Optional Text Prompt: A mysterious structure has risen out of the Endarian Expanse, the ocean surrounding the continent of D’veen. Dragons seem drawn to it for reasons unknown. Write a story or poem about an expedition to uncover the structure’s true purpose…
Ye ask me why no dragons soar
Above D’veen today,
I’ll tell the tale my captain shared
When winds and tankards sway.
When ol’ King Brocknar claimed the throne,
His pride burned deep as flame,
He swore no dragon born would live
To challenge dwarven reign.
The hammers rang through hall and vale,
The hunts spread far and wide,
From mountain peak to forest deep,
The elder dragons died.
Yet ere the final wyrm was slain,
Or so the old songs say,
The mothers turned toward western seas
And vanished on that day.
He followed through the salt black mist
Across the moonlit foam,
Not hunters then but sailors bound
To learn where they had flown.
Beneath the Shattered Moon they sailed,
Through waters dark and deep,
The dragons climbed its fractured light,
Their ancient vows to keep.
Beyond Endarian Expanse,
Where mortal charts all cease,
A lonely tower crowned the waves
In solemn, watchful peace.
Its beacon burned with azure flame,
Its light both cold and fair,
The dragons circled, one by one,
As though expected there.
Each carried, clasped with gentle claw,
A treasure none could buy,
Great silver eggs with inner light
Reflected in the sky.
He watched them vanish through the gate,
No roar nor mournful cry,
Only the beacon marked the place
Beneath the silent sky.
He dared not cross the threshold there,
Nor break that sacred vow,
Some mysteries are not for men,
Nor ours to answer now.
So if you sail those western seas,
And blue flames kiss the night,
Turn home before the morning comes,
And flee that haunted light.
For should those hidden eggs awake,
And dragons grace the sky,
Hope mortal hatred’s gentled now,
And wisdom stands nearby.
Pray none recall King Brocknar’s words,
Nor yield to fear and lore,
For D’veen survived one dragon war,
It won’t survive one more.
By Heather Patton / Verdant Butterfly
Written for The Circus Dragon & Bradley Ramsey August Challenge
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By Heather Patton · Launched a year ago
A creative space with over 170 enchanting stories and poems. I write fantasy, folklore and genre bending prose that can step off the path into comedy, adventure or the unsettling at any moment.
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