Blam," I said as I collapsed into the engineering void of the orbiting Artemis ship...

GAGhhh. My wounds exploded!

Hormonal stress, my broken paw and 2 open phalanges whose bones were visible.

My wing was torn and I needed stitches.

My cheeks were torn by my teeth, some of which were floating and the ligaments had to be put back in place.

And especially the terrible gash on my chest that started at my neck and went down to my paw.

I was lying on my side, my horns bloody. My muzzle was broken and I had a series of broken ribs.

Darkia was no better,

Broken jaw, teeth were sticking out through her cheeks, Broken muzzle...

Brow bone's busted.

A sprained neck and a broken wing with the left foreleg. She had to stand on 3 legs.

Half of the raptors were bleeding and riddled with bullets, not in vital places, but it wasn't pretty.

The worst part was that I had no strength left and not much mana.

Teleporting in a group like that took a lot of my mana.

Plus I had to maintain the illusion.

My room was probably rented again and they were looking for my body. Or was I supposed to survive and reclaim the Raptors?

Everyone on the planet was looking for dragons. No one would think here.

What a mess.

The pain! Bastard Kim!

But now there's a problem. I've got six starving raptors with me in a vacuum. How long before they're gonna wanna devour us?

Well, we'll have to sedate them to buy time!

First the wounds, because at this rate we'll all be dead, drained of blood.

I wanted to heal myself first, but I'm thinking about it:

Darkia? Can you anesthetize with your venom? I mean, make people sleep and lessen the pain?

She looked at me with her mouth open, hanging down and spitting blood.

Yeah, no answer possible!

Throw major Healing on her head!

"The wounds and her broken bones healed and the wounds on her head closed. " Her snout is back in place and her teeth are okay.

She felt invigorated, but still in poor condition.

Me, I was out, no more mana, just pain.

She then bit the raptors one by one to make them sleep.

Then she bit me too and I was out of it.

She took me against her so that I could put my head on her knees and she pinched the wound so that the blood would curdle a little and I wouldn't empty myself too quickly.

I had to wait for me to recharge a little. I was in pain, but her venom reduced the pain so I could relax a little and I fell asleep.

My mana went up a little but I was exhausted and I had lost a lot of blood.

Then she thought of her daughter and told her that she had escaped.

"Zmei, honey, I'm coming. We killed the hunters, but Vermithraxa's in bad shape. She's out of mana and she's bleeding.

I gave her a little anesthetic to ease the pain. Can't anyone help?

I don't know magic, me, let alone healing. If I had poultices or a drill, I could put mud in it, and if I freeze or infect the wound, it'll be worse."

-" Wait, I'm talking to Fuchur' who has connections with Auberone, who's a magician like Vermi. I'll try to put you in touch.

"Think of Vermi, and love her, as she told me, and love her sister, who's the same, they're like twins."

So Darkia focused on Vermi and opened her mind.

Auberon concentrated on loving Zmei and his mother and Vermi and little by little a very weak voice was felt, at first like a parasite, then a breath and finally words came.

The contact between Darkia and Auberone finally happened.

The dragons talked about their catastrophic situation and links were finally established.

Auberone:

I mumbled to Darkia, call World! Our master, then I fainted again, defeated.

Darkia couldn't use Comm or speak English, a little common.

"Zmei?? Can you help me? Auberone???"

-Auberone: "Zmei, I don't have enough affinity with you but I'll try to see through your eyes sister, let yourself go and don't resist, you're safe."

Then Auberone saw me with Darkia's eyes "Oh, my God!!!! but she is dying! Something must be done!

You've got a little mana, I hope Darkia, I'm going to try to make a cure by your body on my Sister"

Auberone tried a minor treatment via Darkia, concentrating on the ribs or the gaping wound...? Where was she bleeding from? Inside, for sure. She tried to lay me down and a trickle of blood came from my throat. I had ribs puncturing my lungs. It was a lot worse than we thought.

Darkia and Auberone then concentrated on the broken ribs and did some minor care to the ribs and the internal bleeding stabilized a little.

"I'll contact Peter World!"

Auberone took her comm and called World Peter:

"Master, Vermi's on board the Artemis in a technical vacuum and no one's spotted her yet. She's brought the raptors and Darkia, the dragon. She's badly injured and needs stitches. Somebody help me! Help me! I beg you, if there's anything you can do..."

World: "Why should I do anything?"

Master, we beg you, you're his master, right?

"But you all want to leave me..."

"No, we want to work for you! As her employer! And isn't Vermi your secretary?"

"Seen like that... I'll send you some androides medics. Don't let Darkia do anything stupid and let her already prepare to call me master too."

"I take the raptors under my protection but they are mine now."

"Thank you Master"

Auberone knew we were sinking into debt to World. It's an evil mechanism. Once in debt, always in debt. It's almost impossible to get out of the debt mechanism alive.

It's a system that pulls you down, and usually you never see the end of it. In a sense, death is the only liberation from this form of slavery.

2 androids entered through a back door into the technical void and brought medical equipment.

One of them, it was hard to tell if they were women or men, but it was gender-neutral.

Their faces consisted of a mask without facial expression.

A black ninja robe covered their bodies and one could not guess their intentions because of the lack of expression.

A loudspeaker went on through one of the androids with Peter's voice in common for Darkia's attention.

"Dragon Darkia, I'm your boss now and you're going to work for me like Vermithraxa. You're going to cooperate with the two androids here who will heal you. "He said in approximate common

"Mover HER ON THE SIDE! YES LIKE THAT" with a coffee mixer voice.

Some kind of portable laser lamp was scanning my wounds.

"CRITICAL CONDITION."

The android pricked boxes of plasma that entered my bloodstream to raise my blood pressure and relieve my lungs.

"PNEUMOTHORAX."

A needle the size of a rapier came out of nowhere and was stuck in my chest.

"PUMPING AIR"

My lungs were working again. All this time, I was apneic as if I were in space. So a dangerous situation.

"PINNING REQUIRED, ANESTHETIC ADMINISTRATION!"

I was given injections and the androids asked:

"Lift the leg and keep the bone closed like this.

Darkia put my paw back in position, the bones broken and they drilled into the paw down to the bone and they put a plastic plate to connect the external pins.

Then the robots took some kind of stapler and started stapling the flesh together at the sword stroke.

500 stitches were put under and around the skin in the form of bioresorbable staples. The scales were torn off. Bio-metal bandages had to be applied.

An artificial blood vessel also had to be transplanted, a biodegradable one, made by 3D printing.

My head was wrapped in regenerating gauze and staples to the cheeks and arches. Pins were planted in my jaws and muzzle. A tube had to be forced like a stent to allow air to pass through gradually and cryogenic dressings to deflate the inflamed flesh. My nose also had to be pickled because of all the curdled blood.

They had to stitch up all the membrane of my wing and place capillary tubes to irrigate the destroyed vessels.

Then we put an air mattress and a neck brace to keep my vertebrae dislocated and the muscle tears.

"40% HANDICAPPED, WE DOUBT VERMITHRAXA CAN WALK AGAIN WITHOUT HELP OR A CANE IN THIS CONDITION."

Darkia was pretty banged up.

She was given the same treatment in the mouth and had to have a few ribs and her left wing leg broached.

"PROBABLY WON'T FLY AGAIN. REHABILITATION REQUIRED."

They inflated a mattress and connected us to a medical IV with catheters for our needs and our food under infusion. A biological recycler gave us a certain autonomy while we recovered a little.

But my condition was more worrisome because of the inflamed tissue from being in human form for too long. I was paying for it.

I had to stay for at least a full cycle of a moon, or more, without changing back. I was a full-fledged dragon, no longer human. Even if I could stay for a little while, but no more than a week...

The raptors were placed in an artificial coma and the many shrapnel and fortunately small caliber bullets didn't hurt them too much.

Maintenance robots were sent in to clean up the mess. There was blood everywhere!

We slept under artificial sleep for a month.

But before that, while we were being treated...

"DEAR HOLOSPECTATORS! DEAR HOLOSPECTATORS!

-"FIREWORKS AND LASER SHOW IN THE SKY"...

"WE'RE PLEASED TO WELCOME THE WINNERS OF THIS EXCITING AND EXCITING HUNT."

"This season has been particularly violent with the loss and disappearance of around 100 participants and organisers.

As we repeat again and again, we ask for a discharge because we know and are aware of the dangerousness of these adventures.

WE ASK THE PARTICIPANTS TO KNOW THEIR LEVEL.

not the level they think they are.

Those who have stopped at their level have been saved. It is not because a participant is rich and mediocre that we will lower the level.

On the contrary, we insist on the quality of these games and realism. This gives the assurance of a professional level and a quality leisure program. We aim for excellence!

As I recall, more than 100 participants have died. That is to say, 80% of the players wanting to attack the beasts.

This year, holospectators have voted to determine who, of the survivors, will be elected as the winner of the Big Hunt. Their vote will count as one vote, and an additional vote may be brought to charge or discharge depending on your payment holoterminals.

It is necessary to finance of course quality shows. Thank you again Holospectators.

For the hunt of the wild animals, Mister KIM!

Please give Mr. Kim a big hand!

Mr. Kim, come and take your torch, the eliminated adventurers on the final council have elected you as this year's "Big Wild Adventurer and Big Cat Hunter". You will obviously earn a place on the next adventure if you wish to repeat the experience.

Feedback, Mr. Kim!"

"Thank you, thank you, I've had the experience of my life thanks to you, and, since mourning my late wife, I've felt alive. Thank you again."

And he made the salute of the Samurai

"Thank you, Mr. Kim, you can go sit down again..."

"Next, the first Jurassic Games ever held, we are pleased to announce

MISS EVA!

Miss Eva, stood up with poise and took the torch assigned to her.

"Miss Eva, all the adventurers here, unanimously voted for you!

You are a mystery, you are a woman that many men dream of having! but we have a thousand and one questions to ask you. Are you mysterious and a bit of a magician on the edge? Millions of fans are dying to know your secrets."

Raising her arms to the board and throwing her best smile: "Thank you, thank you, thank you and thank you again, everyone! "

Miss Eva, "Everyone wonders how you subdued the raptors, those scary and particularly ferocious hunters?"

"Everything you said is true!

Since I was a child, I went to circus school and I was passionate about magic and beast training. Training lions was like training kittens! It's all in the eyes. You probe them and they probe you. The deeper your culture and art is, the more you can penetrate the layers of the mind. This is also how hypnosis works.

It works on animals better than on humans once you understand the trick, but I am also a magician and I can make anything appear. A dragon for example or make it disappear. But as you all know, a magician NEVER reveals his tricks.

If you really want to understand this, sign up at the circus academy. The shows there are the result of years of hard training and believe me, if it was that easy, nobody would ever hear about it again."

APPLAUSE - WHISTLING

"And the red dragon, the famous dragon queen or princess we saw on the air, explain it to us!"

"I certainly wasn't going to dress up like a steak and make her disappear! So I dressed up as a dragon so the dragon would follow me!

A little hypnosis and magic trick from an illusionist and voila! It was all in the bag."

"Did they look hurt? Could you tell me a little bit more?"

"Yes, they were wounded in a terrible fight with Mr. Kim. After killing the other fighters and my late boyfriend, Mr Trevis, the illusion magic worked and I took over. With Mr Kim out of action, I made the whole thing disappear and...

as it's ALL COUPS PERMITTED, I took the dragons and raptors with me. "

"And where are they?

"In my pocket!"

"Look, Mr. Announcer:" And Eva pulled out inflatable plastic animals that quickly grew in size and caused the audience to laugh maniacally.

Mr. Kim looked at Eva with interest, but he was looking away.

He knew that the Eva in front of him was just a World doll with Peter speaking for me.

The festivities continued with the distribution of the minor prizes as a suite and a villa on Artemis, overlooking the sea or the mountains.

Skyglider, a small folding plane, my hang glider and items I used and carried turned into collectors' items.

Then paying guided tours were organized on the course, reconstructions of fights and traps with androids, the possibility to redo some tests in less dangerous and a soft version for children.

It was THE intergalactic ADVENTURE.

Governors and political leaders joined their shuttles and life was gradually taking over everywhere. But the event was so big that cans and toys and even simulation programs were sold in even the most remote fast-food restaurants in the solar system and the colonies.

The one who was the last to die was Mister Kim, but to keep track of me, he continued to finance Peter World. He would eventually nail me.

I was running away from him, I really wanted his skin and he wanted me to be his thing or his wife. I was scared of this guy. But let him go out without his armor in front of me, just once!

I was assigned a room, but it was the android who took advantage of it.

We were all arranged, bruised and exhausted. We were scratching for our lives!

Plus I had a fever.