little guy isn’t injured — he’s just lost, and too young to say where he came from. Inquiries are being made in Alfheim, Nornheim, Svarthlheimr, and Niflheim — but it’s difficult to track down dragon parents. They’re extremely loving toward their children, and reward their progeny’s rescuers with treasure and friendship. However, visit the wrong dragon den, or fail to speak your business quickly enough, and they’ll try to eat you.
“He has a tail and wings like yours, Durga,” Amy says. “And just like you he can’t fly yet, either.” Which is why all the perches are no higher than eight feet, and all have little steps to the top.
Durga is silent for a long moment. And then, stroking the dragon’s tail, she says softly, “I want to see the blue people.”
Amy stops scratching the scales behind the dragon’s ears and looks at her daughter. Durga’s wearing a shirt specially designed to accommodate her wings. Its pale pink color contrasts sharply with her sapphire-hued skin, as does the white of her anklet socks and the light gray of her skirt. Skirts are easier when you have a tail.
Right now, her daughter’s tail is swishing agitatedly. She blinks. Durga’s eyes are on hers. Durga’s eyes are such a dark blue they’re almost black, and right now they’re wide and pleading. Her tiny bow lips press together, and her little nose sniffs. Durga is beautiful even when she’s sad. It’s not motherly pride, it’s true. Her features are perfect and her blue skin is magical.
But Durga is six years old and beginning to think she’s not beautiful. There are no blue princesses in cartoons, or princesses with tails or bat wings.
“I want to see the blue people,” Durga says again. The voice actually comes from a little pendant around her neck. Durga speaks at frequencies normally inaudible to humans. Fortunately, her “aunt” Harding’s hearing isn’t normal. The Marine communications specialist had detected the cries of Bohdi’s and Amy’s child when Durga was a baby. Brett and Bryant were able to create devices that lowered the pitch. At first the two “Gods of Electronics and Small Engines” crammed the devices into baby monitors. But as Durga has gotten older and mobile, they’ve concealed the devices in costume jewelry. This “Durga Translator” they’ve put in an ornate “Magical Princess Pendant” for their “little blue princess.” When they’d presented it to Durga she’d thought it would grant wishes. Her first words after getting the gift were, “Magic pendant, make me not blue.”
Amy’s brow furrows. “Durga,” she whispers. “We can’t go see the blue people. Only special doctors and scientists are supposed to see them.” The reason the building has been closed to the public, and turned into a magical rehabilitation center, is that the World Gate within goes to a tenth, formerly unknown realm.
Technically, Durga isn’t even supposed to know that the “blue people” or the Tenth Realm exist, but she has magical bat hearing.
Durga swishes her tail. “You’re a doctor-scientist and I’ll be with you.”
Amy bites her lip. Bohdi told Amy that Durga was becoming obsessed with seeing the “blue people.” To dissuade her, Amy has broken down and told Durga secret information: the blue people aren’t like her, they don’t have wings, and their tails are furred. They look like upright, blue, mostly hairless lemurs. Their DNA shows they diverged from Earth primates about 60 million years ago. How the ancestor of Earth primates and lemurs got to the Tenth Realm is anyone’s guess.
Bending down so that her eyes are level with her daughter’s, Amy says, “Durga, the blue people … they are a new people … when hominids from the Nine Realms go there, they have to be careful not to be seen. We don’t want to disrupt their evolution.”
“So use your magic and hide us.”
Amy straightens. She also doesn’t want her daughter to see how violent the
“He has a tail and wings like yours, Durga,” Amy says. “And just like you he can’t fly yet, either.” Which is why all the perches are no higher than eight feet, and all have little steps to the top.
Durga is silent for a long moment. And then, stroking the dragon’s tail, she says softly, “I want to see the blue people.”
Amy stops scratching the scales behind the dragon’s ears and looks at her daughter. Durga’s wearing a shirt specially designed to accommodate her wings. Its pale pink color contrasts sharply with her sapphire-hued skin, as does the white of her anklet socks and the light gray of her skirt. Skirts are easier when you have a tail.
Right now, her daughter’s tail is swishing agitatedly. She blinks. Durga’s eyes are on hers. Durga’s eyes are such a dark blue they’re almost black, and right now they’re wide and pleading. Her tiny bow lips press together, and her little nose sniffs. Durga is beautiful even when she’s sad. It’s not motherly pride, it’s true. Her features are perfect and her blue skin is magical.
But Durga is six years old and beginning to think she’s not beautiful. There are no blue princesses in cartoons, or princesses with tails or bat wings.
“I want to see the blue people,” Durga says again. The voice actually comes from a little pendant around her neck. Durga speaks at frequencies normally inaudible to humans. Fortunately, her “aunt” Harding’s hearing isn’t normal. The Marine communications specialist had detected the cries of Bohdi’s and Amy’s child when Durga was a baby. Brett and Bryant were able to create devices that lowered the pitch. At first the two “Gods of Electronics and Small Engines” crammed the devices into baby monitors. But as Durga has gotten older and mobile, they’ve concealed the devices in costume jewelry. This “Durga Translator” they’ve put in an ornate “Magical Princess Pendant” for their “little blue princess.” When they’d presented it to Durga she’d thought it would grant wishes. Her first words after getting the gift were, “Magic pendant, make me not blue.”
Amy’s brow furrows. “Durga,” she whispers. “We can’t go see the blue people. Only special doctors and scientists are supposed to see them.” The reason the building has been closed to the public, and turned into a magical rehabilitation center, is that the World Gate within goes to a tenth, formerly unknown realm.
Technically, Durga isn’t even supposed to know that the “blue people” or the Tenth Realm exist, but she has magical bat hearing.
Durga swishes her tail. “You’re a doctor-scientist and I’ll be with you.”
Amy bites her lip. Bohdi told Amy that Durga was becoming obsessed with seeing the “blue people.” To dissuade her, Amy has broken down and told Durga secret information: the blue people aren’t like her, they don’t have wings, and their tails are furred. They look like upright, blue, mostly hairless lemurs. Their DNA shows they diverged from Earth primates about 60 million years ago. How the ancestor of Earth primates and lemurs got to the Tenth Realm is anyone’s guess.
Bending down so that her eyes are level with her daughter’s, Amy says, “Durga, the blue people … they are a new people … when hominids from the Nine Realms go there, they have to be careful not to be seen. We don’t want to disrupt their evolution.”
“So use your magic and hide us.”
Amy straightens. She also doesn’t want her daughter to see how violent the
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