Merna My mind had taken me to the abyss; I shifted my feet, knowing that underneath me was something solid. It was not smooth like a tile floor, possibly a slab of rock. A male voice echoed in my mind, “Limestone to be exact!” I recognized the voice from before being captured. “You're in my mind! I have to be sleeping; this is not happening!” I muttered to myself. There was a chuckle, “This is happening, a method in which we speak to others when we want a private conversation or for other purposes!.” Slowly the form of a translucent dragon came into view. “Some of us can even project our image and surroundings, if we so wish to!” The seconds that passed, the darker the form became. A solid obsidian dragon was in front of me. “Is this your true form?” I asked not believing what my eyes were presenting to my mind. The dragon was huge, in the sitting position it had to be ten feet tall from head to hip. If I added in the length of his legs, close to fifteen feet tall. Since I could not see his tail I had to guess that in length he would be twenty-five feet. That made this dragon massive! “Do you believe that dinosaurs walked the earth?” I swear the dragon was smiling as he showed me all of its teeth. The logical side of my brain took over, “Yes, there are bones to prove it!” “Why would this be so hard for you to believe?” His tone had a notion of humour. “Ah …” I scratched the left side of my head, “well …” I tried to come up with a reasonable answer. “I have not seen a dragon in my travels and frankly, from where I come from, dragons are more of a myth! A story that is told to those that will listen” I slowly ventured closer to the dragon, scared out of my mind. The power that he was admitting was sending tingles all over my body. My mind was going wild! "So you say!" I could hear his low tone in my mind. My site was glued on this behemoth of a creature, "there are many cultures that speak of dragons. Ancient times!" I stopped moving my feet, I could not tell if I liked the tingling sensation or not! "Each culture has their own representation of a dragon." He started to laugh, "and what is your final conclusion of the information that you have?" I studied his features further, "you are like a tyrannosaurus! Tho with two sets of wings and four legs." I paused wondering if I should continue speaking. "You know ... this is almost intimidating!" The dragon positioned himself so he was lying down with his head looking at me. “Do you know who I am?” He blinked his golden orbs. “Who you are is not what concerns me; what you are capable of doing ... that does!” I was being frank with this entity. “But you are called the Master! What you are would be a dragon that can change forms if you should wish!” Shifting into a humanoid shape, the Master moved closer to me, “Your fear is filtering off you in waves little.human.hybrid.” He sniffed the air, which did not ease my anxiety any. "Mixed with ..." The Master sniffed the air around me onetime furthermore, "Excitement!" He growled low. I thought I had my emotions wrapped up tightly, “Where did you take me and those that were with me?” I asked calmly, hoping that if I could strike up a conversation, he would not think about eating me. The Master growled, which caused my heart to pound in my chest faster. Smiling, “If you must know, hell! You and your companions are in my territory!” He replied. “That can’t be; I have never come across this place before in my travels.” My mind jumped to the biblical term. I should have thought about the tone of voice I spoke in. The Master growled deeper causing me to squeal. Taking half a stride towards me, “Not the biblical term; hell means underground, where we dwell, with the dead.” I felt my chest rising and falling, the pounding in my chest being my heart. “Where we will be tortured?” Giving me a toothy grin, “Only if you disobey me! I will have to punish you, will I have to punish you?” The grin on his face told me that he had no issues with handing out punishments of different styles. A shiver ran down my spine! A thought crossed my mind, “You are the Master of all underground, correct? So would that make you a god of the dead?” "So often I am mistaken for a god of the dead!" The Master smiled, showing me his many pointed teeth, “Only this section; there are many other regions my sisters, brothers, and kin occupy. God of the dead, it is a little more complicated than that.” This is when I started to pay attention to everything that he was showing me. I could see the placement of his mouth, nose, and eyes. The mouth and nose were similar to a human; the one thing he could not change was his eyes. His eyes were a cesspool of darkness, with flakes of golden energy rapidly swirling around in all directions.I have always believed that their eyes were the window to the soul. That is where ... if you looked hard enough, you would find the truth even if the person tried to hide what they did not want you to see. Their eyes can not lie. I was scared out of my mind, but I had to know the truth; I looked him in the eyes. In seconds I was getting a mental download of his life and where he had been. I covered my mouth in shock from what I had seen. It was just a glimpse into his existence. He did not move, studying my body language! He did not shield his eyes from me; I would have thought he would have protected himself from my prying mind. I know it was only seconds of doing this, but it felt like hours I had been reading his thoughts, memories, and so much more. “What am I, little.human.hybrid?” He asked me as he placed his large hand around the nape of my neck and brought my left ear closer to his mouth. Shivering! I hesitated, but I could not stop the words from flowing out of my mouth, “There is no word that could describe how dangerous you are.” I filled my lungs to their fullest, “You are the Master of darkness! Everything that is not touched by the light, you have domain over, no other tells you what to do! Chaos!” I whispered, “You are one of the first to come to consciousness. You are one of many who brought forth the forms that we call gods and goddesses!” I could feel his tongue lick me from my jawline up to my temple, “remember that!” He let go of me and backed away from me, “Get up, and get yourself ready for dinner; I expect you to be ready in five minutes.” He began to chuckle. I opened my eyes, placing my hand on my chest as I slowly started to comprehend what just happened. I have been to many places, many realms. I have never come across this eternal nor thought that such a being existed. I knew I was screwed! I did not comprehend how utterly screwed I was. I sat up as the door opened and a female walked into the room. Standing at the door entrance, “the Master is expecting you to dine with him.” Her hand was on her hip. I knew this was not a request. Strolling over to the female, I looked at the lady, she was in a simple white gown that was well worn. The tips of her ears were pointed. Her complexion was ivory with no blemishes. Brown hair that was pulled back and hazy deep chocolate brown eyes. Standing slightly shorter than myself! If I had to make an assumption I would say fae. The lady glanced behind herself as if to make sure that no one could hear what she had to say. “If you ever want to be freed from this place, do not eat anything, only drink the water. The Master can not claim you …” A dark shadow came up behind the female, stopping her from finishing her sentence. “Is the female ready to go?”The female lowered her gaze to the floor, “yes, Master Ashur!”