Fantasy

Sturmkinter
There weren’t always dragons in the Valley. There weren’t always dragons anywhere, blessedly. Monsters were plenty; wherever the sky’s belly grayed and swelled and bore storms, one was sure to find myriads of monsters as wild and vicious as their natal winds. But dragons were singular, and free from the tantrum whims of nature—indeed it seemed as though they birthed their own storms. Although thunder and lightning often portended lesser terrors, there was but one sure herald for a dragon.
By Noah Stepanov4 years ago in Fiction
Trial by Fire
There weren’t always dragons in the Valley. It was a fact that I had been reminded of nearly every day, a fact that I did not need reminding. I am not too young to recall living in the Valley before it was even called the Valley of Ash. It was not quite that long ago. Nor am I too naïve to not know how much we lost that day.
By JL Adams4 years ago in Fiction
The Jewel Hoarder
There weren’t always dragons in the Valley. Only a few centuries ago, every mapmaker decided “Here there be dragons”, and no one knew quite why—least of all those living in the Valley of Jewels.
By Kira Lempereur4 years ago in Fiction
Eyes On The Horizon
There weren’t always dragons in the valley. The valley had, for generations, been a lifeless, baron husk. A cavernous vastness of black sand and jagged rock, the lack of grass giving rise to an earthy smell, that was carried on the wind to the settlement that grew half a mile from highest and most westernly ridge. That same wind gave a haunting howl as it blew between the stone pillars that littered the bottom of the valley. It was a place so devoid of life, it gave little reason for the nearby settlers to venture within, but it did allow parents to create vivid stories and cast invisible barriers of fear, over which their children would not cross.
By Jonathan Hammond4 years ago in Fiction
Heiress of the Underdwellers
“There weren’t always dragons in the Valley. Two empires past, it was an ugly, fearful place. The Valley of Wails was the gentlest name by which it was known. It was settled in centuries past by a war-weary people, who coveted the protection of the surrounding mountains. But then foulness came, and those same mountains now protected the outside world from the evils within. Men and women of the valley lived in terror, secreted in holes and caves, while the vilest of the earth’s children scuttled and slithered and crawled across the open land.”
By Micah Delhauer4 years ago in Fiction
The Quiet Ones
There weren’t always dragons in the valley. A long time ago, the wide delta lay spread below table top ridges high above, oats, corn and wheat patchworking the land, embroidered with pockets of peas and beans, and trimmed with fruit trees which blossomed pink and white each spring, and mellowed to yellow as the men and women of the valley turned the rich, silted soil ready for winter planting. Feast days in the valley, where food was never scarce, were richer in music, dancing and song, as no one feared the hunger of the coming months. No one remembered that now. There was no one to remember it. The story was that after the Silver Wars, the twelve dragons of Lashkan had been banished to the island, where they had lain down side by side and end to end, and with one spell so fierce it had used up all the magic left in the world, been turned to stone. An eternal punishment for an eternal slight. Never mind they had all been on the same side.
By Hannah Moore4 years ago in Fiction
From the sky
There never used to be dragons in the valley. As a young girl, I desperately wished to see them because of all the bedtime stories my grandfather would tell me. When he was alive, he told tales of how they coexisted with the bloodline of sky royals like pets but during the rule of the twin Kings of Sharlore they disappeared once the old war came to a conclusion. Maximus and Endeer, the twin princes born to the late Queen Margaret, had snuffed out her flame once they took their first breath. Stories tell of their birth as if they were dragons clawing their way out of the queen simultaneously, both eager to come before the other, the midwife unable to determine who was first. She saw both princes' hands at the same time so there was no older or younger brother. Just the ghastly sight of twin boys with opposite features. Maximus had raven black hair, as dark as the starless night sky and Endeer, pure white hair soft and supple like virgin snow that just fell from the heavens above. Maximus had eyes so bright, they were almost shining like polished silver. Endeer’s were so dark, they looked like two black holes you’d get sucked into if you stared too long. Twins weren’t a good omen, especially in a royal bloodline in need of a successor. Grandfather spoke of their reign as boy kings once their father died prematurely of unknown causes and how their feud to take control of the throne led to the destruction of the great kingdom of sky. Their desperation for power had ravaged the land and the people, destroying anything and everything in its wake. The castle once resided on a floating continent suspended in the air, so powerful no other nations dared invade because it was protected by magic belonging to an almighty enchanter. An invincible fortress that guarded the entire land now lost to greed and a futile power struggle leaving nothing but a vulnerable wasteland for other nations to further wreck and ravage. Little is known of the whereabouts of the floating continent but there were many tales of how the war between brothers ended although none really explains how the dragons disappeared and hasn't been seen since, not until about a month ago anyway. A day I will never forget.
By Savan Yiv4 years ago in Fiction
Through the Vale
Chapter 1 There weren’t always dragons in the valley. But then, sunlight wasn’t always red, either, and who can remember so far back, beside the oldest amongst us? Certainly not I!
By Jacey Dean 4 years ago in Fiction
The Valley
There weren't always dragons in the Valley. It used to be a safe haven. A halfway point between the city and large port towns to the north. Strangers, travelers, merchants, all kinds of wonderous people would settle down for a few weeks and move their trade on. Sometimes, when it got really cold, they would stay for a month or two, until the weather granted them safe passage again. There hadn’t been anyone new to town in over five years. There hadn’t been a safe haven since…well you guys remember the attack, don’t you? It could be like that again. Some of you aren’t old enough to remember before. But it was beautiful. The smells, the colours, the people. This doesn’t have to be the end. We don’t have to let them win—
By Cahlia Ross 4 years ago in Fiction
Golden Locust
There weren't always dragons in the Valley. But then again, there wasn't always a Valley. The mountains, now almost hills, overgrown and settled late into the ground, once loomed large and broke the restless ocean waves where shallow waters now accept the slow relentless push of Aeven river. The river that, once only an ice-cold trickle of a mountain spring, formed the Valley.
By Max S4 years ago in Fiction
The Dragon Realm
There weren’t always dragons in the Valley. Discovered nearly sixty moons ago, the first found dragon caused fear and panic. It brought out a new generation of treasure collectors, mercenaries, and dark magic devotions. Some would start to seek out the dragons for the power they held while others would run from the mere discussion. No one knew where the dragons originated or why they began to appear in the Valley, but one thing was certain… blood would be shed over their existence. ____________________________________________________
By Rebecca Murphey4 years ago in Fiction
Silicon and Scales
There weren’t always dragons in the Valley. If Melissa had her way, there wouldn’t be dragons caged in Silicon Valley ever again.
By Thomas Ware4 years ago in Fiction