I was in Oum's arms and we were all in Maya's veterinary office.

The eggs, each of a different color, were in boxes filled with cotton wool on the ground to avoid any accident or fall.

The Monstrotanks ' eggs were black and Savannah's eggs were scarlet red.

Claws came out of the cracks first and they all pulled at once, then a red snout came out of the shell and two black snouts.

It was so quiet, you could hear the flies.

I held my breath and was ready to intervene at any moment with my knightly powers

Tiamat 's powers ...

But I wasn't too tempted either...

The question that was running through my mind was about monstrotanks .

I remember when I was Leviathan .. (Am I still??? ) Some kind of flower would bud, then spit out some kind of seed that would swell and end up with a tank in a few minutes, ready for battle. I could build a small army in a few minutes and if I was patient, enough to conquer a country, or even the world... I had a whole range of monstrous choices. air fighters , DCA tank, troop carrier, disc launcher, and I could even make a satellite version. This is also how I crushed the Talmors , their gods (who were in fact only manipulative aliens). My old world, I don't know what happened, but I no longer had any ties and we were too far in the future. But here, we were in a parallel mode, and a little in my past.

I wondered if I would be able to see my human mom and dad again, if my cat was still alive and my monitor lizard.. Maybe my grandmother was still there? And the padre ?

I so wanted to hug them and tell them how much I missed them...But there were also my enemies like Igor, the mad scientist.

All this was beautiful but constituted a danger that I did not want to relive. but see mom again even from afar..

My son, dragonized , as well as his sister, remained on Arcadia to make their lives. If I saw myself, I would have to warn myself to strengthen ties with them. Everything had been ruined in my other life... but it was neither my fault nor theirs, but the circumstances...

But what if I disappeared and he took my place… or the other way around??? it was dangerous and I didn't want to risk creating a paradox.

Maybe this was all true? or in my head???

No, I just had to see or call mom but she wouldn't recognize me or my voice.

The only thing I could do was treat Dad's cancer, Mom's diabetes and repair the sight of my daughter who was going to lose the use of one eye in a few years.

My attention returned to Savannah who came out and looked at herself before crying.

Excavator and Diskor also began to cry.

I jumped from the arms of my friend and protector and reassured the 3 dragonets.

Only the braying and hissing of reptiles came out and Savannah fell to the ground, no longer moving.

I took her between my paws

"I am here!.. Everything will be alright…"

The mental connection resumed..

“ Daathr … I ’m still a dragon…why?? why?

I'm a baby and I don't want to ... I can't take it anymore... I want to die..."

“ Savannah.. we are on Earth!! your world!!! you have to hang on!! As soon as I can, I'll help you become a human again. "

“ Daathr … vore – me!! I want to be the little girl again..”

I squeezed her.

"No, that's not possible.. "

Savannah.. "You 're my mom too, right? Do something.."

" No it's filthy...and you are not cut in two...moreover...how can I tell you.... I am a boy…."

“ Daathr ???? you.. how ??”

"I was originally a man, not a woman. and I finally became normal again, so to speak...I'm still a dragon... but I no longer want to become human again.."

The other two dragonets snuggled up to me.

They were magnificent black dragons. with white spots here and there ..

" Mom!! "

I started laughing..

Oum and Milo looked at each other and they had not seen that another person had entered the room.

A small person, barely bigger than a child, and supported by a wooden cane.

Maya: “It looks like Daathr communicates with the dragonets,” turning to Milo.

A squeaky voice brought them out of their stupor: "

" Grandmother ! ME! " exclaimed Milo.

M'AH: I know that you are involved in trafficking with jungle critters, but I suspected that one day it would escalate...

She left while saying: "Tomorrow we have to talk..." while casting a stern look in my direction.

I hadn't paid attention to M'AH but I didn't care at that moment.

All that mattered was my three sisters and a tear fell as I thought of Blackthorne not being with us.

We had everything to be happy and make a new start.

“ Diskor … you are beautiful and so are you, Excavator …” but instincts pushed and the 3 dragonettes threw themselves on their shells.

A sound of screeching and crunching chips reached the humans' ears.

Quickly they turned to Oum who was holding chicken drumsticks which were quickly gobbled up.

They were then placed in baskets at the bottom of unlocked cages and allowed to sleep.

milo 's pickup and headed out of the marina onto a dirt road surrounded on both sides by lush jungle.

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The deeper we went, the darker it became and finally, we turned to the right and the road became a path that only a jeep or a pickup truck could travel.

After about 5 kilometers, we arrived in a huge clearing with a curtain of palm trees and marsh trees, hiding reefs and reminding us that we were at the seaside.

Here, it was not a marina but a stack of canoes, all as colorful and faded as the others.

What struck me most was how clean the place was.

There were no plastic bottles, floating trash or cans and trays lying around. Nothing. Even on dirt, the ground was clean and, in a sense, I was elated.

No particular smell and no noise or unwanted music.

The village consisted of palm wood huts covering metal maritime containers. this gave an air of modernity, associated with tribal art.

Other houses surrounding the square on the outskirts were made of bamboo and cemented earth. Huge poles were sunk and probably anchored the buildings in the event of storms or hurricanes.

Oum carried me in her arms and went downstairs with her dad, Maya having stayed at home to watch the little ones. I too was small, but I was a little ahead, and reptiles, especially dragons, grow strong and fast!.

I expected to see lots of people and activity, but everyone was absent, as if barricaded. Only the chief's house, well, I think. was open and a large African terrace went around the construction. Here and there , we could see seats, sofas and a rocking chair , very popular with the elderly .

Opposite, there was a small church juxtaposed with a small temple for ancestor worship.

In one of the armchairs, outside, a swarthy man, almost bald, with a white Roman collar, dressed all in white except for his waistcoat which was gray, was reading a book. A bible... I recognized her immediately.

A small golden cross was attached to his collar, proving that he was a man of the church.

For a split second, I think I see my reflection in his glasses, yet he didn't move and just turned a page.

Milo greeted him as he passed him, hurrying inside with us.

The man nodded slightly, to return the politeness.

There was a sense of tension but I really wanted to talk and exchange ideas with him. I wanted to read his Bible and see if everything was the same as what I knew or if it was another Christ manifestation or other writings.

We entered a large hall where 2 men to the left and right of M'ah were standing , bare -chested and showing traditional tattoos and their wooden knife truncheons hanging from their belts. They were the village guards and above all, M'AH's helpers.

In a certain sense and with a little imagination it reminded me of Rivebois where the Jarl was waiting for me slumped on a wooden throne chair with guards dressed and armed like Vikings.

But here, the Jarl was M'AH and she was the ancestor and guardian of the knowledge of the tribe. The Matriarch, The mother and grandmother.

All that was missing was the drum tam and it feels like we’re in the boardroom of Koh Lanta..

It was a lot of fun and I was n't scared at all.

M'ah, got up and complained about his joints which creaked with age .

Oum immediately went to kiss her grandmother (she was indeed her real grandmother and not just symbolic)

“Um, not here.. Not now"

“But there’s no one there.”

M’AH: “There is the dragon.”

Oum: “He’s part of the family…and.”

He stopped when faced with the serious look of the village elder .

She turned around and put a feather hat on her head, took sandalwood seeds from a bowl and threw them into a brazier.

Smoke immediately invaded the room and she took a scepter decorated with bells, knucklebones and small monkey or reptile skulls.. (Lizards?) and shook it, as if to exorcise imaginary demons.

I turned around and looked everywhere but it smelled like drugs but it didn't affect me.

Then having finished her incantations, she shook the scepter one last time.

I was smiling at the show and it was fun.

Then she looked into my eyes.

Oum looked at me and Milo.

I looked at Oum and said “ Oum?? ”

The old shaman lowered her head.. "We are lost.. " and she began to cry.

Immediately, I was at her legs and looked at her with my arms outstretched. “ Hug ! ”

She sighed and put down her staff. the two guards walked away and she held out her arms and I climbed into her arms “ Grandma !”

She stroked me and felt the tips of my scales.

“ Scouring sponge ! ” as an insult..

Milo and Oum started laughing and so did M'ah .

“Never in my life would I have thought I would hold a dragon in my arms, let alone Tiamat ! ”

At these words, I shuddered.

“ Sorry Grandma .. ”

She caressed me while looking at her grandson and great - grandson ..

“You can’t help it, traveler…. ” then after a moment she said. “You must have had it… Your mother is Tiamat , right? “(She whispered so that no one else would hear)

I lowered my head... "Yes and no. Mom Maya.. Mom Annie then I started to cry...." pity.. Sisters.. Saving Brother Blackthorne .. "

She held me tighter, seeing that I didn't have evil in me but she felt the immense destructive power.

Then she put me down on the ground and I ran to join Oum on all fours who took me in her arms.

M'Ah returned to her old armchair which served as a throne, an old leopard skin hiding the wear and tear of time.

Toms Tamms sounded and a party was going to be prepared to celebrate the exorcism of the demon that I represented but all plans were changed.

She motioned for Oum to go play with me in the square while she got ready to talk to Milo.

After making sure I was out of range, toms tams were heard, as if to celebrate but also to prevent me from hearing..

Tiamat 's powers .. And.. despite myself, when someone talks about Tiamat , or even thinks very hard about it, there is a good chance that Tiamat will hear it. And.. that's what happened.

It was as if M'ah was calling me in my head.

I didn't want these infernal powers but they were there! And there was nothing I could do about it.

I wanted to distract myself by playing “ catch me” but the shaman’s voice echoed in my head.

I could understand why she would go crazy with such affliction. And I understand why his lair is so well hidden in the depths of the world...

So I started to pray and the sound got quieter.. Thank you Lord!.

But I continued to hear a little.

" Milo.. The dragonet that you took in ... He is kind.. She is a good soul but she is bruised.. You did well to bring him back here. even if it could lead to our downfall.."

" How I do not understand .. "

“ Milo.. you are not Shaman. The day you see with your mind, then you will have the true vision. Make sure that the dragon is happy and finds a real family here. The only thing I can tell you is that our role here is to protect him from the outside world, to keep him safe and above all that he remains a good person."

Milo “What if.. and why.. I don't understand, it's just a black dragon..like Emilie on tv.."

“You don’t understand .. but it's too complicated... try to be happy together and make sure that no harm happens to them. "

Then she looked at him sternly.

"I am not joking .. Daathr must remain a good person at all costs! "

“What if he becomes like the other monster dragons? ”

“Then this will be the end. ”

"The end? "

" Yes... the end of everything..."

" And.. what if we got rid of it? I'm theorizing... Daathr is so cute.. "

"No weapon can kill him... it's too late... If we wanted to kill him, it was 2 days ago ... now he's no longer a dragon, but an arch dragon... He's going to grow up, grow and grow again."

“Like Emilie? ”

“Yes, like Emilie, maybe even more so.. ”

Milo: “Like what??”

M'AH: "I saw her soul... She is fractured but surrounded by a halo of light. She is protected but... Her shadow is immense. Your Emilie that everyone loves on TV... She would fit in the palm of his hand.. but it's not for now... except.. "

Then she shook her head.

“I’m just an old woman…I’ve lived too much. ”

" Grandma !! we are here and we all love you.. "

“Your turn will come and my powers will be yours when I can see my mother near the sun again.”

They held each other for a while then she asked him to go get me.

I was running after Oum and getting exhausted and he ended up picking me up.

A smell of grilled bananas with fish in palm leaves attracted me and we rushed to the source of the feast.

And.. in front of the table, M'Ah was helping herself.

“Here, little devil.. ” And she handed me the hot sheet with its contents.

I took it in my paw hands and Oum left me on the ground to help himself.

The villagers resumed their activities and celebrated, the music in full swing.

Then M’ah exclaimed for all to hear: “The dragonet is one of us.”

Then the party started again.

I rubbed my head against his leg as a sign of affection.

I was happy to have found a family, a village and a place to live hidden but maybe happy!

I had everything else, I had everything I wanted, could, and I was almost a god but a family was all I needed, really. The rest had no value.

These people were good and it was now my duty to protect them in turn.

Meanwhile, in the Urals , a train with welded windows and whose first wagon was militarized as well as the last was moving at full speed.

The first wagon was a platform on which a Shilka was installed. It was a mixed model with a missile launcher and parallel anti-aircraft automatic cannons.

They had a powerful radar behind it which rotated and inspected the sky but also the surroundings. Its characteristic was that the turret could aim at both the ground and the sky, transforming this tank into a formidable weapon.

At the rear, a state-of-the-art T90 with a turret that no longer stores shells, making this tank vulnerable. The ammunition magazine was in another compartment, separate and in the event of an explosion, not taking the entire tank with it.

In the middle... They were prisoners. Hundreds of prisoners.

Most were deserters but also captured foreign agents and spies of the Order.

Soon the train plunged into a tunnel and the prisoners realized that this was probably the last time they would see the sun.

The underground journey was endless and a huge system of cylinders closed access to the tunnel and the rails turned over so as not to leave traces of a railway track.

Somewhere deep in the tunnel, a secret base...

A black dragon stood in front of a huge dark cave, covered in paint that absorbed the slightest light.

dark purple velvet with gold-stitched edges.

In front of the entrance to the dark pocket, we could see an idol representing an 8-headed hydra holding in one of its legs a smaller 5-headed hydra.

The edge of the purple chasm was lined with cemented human skulls .

The dragon Malekum had light bulbs the size of soda bottles filled with yellow and red liquid mixed together and producing a kind of radioactive light.

The liquid was infused into each of his vertebrae and he suffered torture.

Then he crawled, feverish and aching, before the pocket of darkness and began to pray to the flower of evil. The great hydra.

"O great goddess of darkness, creator and destroyer of worlds and universes .. your servant implores you...

Your child is broken and I am your child's child.

Accept these sacrifices and this blood.

May your grunts echo and you may hear your servant Malekum .. "

Then the prisoners were taken tied up into a dark tunnel and told to wait in the back.

Some complained, “ We can’t see anything, there’s no light!!”

Others screamed when they saw the giant black dragon.

Some threw themselves on their knees to beg for mercy from the prone monster, but it did not even look at the humans. He ignored them ...

And, the next moment, everything was sucked up instantly.

Like you opened an airlock in a spaceship and the vacuum sucked in all the air and everything that wasn't attached.

Guards and equipment were also sucked in and... Malekum , clinging with all his strength to the concrete with his claws, was also sucked in.

Then, a fraction of a second later, there was only silence and a warning siren .. The base was empty... there was no one left.

Malekum suffered from immense acceleration so much so that he thought his waist had been stretched in half and he became frightened. Probably for the first time.

And he lives in a reversed world...

Made of darkness

The humans whirled around him like a tornado and began to spin like a centrifuge until they exploded into fine droplets . The stream of flesh and blood rushing towards a point of absolute darkness.

Malekum also began to turn but began to whistle, to pray to the hidden name of his goddess who was no longer Tiamat .

“I have your child’s blood ”!!!!