At nightfall it was a torchlight procession.

The thousand knights looked like a tongue of fire.

Tania" why so many knights?"

"We will explain it to you in the castle."

Marise was sleeping, exhausted.

The wizard noticed that they were not invincible but. It was necessary to know what links they had with the red star, the Hydra and the other Hydra...

They arrived in the immense valley and Tania immediately recognized Cheyenne Mountain, the famous military base.

She was unrecognizable.

Traces of lava, molten rocks and huge boulders, pieces of mountain had been thrown on the base, crushing rocks and trees and destroying everything in the way.

It must have been cataclysmic. The violence must have been unheard of.

But Tania said nothing.

She will spy later.

We entered the fortress at the top of the mountain and entered the underground maze.

It was illuminated by crystals all along the corridors and it was so vast that the carriage continued with the horses, always escorted.

Tania was concentrating and with her sharp senses she memorized the whole route, the sounds, even subtle ones, could betray an intention...

We arrived in a huge cave and the carriage stopped. It must have been more like a cart stuffed with cushions topped with an austere wooden hut, but protected from the rain and wind and, being able to keep a little heat with a mini stove bringing a minimum of heat and a mini cupboard under the benches that could be unfolded into a bunk. In the cupboard, a little milk, honey and water with dry bread in a cloth.

In this world, the bread was always dry. It was wetted with water, soup and milk.

The fridge was unknown.

We got out of the carriage and on a mezzanine, an old man was waiting for us.

Iseulbella asked us to wait.

Guards with halberds crossed their weapons to block the passage to the stairs.

It must have been an important passage.

The other accesses were not really guarded, just another guard and 2 others closed a barrier giving access to the external road.

Andromedus: "So? What are those creatures with you here?"

Apprentice Isolutbella: "I took the initiative to bring them here. They are not human, but they act like humans. The redhead is very dangerous and the golden one looks innocent."

She recounted all the details and information she had been able to subtract.

Andromedus: "Given their gold embroidery and jewelry, they must be nobles. Either it's magical, infernal or far ahead of us.

But they represent a danger. You did well not to use violence. That leaves us other doors."

The old man came down the stairs to greet his guests.

The guards spread their halberds. And in the same movement, the red feathers on their helmets followed.

"Tania? Marise? Welcome to the capital.

I am the High Wizard of the court and advisor to His Highness the Prince-Pontiff.

The journey was long and a buffet awaits you.

I will take you to your room to settle down and in an hour I will be waiting for you at the buffet. Perhaps His Highness will come and join us.

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We were taken to a rather large room with 2 large beds, a wooden bathtub resembling a tine with a coal stove plunged in the tine to give hot water. Simple but well designed.

We could even get together if we wanted.

We did not hesitate.

A good bath.

I (Tania) took soap out of my dimensional space.

My feathers were muddy and it did us a lot of good.

Carefully folded sheets were on the edge and after drying we dressed, me in MI6 uniform with my muzzle veil and velcro sleeves to hold my wings like arms and clean gaiters for my legs and Marise did the same but in civilian clothes with a large embroidered burqa.

I also had a large tablet with me to show pictures and support what I could say.

All folded and protected in a first quality leather document case with gold plated corner protectors.

I also had a pad of paper, markers and a felt tip pen holder to fit my claws for writing.

A mint chew for our natural predatory breath and a little deodorant to show that we were not beasts but civilized creatures.

A guard knocked on the door and we followed him to a small hall with a hearth at the back that gave a pleasant warmth and a chandelier with magic stones lighting the room.

Candelabra was placed on a sideboard and a round table with an empty place always reserved for the sovereign.

Andromedus was surprised by my change of clothes. He said, "Do you like your room?

There is another door that gives access to a boudoir with a small library, a smoking room and comfortable armchairs. We had the lower part of the backrest removed for your anatomy.

Tania: "We thank you for the welcome but it's too much".

Andromedus: "You are nobles and it is our pride to be able to leave a good memory to our guests".

We settled down and were served wine.

Animals hate alcoholic beverages, so I took the glass of wine, swirled it around and sniffed while looking at the deposits at the bottom of the glass.

Me: "It must be 10 years old... Full of sunshine... The South, a Californian wine...".

Andromedus was shocked by the accuracy of my statement.

Then, for anatomical reasons, I raised my mouth vertically and poured a sip of the good wine. This revealed my sharp teeth.

Marise did the same but Andromedus and Isolde were surprised by our rows of teeth.

We could shred them without flinching...

The old man swallowed and hurried to drink.

"To your health," I said.

He didn't understand and I explained to him that this was the tradition at the time and that it dated back to Roman times.

He didn't understand anything at all.

13,000 years separated them.

Then we got up and went to the buffet.

Meat and vegetables in abundance.

We served ourselves like humans and Andromedus could only notice that we ate with cutlery and not with our paws.

We ate more slowly or we swallowed not to sprinkle everyone with sauce and blood.

Then, when the meal was over, maids appeared from corners behind curtains and cleared the table.

They were scared to death and were sweating. I could feel the adrenaline and it drove me crazy to go hunting.

The table was clean, the wine was left and clean glasses and napkins were added.

Then Andromedus cleared his throat.

"Where are you from, what are you and who are you? "

Me (Tania):

"I come from the earth, this world, from before the cataclysm....but another earth, identical to this one, a clone. There are some differences. Your world had peace and we had a world war. All the countries were united in 2 empires that fought each other.

The destruction was terrible, the victims were in the millions. Our world was in contact with a fantastic world full of magic with many different races, including dragons.

The empires, especially those led by the Asians and the British and Russians (I was showing a world map on my tablet. The mage was fascinated by such a device) have built too many portals to transport troops and equipment and also to escape defeat. The Dragons having allied themselves with the Americans, I mean the people here.

The destruction of the portals had catastrophic consequences and destabilized the stars and meteors.

your God Toutatis, was only a rock of gigantic dimensions.

It was the assured end of the world.

The humans of your world tried everything to destroy it but only succeeded in fragmenting it. This may have made it possible for life to continue.

Before losing an important battle, the Demon's empire destroyed the last portal that acted like a rubber band, and it hit your world too at the moment of the collision.

Your world was split into 2. The Real World, still in time and here the world destroyed, a copy of the earth that still exists but 10000 years in your past.

The areas bombarded by the pieces were teleported through the portal into the destroyed world. leaving huge craters on Earth and here mountains, pieces of cities, ruins and buildings."

Andromedus was shocked to learn the truth about the lost knowledge and now he was able to piece together the pieces of myth and reality.

I also showed him a simulation of the impact of a meteor and an exterminating meteor.

Many explanations were also given to me by Tiamat about this world and its configuration.

Andromedus: "Dragons are cruel and savage beasts, how did you get here?"

"I was, and still am, a superior officer and a state official.

In the absence of an ambassador, I can represent my country. Originally England"

Andromedus: "The Anglican, who still speak the ancient language lost here and in the world".

"During a scientific mission, I was on board a ship, a kind of vessel made to explore the stars, very very sophisticated. A magical portal, made to go one way, opened thanks to the very powerful magic of the dragons.

We tried to force the portal back up but it was a disaster, half of the crew was killed by the magic radiation and the other half were transformed into dinosaurs with my appearance, without the feathers.

I was lucky with 4 other crew members to be able to keep my sanity. We were captured by the dracosires of the Draconian Empire.

They were civilized and kept peace with other countries for 1000 years. Humans lived in harmony with them but the power was reserved for the dragons.

They cared for the survivors and took care of the unfortunate ones turned into animals.

Andromedus: "And you, what did they do to you?"

"I'm a soldier and I had to finish my mission. I am faithful to my country and my command.

If the others were taken care of, they were captured and the mission failed.

So, I saved myself, used my new body that allowed me to deceive their vigilance by camouflage and speed and continued the mission in secret.

I managed to open a portal in the other direction and return to my country. With the technology I learned the portal was stabilized in both directions and the dragons and humans were able to rescue their own, the dragons dying slowly from lack of magic. Also, I took Marise under my wing during my adventures."