�Is-is this�for real?� Jess said quietly, gazing at the seemingly perfect world around them. It seemed to have a certain touch of something different. Different from their world the two were used to living in. Something magical, though they could not quite put their finger on it.
Jorden looked to the beautiful trees and listened as brightly colored birds sang unearthly songs that he was sure didn�t exist their world. He walked slowly towards the birds, his footsteps muffled by the soft grass. When he got closer, he noticed that they all sang together, not separately. They sang the same song, adding solos and harmonies at all the right places. None of them seemed to have noticed Jorden. However, when he walked a little bit closer, one of them stopped singing and slowly turned around.
�REEEEEEEE!!!� it screamed with an earsplitting cry. The other birds turned quickly and the air was full of screeches. Jess and Jorden dropped to their knees and covered their ears, but the cries of the birds still reached their ears. Jess looked around her as birds flew into the air and away, their wailing still extremely loud. All of a sudden, a new sound began to appear as the birds slowly disappeared from view. A gurgling noise, like that of water churning. Slowly, Jess and Jorden shifted their gaze towards the lake. Bubbles were exploding on the surface. Waves formed and crashed onto the shore.
Suddenly, a great blue dragon erupted from the water. It had something resembling fins on each side of its head, and sported thin but muscular arms and legs that ended in webbed hands and feet. On each hand and foot there was a set of dark talons. The dragon also had a long slender tail that looked like an elongated dolphin fluke. It began to fall back towards the water, but instead it opened a pair of large wings and pulled itself into the air just before it hit the surface. The two watched in fear as it began to slowly fly toward them. Jess was paralyzed from being so frightened, but Jorden found his feet and began to run towards the tree line.
�Jess! Run! C�mon, hurry up! RUN!� Jorden shouted frantically, but Jess didn�t budge. A tingling sensation formed on her right cheek and she quickly raised her hand to it, only to snatch it away again as her cheek was burning. As Jess fixed her attention on the dragon once more, her eyes grew larger as she watched it fly toward her. She stumbled back. One step, two�she started to run, then sprinted as fast as she could. It wasn�t enough. The dragon was faster, and reached her in a matter of seconds.
�Stop!� someone shouted, but Jess couldn�t make out where it came from. The only thing she could think of was running for her life. The voice sounded again and she noticed it was from behind her, but she didn�t dare to look. All of a sudden, the dragon flew ahead of her and landed loudly on the ground, causing Jess to fall. She let out a small shriek and tried to crawl backwards, but another thump crashed behind her as the dragon blocked her escape with its tail.
�Stop, I won�t hurt you,� the dragon said quietly with a soft alto voice. Jess gawked at the dragon, not knowing what to do. As far as she could tell, her whole body could probably fit in this dragon�s mouth, and she wouldn�t be able to do anything if it decided it was hungry. However, something in the dragon�s eyes made Jess relax, though just a bit.
The dragon�s eyes opened as she noticed the mark forming on Jess�s right cheek. It-it cannot be�she has�that�s the same mark on her cheek as I have�the sign of the Mirequa�but, but how? The dragon snapped out of her thoughts and cleared her throat. �Ah, I-uh, I�m sorry for startling you, um�but��
Jess was still quite tense about what had just happened, though she was relaxing little by little with every passing moment. Finally, she gathered enough courage to speak. �W-who are you?�
The dragon gave Jess with a thoughtful look. �I am Kritavanisa, a Mirequa dragon of the Abaervli Weyr. You may call me Krita.�
Jess stared at Krita for a few seconds. She shifted into a more comfortable sitting position on the soft grass. �K-Krita?� she asked, her voice still a bit shaky. �You said you were a-a dragon? How can that be? There�re no such things as dragons. They�re just made up creatures in fairy tales. I may have a room full of little glass dragons, but I know that they aren�t real. But, here you are! A real live dragon standing in front of me! There�s only one way to explain this.� Jess drew a deep breath, �I have officially gone COMPLETELY INSANE!�
Krita gaped at Jess as if she might blow up from her sudden outburst before answering her in a calm voice. �You aren�t going insane, and you�re only half right. There are no native dragons on Earth, but you�re not on Earth. Not exactly anyways. You are now standing on the planet Etteria. You�re on the same planet you were born on, just in a different dimension. Now, does that explain everything?� Krita asked as if it were something as simple to explain as how to breathe.
Jess stared at Krita for a moment. �No�no it doesn�t.�
�Well, I tried. I�ll explain it to you later,� Krita sighed. �Anyways, you never did tell me your name.�
�I�m Jess�Jess Stonewall. A-and this is�uh�� Jess looked over her shoulder, doing a double take when she realized that Jorden wasn�t there. �What the-Jorden? JORDEN!�
�Jess! Where are you?� a distant voice called. Soon the rustling of leaves and branches was heard and Jorden burst out of the forest. �Jess, we have to go! I lost sight of that dragon thingy a bit ago. I have no idea�where�it�went�� he trailed off when he caught sight of Krita.
�Uh, Jorden? Um�this is Krita,� Jess said as Krita bowed her head. Jorden laughed sheepishly.
�I am very pleased to meet you, Jorden,� Krita said in her calm voice. Jess didn�t think that Jorden�s eyes could get any wider before Krita had greeted him, but the look on his face proved her very wrong.
�Y-you can talk?� Jorden gasped, his eyes nearly popping out of their sockets.
�Calm down, Jorden, or you�ll go blind,� Jess said with a small but feeble laugh. She still couldn�t get over the fact that she was standing next to a dragon. The little figurines that sat upon many shelves in her room could never compare to the elegance of the real deal. Jess studied Krita again, noticing for the first time that her scales were not just one hue of blue, but what seemed to be hundreds of blues and greens. Jess was too busy to notice this before, but she wasn�t worried about what color each scale was when she was running away out of fear. She also noticed that the fluke of her tail was gone, and that it just ended in a point. Confused she asked, �Krita, what happened to your tail?�
�What?� Krita asked, also confused with this question, and she quickly glanced at her tail.
�Your tail, it had a fin on the end before, didn�t it?�
�Oh! Oh, yes, most dragons in the Abaervli Weyr have fins on our tails, but we fold them when we are not in the water. It keeps them from getting damaged on land,� she explained as she lifted her tail. Then with a small flick the fins were back, glittering in the sun. The two humans watched as the fins folded back over top of the tail and blended in with the many-colored scales, as if they weren�t even there.
�That,� Jorden said, his voice much calmer now, �was really cool.�
�Thank you,� Krita said, a tiny smile touching her face.