THE FOURTH REALM: GREEN — The registry

“Helio, help me find the registration office.”

Before long, she sensed which way to go. She followed that certainty to a place divided into sections. A sign hung above each one: “Pegasi,” “Laces,” “Fugaíns,” “Phoenixes,” “Mermaids,” “Dwarves.”

And at last: “Dragons.”

Skyblue laughed aloud with relief. She would never have imagined that the word could make her so happy.

She approached the first group.

“You’re not one of us,” they told her.

The dragon looked at her paws, her wings, and the tip of her tail, in case the journey had brought about some change she had failed to notice.

A female dragon beckoned to her from another group.

“Here. You belong here. Your scales are the same color as ours.”

Skyblue went over without asking questions. She was so exhausted that she would have agreed to belong to a group of stones, provided they let her lie down.

The official in charge of registration called her over. He asked her to spread her wings, lift her forepaws, turn in a circle to the right, then to the left. He examined her scales carefully and began to shake his head.

“I’m not so sure.”

Skyblue held back a sigh.

The dragon took another look at the flashes of blue among her scales. At last, he handed her a small map.

“Settle in this sector. I hope you won’t have any trouble. Some of your scales are different from those of your group.”

Skyblue took the map and thanked him. She had no strength left to explain that those scales had appeared during the journey and that she didn’t know why, either.