I had finally joined the expedition. It was mixed to save costs.

There was Professor Einrich, a renowned anthropologist,

his assistant Owen,

Mathias, the pilot and mechanic of the boat,

Glacias, the cameraman,

and Karin, another assistant to Professor Einrich.

Of course, there was me and Professor Kardon.

Mathias was in his late 40s, with long, dirty, Australian mixed hair, slightly tanned.

Karin was of French origin, with short black hair and dressed in a colonial style with a pink scarf.

She was throwing it at Owen, the handsome guy on the team.

Owen was still in his twenties, blond hair, loose and half-long. Dressed in colonial style as well as Kardon.

All they needed was the white British helmet and they looked like copies of Livingstone...

Glacias was a black-skinned bear fed on hamburgers. And then there was... Me, who took half the boat... with only the beautiful star, a cushion made of nets and a big tarpaulin as a blanket.

The equipment installed, mahout equipment intrigued me, an elephant basket too. They didn't dare... the elephant, it's me?...?...?

There was also a crane on the deck and I immediately understood.....

In the evening I read Kardon's reports on varanus and associated cults.

Then Professor Einrich came by me, put down his backpack and asked me:

"Emily, did you have a good trip? I learned from Professor Kardon that you have your little brother and sister back..."

"Yes, in a way it's great and moreover they had a good life lesson and acclimatize well with my adoptive parents...

Professor Einrich, how long have you been here?"

"It's been two days, but I've only just arrived at the boat now. I'm trying to find the tribe that worships the varans. She's not very well known. We just know it exists, we have some notes and pictures but no location points. "

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Then I saw light points floating in the night around the boat.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?"

Me:" Yes..."

I found Professor Einrich charming and if I had a human form, I would have fallen for him.

A tear fell from my eyes. But he turned his back on me and looked at the stars and the light points.

"Do you know they're fireflies? They emit light to call their partner before they mate?"

Me: "Are these the males?"

Erich: "Not the females too, but everything is in the rhythm. Males are more intense and females blink."

I was sadly thinking of the love and joy of mating, but all this was forbidden to me and I didn't want to deal with the monstrous bullies of my mother...

"But you're crying, Emily..., tell me what's bothering you... Oh, I think I understand, I'm sorry..."

He wiped my eyes with his handkerchief. And stroked my horns where I should have had hair.

"Come on, I'm sure one day you'll find love..."

"I don't want to turn a human being into a fierce beast, it's heinous... I don't want to do like my mother."

Einrich: "It is your heart that I admire, even in your form, you have kept your human heart"

And he squeezed my head against his chest, not in the least scared. Contacts of this kind were rare and particularly valuable to me. I rubbed my cheek against the professor's leg when I felt blood on my knees.

"It's not me, is it? "

Einrich: "No, I escaped a piranhas attack this morning by crossing a stream. One of them probably bit through my pants and cut me a little bit."

"But what an assistant you are. Professor Kardon never attracted you? "

"He's an uncle to me and with my 23rd birthday... And he's in his fifties... And besides, he's too much, how to say... "enlightened?"

No, it would be flirting with a parent and on top of that he protected me from crazy scientists and dissectors.

And besides, I love this job and the adventures that go with it! And I love crypto zoology and I myself am living proof of it to have sponsors to finance my expeditions!"!!!

Einrich: "Indeed, there is nothing more convincing than a crypto zoologist dragon... If you can't convince, then who will?"

He swallowed a glass of bourbon.

"Do you want some too?"

He served me an iced glass filled with the good nectar and I tasted it like a precious treasure. The warmth of the alcohol gave me little consolation.

The boat was moving towards the lagoon and I could hear with my piercing ear the love stories between Owen and Karin.

Mathias looked high and I asked him if he was holding the helm well?

Mathias:" 3 glasses of whisky, here is a breakfast!"

And Glacias, how can I put it that way, didn't dare come near me, a reptile phobia and he always had a notch, a little knife that cuts well, in his hand every time he had to come near me. Besides, he looked at me hatefully, especially my teeth and claws.

"You stay away from me, okay? Dragon....."

Me: "HE! My name is Emily, okay? And just like you, I'm a cameraman!"

"Shut up! Fat lizard!"

"The insult made me cry and Kardon approached: "What's going on?"

"Nothing is nothing, it's nothing, sniff..."

Then Kardon turned to Glacias: "You said something to her again! If you were on my team, you wouldn't be on my team!"

Glacia replied with a finger of honour and hurried back to his cabin.

Kardon wiped away my tears and said to me: You will always be my little one in my heart! You're family to me!"

"Thank you, Professor!"

"You can call me uncle if you want..."

"Thank you uncle... but not in front of the others... okay?"

"Okay!"

I was taken of sleep and I still dreamed of my grandmother....

------

She lifted me off her paws and stroked me and one of her heads looked like Rudia but she didn't dare look at me and I saw tears coming down and then her head turned towards me and licked me, then followed by the other 4 heads.

I loved being taken care of like a little girl and I loved to let it happen.

Tiamat: "Sweetie, come on, I'll show you your world. Know that the world is yours. That you own everything.

Here, dream and reality mix.

Come on, I'll show you your powers!"

"Oh yes, grandmother! Show me, please, please!"

Tiamat: "And when you are strong enough, you can even make yourself look human, shrink and even transform others. Like the godmother in Cinderella!"

"Oh, yes, yes, great! Grandmother, I love you!"

I noticed that the red head was not looking at me but was crying as I looked away so I wouldn't see it. It seemed to upset the other 4 who didn't pay attention...

"Grandmother, why is your red head looking away?"

Tiamat:" She watches the surroundings because you are very small in the astral and you have to watch the visible as well as the invisible!"

On this I left, with grandmother to explore the astral while my body rested, asleep, dreaming... At least that's what I thought......