Kate was with Princess Pixel, Momo and Betty.

"Look! I'm doing it!"

The dragoness had a grimoire that I had given her and that I had copied from the original that "Mother" had given me, and she was testing the magic of the earth.

With a claw, a block of stone disappeared and arrived in her inventory.

The block was one meter by one meter and then tchic! another block.

Pixel: "But that's great! No need for a pickaxe!

But with a pickaxe, the block of stone disappeared in one go

The children studied draconic and ancestral magic avidly with Kate and although they were dwarves and Tyrian magic was forbidden to them, except for the use of runes to strengthen tools and weapons, they managed to do so without any problem.

A game base was dug on the other side of the Dwarven mountain valley, and after consulting the tunnel plans in the main hall, they were able to create all sorts of things.

It was like an old Minecraft video game...

We dug tunnels, we dug rooms, a mini royal slab with stone tables and chairs, a mega kitchen and a living room and a room of thrones where there were 4 thrones decorated with gems and a water room with an underground lake, and small waterfalls of lava here and there to decorate.

From time to time, the ground would shake as the underground freight train returned and reloaded components for Carnage.

But everyone had gotten used to it.

And the dwarves also saw an escape tunnel.

While Kate was having fun, I was working hard and watching all the Cabal reports.

"How is the Repressor doing?"

Cabal: "Better than expected! Everything is functional! We are in the finishing stages!"

"The engines?"

"Tested ok!"

The Railgun?

"All weapons are ready. We're starting refueling and loading the cargo and shuttles."

"Firing window?"

"Operational."

Finally, I collapsed from exhaustion and began to sleep on the floor in front of the control monitors.

Kate came back because I wasn't giving any answer to all her calls. And Cabal said I was not moving on the monitors.

I dreamed that I was in space and that I had arrived in a crystal palace.

There was a throne reserved for me and I found myself slumped over it and I had lots of little voices calling me. They were all saying "daddy!!! daddy!!" and I was smiling when I saw all these little dragons of all colors and all elements.

In the park, there was mother Enka covered with little dragons like butterflies.

"Honey...!! Honey...!!"

Ah, that was Kate shaking me.

"Pffffffffft ... I'm tired..."

"Come on, don't just stand there!"

And she helped me to get up and I dragged myself to my circular den with a huge leather and furry mattress.

She came to join me and we both hugged without saying anything.

I could feel her warmth on my back and her paws against mine gave me a pleasant feeling of comfort.

Her long neck lying against mine, I could feel her breathing and hear her swallow and just before we fell asleep, I could feel a soft purr that took me back to dreamland.

How I hoped this moment would last forever.

We were both in our cocoon, without anything or anyone, hidden from the world.

It gave me a false sense of protection.

In front of us, a fire pit with glowing embers provided the only light and a deep sense of intimacy, sanctuary and asylum.

The near darkness also overlooked the sidereal void where Mother watched over us and our fate.

In my dream, I was asking myself questions about humanity and my species.

Should I save humanity or replace it with dragons?

What held me back were our kidnapped/kidnapped children. Only this link still connected me to my lost humanity.

One thing was clear, I would never want to become human again. Not even Kate would talk about it.

In the meantime, in space, in the shadow of Jupiter, hidden..

The arches were still connected by a common ring.

Bellos, the head of security, kept a strict eye on order and regulations.

With his long curly brown hair, he looked like a heavy metal drummer, but his walk and look were known throughout the ship.

It wasn't the first time he had executed people by sending them into the vacuum of space.

Especially when it came to stealing food or rations.

He was heading towards the office of the main commander Yuri.

Everyone turned their heads for fear of angering him or inspiring some punishment or crime not yet reported. For no one here was innocent.

The electric door slid open, revealing an office decorated in brown and red in the style of the communist era of the 1970s.

The bald man's back was turned but he knew in advance who was coming in. He looked out the window at infinite space and a tiny blue ball. The Earth...

"..Captain Bello... !"

Then he turned and sat down comfortably.

"We are probably at the end of our journey. "

The captain did not react, but the atmosphere was heavy and oppressive.

Everything was dark on board. Economy...