Fantasy
Pearl and the Human Hatchling
The human was sitting in a charred, devastated clearing. When Pearl approached it, she felt something was amiss. This human didn’t look like the ones her dragon kin had shown in their memories, to deter her from wanting to escape to the mainland. Those humans had been taller, bulkier. More active, at least in the memories. Usually brandishing some kind of weapon. Her kin had made them seem terrifying.
By Carla Kerr4 years ago in Fiction
Cape's Edge
Introduction Cape’s Edge, a northern Michigan small town founded back in the 1600’s. It became a haven for freed slaves and African witches fleeing from the witch trials. Over time it became a predominantly black owned town. Thriving for several decades as witches were allowed to practice openly and helped move the town along. While its origins may seem more wholesome, another part of its history is more grime. Dark. In the early 1700’s, a group of vicious settlers came, and a war broke out over territory that devastated the town, turning it to ruin. Many lives on both ends were lost. For centuries following, the town became known for strange occurrences, disappearances, and general weirdness. Most people say that the town is haunted. Littered with the souls of the murdered freed slaves and witches, who cursed the land with their blood. Others say the weirdness in the area dates back longer than the towns founding and may be due to something underneath the ground. A dark energy that can cause chaos, destruction, and death. Despite all that, nowadays, most of the town is relatively normal. Not much happens here. At least not on the surface.
By T.D. Riyan4 years ago in Fiction
Icewing Grotto
Frost gathered on my wings as I soared through the late autumn sky. The leaves of the forest’s trees blazed with an array of red, orange, and yellow. Soon the frost would come and finish off the trees and their leaves would shrivel up and fall to the forest floor. Unlike most others of my kind, I absolutely loved the late autumn and winter seasons. The cold air felt amazing as it rushed past my scaled body and wings. Unlike most dragons in this region, I was an ice dragon, built for the ice and snow of the arctic tundra to the far north. How I ended up in a forest this far south even I didn’t know. I never knew my parents, as a local fire drake tribe who told me they stumbled upon my egg in a random grotto at the edge of the forest hatched me. They knew a young dragon on their own would never survive, especially if they wandered too close to the nearby human settlement. Humans and dragons never had the best relationship with each other, but recently that relationship had been strained even further. There was a human king who had been a particularly greedy fellow who believed he could trick the fire drake tribe into doing his bidding. The fire drakes obviously had no desire to be enslaved by the humans. Resolution of the conflict occurred when the king attacked the leader of the fire drakes, who swiftly incinerated him. While most of the peasantry in that settlement argued it was a good thing the king was dead, the king’s son swore vengeance upon any dragon he saw from that day forward. So the fire drakes retreated further into the woods, away from the human settlement, and further away from the grotto in which they found me.
By Tyler Ryther4 years ago in Fiction
Unwilling
The forest had gotten dark faster than Isabelle had thought. Then again, how would such a young child barely out of her infant years be able to tell time, let alone predict how fast it moves. The dark crept around her as did the chill of the night. The small blanket she wrapped herself in did very little to hold the cold at bay.
By Daniel Gilliam4 years ago in Fiction
Oracles are Sometimes Wrong
To say that Athantaleus was perturbed would be a great understatement. Generally cantankerous in his daily life, the presence of the screaming, crying human toddler sitting in front of him was particularly grating on his delicate ears. With the break in the cold weather they had been experiencing this early autumn, he had been looking forward to doing some more hunting to stock up for the cold times. However, he doubted that any animal was around for miles with the racket the child was making. Athantaleus flexed his wings in annoyance, which only caused the crying to increase in volume.
By Robin Laurinec4 years ago in Fiction
Daughter of Dragons
The pleasant scent of smoke wafted through the air as Ember soared over what used to be a thriving village. The fire was still smoldering in spots. She would never have risked flying so close to a human collective if she hadn't seen large amounts of dark smoke coming from that general direction the day before. Now she regretted giving in to her curiosity as the stench of burnt flesh reached her. Most of the figures below her were charred beyond recognition. Ember shook her head and continued toward the forest. The body of a female human lay motionless a few hundred feet from the forest’s edge. She appeared less damaged but no less deceased than the other villagers.
By Natalie Demoss4 years ago in Fiction
The Traveler's Descent
Until that night, Leshan did not believe there was anything left that could surprise him. The Lady Tara had set out with twenty of her personal guard, the Rangkaiti, towards a magical disturbance in the woodland to the east the night before. Such violent ripples had not been felt since the fall of the Titans two ages past. He had been prepared to guard their home in the Ghebar desert for weeks but had spotted her entourage the following evening.
By Jason Kolls4 years ago in Fiction
The Pearl
You would never believe how lonely it can be. To begin, I am different than you think. While there are so many legends about creatures like me, they have been embellished and twisted beyond all recognition. The truth is, shall we say complex. We are known by many names throughout many cultures: taniyn, lóng, dragão…dragon. Cultures in the East view us as enigmatic, powerful, and generally wise. Cultures in the West view us as agents of chaos, evil, and destruction. Both descriptions could be considered true. As for my name, it's unpronounceable by humans and don't ask me what my name is in dolphin, in wolf, or in raven. Just call me Dragon or Red if you wish. I am very old by human standards, and often very alone.
By M.W. Whitaker4 years ago in Fiction
