I find that I am indeed in the Underworld. I am not left very long to wonder who opened the portal, when I come face to face with another Dragon. Well, by face to face I mean his or her face staring at me from several hundred feet away. It is silently hovering in the air, a steady sweep of wings. I think of treading water, but this is treading air instead. I fly closer and tilt my head. Dragons communicate telepathically with each other, so I ask, “Who are you?” in my mind.
“ValamAtrux. I am To’Kah. At your service, my Queen.”
I study him (it’s a him) closer and I see that he is a Blue Dragon. The next tier down on the hierarchical chain from myself and my mother, who as Black Dragons are at the top.
He continues to speak in my mind as I don’t answer him, “I heard your call. I opened the Portal to see if you were in need of assistance.”
“No, I’m fine, thank you. You heard me? You opened it?” I ask in am
azement. How come he has the power to do that? Mind you, I probably do I just don’t know how to do it – as usual.
He ducks his head as I get close to him and says, “Yes. I wondered if I would get to meet you. I, too, live in Los Angeles, when I am Earthside, but you haven’t been around, have you?” He asks this casually as I motion with my head that we can talk but while flying. I want to cover a large distance before I head home. Or at least ask to go home, as he will no doubt have to open the Portal for me to go back.
“No, I have been on the East Coast. You live in L.A.?”
“Yes.”
“I didn’t know that there were any other Dragons in California.”
“Just me. I can’t stay there for extended periods though.”
I nod, remembering what Xane had said about the air outside of the Dragon Realms being toxic to full-blooded Dragons. “What is your other name?” I ask.
“Other name?”
“Your Earth side one.”
“Oh, I go by the name of Finn.”
“I’m Liv.”
“I know.”
Oh. A bit fed up of trying to hold down this conversation, I give up and fly in silence for a few moments.
“Sorry,” he says shyly, “I am usually more of a talker. I am just a bit in awe of you. You are spectacular.”
“Thanks.” My turn to be shy now. “What are you doing in the Underworld?”
“I came here to fly. It’s easier than heading home, what with the time shift there.”
“Oh. You come here to fly?” That sounds like a brilliant idea. I wonder why Tiamat never mentioned it to me before. Oh, yeah right, my mother’s motto: learn by doing.
“All the time,” he says as if I am dense. “Don’t you feel like you are going to go crazy if you don’t Shift often?”
“This is only the second time I have Shifted to my Dragon form,” I admit, feeling foolish.
He turns his massive head towards me and blinks slowly. “Really?”
“Uh huh,” I say. “Have you met my mother?”
“No, She keeps to herself.”
Oh, my mother the snob, I think ruefully.
“No, I don’t think that. It is the way it is,” he says, almost in a reprimand.
I mentally clear my throat, sheepish to be caught with that thought. Must watch that.