Fantasy

The Dragon Dilemma
There weren't always dragons in the Valley. Tell that to the winged lizard chasing me through the valley forests. It was not a dragon, per se, but it was kin to a dragon. One of the older men, whose dead now, called it a wyvern. Apparently, it is akin to a dragon, like a second cousin or something. Honestly, I could not give a shit if it’s kin to a copper pot. It can kill efficiently, and it’s currently chasing me through a densely wooded forest.
By Jay4 years ago in Fiction
The Reptilian Mutations
There weren’t always dragons in the valley. Long ago these lands were colonized by mortals. For them the land and every living organism within the ecosystem was there to serve and provide the essentials of life. The trouble was they weren’t preserving it. As the centuries cycled the resources of the waning lands grew deficient so they turned to an ancient witchcraft of science. Science, more powerful than anything the world had encountered up until then, exceedingly more powerful than any grand wizard, sorcerer, or mage and it is told because of this power the reptilian species mutated along with that of the land.
By Chela Bradshaw4 years ago in Fiction
The Curse of Eryd
There weren't always dragons in the valley. Maeve knew that for certain. This land was once too inhospitable for even the strongest creatures. Before her people came more than ten generations earlier, the land was frozen, flat, and barren. For countless summers, the warmth of the sun was unable to reach deep enough to melt the layers of ice and snow that paralyzed the hellish landscape. No one dared journey into the desolate expanse. It wasn't until the Great Celestial Shift that the tundra receded; the warmth of the sun finally penetrated the permafrost and caused enormous glacial cliffs to crack and melt into the rising sea. A torrential flood roared across the land, relentlessly digging into the newly thawed earth, carving long intricate firths, jagged stone cliffs, and low green valleys.
By Leah Crews4 years ago in Fiction
Coin and Copper An Ebony Trading Company Story.
There weren't always dragons in the valley. In fact, live dragons used to be quite rare, only seen in the most remote mountains or in the wilderness outside of the country of Merccin. That is until the mayor of a small village within Merccin hired a gang of adventurers to retrieve two dragon eggs for the village of Hyperia. The plan was simple, the adventures would bring them the eggs and they would become an ecological tourist attraction for the struggling village. The eggs were meant to bring in researchers with massive grants to spend in the village, nature lovers who would donate to preserve the eggs new habitat as well as spend a lot of money in town, and, of course, the members from the Church of the Grand Wyrm who would pay tithes and go on grand pilgrimages to the little village of Hyperia to see their divine saviors in person. However, like most plans built on the idea of quick and easy money, it was not well thought out and blew up in everyone's face. First off, the village had no practical knowledge on dragons at all, except that they were interesting and important to the church. But, none of these yokels were actual members of the Church of the Grand Wyrm and thus didn’t know that the church viewed the act of attempting to own or steal from a dragon as heresy. So of course, when the church received their invitation to see live dragon eggs, they declared a holy war on Hyperia. The mayor reached out to the king of Merccin, but due to roughly one-fourth of the entire kingdom being a member of the Church of the Grand Wyrm, the king elected to not get involved.
By Khari Ford4 years ago in Fiction
Daughter Nature
There weren't always dragons in the Valley. In fact, there’d been no mention of them since our migration to Kepler. Over time, their existence had taken on a mythical quality. We weren’t sure they had ever been real.
By Jenny McFarland4 years ago in Fiction
The Dragons Below
There weren't always dragons in the Valley. Or so Seph had been told, though she couldn't imagine it were true. The actions of those who lived on the plateaus overlooking the Valley revolved daily around the beasts that thrived below. Night Guards patrolled the steep cliffs in four-hour shifts; buildings were built from mud and stone dug from a quarry six miles away; boys and girls alike, the ones who showed great strength or cleverness from a young age, were trained into adulthood to defend the tribe.
By Shannon Aardsma 4 years ago in Fiction
Stripes and Scales - Chapter I: "The Street and the Pool"
There weren't always dragons in the Valley. Long before she had been old enough to grasp the concept, she had heard the adults speak, in whispers, about the beasts. They whispered, as their parents and their parents before them, had once shouted, because the years had worn them down, left them able to do little more than raise their crops and their children, debate and plan their communities, and always, prepare themselves for war against their enemies, be they human or reptilian. What fabulous enemies they made, these legends of the air and the water and the very bowels of their Kingdom-earth, how magnificent!
By Eric Wolf4 years ago in Fiction
One Dwarve’s Chaff is another Dragon’s Treasure
There weren't always dragons in the Valley. Thousands of years ago our ancestors lived in peace with the other mountain tribes in Jurdin’s Palm. They carved paths to each other, traded resources, upheld justice for each other. In storms, they worked together. In fair weather, they celebrated life. Peace was not perfect, but it was a much easier time.
By Kevin Quincosa 4 years ago in Fiction
This Is Not A Story
Chapter One The Story “There weren’t always dragons in the Valley. The people of the Valley were a quiet, peaceful folk. They went about their quiet, peaceful lives farming and building and inventing festivals, so they could farm and build a little less. They didn’t concern themselves with far-off problems like Kings or Magic or Dragons. They paid the tax collector, sent their magical children to the academies, and told stories of brave knights. One day, in a place so far-off that The Valley didn’t have a map large enough to show it, a mage and a queen decided they wanted to own the world.”
By Renae4 years ago in Fiction
Cenda
There weren't always dragons in the Valley. The words were etched into the stone arch of the gateway, a clear message to any traveller passing through as to who controlled this land. That the dragons were here now. The rulers of Inbar Sechuar considered themselves kin to the great drakes of legend, the draconic iconography of their house was impossible to miss, statues, glyphs, carvings and columns all bearing their heraldry littered the cities architecture. Cenda had seen many noble houses liken themselves to the beasts in her travels though few as boldly as the princes of this mighty state. Power, wielded in many ways, in many forms by many peoples.
By Lee Coleman4 years ago in Fiction
The Black Mouth
There weren't always dragons in the Valley. Ofttimes it was dependent on one of many factors, or so the skyreaders claimed. The season was the one of utmost importance, as dragons never laid their eggs during any time but spring, up high in the crown of the Black Mount. There would their simmering stones scorch in the sun until the creatures within were ready to hatch.
By -4 years ago in Fiction
The Valley of Kross
There weren’t always dragons in The Valley. Neither dwelt the ghasts, trolls, fae, or dozens of other fresh denizens that now made it their home.
By Garth S Croft4 years ago in Fiction