the sound of wind brushing through the room causing Maya to sway slightly. Her hands clasped over Bella nervously as I came up to her side, wrapping my arm around her as she offered me an eager and excited expression, making me hope to the Maker that this would be a pleasant experience for her.
“Is Bella going to be okay?” Maya panicked over the wind as I frowned slightly, not knowing exactly how the kitten would fare through portaling. It wasn’t exactly made for normal and less durable creatures. My dragon let out a low rumble of concern, his excitement to return to the origination of our magic tampered by our mate’s concern.
“Here, give her to me,” Atlas called out, taking the kitten from her and easing her against his chest into the vest of his uniform. Her head popped out as her small paws folded over the top of it, making Maya smile at the image of the massive bastard keeping a kitten safe like that. Both of our eyes widened as a ripple of magic suddenly ran over Atlas’s skin and caused Bella to turn completely black in coloring, a smoky, almost shadow-like texture coming off her skin as she let out a loud meow. A far louder meow than should have been possible, her energy spiking less like a kitten and more like a supernatural creature of some kind.
“Bella, you look beautiful!” Maya cooed before looking up at Atlas. “Why does she look like that?”
“After,” Atlas promised as Marco called for us to follow toward the portal. Immediately, I tightened my hand around hers as Henry and Marco took the lead. Croy grabbed her other hand, and I let my magic run across Maya’s skin, sensing the soft, hot texture of her blood that laid right underneath her golden skin. My dragon was a bit too close to the surface right now for me to feel completely relaxed, and I knew portaling wouldn’t make it any easier.
I worried that when we landed in the new realm, eventually shifting to travel throughout Dreki, the meager barrier of control I had today would snap. It would be smart of me to give Maya some distance until my emotions were more balanced… but instead I just tightened my grip on her. I wasn’t good at concealing my emotions, and even less so with Maya because she was so open and honest with hers. I just had to hope that she would accept me, flaws and all, because hiding from her wasn’t an option for me anymore.
As we neared the portal, Marco and Henry both stepped through first as I closed my eyes, preparing myself for what I knew would probably be a bumpy ride. After all, the Dreki realm wasn’t exactly a quick trip, and that wasn’t even including the massive shift in magic that it would cause. I could only hope that it would go by quickly.
The magic from the doorway jolted through me as Maya let out a gasp, her magic instantly wrapping around both Croy and I, causing my eyes to widen. That was before we were submerged in darkness, everything turning silent and black around us.
I honestly didn’t know how to explain portaling, except that it felt like you were simply suspended in air. I could feel Maya’s magic wrapped around me like her hand, but I couldn’t see or hear her or Croy. There was just nothing, and there would be nothing until we arrived and were jolted from this state. It was honestly somewhat terrifying, and I was hoping that Maya wasn’t scared. I shook myself from that thought process and instead tried to imagine what the Dreki realm would appear like to someone who had never been there. How Maya was going to experience it for herself the very first time.
Objectively, it was without a doubt beautiful. Smaller than some of the larger realms like Earth or Fae, but uniquely spread out in a way that you didn’t notice that to be the case. Mostly because it didn’t really consist of a linear geology. Rather, the realm had two large sky geographical regions that each consisted of smaller, more broken-up islands on opposite sides of the realm. There were no interconnected roads or paths, so you had to fly everywhere, and everything was made to fit dragons. Which, for those that didn’t shift, as with many of the ‘half-breeds’ that existed, it could be frustrating as hell. I mean, shit, even in human