The Hunt for Tanpres #3

Chapter 1 Cont.

Why was it that she felt more at ease now. He did seem to be friendly and was almost cute. His face was playful and endearing; although, she assumed that when he was angry, he would be formidable. He was an animal in appearance, but he took on human qualities. "Are you real? If so, how can you be? Dragons are a myth and can’t speak because they are only myth. What I’m experiencing is a hallucination that makes me think you’re real. You can’t be. Great! That means I’m hearing voices, too. This is not good. I don’t have time for a nervous breakdown or to develop schizophrenia. So I guess I don't need to ask the question in the first place." She tried to take some deep breaths and re-center herself.

"You doubt." The huge dragon face about 2-1/2 feet up and down and 1-1/2 feet side to side frowned.

How was that possible? How can a dragon express emotion? She couldn't help but notice how he was displeased. Gulp. She just upset what could be a man-eating fire-breathing dragon. Clearly, she was out of her mind.

Bakari shrugged his shoulders. "That's fine. You won't have any other choice shortly." He had no doubt whatsoever about that. The truth would be seen square on and she would have to face it.

Megan could tell that he was almost hurt by her doubt. She took a step closer as she felt the desire to comfort him. Her reaction was odd, she thought. He moved his long neck and brought his face a little closer to her. She wanted to touch him and see if he was solid in form. He looked it, but he had appeared, disappeared, and reappeared, after all. When she took another step toward him, she held out her hand to touch his face.

"It's okay." He bat his eyes at her and moved his head closer to her after he offered her reassurance. She cupped what would be his cheek with her palm and he swung his head into it like a cat and let out a loud rumble that showed pleasure and was almost like a purr. His skin had ripples from the scales, yet was soft. She felt a bond with him. That was strange. Why did she?

"I can change my coloring and skin. I make my skin hard like this in battle or in danger." Megan felt that happen underneath her palm. "Now, please remove your hand. I'm going to sharpen my scales. Carefully touch them and see for yourself. Don't be cut, though."

She saw silver blades outline each of the scales, but as she felt them, they were even harder skin with rough areas that could slice whoever touched him. She observed that the armor would keep him safe. She was absolutely intrigued. "Wow!" Then, Bakari made his skin soft once again.

He was glad to see her amazement. It did his heart good. Soon, she'd learn that he would do anything for her and would risk his life for her. She was his queen. He had known her for a long time. "Megan?" His voice was soft.
"Yes?" What did he want?

The dragon would slowly explain things to her. "Have you ever had the impression that you had more of a story than you could ever put your finger on? Like there was more to you than you knew or understood? Like there was something different about you?"

"Yes." She didn't have to think about it. She already knew.

"You were an orphan from day one, here in this world. We took you in a basket as a baby and put you in a police car where you were safe from the elements and where we knew he'd find you." Bakari the dragon started to fill in the gaps for her.

Megan knew that she was adopted, but not much else. Her parents wanted her to remember that they chose her and chose to keep her and make her part of their family. "Yes. My father, Jonah. He's a cop. My mama is Daphne. They adopted me. How did you know?"

"We chose them. They couldn't have children and wanted them so desperately, but couldn't afford it because of your mother's cancer treatments. They paid $100 for court costs and raised you with the values we hold dear." Bakari knew that she would feel confused and would need to rectify her uneasiness.

"Huh." She was intrigued and still wondered how he knew these things. "Where are you going with this?"

"You live in the Other World here on earth and you are known as an Other. We live in the Outlands in the Outer World, which we call the Outer or the Outlands. We have five kingdoms: the Northern, Southern, Eastern, Western, and Middler. You're the chosen queen of the Northern Kingdom."

She felt like an alien or like she was in a science fiction type of time warp or something. This kept growing more strange by the second. She felt as though it were true somehow and couldn't help but wonder what it meant exactly. "Why do you say chosen?" She realized that making this remark inferred that she believed in any portion of his story. She hoped he knew better.

He cut to the chase. "You were voted to be the new Queen, girl."