Blood Bride (Aarabassa World) by Catherine L Vickers

She Mindtalked him, a little annoyed at his constant presence.
    He did not reply but hurried away from the chamber looking quite pleased with himself.  Heather wondered at what he had to be so happy about, perhaps he felt attracted to her gracious charms. She was quite confident that she made a fine looking female dragon,
     

 
 
 
9                   The Crossing
     
    The Magic Wall shimmered with a glittering emerald green barrier, a splendid sight.
    Six bulky dragons stood firmly confronting the humming force. Heather positioned herself proudly, her snowy scales flickering whenever she swayed her body. The Queen stood next to her and four adult male dragons accompanied them.
    I meant to mention to you, Queen Thimat, Heather Mindtalked her companion, Your father could do with a few lessons in manners. Why he …
    Heather, my father no longer moves in this world, I am the oldest dragon in my lineage.
    So who was the little royal elderly dragon that directed me to the sparkling cavern and instructed me to Change to a dragon?
    I had assumed that you had chosen the dragon form yourself and I agreed and thought it a good idea.
    Oh. I see. That is strange isn’t it? So who is the little turquoise dragon who calls himself a Royal?
    This is not familiar to me. What is a turquoise, is it a name?
    Let’s just forget it shall we? Someone is playing tricks with me. I’ll attend to it later. Are you ready to pass through the Wall?
    Heather felt cheated by this little trickster. What was his game? She had not sensed any evil presence in him, in fact there had been a kind of cheeky kindness in his bearing.
    The Queen approached the radiating partition and quickly advanced through the Wall. Half of her body vanished as she advanced through the pulsing colours. Then she was gone. Heather followed, apprehensive of the magical elements. The four male dragons were at the rear and soon all had passed through the magical partition.
    It’s dark and cold here, Heather peered around in the deep gloom. Her dragon senses allowed better vision in the darkness and although her scales protected her from feeling the coldness, she just sensed the chill. She could make out the contour of dark icy walls where shiny wet icicles dangled dangerously, ready to thrust downwards upon any creature that walked under their piercing tips.
    This is only the Crossing Cavern, one of the males informed her, we must make our way up to the surface.
    The pathway was almost a mirror image to that which they had taken in the Lightland mid-mountain caves, following wide winding tunnels. The others seemed to know their way but Heather still imagined being lost for all of eternity in this never-ending labyrinth. 
    At last, the air was fresher, they had arrived at the end of their underground journey. 
    Heather departed from the damp underworld to look upon a spectacular landscape. The world appeared with a hue of sinister yellowish dimness. Nytloon shone down on them on a much grander scale, radiating with an eerie red and orange glow that almost seemed to pulsate. Never before had she seen this moon’s true colours. In the Lightlands, Nytloon was the least prominent of the two moons and pinker rather than this reddish colouring. The skies were truly extraordinary, dancing with a sprinkling of twinkling silver lights.
    What manner of creatures are those? Heather asked of herself.
    The dragons chuckled at her naive fascination. She could sense the chorus in their minds and turned to question them, taking them by surprise.
    What? She asked of them.
    My dear, Queen Thimat gently coaxed her. We all of us forget of the wonders and beauty that the Darklands have to offer. What you see in the skies are the stars of the outer worlds.
    What is this “outer worlds” that you speak of, Queen? Heather could not shift from her upwards gaze of the spectacular display of shimmering lights.
    It is believed among the dragon race that we are one world of many. Each