Horror
The Butterfly & The Crone
A shaft of moonlight fell through the open window upon the bare wooden floor before my feet. The room was bare of any furniture. The window, shutterless. A square, open section of floor surrounded by a rickety railing showed the second floor below the loft where I stood. No rugs or ornaments decorated the room. Nothing rich, of that sort. Only a single illuminating beam of silver.
By Sophia Marie Sears4 years ago in Fiction
Only Good for Incubation
Marnie looked at the strip in utter disbelief. “I was so careful”, she sobbed. But the blue line was undeniable. She knew she could not tell anyone, not her boyfriend, not her most trusted childhood friend, certainly not her family lest they be endangered. This burden was hers alone.
By jason grace4 years ago in Fiction
Mortality
I first noticed him when I was 10 years old. My family’s dog had just died, and my dad buried her in the back yard. We were standing around the makeshift grave, and my mom was giving a eulogy that I’m sure was beautiful, but I can’t remember it. What I do remember is looking through teary eyes and noticing him looking on from a distance. My vision was blurred, but I could just make out the figure of a man, or something like a man, in dark robes. I couldn’t see a face, but I knew he was watching me.
By Ashton Treadaway 4 years ago in Fiction
They Say the Sky
There weren’t always dragons in the Valley. My father said it had been abandoned for decades, the cluster of structure that sat in the gorge of the mountains - sharp and brooding and finely tuned to the nature that had crept into its walls. Trees and thorns and vines twisted in the cracks of the cobbled stone, through the shattered windows and dilapidated roofing. It was the dragons’ valley, quiet and still, night after night, snowed-in during the winter and flooded in the summer, tentatively observed by the people in the mountains. They would peek out behind their curtains at night, yellow firelight flooding in from behind them, eyes straining to catch a glimpse of something from across the distance. Curiosity and fear combined into inaction, a lifetime of us watching each other through windows. It became something of a comfort to me, a mirror up in the mountains that I could see my reflection in, something small and something kindred.
By isthecoporami4 years ago in Fiction
The Cultist Hunt
There weren’t always dragons in the Valley. Seven Grand Cities dotted the lands cut by the Magna River with the greatest squabbles put to ease by the Grand Priest of Phaedria. Magic was only wielded by the Priests and Priestesses of the Order using it to heal and light the way of their followers. Then the Elder Dragons appeared, fracturing reality and allowing chaos to flow through the tear, and in their wake the four Northern most cities were destroyed becoming their new lairs. The first of those born with the gift bestowed upon them by the Dragons were persecuted by the Order and a decree was issued requiring the turning over of any children born with the gift.
By Ben Jamieson4 years ago in Fiction
When Death Defaulted
Disclaimer There weren't always dragons in the Valley. Their hoarding is anti-competitive, their lust for gold wreaks havoc on exchange rates, their goals are anathema to everything we stand for. Growing up we were taught to be glad of their extinction. It went without saying that extinction was permanent. Now they've returned, and it's partially because of our old childhood friend, so naturally you've come to us for answers.
By Takim Williams4 years ago in Fiction
Black Powder & Dragon's Fire
There weren’t always dragons in the Valley. The Valley wasn’t always a barren wasteland. Once, it was a lush and fertile place, resplendent with fields, paddies, and arbors that fed the great cities of the Imperial provinces; an emerald expanse that gave succor to teeming thousands. It was a simpler time, before factory stacks raked the sky, poisoning the winds and waters, before the war-drum beat of the oil drills sounded the death-knell of the earth below. The Empire caged the Valley in brick and steel, and all that was green and good could no longer breathe. Hitherto came the dragons from the jagged crown of the world, aloft on wings of retribution. The Valley is a different world now; one of scorched earth and ashen winds, scoured by the vengeful tyranny of the old gods above.
By Alexander Maxwell4 years ago in Fiction
Isle of Vist: The Dragons of Vella Grund
There weren’t always dragons in the Valley. We shared our lands with other species, smattered alongside our home country’s cliff sides and mountains. Alas, they had no luck against the dragons. And now, neither do we. They have moved inwards. Us humans have begun our routes underground. Through the tunnels we have forged into the largest mountain, Sviet, in the Isle of Vist. Our solitude has not been easy to maintain as our people hide away. The dragons came from a place humans believed to be overwhelmed by hurricanes and earthquakes, and home to our Gods wraiths. The home of destruction by the seas lies many rests away in the land of Vella Grund.
By Greg Wilcox4 years ago in Fiction
The Ladder
Joe Lamb stopped in front of the nondescript, brick building. Pedestrians grumbled as they worked their way around him. He glanced at the address card the Agency gave him that morning, and confirmed he was where he should be. Straightening his jacket and sweeping an errant strand of hair from his face with his fingers, he pushed the door and walked into Resource Marketing, LLC.
By Ricky Keck4 years ago in Fiction
