Somewhere in Kamchatka... a secret submarine base.

The cargo submarine had arrived safely and decoys had taken the NATO forces in another direction.

The base was ultra-modern, in stark contrast to the austere facilities of Russian military bases.

The commander was proud of himself: the decoys had been sunk and the British had fallen for the trap.

The sunken submarines followed the same fate as the Kursk, simulating a collision with an English attack submarine. The system was like a plasma charge at the front of the attacking submarine, and on contact, a hole several meters long would fan the target, leaving no chance. The attacking ram submarine was covered with powerful shock absorbers designed for this purpose.

Like the Kourks, NATO forces recorded a collision signal, followed by a detonation, and offered to help rescue the trapped Russian crew. But in fact it was to make sure of the outcome.

The press got hold of the affair and the leaders organized a funeral for the crew, except that it was all a sham and the submarine was just a pre-programmed drone.

The precious cargo was taken directly to an even more secure area, with hundreds of meters of rock capable of withstanding a nuclear explosion on the base.

Immediately, dozens of vets and surgeons set about treating and restoring what remained of Tiamat.

Humans draconized against their will were taken to the base where they were shackled with increasingly contented injections of dragon marrow. The aim was to completely eliminate their remaining DNA. Tiamat marrow was then injected to produce compatible tissue.

The magical regeneration that accelerated the process was dazzling. The men, reduced to beasts, had lost all ego and rationality.

Then they were decapitated at the base of their necks, to be grafted onto the head stumps of the original Tiamat. Legs were grafted, as was a tail, and the damaged organs were sewn back together.

It took a month of work, and the 5-headed dragon's condition improved, but one problem remained.

Pieces of Tiamat's brain were damaged.

Malekum was overseeing the whole operation and sacrificing as many souls as necessary to restore Tiamat to greatness, but he was faced with a beast that could barely reason.

Worse still, the 5 heads were not synchronizing.

The chief commander of the medical section bowed before the evil being.

“Sire, the body heals but not the mind. Tiamat is... lobotomized... The goddess is gone.”

He looked behind him, his body in spasms and his head surrounded by cones like a dog's, to prevent injury.

Malekum: “The integrator, have you managed to repair it?”

“No, Your Majesty..there were only crumbs left and the rest melted away.”

Malekum: “Sacrifices? Invoking him?”

Commander: “Something's holding his spirit back.”

Malekum: “What if we grafted Emilie, Ochria, Azur and Rudia?”

“It's because her body is still alive that the transfer of powers hasn't been made.”

Malekum: “So if I kill them all, I'll become Tiamat?”

“I think not my Lord...You are the first servant but not his lineage.”

Malekum: “Then, as soon as she's ready, give me a marrow transplant.”

“And what are we going to do with this abomination?”

“She will lay my offspring!”

Then the commander turned to the black dragonet that had just hatched.

“What about him?”

“Blackthorne... the shame of our clan... a traitor!”

Then Malekum turned to the dragonet, who was trembling with fear.

“It's because you have Tiamat's blood running through you that I didn't devour you. But you'll have to pay for your failures.”

Blackthorne: “I've given everything, even my body and my powers!”

You've got nothing of your own. All she did was take back what was hers. You and your brood are worthless, you might as well ally yourself with Emilie.

“She's going to kill me!! please!”

Malekum: “That's one word too many I didn't want to hear out of your mouth.”

Then he turned to the commander: “Deliver the package to the Spanish castle and film it, I'd like to see his face”.

Blackthorne protested in draconic and no one understood his chirping, but the next thing he knew, he was being tossed into a large sack and stuffed into a wooden crate.

24 hours later, a DHL parcel was delivered to the chancellery of the royal palace.

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A letter accompanied the crate

Emilie was at the palace at the time, overseeing operations to track down the Russian submarines.

Majesty: “Emilie, I think everything is closed now. It's time for you to go home, and your students are waiting for you. We dare to hope that the destruction of the submarines has taken their secrets with them to hell.”

“Einrich... sniff...”

Emilie was her human size, dressed like a sword dancer and her aura only showed her beauty. Even a human could be charmed by her beauty.

“Emilie, you're very beautiful and if I weren't already married and younger, I'd probably have fallen in love with you. Even as a dragon, you're a sweet girl, you know?”

“Einrich told me so, but we couldn't go any further than a kiss...”

The king caressed Emilie's cheek. “If all fantastic beings were as nice as you, our order wouldn't have a reason to exist.... Looking at you, I see a pretty girl and not a dragon...”

“Thank you..Thank you.. for your grace..”

Chardon, who accompanied him, entered the room and approached the king to whisper a piece of information.

Whispering, he did on principle, but for Emilie, there was no need, her senses were superhuman...

“We've got a big problem. We've got to restrain Emilie, I'm afraid of her reaction..”

The king turned to the dragoness:

“I've just heard some grave news that concerns you, but I'm counting on your self-control and restraint.

Don't forget that a child remains a child!”

Emilie:"???? I don't understand!”

The king, his elite bodyguards, followed by Emilie and Chardon arrived at a warehouse after a long walk, elevators and a whole maze.

Surprisingly, there was 1 tank and armed units with bazookas behind sandbags.

Emilie, a senior military officer, asked: “Have we scanned for explosives? booby traps?” One of the men nodded.

One of the men nodded. Yes, mon commandant (Emilie), we only know that there's an animal inside, alive.”

Emile recognized the cries of newborn dragons muffled by a gag.

The letter was in draconic.

“At EMilie's, your Einrich had rather good taste. I can understand your pain and to ease it, I'm giving you the gift of a traitor you must know well. I suspect you'll recognize him at first glance. Watch out for the impregnation and don't let him call you Mom! Oh, yes, I forgot, your poor grandmother... She begs me to spare you, she wants to forgive you.”

Emilie dropped the letter, a photo of Tiamat sewn back together with Malekum.

She turned quickly: “My family! quickly!”

The king tapped her on the shoulder. “They are under our protection”.

Emilie: “Open this!”

A crane lifted the top of the crate revealing a bound and gagged black dragonet with a sign around his neck: “Traitor!, Bon appétit, Emilie!”

It was a shock.

Emilie's first instinct was to free the dragonet. But he was trembling and had done himself in.

His head was hanging loose.

She instantly cut his bonds... and clutched him to her.

“That's all... no one will ever hurt you again.”

But the dragonet was balled up, lost.

Then it clicked.

Emilie frowned and her loving expression turned into a predatory smile.

Then the king interjected angrily: “EMILIE! NO! You should see yourself”.

She regained her posture and looked at the king: “I beg your pardon, Your Majesty, but... but it's Blackthorne”.

Everyone froze, and one of the soldiers was about to shoot to avenge their comrades who had perished because of him.

Emilie, with her Herculean strength, lifted the dragonet by the throat and let him cry.

She closed her eyes.

“Blackthorne, if it's you...tu tu....”

Blackthorne: “Please..!! She took everything from me.”

Emilie dropped the dragonet on the straw

Then flashed her a toothy grin

“EVERYTHING... I want to know everything”.

“Tiamat absorbed us instead of you. and we reincarnated into her offspring”

“Who? How many?” shouted EMilie. The king gestured for her to calm down and not tear the dragon child apart.

“I was in love with Daathr, the leviathan..and we were captured by Tiamat, There's also Diskor, Excavator and a human turned into a dragon by Daathr”

Emilie: “Where are they? The Russians?”

Blackthorne: “No.. they ran away and Elle didn't have time” I don't know anything more... please, I'm not the same I'm not blackthorne...please, please..”

Emilie: “You speak well for a dragonet. Here, all I see is Blackthorne in a child's body.”

“Are you going to eat me?”

“Oh, well, I'd like to, but I'd turn into you... And you should know that even with a dragon's body, I'm still human. Which is not the case for you.”

Then Emilie placed her hind paw on the dragonet's head. Humiliating him

He slapped the ground.

“I submit! I submit! I'll do anything you want.”

Emilie giggled.

then picked him up by the tail and showed him to his majesty.

“What should I do with THIS!??"

Professor Chardon, very interested, intervened: “Emile... Blackthorne is dead... here we have a child with memories of another life. If he's not in hell, it's because life gave him another chance.”

Emilie: “Egypt then!”

Roi: “No, he hasn't ‘sinned’ yet, even if it's revolting. If he really has changed, if he's no longer the same, then there's no reason to turn him into a monster or an enemy.”

Blackthorne crawled to Thistle's feet and hid behind his legs.

Then the latter turned around: “Don't worry, we won't hurt you, but you can be sure that Emilie would eat you alive if you did the slightest thing wrong...”.

Blackthorne understood but couldn't pronounce either French or English, just a few grunts in Draconian. Fortunately for him, Chardon understood.

Emilie: “I don't want to see this ‘thing’ in front of me anymore... just to know that he's been part of my tormentors... even reincarnated.” Then she hissed in his ear, “If I learn you had anything to do with Einrich's death, dragonet or not, I'll avenge him.”

Blackthorne closed his eyes, disconnected from reality, like a stressed reptile bent on death.

Then Emilie turned to the king: “Law or no law, your majesty, at the first sign of a second head growing on him, his fate will be sealed!”

The king, seeing the dragoness' anger but satisfied with her immense restraint, nodded, so as not to aggravate the situation.

Emilie was furious and so were the soldiers. So many men lost and now it was all over again.

The professor took Blackthorne in his arms, accompanied by 2 soldiers.

“Don't worry, young dragon, the worst is over. They'll calm down...”

Blackthorne began to cry like a child in shock.

A moment passed, then Emilie took leave of the military and joined her majesty in her living room.

Calmed, she realized how rude she'd been and asked the king to excuse her, because in front of a king, you can't excuse yourself...

“Emilie... I admire your self-control and I can understand your anger. My soldiers who died were also members of my family. If you should perish, know that we will mourn you too.”

A tear fell from Emilie's eyes, very moved...

“I thought it was all over, that I'd be able to start a family and have little ones and... and now we've got a Leviathan on the loose, a dragoness and 2 monstrotanks not to mention a Tiamat Frankenstein and Malekum, backed by the Russians. Unless the Russians are under their domination... That's even worse.”

King Juan: “You've done your duty and now your duty is to teach and start a family.

We'll handle the situation, you've done enough.

“But!!!”

“Emilie, the order is all but eradicated. We're counting on you to recruit and train new members and make them face magic and other curses. You're the best teacher there is and you're the best at discerning right from wrong.