I was in the lair of the queen of nightmares but also of dreams.

"You're sweet, Darkia... Too bad we're not from the same world and time."

She appreciated the compliment.

"You see, Mir... My love, Hans... was almost like you, an enlightened scientist and you make me think of him every moment. I miss him, you don't know how much... But Mir, don't delude yourself... I had to devour him and I'd like to devour you too because... you insulted my mother and if she forgives you because you weren't in your right mind, it's hard for me to forgive you and I'm furious with you because you can't imagine what my husband went through. What you've been through is a farce, and if Mom hadn't ordered me to put you back on your feet and, above all, to put your head back between your 2 ears, I wouldn't have hesitated to taste your flesh!

I'm a good dragoness, but I'm also your worst nightmare."

"Sorry Darkia. but you're so pretty."

"Mir.. these are just words and empty promises! I want action, I want to see your resolution!. I want to see a dragon and not a moaning beast! You're a king whether you like it or not and I want to see an Emperor!"

Then she brought her forehead close to mine and her yellow-green eyes devoured my mind

"You know you've got thousands of other 'brothers'??? who just want to fight you? Take over your world, annex it to their empire and make every living thing their slave and cannon fodder?"

Me: "What the hell are you talking about????"

Darkia: "You're a primo dragon and you're the first "king" of this world... which includes the entire universe attached to this dimension. Your dimension..."

Me: ".????"

She straightened up and lowered a card from the Tree of Life...

"Do you even know this?"

"Yes, the Tree of Life of the Kabbalah..."

Darkia: "It's a crude map, but it's easy to explain.

Your world is the ball at the bottom...the ball represents the visible universe and they are of infinite dimensions...

The other balls are other worlds.... occupied... PAR.... PAR???? "

"My brothers??"

"Yes...Right!"

"And the ball above?"

"That's the crystal sphere...the or resides mother but of your world, it's a black hole.."

"And the lines?"

"Ah, those are the guarded and unguarded passages. They're watched over by Mother, who has the final say in every conflict."

"But I only see a few spheres...."

Darkia: "There wouldn't have been enough paper to draw them...

The map is a representation of the soul, but the real map is infinite."

In general, everyone keeps to themselves and their world... but if a world is declared free, then it's war.

"They have armies??"

"Can you imagine... intergalactic destroyers, that's the least they have...When they arrive it's by the dozen or so overarmed legions and sometimes in chaos, they destroy everything, leaving only meteorites behind... Then Mother cracked down, punished, and she had to spend her eternity picking up the pieces, sometimes having to play the role of destroyer to sacrifice a lost world for a younger one... In a way, she's the great gardener of the universe..."

Me: "And she has enemies?

Oh yes, she does. A group of Tiamat hydras linked with mad scientists who spend their time running away from her and thwarting her plans... A winged lion..."

"Me: But what does the winged lion do against black holes?"

"It's King Quasar! The master of quasars and magnetars. His rays can evaporate a black hole and his magnetic fields can keep Enka at bay and even hurt her.... He has a nasty temper and loves gold. Some call him Midas, and like Enka and the Tiamat, he can bend space to his will and is immortal and timeless. He's as old as the universe.

Me "Darkia, have you met him?"

"Oh, yes. In his dreams, but I didn't dare mess with him, even as a nightmare... Let's just say he lets me live because I don't meddle in their affairs and my missions in general don't encroach on his domains. By observing him, I'm also learning 2 or 3 things".

Then she headed for the exit to a tunnel overlooking the Sea of Storms.

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We flew next to each other and she was taller than me.

[https://img.wattpad.com/8aa43816889203f9b64dee68a013897ba58aebc6/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f2d6a57386b716f766363765f61773d3d2d313336343435343032352e313737333936623261386234663462333537343337363232363032312e6a7067]

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

"Looks like you're doing better, Mir... but you need to grow up and put your toys away..."

Clouds, no... mist, we could see the big waves crashing on the coast and behind us, a pile of rocks and from an old tower, jadir a resplendent palace.

"Say, Darkia, haven't you ever wanted to enlarge your palace?"

"Oh yes, but every time adventurers and the vizier's armies ransacked everything and a Neolithic palace, it's beautiful, simple to clean and relatively empty. There's nothing to take or ransack, apart from braziers and a few decorative chains and torches,

I have tanned hides that I put in a stone basin, and it's comfortable.

To clean up, a blast from a flame thrower and all that's left is...the clean torches and stones and ah yes, the braziers."

"Don't you have any gold?"

"You think I'm stupid enough to leave it here? I've got my secrets too, you know! And the best place is the crystal cavern... I'm sleeping on my pile of gold right now."

An idea crossed my mind but I didn't dare...I had to at least be more valuable in his eyes.

Then I launched into it... stupidly as usual...

"Darkia... you know... I can't keep my tongue in my mouth. It's my nature. I can't help it. But as you dream..so do I.... Do you think you and I... could..."

The dragoness laughed.

"MIR...you're a real male! And what I like about you is that you're innocent when you're like this... So...please me! Make me proud of you and maybe we'll see...but if you disappoint me... Couick! And she made the gesture of castration with her talons...

"Don't worry. Mir..you'd still have the other sex..and I'd make sure you'd lay an egg!'

A vision of horror swept through my mind and the next thing I knew, Darkia was on top of me, her head against mine, her body on my back and her hind leg ready to lift my cock.

"So..do you like my nightmare?"

I trembled.

"Darkia... no... please!"

Then she left, laughing and cackling. "You're not even funny, Mir...I wanted to see you cry and beg. Sorry, it's my nightmare nature."

And I sighed, satisfied that she'd let go of me but also a little disappointed to disappoint her... This dragoness was driving me crazy and zany. She was sugar and salt. But I loved her deeply because she had saved my life...

Then flying "Thank you, Darkia... Thank you..."

She appreciated the compliment. "At last..." then she smiled and showed me the great hollow mountain and we could see in the distance the boats heading for the port of A'arnateth, the City of the Lion, the Dreamers and the City of a Thousand Sails, referring to the countless end-of-life ships that ran aground here and recycled into palaces, homes, businesses of all kinds.

"We're going to land near a forbidden beach..."

Put your paws in my sandy footprints and a door will reveal itself, giving access to a network of underground passages forgotten since the dawn of time...

AND we entered between the paws of huge sphynxes but frozen, as if dead, and everything else in the valley beyond the sphynxes was frozen.

"Darkia... the sphynxes... who are they?"

[https://img.wattpad.com/deddbbd6b6fcb88db61af76f764fe103abd15201/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f7a34446d673869543170766153673d3d2d313336343435343032352e313737333936636134626636643039313639333037333439303236392e6a7067]

"I don't know but they're as old as the world and they guard the entrance to the world of the living. The waking world. Basically, so that nightmares and dreams don't come true.

I should have died one day, but I got my chance through them and through Mother. So I can pass with impunity. And this corridor connects us to a pocket in the Hollow Mountain from where I can spy on the speeches of the Grand Vizier, but also master of assassins.

"And you, Darkia, why don't you kill him?"

"He's very ... let's say Lucky. and he comes back every time... let's say I'm officially Dead although he knows it's not true but we play along.... We ignore each other but if an opportunity arises, we don't hesitate, we jump on it. It's also a sport... and he, like me, needs a nemesis, otherwise we'd get bored.."

"And he's never managed to defeat you?"

"Oh yes...it was painful last time. It's a good thing I had my physical body too. That one had really taken a beating, but in the end I was the winner..."

"So what did you win?"

"The Bucéphalus. a super destroyer that I treasure with friends from my world. For the moment, it's tucked away in my sphere... mausoleum, well, I call it my room because I'm not dead but frozen... (my time is frozen). Mom leaves me my "toy" but she might take it away from me, so I use it sparingly. I always ask permission to have it because it's more fun to do my missions with my friends."

[https://img.wattpad.com/246c53fc92b992a4e9f90f61f14bb9f1ac796d9e/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f384234666233556f4272703367773d3d2d313336343435343032352e313737333936643430336237363633653330353833333832343538362e6a7067]

This ship nearly killed me with its light firepower. It's the exact opposite of what I am, and that's why it's so useful to me. It's a gift from the hero who was paid to kill me.

And I'm officially dead now (SEE DARKIA, )"

Then we reached the bottom of the tunnels

"Hush, from here on, no more noise! No excuses!"

And she showed me a hole in the floor, and as I looked through, I could see the great hall of the Bazaar, with all kinds of objects for sale, from simple pottery to gold rings set with diamonds and all sorts of knick-knacks.

But what was striking was that it was almost deserted. There was hardly anyone left.

"Darkia...there's no one left almost!"

Yes your world is special, it's young and already a few thousand years old. it's stable but when the time comes, Enka will take you and your family and we'll all be reunited in the new universe."

"DArkia, you're talking nonsense."

"You're a portal specialist, aren't you? So think about it! The crystal sphere is at the beginning and end of everything, and all universes revolve around it. Yours, mine, everyone else's, ad infinitum, except that there aren't dragons in every world, and even fewer who have the blood of origins like you, me and mine... So we're a rarity among rarities.

Do you understand so far?"

"Yes, Darkia."

"Well... the world of dreams is also the counterpart to the reality of the world of origin."

Me: "So if I understand correctly, we're circling the world of origins and anyone can come here?"

"Correct... through the Azuras portals and for reality, the sphynxes who are ruthless. And there's a unique artifact: the Tear of God. It's basically a ticket asking Enka to let a portal through. She's very zealous about this and doesn't give gifts even to her own children. It has to be earned. Let's just say they can have an "eternal" rough time, where seconds can become months, having sworn never to put one of her descendants to death. Even having done the worst of crimes..."

"Mother is formidable," I said.

"You really should be afraid and make amends!"

"Do you think she'd go after Chloro or Blanche?"

"Who do you think we are? If she's dealing with you...you'll know wherever you are! Didn't she find you on the rock when you insulted her? You nearly had a nasty time in her stomach. She would have spat you out, but the pain would have been a deterrent to doing it again. There's one thing she's not: a coward!"

"I'm sorry..."

"You can!! And don't forget that you owe me your life..or your soul!!!! because treating you, and soiling my bath to dress your wounds, I don't do anything for free."

Me, naive: "Is debt expensive?"

Then she looked at me.

"Couic? I'd like to take it away from you and eat it, and watch you hatch the eggs you'll lay...."

The dragoness smiled.

But she wasn't kidding. She really could have.

Then she looked me in the eye, her face twisted upwards, the better to stare at me.

"So, if you don't, you'll do everything I've told you! A Tiens pour un Rendu!"

Darkia was a complex, all-round personality and a zealous servant of our mother goddess. She also showed me the black letter with the golden edges from behind... "You too will receive your missions... Don't worry, none of my brothers is basking in the sun on a rock.

Then we came back to the fact that there was nobody left.

Darkia: "Yes, there aren't many visitors compared with before. It's normal, the end of time has come to most known universes. Everything will freeze over here in its own time.

But we've got to take care of you first.

We're going to visit the 4 guard towers and their dedicated Alchemists. But first... we're going to have some fun...

It's time to announce the return of the nightmares... GRAAAHHH"