Chapter 19

Jorani and I were feeding our Daughters their evening bottle of formula. Well, I had gotten the bottles out of the refrigerator, brought them upstairs and heated them. Jorani was doing most of the feeding, however. The girls had their cereal much earlier that afternoon, and were industriously emptying the present bottles before going to sleep for a long nap. Just as they had finished eating, the Spirit of Witch Magic appeared in the room surprising us.

“Welcome, Spirit of Witch Magic,” I said on recovering.

“Is there a problem?” Jorani asked, getting right to the point.

“Yes, Queen Thangakili. There is a young Female almost Dragon who needs your personal reassurance that she will not be permanently changed when she becomes a Dragon after learning sufficient Magic. She is very upset presently,” the Spirit told us.

“Where is she?” Jorani asked.

“She has just recently arrived at the offspring village near your Nest. She is currently with the Eternal Monk who is trying to calm her down. She arrived with one of the Green Clan Dragons,” the Spirit told us.

“My Daughters will need to finish eating and get to sleep before I could leave. Even then, we won’t be able to remain there long,” Jorani was telling the Spirit when Mom entered the room to retrieve her youngest Daughter.

“It is good that you have arrived now, Queen Tintaglia, as I believe that you should accompany us along with all of your infant Daughters. This will calm and reassure the young almost Female Dragon,” the Spirit of Witch Magic told us much to our surprise.

“All four Daughters?” Jorani asked in dismay.

“Yes, all four. They will reassure the young woman. Each of you take one of the Daughters, and I’ll take the last one,” the Spirit added.

We had no more than each picked up one of our Daughters than we all vanished from Mom’s house to reappear in the offspring village below the Nest location in the Dragon Reality. It was early evening there, and I had to wonder how that could be, as the two places were twelve hours apart. Perhaps, the Spirits could move through time as well as space, I thought.

When we arrived, Dukhor was just emerging from the building where Magic was taught, and where he held Buddhist ceremonies. He was quite surprised to see us there and turned to the young woman with him.

“You are very fortunate, Chu Hua. Both of the Dragon Queens are here to visit today,” the Eternal Monk told the young woman in Tibetan before turning to us.

“Welcome Dragon Queens. We are honored by your visit,” he told us, having switched to English. We had also been noticed by a number of those moving about in the village, and the word quickly spread that the Dragon Queens were there for a visit.

“This is Chu Hua. Her name means Chrysanthemum in Chinese. She arrived here a short time ago with a member of the Green Clan,” Dukhor told us. The young woman was looking at us with a confused expression. She said something to Dukhor in Tibetan. He grinned before addressing us again.

“She says that you all appear to be Human. How can you be Dragons?” he told us. Mom and Jorani both smiled at the two of them before transforming into their Dragon forms at the twenty-five-foot-tall level. The Daughter that they were each holding remained Human infants and at their normal size, though they both smiled hugely. All of those who had gathered around us were amazed by this. However, the young woman, Chu Hua, seemed even more surprised than the others. She said something more to Dukhor who turned toward us.

“Chu Hua was amazed that your children did not change when their mothers did,” he told us. Mother and Jorani returned to their Human form before either answered.

“We are all the new Dragon form that came from their offspring. Our Daughters will not be able to change forms by themselves until they are older and have learned a sufficient amount of Magic,” Jorani told him and her, but Dukhor needed to translate her words again. This was also the point where the Spirit of Witch Magic chose to speak again.

“This is much too slow and subject to error,” she said before casting a spell while drawing its sign in the air. Chu Hua appeared to be totally shocked by this and gasped in amazement.

“I have gifted her with the ability to speak and understand English. Also, with the ability to speak, read, and write Gaelic in its many dialects. The Gaelic will require a few days to be completely effective. She will be able to use English in a few minutes,” the Spirit told us. Chu Hua was just staring at us in confusion.

“How can I understand what that woman said?” she asked in perfect English a short time later.

“You have been gifted with new abilities in language,” the Spirit told her with a smile.

“But how?” Chu Hua asked in a confused voice.

“By Magic, of course. You have an extremely strong Talent and carry the genes to become a Dragon when you learn sufficient Magic,” the Spirit told her.

“Like the Queens?” she asked in confusion.

“Not quite like the Queens,” the Spirit answered before touching Chu Hua who was instantly changed into her Dragon form, much to all of our surprise. There were gasps of shock and surprise from all of those present, even from the Queens of Old and the Queens in the Jewel who had accompanied us but had remained invisible.

The reason for this was that before us stood a White Dragon at the twenty-five-foot-tall level. The Queens of Old were the first to speak on becoming visible.

“There hasn’t been a White Dragon in ... in!” they said but needed to stop to estimate the amount of time in our units. “In about six thousand of your years,” they continued in an amazed voice. Chu Hua was looking down at her new self in shock and amazement also.

“How can this be?” she asked after a short time.

“The Spirit of Witch Magic has revealed your true self. You are an exceptional individual, as all of those who have been White Dragons have been in the past. They have always been advisors to the Queens,” the Queens of Old and the Queens in the Jewel, who had also become visible, assured her with a smile.

“But I am only...!” Chu Hua started before looking down at herself again and not knowing how to continue.

“I believe that my work is finished here,” the Spirit of Witch Magic said before changing Chu Hua back into her Human form and then disappearing. She had also transferred my third Daughter, who she had been carrying, to Jorani who was the first to speak after she disappeared.

“I believe that this exceptional young woman should come to study Magic with us so WE can help her with any questions she may have,” Jorani told everyone there. Chu Hua looked undecided, but Dukhor spoke to her in English for all of us to hear.

“You should go with them. It is a great honor to study with the Dragon Queens and their children. They are all very knowledgeable. They will also be able to teach you about the world outside of Tibet and China. These are also things that an exceptional Dragon should know about,” he told her. Chu Hua slowly took hesitant steps toward us.

As she reached us, Deirdre smiled at her, but that was all. However, the most amazing reaction came from our three Daughters. They all smiled at her, cooing and reaching out to be held by her. It was as if they had just found their best friend for life, and all three of them were insistent that she hold them.

Jorani held out Botum (Princess) whom she had been carrying for Chu Hua to hold. Daeva (Angel) whom I was holding and Maly (Blossom) whom Jorani had received from the Spirit of Witch Magic immediately set up a fuss. Chu Hua looked very confused by all of this.

“I am unable to hold all three of them at once,” she told us. To solve the problem, I took Botum from her and handed her Daeva to hold for a time. A short time later, Jorani took Daeva from her and handed her Maly to hold. All three Daughters now seemed to be satisfied after having a turn being held by this new friend of theirs.

“I believe that we can all now return home, although the time may be a bit distorted for us,” Mom told us before we turned back to Dukhor.

“Thank you for watching Chu Hua until we arrived Reverend Monk,” Jorani told him and bowed as well as she could while holding one of her Daughters. We all transferred to the top of the mountain then taking Chu Hua with us. From there we returned to the Human Reality and entered the Tibetan Nest. Meanwhile, on a mountain in the Human Reality, Vaidyanaath of the Green Clan watched as they disappeared into the Nest with a satisfied expression. He had been correct that she would be a Female Dragon, and an important one from what he had seen in the Dragon Reality.

Chu Hua was amazed by all of the things that she saw on the way to the cave where we would use the Portal there to return home. We gave her a complete, if brief, trip through the Tibetan Nest.

“How can all of this be inside a mountain?” she asked as she gazed around at all of the different levels that we moved through.

“Most of it was carved out by Dragons a long time ago,” the Queens of Old told her. “Your ancestors were a part of those who helped create all of this but the cave, which is natural,” they continued.

The trip through the Portal seemed the same as always, but when the Queens opened the entrance to the Stone Mountain Nest to return home, we saw that it was night here in Atlanta, and that we were back in our own time just a short time after we had left. It appeared that the Spirit of Witch Magic had changed the Portal, at least for that one use.

On reaching home, there were arrangements to be made. Chu Hua would need a room of her own and more clothing than the Tibetan ones that she was wearing. Jorani could loan her some of her things as they were close in size. She and Mom would take Chu Hua shopping the next day for more clothing.

For now, however, we all needed to get some sleep. That is as soon as we had our Daughters tucked away in their cribs. Jorani also took Chu Hua down to the kitchen for a snack before we went to bed. There were a couple of busy days ahead of us with this new arrival, I was sure.

Just because the Queens were busy, things had not stopped happening in the rest of the world.

In the Chinese cities of Changsha, Chongqing, and Shiyan buildings began to collapse. This was NOT something caused by the Dragons. It was the result of some seemingly minor earthquakes in those areas, and the fact that the number and size of the buildings concentrated in those cities had now exceeded the capacity of the earth under them to support them.

As in many modern Chinese cities, they had over built with large, tall, heavy buildings and their support systems. It was NOT a problem that was going to go away for the Chinese or the Russians either. It just wasn’t a problem for the Russians yet like it was for the Chinese.

In Iran, the Major Demons continued to spread out to include most of the major and many of the minor cities and larger villages throughout the country. They continued to harass the Iranians and to take whatever appealed to them. The Iranian government and those in it were extremely upset with this and them.

However, because of the Major Demons’ lax attitude, the Iranians finally thought that they had captured one of those responsible for all of the trouble and destruction in their country.

One of the Major Demons from the Red Beret Gang had been very lax about the amount of explosives he used on a building that he was going to destroy. He, also, hadn’t adequately checked what the building contained. After depositing a rather large quantity of the explosives, that they had previously stolen, in the building, he set it off at what HE considered a safe distance from it. Of course, he was wrong as the building contained a significant amount of additional explosives. When set off, the explosion was much larger than intended, and the blast wave knocked him down and unconscious.

The first members of the Revolutionary Guards to arrive were already upset and on spotting his unconscious body immediately filled him full of bullets, ensuring that he would never do the same thing again. It still being nighttime, nothing happened.

On arriving sometime later and seeing the dead Demon, the area commander had the body covered and moved to another building with no windows, before he notified all of the important government and religious leaders in the surrounding area to have them attend the unveiling of one of those responsible for all of the recent trouble. The other Major Demons in the area quickly learned what had happened to their fellow Demon and made preparations of their own.

The following morning just before local noon time, a number of local and regional government officials and several high-ranking religious leaders from the area assembled outside of the Revolutionary Guards headquarters to get their first look at one of the troublemakers. The Commander of the Regional Revolutionary Guards – a Colonel -- was also on hand and made a long speech praising his subordinate and his men for capturing the troublemaker.

When he and the local commander had finished their speeches, the local commander signaled his men who brought out the still covered body of the Demon on the rolling table that it had been placed on the night before. Because the tarp still covered the body, many of those in attendance gathered around the table to get a good first look at the terrorist before the local commander whisked the tarp off of the body with no ceremony at all.

As soon as sunlight struck the body of the dead Demon, it immediately exploded, setting off the additional explosives and the shrapnel that the other Demons had packed around the body during the night. The explosion sent the blast wave and the nails and gravel they had used as shrapnel out like a giant shotgun, killing many of those in attendance and wounding many others. Even the television crew filming the event were affected. Those in Tehran immediately issued orders that any additional terrorists were to be burned immediately on being found. The Major Demons were now more careful of how much explosives they used and where they used it. The event was also hushed up by the leaders of the country.

The Chinese leaders did learn of the incident, but their agent had seen the body after it had been moved to the building. It was still dark when he saw it, but he assured those on the Central Committee that what he had seen by the light of his flashlight had not been a Dragon but something else. He wasn’t sure what kind of creature it had been, as he had never seen or known that there were such things as Demons, either minor or Major.

The Chinese leaders, especially those on the Politburo, were more worried by the new series of building collapses than they were about problems in Iran. Following a week or so of investigations in the affected cities where it was determined that it was NOT the work of Dragons, they finally consulted several prominent geologists about the problem and were astonished by what they had to say. The news of the earthquakes and the now unstable geology under those areas shocked them. The prediction that a number of other areas in and around other major cities could be subject to the same problem was not something that reassured them.

They wanted an immediate solution to this new problem, but the geologists didn’t have one that they liked. They had suggested that the government needed to reduce the size and weight of buildings in the affected areas, especially since many of those areas were presently in the process of still being rebuilt. This definitely did not fit in with the political leaders’ visions of how they wanted their cities rebuilt. They didn’t realize that this was only just the beginning of this new problem, and that it would get worse ... at least not yet.