Portals To Another World

○Plane○

"Some say there's a mighty dragon in the sky, feasting off stray aeroplanes. You better not stray off the route girly."

I sigh,
"First of all, never call me girly again. Second of all, there's no such thing as that. It is a myth passed down through pilots just to scare them into going the right route."

"Ah now lassie, you can't say for certain if you 'aven't got any proof."

"I'll say again, don't call me lassie. I know for certain because if that did exist we would know about it. Now buzz off and let me prepare."

He hesitates but walks away, saying over his shoulder just to scare since it's my first time on this route,
"Don't stray away lassie."

~~~~

"Hey Martha. What's todays songs eh?"
"Georgie we're not playing music while listening to see if we fly into a plane. Just not happening."
He flicks a few switches and then speaks into the mic, he always jokes around with this bit,

"Heeeello there earthlings, this is your alien overlord, I have taken over this plane and-"
"Georgie!"
"I'm joking folks! I am just your co-pilot, who is telling you all the boring stuff like pay attention my alien airforce who are now telling you to check your fire exits and all that. You've probably been on a plane before. Have fun!"

He switches off the mic and turns to me, grinning.

"Wow Georgie, real mature."

The plane speeds up, racing along the track, until it glides into the air. Changing course to avoid some turbulence, Georgie trys to ask me something,

"So. Martha."
"Yes that's my name."
"Yes."
"Okay."
"Yep!"
"What are you doing?"
"Asking you for a coffee."
"By saying so?"
"Yeeeaaah."
"No."
"No to the coffee or no as in Martha isn't your real name? Are you alien?"
I shake my head at him, smiling,
"No as in no thanks for the coffee."
His face drops.
"Am I that unappealing? Was it because i called you an alien? Maybe because I never take this job seriously?"
I laugh at him and click on the light that signals the airport below us that we are directly above them.
"You're not unappealing and who knows, maybe I am an alien. But it's a no because I'm lesbian Georgie, but I will go for coffee as friends. Coffee is good."
His eyebrows shoot up and his mouth drops,
"Oh!"
"Yup."
"You're a.. a lesbian."
"I'm lesbian, not a it Georgie."
"Yeah I know. But I mean like wow."
Before I can stop him he's grabbing the mic and whispering into it,

"Hello? Hello hi. Your co-pilot just got rejected on the terms that she is lesbian and isn't that just amazing?"
No sarcasm. Just... friendliness.
The passengers laugh at him a little but go back to their things, music and books and emails.
He flicks off the mic and sits back up, looking at me,

"Lesbian!"
"Yes Georgie. It's really not that big of a deal-"
"No it is! I mean.. you like women... and I like women.. I could be like your wing-women-liker!"
I swear, only Georgie would say something like that. I love him for it honestly.
"Sure why not."
"Yay!"

We chat a bit more, the topic moving to pasta somehow. Georgie is ranting about some special type of sauce he likes, I'm only half listening. I'm staring out the foggy window. It's started to snow now, the falling soft ice like confetti.

"So obviously I like cheese, like, the more cheese the better! But, the type of cheese that you get..."
His voice fades away as I see something, a shadow, moving behind the cloud. In a flash my head is thinking about the supposed dragon.

"Um... Martha? You there?"
"Hm? Oh. Yeah. Sorry, about cheese you were saying?"
"Oh my god, I've moved on Martha!"
"Sorry. I was just.. looking outside."
"Well what's out there?"
"Just, I don't know. How long until we land?"
"Two hours left thank god."
"Right."

Suddenly a loud bang sounds and the whole plane shakes. My head snaps up and my eyes dart around to all the cameras, checking the sides of the plane. Nothing.

"Jesus pasta! What was that? That couldn't have been turbulance!"
"No. It wasn't. Something crashed into us."
"Girl, excuse me what?"
"Remember that janitor who told us about the dragon?"
"Yes?"
"Well..."
"Oh no. That's not possible Martha."
"You don't know that for sure though."

Another crash sends the passengers into wild panic, some clutching their loved ones hands and some clutching the arm rests, eyes shut tightly. I spin to Georgie,

"Now's your time to be stupid. Mic. Speak. Now. Go!"

The mic clicks on, and his voice drones out over the plane, calming the passengers, and reassuring them it will be okay. Of course, he makes a joke about aliens and suddenly the people are laughing. Maybe he's not so stupid.
My attention comes crashing down on the controls again, my fingers flying over the panel with my training kicking in.
Another bang. And another. Another and another. The last one follows with a crack and Georgie covers the mic and whispers to me,

"Um Martha? I know I said that it's a terrible idea but could you maybe take us off track to get away from that thing?"

Despite everything that's happening, I grin at him, flip a switch and bank the plane through another layer of clouds. Yet the thing in the clouds follow us. Still crashing up against the plane. Like a race car nudging another into the wall. The thing isn't pushing us down, it's pushing us sideways. Nudging us somewhere. Suddenly my hands are off the panel and I'm sitting back. Georgie is yelling at me to take control again, to save the passengers, to save us. Yet my fingers don't stray to the controls, I don't take my eyes away from the window.

Beyond the clouds, coiling and twisting, it appears. A dragon. Georgies crys seem far away now, my eyes focused on the body that is flying outside. It's breath visible in the cold air, large huffs of mist fog up the window as it gets closer. It's eyes big and half closed against the wind, it's grey in colour, scales shimmering in the dim light through the clouds. I don't know why but I trust it. Georgie tries to steer the plane himself but doesn't know how to unlock the panel, his voice small and afraid as he whispers,

"Martha. Martha please do something. That thing is going to kill us. We don't know what it wants. And it's a dragon for cheese sake!"
I grab his shaking hands and tell him to calm down, that somehow I know it'll be okay. He stops shaking and let's go of my hands,

"Fine. Don't do anything. I'm going back to calm the passengers. May the luck of pasta be with you. I guess."

I sit back in my chair again and wait for the dragon to realise I'm not pulling it back anymore. When it does, it shifts it weight against the side of the plane and pushes us off to the right. Even from the cockpit I can hear Georgie ranting about how grated cheese is nicer than sliced, it's distracting the passengers at least.
An hour passes, and the dragon slows. Suddenly Georgie is back beside me, staring intently out the window.

A cliff cuts through the clouds. It's side compiled of sharp rock, we're going to slam into it. Now my hands move. Pressing switches and pulling on the panel to guide the plane away in time. But the dragon doesn't let it budge. We're stuck on a path towards the cliff side. Georgie starts to cry, his hands shaking again. The falling snow reminds me of ash now.
But then the dragon breathes not fire, but a blue air, a bright blue air onto he cliff side and it's suddenly it's disappeared. Replaced with a portal, I've only seen this in movies, why is it here?

We fly through the air, heading straight for the cliff, we pass through the portal just as Georgie grabs my hand, a small electricity shock runs through my body.

All my senses are plunged into white.