand, with the symbol of the sun.

His reflection in the window changed to that of a golden, winged lion

"We are linked now. I am yours as you are mine... Be sure to always guide your family to the light..."

Arnold dared to ask "What about Enka? That's grandma!"

Solarius: "I know but the light is the light of the heart. Love."

Enka continued to speak into the void.

"I know that if you are the day and I am the night, you are still my brother, Solarius, and there is nothing we can do about it.

Solarius: "I know and under other circumstances we would have killed each other but your gifts have made me see beyond reality and I understand"

Enka: "The damage was done long ago and there is nothing we can do..."

Solarius: "I understand that my time is up.."

Enka: "Not yet, not yet.. "

Solarius: "Her father? Their father?"

Enka: "He's building his own hell and nothing and no one can save him.."

And she stared at the constellation of the hydra "The great devourer!"

Solarius : "You are also a devourer!"

Enka : "A destroyer, that's not the same thing..even if I devour.."

Solarius: "I understand. You give them a chance. Why did the primal gods try to kill you.."

Enka: "They didn't understand anything. They were blind and they were the architects of their own destruction. When you build a wall or a creation, you don't put cement on bricks that don't exist.."

Solarius: "Watch over them and don't disappear in your turn. There are no more heroes. Only the Villain is left. You are all alone now."

Enka sobbed "It's hard...it was easier before...I was the villain and everything was easier, now I don't know who I am.."

Solarius: "You are the Destroyer! And don't lose yourself. Don't forget that you too have a heart, a bad one, but a heart nonetheless. "

Enka then resumed her Goddess of the Abyss pose and all her heads showed a very determined look.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

She blew darkness over the ship and they disappeared together far, far away from their position.

The Repressior did not have a hyperspace jump device like the Ummites, but the darkness more than made up for it.

On board the Midway .

Lights flashed and Alice woke up the ship's inhabitants, the crew of dragonified dinosaurs.

Dantinne: "What is it? Alice?"

The image on the screen zoomed in on a large destroyer. It looked like a stretched version of the Yamato. It was the Repressior.

A video signal was being sent, but the ship looked like ... incomplete. A bit like having modern equipment added to World War II vehicles. Incomplete, clunky but functional. Such was the Repressior. But its turrets were formidable and its armor unusually thick.

Nicolai: "I like the design of the ship... it's a bit like us... relics of the past modernized"

Alice : "I analyzed the ship and it is half magic, more than us. Its armament is superior and it has some advantages over us. We have shields that make us lighter and faster. Their armor is collossal but at the cost of poor maneuverability."

Sarah appeared on the screen.

"I am the chancellor representing the earth... We've come back for our children..."

Vermillion had arrived in the meantime with Octavia on deck and recognized Sarah

"AUNT!!! "He was jumping up and down holding the legs of the raptor dragon.

Vermillion: "Will you come with us? We'll go hunting in the jungle together... you'll see, it's a paradise and there are plenty of dinosaurs too and plenty of game... plenty plenty plenty.."

This did not escape the sharp eyes of the raptor queen.

Dantinne frowned, showing her fangs. That was their way of greeting... a duel request. She wanted to test the chancellor... A prey or a leader...

She hated everything human

Sarah was afraid that the screen would eat her and went to take refuge in Bello's arms.

"She is terrifying...! I'm scared."

Dantinne sneered at the screen... "of the meat that speaks!!!"

Then the screen froze in black and the next moment Darkia "landed" from the darkness in the Midway's command deck.

In front of the size and the mass of the dragoness of darkness, Dantinne stepped back, impressed.

Against all odds, Louise and Glacias rushed to the dark dragon's paws.

"Mommy Darkia..."

"That's all, children... I'm here with you..."

Nicolai applauded: "Welcome, dear dragoness, I guess you are Darkia!

Darkia bowed her head in politeness.

"Yes, I am the queen of nightmares..."

The red dragon raised his head and eyebrows in admiration and Dantinne looked at him curiously.

Darkia "Children, you are doing well I see.." Then she turned her head and knelt down: "In the name of the earth, I thank you for taking care of the children.."

But Octavia went to look for Vermillion and started to cry.

"Maann...I want to keep Vermillion... I..I don't want him to go!!!"

Nicolai and Dantinne looked at their daughter with surprise.

She was clutching her friend between her paws, to Darkia's surprise too.

She smiled "Vermilion.. Don Juan! You must not make the girls cry!"

Octavia turned to Darkia: "Vermillion is mine! I took him! so he belongs to me".

Augustus turned: "Glaçias and Louise are mine too! They stay!"

Darkia then looked at Dantinne.

"What's going on? "She frowned, her anger rising.

Dantinne lowered his eyes. "This is the doctrine of the Electrons and of our Empire.

"What you take is yours!" "And if you don't want to be taken, then fight!"

Darkia looked angrily at Octavia and Augustus "You beat them? You hurt them?"

The young raptor dragons lowered their heads.. "No, Madam Darkia.. "

Octavia: "I love Vermillion"

Augustus: "I love Louise and Glacias"

Darkia sighed, relieved..

Dantinne approached and the two raptor dragons jumped on her "Mommy... Mommy... we want to keep our friends..."

Then she put them down gently while looking Darkia in the eyes.

Louise, Glacias and Vermilion were glued to their aunt or mother-in-law if you want to say even if they called her Mama des Reves.

Darkia: "You are a Raptor queen but also a loving mother. I admire that. And you respected the integrity of the children... I thank you... We owe you a debt of gratitude..."

Dantinne: "No, your courage in coming all the way out here alone is an act that we raptors respect. You are not afraid of anything bigger than yourself and that is more important than anything else. This is and remains a rule among us, even for an enemy.

In the Jurassic jungle, when I was a female raptor, but an Alpha, we killed our enemies but it was only to defend our territory and therefore our broods. We devour to survive but when violence could be avoided, we gathered to be one, to be strong and respected, to live!

And this is still valid here and now."

Darkia: "Then why this fleet??? all these ships... there are hundreds of them!"

Dantinne then lowered his head, hissing a groan and looking at Nicolai sadly.

The red dragon lay smiling and obviously disinterested in the situation, as if looking away.

Dantinne then took his children..

"Darkia... is it true what they say? that the earth is a jungle? That there are dinosaurs everywhere to hunt and that humans are only a handful? That dragons rule? Tell me it's true!"

Darkia approached the drago raptor.

While Dantinne was huge and very very muscular, Darkia remained a bit taller, like Nicolai.

"Yes... That's right. This is a paradise... I come from another land, another world and another time, but this is the land of the end of time... the last land, the destroyed land and the reborn land, as at its origins. It is a land of the Cretaceous, of the ancient Cretaceous. There are still plants of modern times but the atmosphere is conducive to fantastic creatures now. There are all kinds of races but with the collapse of the Ummite idol, it is a new beginning, say, Jurassic. Humans have adapted and are no longer the humans they were before."

Dantinne sighed.

"I hope I can come with you then and "

she began to cry...looking at her red dragon..

"He's like possessed by his daddy...I don't recognize him anymore... He wants to be between his daddy and his mommy, like the third head..of the Devourer.. He is not himself anymore and even the little ones... he smiles at them and then leaves, as if to run away.."

Darkia was shocked... "You are not safe here then.."

Dantinne: "Yes... I didn't dare say it. I worship the Devourer. He is our god but... I wanted to "take back" Nicholas by fighting him but he crushed me like a fly. He still loves me and he loves us all, like all his family but... he is somewhere else. We don't know how to get him back. We have tried everything. But the Electrons... they are fanatical and push him in the wrong direction... And I'm afraid for the children... And for my people too."

Darkia: "I will try to help you. Come with us then..."

Dantinne: "I can't. I am a queen and our god, the celestial emperor, the golden death, the Devourer, uses us as his soldiers."

Darkia: "And he doesn't protect the little ones? "

Dantinne: "He promised to give us back Vegeta, our primordial jungle, but we just wander around, following Nicolas and it's just wars, battles all the time and our numbers get smaller and smaller until we are the last ones."

Darkia: "We are only a handful, we beat the Ummites and my male killed Tyran..we are bloodless and exhausted too but what can we do?"

Dantinne: "So... why is he leading us here? I don't understand, I don't understand anymore..."

The two dragons looked together at Emperor Nicolai who was smiling blissfully looking at the stars... then he turned his head to Dantinne.

"Father is coming! Can't you feel it?"

Then he stood up and looked sternly at Darkia.

"I am the legitimate son of Svy and Gidhora, the Supreme Devourer and Cosmic Emperor. I am delighted to meet my half-sister. Darkia.."

It was a terrible shock.

Darkia now understood who her dragon father was, her nightmare father, and not the human she thought was the product of her imagination.

Nicolai: "Enka, the Destroyer... This is our reason for being here. Your courage and bravery is what kept me from considering you as enemies.

However, it is customary for me to fight and eliminate my brothers, at least those who disappoint "Father".

"I should have been eliminated too but I gave up all cosmic territory and even the land I could claim as my own but HAHAHAHA. they all ended up in his belly HAHAHAHA!"

Dantinne looked at Darkia as if Nicholas was a mixture of crazy and lost..

Nicolai: "Honey, don't think I'm fooled...I know you love me above all else, that you owe me everything and that you want your Nicholas back from before...but if I give up...you know what awaits us... Every day more is a day more... like on Vegeta... we woke up in the morning not knowing if we would be here tomorrow... the law of the jungle..."

Dantinne jumped on his dragon's neck

GRRRRR GRRRRAA ROOOOAAA she said in raptor language... And she licked the tears of her red dragon.

Then Nicolaï straightened up with all his height: "If you want to have me, you will have to take me. That's the rule... because I belong to Father!"

Then he lowered his head to look at his raptor queen: "Dantinne, you kept your life because I love you with a love more than deep, because my life is worth nothing without yours. You didn't have a chance from the start. And it's better this way. And I wouldn't want to risk losing you a second time by trying again. So...I'll find a good reason with Father."

Then he stared at Darkia: "Take them with our weaker brothers who are unable to fight to your land and stay there. Go back to the jungle and rebuild Vegeta as it was in your heart. Do not go back to space. Here, only death awaits you..."

Darkia: "You are a great dragon but it is natural that a child rebels against his parents... He must also build his future, his family. Why don't you come then? Don't you see how they suffer without you? And I'm happy to know my half-brother. And Hans."

She was cut off.

"Queen of Nightmares, little sister...I know everything...Father tells me everything and guides me since a long time... I'm already sort of his third head. When my body is no longer here, I will be him and her too. I was damned from the start, except...I love my mom who sacrificed herself so that I could live. I owe her everything and her sacrifice must not be in vain. Look at this ship, this ark, Alice.. We are also a little in the belly of our mother. This is all that remains of Vegeta. His metals and alloys and the inner garden, our original jungle. This is also why the dinodragons here prefer the ship to our earth ravaged by human pollution. And this is also why Dantinne hates humans a second time. They destroyed Vegeta..."

Darkia: "No.. It's the Devourer..."

Nicolas: "And you, you worship the Destroyer! You are her daughter and she is not my mother.

As for Hans... I know that he is the "Prince" of Enka and since he killed Tyrant, it changed all our plans.

We had to kill the "prince" or "emperor" of this world, having disappointed father by his weakness. and another one did the job in my place.

I should then "Test" Hans or destroy him but he is lost, in the eternal ice.

Darkia "He is alive! He is recovering...He is hibernating for his evolution.."

Suddenly Nicholas' eyes turned black and his voice changed to that of the Devourer.

The presence literally crushed the whole crew to the ground, glued to the steel floor.

Dantinne squeaked, mouth to the side, tongue out and stuck to the ground.

"I AM THE DEVOURER AND NICOLAS IS NOW PART OF ME!

Darkia resumed her dreamlike, semi-material form and stood up to face the Devourer possessing Nicholas

"LITTLE BRAVE DRAGONESS... MY CHILD! I AM PROUD OF YOU AND YOU RULE YOUR WORLD WITHOUT SHARING. AND YOU ARE EVEN EXTENDING YOUR INFLUENCE HERE AND ELSEWHERE. A PLACE FOR YOU IS AVAILABLE IF YOU WANT IT!"

Darkia : "Give Nicolas back to his family!"

DEVOUR : "I am Svy and Nicolas is my child. He is still free... and he is alive... but he belongs with us now.

Darkia looked at the crushed pups.

"They love you, and admire you.. you are Gods to them, why are you hurting them. This all makes no sense!"

Svy: "Daughter of the Devourer and Destroyer...everything we do has its own logic, its own meaning and it is beyond you. It is also beyond the notion of right and wrong.

We are here to stop Enka and his madness. By giving him offspring, we tried to stop him but that only slowed him down.

Stay on Earth and pray

Tiamat remained on the screen had recovered and asked.

"Is this the ice?"

Devoreur with 3 simultaneous voices: "You know, you understood the inevitable fight"

Tiamat wanted to speak but

"Tiamat, I know you would like to join our cause but you have a "Debt" and therefore you "Belong" to Him."

She lowered her heads, the humans on board having all stalled at the situation that only made sense in the Electrons mind.

Svy: "Nicolas should kill Hans, who becomes a demiurge in this dying world. But a world or a dimension can only have one Tiamat... otherwise, it is the creation of a paradox" and sooner or later you will devour each other. Enka saved both of you either for love or for his plans but in madness the limit is not always clear.

Tiamat: "But I'm not a demon anymore! And Hans is not a demon."

Devourer: "You are stuck here because your world, your dimension does not exist anymore!"

Tiamat: "I saw my family in the ice!

Devourer: "It's his madness! You are part of his "collection" and your relatives are part of it as "accessories", a bit like a dollhouse with its accessories.

Tiamat: "And my world? the others? the destroyed world? The earth?"

Devoreur: "Enka didn't tell you everything... You think you stayed 4000 years in the ice? Your world has been gone for millions of years! Yes, we can reach it, but we have to cross time..."

Then he turned to the humans: "And you... how long did you think you were wandering in your shuttles?"

An image was projected on a screen showing the arches in a sphere of eternal ice in view of the earth, also taken in the eternal ice...

"YOU HAVE SLEPT FOR MILLIONS AND MILLIONS OF YEARS!

The earth here too! ... But look at the distant universe... There is nothing left...Just light reaching you. The light is going out everywhere! Because the stars, galaxies and everything else don't exist anymore. They are ghosts that light up your nights".

Dantinne "Nicolas, come back...come back to live with us as in the beginning. All this is complicated, it's not raptor..."

The pressure eased and then Nicolai spoke again but as a third head.

"Nicholas can go with you but I fear the Destroyer will kill him, brave Queen Raptor. Nicholas will never engage Hans in a fight because he has not claimed the territory, and He is not a coward taking advantage of Hans' inability to defend himself. There is no honor in this fight and his son, an heir like Louise, and his dragon brothers and sister to Tyrant's power, they are just innocent children, victims of a situation beyond your control."

Darkia didn't know what to do.

Alice: "I have been happy to live all these adventures with you Dantinne and with you Nicolas, but I must stay with my God in the final battle. On earth, I won't bring anything and since I can't finish myself, I will fight as the final representative of Vegéta.

I will detach the jungle from the ship and with the laboratory that contains all the knowledge and seeds to restore our lost world. Your ship is big and powerful enough to tow this ultimate Eden and also my parting gift.

Soporific gas came out of the pipes and all the dragons and crews fell asleep.

Then a huge tremor was heard through the screen from where Tiamat, Sarah and Bello could see what was happening. Darkia of course was insensitive but she dragged the sleeping bodies, including Nicholas, and dragged him towards Dantinne.

One could hear him muttering in his sleep a struggle against himself.

Darkia did not dare to enter his sleep to see what was going on.

Then the Midway was cut in half on a horizontal plane, leaving only the engines, the electronic centers where his mind resided, and the celestial sword and its powerful cannons.

The chassis closed, sliding the thick armor aside and it was as if there were two Midways.

The auxiliary engines gave thrust to the upper, habitable part, to steer and dock with the Repressor.

Alice: "On board, there are all the plans and equipment to make hyperspace jumps. This is my final farewell gift."

Then Alice's voice changed to Gidhora's.

"If you align yourself with Enka, then you will suffer my wrath!"

The message had the merit of being clear.

Darkia wanted to align herself with her mother to assist her in the fight but Tiamat stopped her.

"Darkia. Stop. Enka didn't send us a 'Black' envelope!!! the last one stated that we protect the young. Any sensible mother would keep her children and grandchildren safe... even if it means disobeying her. We are not gods and perfect...I hope you understand me...Think of Hans and us...I only have you now..."

Darkia: "And if mother loses to the Devourer?"

Tiamat: "Then I will take her place and free them!

Darkia laughed... a laugh of despair.

"So be it!"