MIR, the sentient Wyvern.

Empress Chlorophylle of Alpha

I was fed up with it, but I held back, for the sake of it. It wasn't a question of burning all the wood at once.

After a week, all the heroes had been dropped off, waiting only to be reunited with their families and continue their lives where they had left off.

It was heartbreaking every time. Moms and dads, and sometimes brothers, clutching their missing child.

For some, loved ones had died and with nowhere to go, they returned to the shuttle, wanting to stay with the wyverns. None of them wanted to go back to Alpha.

I dreamed of going back, but...I didn't want to risk reactivating the system, even though Enka had "cured" me. In fact, I didn't know it, but it was she who had made me her champion.

And I was naive...

Let's just say I was taking a "vacation" on Earth, and the problems I had on Alpha were also waiting for me on Earth. But I didn't know where or when, let alone how, they would strike.

We raised the fortress and flew low so as not to smash any planes, and the ground tremors continued.

We returned to the Pinèdes, a particularly barren place in human terms, but full of brush and pine trees. A magnificent place for us.

In the astral, we entered the ground and a cavern was created to contain a crystal monster. We penetrated deep into the rock, and some of the rubble was used to create a sort of troglodite mountain, similar to the one on Alpha, overlooking the pine forests.

The whole tribe rushed outside, breathing in the fresh air, and victuals were distributed.

From Cassis and the sea, we could see a giant termite mound with huge birds circling around it.

On the walls, there were radars "copied and stolen" from the Colossus and an Aegis defense system embedded in them.

A huge magical but invisible shield protected the structure and Xayda, together with Chlorophylle, intended to grow a crystal like on Magincia. A magical enchantress tower.

Plans were rife, but would have to wait.

I reduced myself to a normal size of 4 meters long and 3 meters high, with my neck, an emperor's uniform and decorations of gold thread embroidery, military medals and the symbol of the imperial family. Chloro also wore her best dress, and I had my bipedal outfit, aided by a cane adorned with a magic gem and a powerful weapon.

We were to arrive in Toulon in the morning in a large building, an old fire station with offices, a courtyard and a park overlooking the port. There was even a helipad.

And off I flew with Sacha, Krii, Kroa and Kraa and Chloro. Maxime was riding Zipette and we landed one after the other on the heliport's courtyard and arrived, two by two, in front of the entrance where a reception was being held, soldiers in uniform and lots of journalists.

It was all a bit retro for the time, and I liked it a lot.

The fanfare and the terrified president, his terrified ministers and snipers all around on the rooftops, the cannons aimed at me and outside...

I wanted to laugh and grab the president and skewer him, shouting "Fuc. you La France!"

But I was nudged by Chloro...

"MIR!!! c'est pas le moment!"

Then she took the lead, showing that she was the Empress and that I was only her husband, but also the military leader.

She held out her hand, which wasn't a paw, and was careful not to lacerate the humans around her with the claw of her hind paw.

Of course, all the heads of state and representatives of the unified nations were present, and they were all impressed not only by our giant stature, but also by our refined attire, testimony to a thousand years of culture.

We were invited to a podium with microphones and reinforced armchairs and stools.

I was in chloro recession and couldn't wait for it all to be over. I let her be and, after all, she was the Empress... I was only her guardian but also her lover and husband.

President Truk: "Emperor Mirmoelnir. La France, la Terre welcomes you and wishes you a happy return among us, Professor Brilliant".

I didn't care and nodded my thanks, then said in impeccable, unaccented French, "Merci, Président Truk, Merci Terriens."

Then Chloro introduced us all.

"I present our Empress Chlorophylle, Emperor and husband Mir, His little brother, Imperial Prince Kroa of Alpha, His wife and embassadrice Sacha Goldberg, Krii of Alpha, Sister and concubine of Emperor Mir and Kraa, Sister and Concubine of Mir. Concubinage is the rule for our species. We are natives of Alpha, and our ancestors came from the land and accompanied the Atlantean humans as they fled the Great Cataclysm. It's thanks to them that we were able to survive on Alpha and get past the terrible Guardian. Thank you again for granting us asylum."

Everyone applauded and many remarked on our impeccable, unhybridized French of the last 100 years. Today's French bears a strong resemblance to Canadian French.

One of the journalists asked: "Your French has no accent! Is it a sophisticated translation system?"

The president gestured with the back of his hand that I could answer in public.

"I was born on Alpha, but Mir taught me and I use a translation system. I speak Common, an ancient and evolved version of Latin, proving our earthly origins."

another journalist: "If you were human, how come we see a bipedal dragoness?"

"I'm in transition right now. I could be defined as a therianthrope, but in a few weeks I'll be able to transform completely into a wyvern and thus be fit to have dragon children."

"Don't you regret your princess appearance?"

"Not at all... I'm stronger, more solid and my fragile condition is a distant memory, but when my transformation is complete I'll be able to resume my human appearance, but appearance only. I'm now a dragoness in flesh and blood and also in my head."

Journalist: "How has Mir transformed you?"

"It's intimate, excuse me! but you also have to resist the bite and the poison." She spoke, pointing in the direction of my mouth, and they immediately noticed my venomous canines.

They also noticed my stinger and Sacha's, as well as Chloro's more developed one.

The terrified humans understood that we were also predators at the top of a food chain, unlike the humans who were below the lions, before they had their weapons.

Journalist: "What's your technical and cultural level?"

Chloro: "Alpha has several countries and empires with a culture dating back thousands of years. You could compare it to a mixture of Italy, Morocco and France. We have an ancient technology, about the same level as your renaissance, but mir brought the empire into the 20th century. We also have hypescience, very different from your science, and all the technologies you have are compensated for. Let me show you an example."

A helper brought a flashlight.

And Chloro showed the object to the gathered crowd. She turned it on. Voila. It's got batteries...

On alpha, we have crystals and she snapped her talons and the crystal lit up. "This is hyper science. We have them for cooling, for heating. We still have gas, running water and electricity like here but not Internet...You have computers but so do we, sort of."

The message was clear. We were not Indian savages to be conquered. We had a military force, a ship capable of arriving on Earth and even invading and counter-colonizing.

An atomic superpower too.

Mir had unknowingly raised the empire to the level of an atomic power.