You step out onto a path on the edge of a low hill. The grass is a wild mess of a dozen different types; the air is startlingly clean and bracing; and everything feels right.

Its not something you notice right away, even as a verser, but you know you've come to a place that is very much like Earth.  The gravity, the oxygen, the plants all speak of home to you.

Suddenly you're in shade.

You look up and see hovering above you a red thing like a 747. A gentle breeze, touched with cinnammon, and snake, and methane rushes past you as the wings of the dragon flex.

*Welcome to my Hunting Grounds, Magician. I am Terracuyl, queen of all the land you can ssssee. I would stay and chat about the spell you just used, but the Lancastrian Duke has a jeweled bracelet he desires to give my magnificence. He wishes to have me attend his tournameant, and I am agreeable. So come when you wish to my mountain, you have my permission."

To any other creatue saying 'my magnificence' would be arrogance, but to this creature, its simply stating the truth.

Tom is quite glad he isn't going insane from the Symbiot.  Then again, its functions might have been suspended by the door.  It might not even work here.  He will need to test that out later, but not here.

Obviously, this is a world where magic works.  There is a part of him that must wonder if the entire thing is a simulation of some kind, but on some level Tom is fairly sure that this place is as real as any other.

Tom wasn't sure if Terracuyl was offering him a ride, but since he had no other bearings or immediate destination and was being a gracious host he said, "I would be honored to be your guest.  This tournament, I must admit, sounds quite intruiging.  I do not possess a spell of flight that can match the speed of a dragon, so if you would be so gracious as to take me with you along the way, perhaps we could engage in polite conversation of myriad interesting subjects?"

Terracuyl's outer eyelids blink once over the gold-streaked orbs, and then she smiles with teeth that are nearly as large as you.

"Best you be interesting then, Magician."

She scoops you up, and thunders skyward.  The ground drops away much faster than a freight elevator.

"I shall go no higher else you would pass out. We shall descend in a talon of minutes."

Below you is a giant forrest of rippling green that spreads unbroken to the north until it reaches a line of black mountains that spike the air. To your right, you see small villages and farmsteads carved out of the forrest. In front of you, at the horizon is a glimmer of silver.

"This is my Dragonhunt. Perhaps it is the natural love of home, but I think it is the best one in the world. Below us is the Elves. Rather insolent for all their feigned respect. I prefer Humans, and not to eat, Magician. A Human is a very small morsel, not really worth the trouble to chase one down. And one always runs the risk of getting a bit of metal stuck in the teeth."

PT

Tom is awed by the flight.  He had flown in a hot air balloon once, and of course, he had flown with Cool and he had flown in a plane, but nothing compared to flight by dragon.

He ponders what to say, but finally decides to start with simple yet truthful.  It wasn't so much that he wanted to lie, but by starting with one subject and expanding slowly upon it, he could gain insight into the world and hopefully avoid minefields, "I must be frank great Terracuyl, I am not from this world.  So while our story books contain descriptions of the might of elves and dragons, I am gloried to see that mere words or paintings do not compare.  Being human, I must by default agree with your opinion that humans make poor meals.  Not so much from an informed perspective but by self interest.  I must admit to absolute ignorance of virtually everything of this world."

"Another world without dragon or elves, but with Humans sounds most intriguing. Are there other creatures of spirit and flesh in your world? Do you stand above them, if so?"

A panic stricken flock of wyverns dives out of the way of Terracuyl.

"Mindless beasts, and a plague upon the land as some foolish mage made them several centuries ago, and they have no natural predators except for me, and frankly they taste terrible. Nothing like a good kraken, fresh pulled from the Pirate Gulf. I've instructed the mages that the next one that makes such a nuisance will have his home city burnt to ash."

Terracuyl pauses.

"Some philosphers theorize that the spirit is in another realm. Could this realm be connected to your world, and that is how information of elves and dragons passed to your world which has none?"

And then she stoops like a falcon would except a thousand times larger. About half way to the ground, she lets go of you with a toothy grin.

PT