Fantasy

The Grey Wood. Top Story - March 2024.
The Grey Wood was silent in the morning fog, like ghosts walking at dawn. The earth was still the way it always was before it came alive. He stood there among the giants. Their roots crawling deep into the soil where they had fostered strength and wisdom from ages long since past. He let his fingers brush against their rough-wood skin as he passed by them. Tahtanah (Redwoods) was their name, or the name his people knew them by. Sentinels of the realm, they stood their vigil and never a word… but, he knew; they watched, they heard; they knew all... he could feel it.
By R. B. Booth4 years ago in Fiction
The Dragon Child
CHAPTER ONE A hundred years of eternal sleep was about to be cut short by loud laughter and the dragon was very unhappy about it. Sprawled in the heart of a cave at the top of a very high mountain, she burrowed deeper in her cot of fur, attempting to catch the vestiges of her rapidly fading slumber. Yet the screams would not give, another sharp squeal filtering up to her refuge above. A warning growl escaped her throat, a last attempt to scare off whatever it was that disturbed her, and all quietened. The ensuing peace lasted long enough to allow her to drift before another scream erupted again.
By Empress4 years ago in Fiction
Awaria or The Dragon's Daughter
Awaria or The Dragon’s Granddaughter by I. Sarno There are monsters in the Slavic woods…and they are not the dragons. The sky was disturbed. It began as a red coal glowing faintly, far off. Awaria and her son had been crouched on the rock shelf at the entrance to her cave, high above the blue of Morskie Oko. Despite their keenness, their raptor eyes could not identify the threat yet. Awaria’s mirrored scales reflected the moon in its orbit while her son’s own coal black coloring drank in the darkness of the night. The hesitant red glare in the sky was not the quick, pale white streak of shooting stars. The air between dragons and invader grew tense as the fiery glow brought an accompaniment of sounds. The metallic hum and of an engine, growing steadily until the airplane dwarfed the forest, filling the empty air above them. Young smoke tendrilled from Węgiel’s nostrils, and he took to the sky to meet the threat before his mother could snap, “No!”
By I. Sarno4 years ago in Fiction
Eddie King of Dragons
A scruffy, dirty looking young man wearing nothing but a burlap sack sat on a stump by a fire. All around him the forest creatures leaned in.
By Torren Gustavsen4 years ago in Fiction
Kin Bound
Prologue The night was cold and the candles burned low. Three shallow breaths turned vapor can be seen tucked into a far corner of the tent. One could almost find it incomprehensible the intense screams that echoed from inside just hours before. Yet all that remains is a desperate and mellow song.
By George Velasquez-Franceschi4 years ago in Fiction
First Wyvernrider
It was a mistake to venture into the forest. Even in the areas not affected by The Shade, the war with the Xu’resh made it a risk.
By Matthew Ketch4 years ago in Fiction
The Eclipse
The dragon sensed an eerie presence emanating from the forest. The feeling sent a shiver down the enormous creatures hard, scaly back. Hesitantly, he rose. The dragon shuffled down from his cliff and into the forest. The trees were widely spread. His kind has been traveling through this forest for many ages, and the trees had learned where not to grow as to allow them passage. He trudged through the quiet forest, leaves crunching below his massive feet. He wasn’t sure what he was doing, really; the presence that he felt simply called to him. The thick canopy far above shaded him as he lumbered on without a clue as to his destination. Then he felt a darkness swallow his heart, and he had arrived. Jarred and prepared for a fight, he was surprised to find no apparent threat facing him. At the base of a tall, thick tree sat a small human child. His skin was dirty and his hair was the color of clouds on a sunny day. The boy was silent, but he made direct eye contact with the dragon. Despite the fact that this boy, who was smaller than any one of the dragon's teeth, sat in his shadow, he showed no signs of fear or discomfort. Rather, it was the dragon who felt intimidated. The boy's sharp eyes pierced him in a way that no mortal blade could. He repressed a shiver as he thought. The boy was hardly more than an infant. He wasn’t sure why he felt such a haunting aura emanating from him. Perhaps it was simply that there hadn’t been a human in these woods in many, many years. Or perhaps his senses had begun to dull in his isolation. Either way, this boy couldn’t be a threat. He couldn’t leave him. Suddenly, the boy stood. The dragon almost jumped. The boy stood expectantly. Somehow, he had anticipated the dragon's next move. Without hesitation, the boy followed him through the forest.
By Nick Dehler4 years ago in Fiction
The King's Heir
Well, this was a true puzzle… The dragon had known something was afoot when the parents had set this little scrap of a human down in the meadow. They had left it on a blanket with a lunch of apples and bread, and then told it to stay put until they came back. But the way they had left, without turning back to wave to the little one, with hurried whispers between each other, had left the dragon with an uncomfortable feeling.
By Marie Lafranque4 years ago in Fiction
Mythical Creation
The wind whispered through the leaves. The dragons swooned together, like two birds entering into a mating dance, far above the child. The tides turned instantaneously as the two dragons thundered down, landing right beside their target. “The most impactful piece of this marks backstory, is the emotional wounds. There is no fear of this abandonment or any other, therefore proceed with the utmost vigilance, Empirical dear.” Dominance spoke boldly to his partner while continuing to question the child’s existence in the woods. “What is your observation, report to me Empirical?” Dominance spoke intensely, while hovering over the child. Empirical was an elegant and highly sophisticated dragon. She began circling the boy with curiosity and prudence, all while dragging her claws into the sand, creating formulas. “Stating the problem, as well as the obvious, the boy is out of place. I sense a dichotomy in this creation. Forming a theory will take more consideration. Any error in the formulation of our hypothesis Dominance, will cause a flaw in the design of our entire assessment. I am collecting more data while simultaneously undertaking the child’s memories. The locus in question is heterozygous, both of the alleles are obligate alleles. Further experimentation will be required before interpreting the information, and or drawing any conclusions. Dominance I am finding both a subject and and object existing together.” Empirical continued mumbling to herself. Dominance struck the ground as a wake up call to mother earth. Scores of snakes slithered out of their hibernation with their heads erect, ready to strike. Elephants led their herds and other animals followed close behind all in unity, to higher grounds. The lions normally lead, but this day they followed with the intentions of protecting all. Dominance pulled the young child up, hooking his tail onto the targets hoodie. Turning, twisting and lifting his mark higher and higher, until they met eye to eye. “Reveal to me your identity, child.” The dragons potent breath blew the child's body harshly about. The little one remained unmoved by what was happening, dangling confidently before the spectacularly immense dragons. Rocking and swaying back and forth, the child began to speak. “Refer to me as neither child nor beast, for I am neither. You may address me as Très Puissant. My parents are A’ l’ouest and Ivoirienne Adonai from the house of Mayim or Raqia. You did not find me. I have found you. I have searched for you in all places fraught with danger.” Dominance’s eyes opened in wonder and his mouth opened in awe. The child, Très, miraculously freed his self from the barbed tail, plummeting downward, only to land on his feet. “Empirical,” Dominance exhaled her name in reverence. “Dominance we need more time. This is no child.” Empirical said this sucking in wind because Dominance forced his wing into her side. Empirical bowed down, both dragons began chanting in their native tongue, “We are humble servants.” To humans, their native language sounds like waves and water moving in and out, over the oceans bed. Reverently the dragons remained on the ground, while Très redesigned itself into a baby dragon. “Why are you so small?” Dominance laughed out loud, amused and puzzled by Très smaller statue. Cleary feeling vulnerable, Très replied heatedly, “I did not want to pour hours into research or creativity, crafting a magnificent creature that would reflecting either of you would have taken far too long. I will play only a small role in this elaborate dragons attire anyhow. “ After Très finished expalining, the grandest spectacle appeared as the three now soared on high, moving past trillions of stars to a place so sacred neither beauty nor wisdom could define her.
By Wren4 years ago in Fiction
Sky Abandon
Darax flew on silent wings towards the temple where child sacrifices were left. Anger was in his heart. Anger towards his old—recently dead—sire who had eagerly participated in the yearly abandonment ritual; anger that he had been left to deal with this mess; and fury at the cruelty of the humans in the capital city, who so willingly left their young at barely an age to walk, to the mercy of a dragon like him.
By K Fawkes4 years ago in Fiction
The Last Human Child
In the cold predawn stillness, a silvery mist snaked its way across the worn earthen pathways of the human settlement. Rows of jagged, crystal icicles quietly stood guard along the eaves of the ramshackle homes. The only noise breaking the stillness of the morning was a woman crying out in pain.
By E Lang4 years ago in Fiction
"I Kind of Love Being a Dragon"
There are certain things, as a dragon, that can be a bit of a nuisance. Most of you humans assume it must all be glorious: gliding through clouds, breathing literal balls of fire, fearing absolutely nothing. But I challenge you, you little two-legged smooth skinned sack of mush, to imagine a life where you've sprouted wings the size of trees, where your skin has crisped into an armor of itchy, jagged scales, and where with every sneeze you wonder if whatever's in front of you will be incinerated in a blazing ball of fire and mucous. You see, it's not as glorious as you might think.
By Ethan Town4 years ago in Fiction