“So can you enter any portal and pick where you want to go or are there specific places?”
“If you have enough power, anywhere would work but if not there are certain very specific places. For example, in Estonia, the portal to reach the Fae realm exists.”
“Fae?”
“Fairies, Fae,” he explained, nodding his head as my eyebrows went up realizing that this universe was quite large compared to what the bible and Pastor Malcolm had stated. Being raised the way I was, it made it difficult to believe in god. However, the idea of dragons was pretty easy to believe. I had literally seen them. So, the concept of believing there was Fae, according to Croy, wasn’t so far fetched.
“What other types of realms are there?” I felt very interested in knowing the types of individuals out there.
“Hundreds of thousands, and ones we don’t even know about yet.” He took a sip of his coffee while easily tugging me closer, my knees between his larger legs. “We have the Fae, Elven, and God realms that seem to have a closer connection to Earth than most. At least many of their individuals travel in and out of Earth more often than others. Then there is the Demonic realm as well as some more specific realms, like where your mates come from.”
“The boys said they came from the Dreki realm?”
Croy nodded. “There are many different types of shifters in the universe. Mythos, specifically human ones, tend to be formed after ones like myself that shift between human and animal.
“Then you have pureblood dragons, for example, that while they have a human form, are spiritually tied to the dragon inside of them. Making them less of a half and half and more as a full unit. It’s why they usually have better control of their animals.
“It’s also why creatures like them can create a mating bond without actually mating, because it's a connection of magic and soul. Whereas shifters like myself...well, I have to actually mate while placing the mating mark.”
My cheeks turned pink as a smile flitted to his lips. Croy continued his lesson. “There are also a range of half hybrids and mages that can turn into certain animals if powerful enough. Even Pixies have an animal form that they possess.”
“Wow,” I mumbled, “and you think I am like one of you? That I can shift?”
“Most shifters can sense others like them and you are very obviously a shifter,” Croy confirmed, “we just have to figure out how you shift. I have a feeling that it is different from either wolf or dragon. I had read that when a Phoenix shifts it has to be due to high emotion for the first time.”
My brow dipped. “What you said about the religious cults and killing phoenixes, or trying to, for immortality, is that why there are so few of them?”
“That’s the odd mystery of all of this,” Croy stated softly, “they shouldn’t have been able to kill them. So many theorize that they have escaped and are hiding.”
“So there could be more like me?” I probed hopefully.
“Yes, plus in the Dreki realm, the queen herself is a Blue Phoenix.”
“What’s a Blue Phoenix?”
“Dragons can’t produce pure-blood dragons without mating with a phoenix so their population would have died out if it wasn’t for their ability to mate with other creatures and create hybrids. Phoenix and dragons though can create male dragon sons and female phoenix daughters.
“The Queen of the Dreki realm has six dragon mates herself and several children, all of them male. Her youngest, a girl, died when she was very young on one of her first flights. Or as rumor states...Maya? What’s wrong, sweetheart?”
I blinked back tears from my eyes and sniffed, wiping the tears. “Sorry, not sure why I’m crying.”
Croy cupped my jaw looking over my face with concern before he continued. “The Blue Phoenix is the female heir to the throne. The queen could have several daughters, but none could replace the one that they lost. The queen can only produce one blue phoenix to be the heir to her throne.”
“What happens when she decides to leave the throne?”
“Technically, she and her mates never have to. Normal dragons can be killed, but upon mating with the blue phoenix, they gain immortality from even the worst deaths like herself. The regenerative quality of rebirth transfers to them as well. This only happens when blue phoenixes mate. It is considered a perk among royalty.
However, if they choose to, they can bring someone onto the throne. Although, that would no doubt be very highly debated.”
I took a sip of my coffee trying to ignore the odd pain in my chest. “That’s a lot to think about.”
“I know,” he nodded softly. “It’s important you know everything you can, Maya, because if your father's persistence tells me anything, the hunt for a phoenix is very much alive.”
“I am still confused about why,” I growled slightly, “why the killing?”
“Humans,” he shook his head, “have always been obsessed with the idea of living forever. A constant fear of death, paired with the unknown. The idea of not existing bothers them. So when they found that the blood of a phoenix could heal someone, they thought that maybe drinking it would be akin to the fountain of youth. It had started with Hitler in World War II as they searched and raided religious institutions for artifacts. My guess? Radicals who still believe in the asshole’s message still exist it seems, in Louisiana at least.”
“Pastor Malcolm talked about Hitler a lot,” I stated softly in thought. “You’ve been around for two hundred years, right? Or something like that. Were you part of the war?”