Creative Corner

First time posting in this thread !
@Chisondra Digging the prompt :D so it turned out sort of long ...


An earth-shattering roar split the air like thunder, and a beast the size of a house emerged from the snowstorm and crashed into the mountainside, not far from where I'd made camp. It had long, curving teeth and a slick, scaled hide; slits in the side of its neck revealed ruby red fire flickering within the creature's gullet. Batlike wings, made of a thick dark leather, blocked out what little light reached the mountains from through the storm. It was like no other dragon I'd ever seen, combining the traits of dozens of mythological creatures. Four bright, topaz eyes regarded me like a giant might regard an ant.

"Who's a good boy?" I cooed, rubbing Goliath's nose. The monster nuzzled my hand eagerly with his enormous face, knocking me back into the snow. "You're a good boy!"

Goliath made a delighted sound like forty thousand knives being sharpened and licked me soundly from head to toe, drenching me in fishy spit.

"Hey, watch it!" I shouted without much anger, laughing as the three ton beast laid his ears against the side of his head and mewled in contrition, which was less of a sad kitten meow and more of an ungodly shrieking.

Goliath bounced onto a frozen ledge, sending a few small icebergs crashing down the mountainside. As his tail lashed back and forth, I noticed the long sword slashes running down his right flank.

"Who did that to you?" I asked, jumping up and down to smear some lavender-scented healing salve over the gashes until Goliath flopped onto the ground and rolled obligingly onto his side to allow me access. White sparks of light zipped over the wounds and left pink scar lines through Goliath's dark green scales, but he was otherwise fine.

Goliath whined like giants dragging their nails over a chalkboard the size of the sky and dipped his massive head towards the bright lights of the small town below us. The mountain villages were few and far between, but generally left us alone. I'd only come near this one to stock up on key supplies like replacements for the leather greaves I'd lost, and also chocolate (don't mess with Goliath when it comes to chocolate. You won't like the result).

I sighed, pressing my forehead to the tip of Goliath's nose. The soft huff of his breath swept my hair back and warmed my face. "I'm sorry. We'll be away from here soon, though, and you won't have to worry about a thing."

It was then that I saw the flicker of fire through the snowstorm, heard the chatter of voices and the clatter of... pitchforks? Against Goliath?

Said enormous dragon thing's ears flicked forward as he noticed the sound, and he huddled protectively around me. It was like being enclosed in a sentient castle. One that smelled a lot like a harbor.

"Get back from that demon!" a woman yelled to me, brandishing a woodcutting axe. "We will take care of this; you are safe now!"

"Run!" I shouted, both to Goliath and to the woman. "You aren't going to touch him. He's done nothing to hurt you!"

Goliath roared, a sound that shook snow free from the banks and sent the men to their knees. It was through the cowering crowd that he approached. Back tall, silver greatsword drawn, a blue cape dusted with silver stars and moons flowing from his shoulders. His helm covered his face in sleek silver, but his voice rung true through the metal.

"I am here now," he said to me and the assembled villagers. "I will slay the creature."

Something about him was different from the many other angry people I'd defended Goliath from. He bore himself like a king, but he wore no crown. Through his helmet, I could feel his gaze on me like ice on an open wound.

"I have heard of you, Belorin of the Clouded Peaks," he spat in my direction. "Spreading lies, taming this mutated beast for your evil works. But I will protect this village first, and kill this thing before I kill you, witch."

People in these parts really needed new insults. "I'd like to see you try."

I drew my twin sabers as Goliath growled, all four of his wings spreading as he bellowed.

The silver knight sprung forward without warning, his sword flashing in the dim light, towards my only friend in the world.

"I said, don't touch him!" I screamed, slashing with my sabers and forcing him to turn towards me. I drove him back, away from Goliath and the assembled townspeople. I swept high with one saber, and he took a step backwards to block just as my other sword swept down, knocking out one leg and scoring a deep line in his armor.

The knight's helmet rolled away as he fell to the ice, and as he stood, long strands of blonde hair hung in front of his face. "You are not without some skill," he admitted to me, somehow still maintaining his pride.

I bit back any curses I might have thrown at him and settled for a single cutting "Whatever." Aw yeah.

Goliath took a thunderous step forward, sending up clouds of snow, and I held a saber in front of his path. "No, buddy," I shouted over my shoulder. "Don't get involved! Go, run!"

The knight took advantage of my distraction and rushed at me, managing to nick me with the tip of his sword before I could properly block.

Goliath had seemed torn in the instant before the knight's sword cut my cheek, but now he roared at the knight, a plume of fire licking over the ice and snow towards him. The very edges were crimson red, melting into a searing blue-white in the center.

I knew that flame was hot enough to melt steel, and without thinking I charged at the knight and knocked him back onto the ice again, feeling that white heat singe my back.

Goliath keened in surprise, jaw snapping shut as he nuzzled me anxiously.

"We're okay," I mumbled. "It's fine."

The knight shoved me away from him in disgust, sword raised to strike. But then he paused, maybe because of what I'd done, or more likely because Goliath was breathing down his neck. "Why did you do that—?” he demanded, abruptly cutting off mid sentence.

"What, save your worthless life?" I aimed a strike in his direction, but stopped when I noticed that he was staring up into the air with the other townspeople. Against my better judgement, I followed their gaze.

A sleek black shape appeared in the air, sinuous and winding, cutting through the clouds with ease. It could easily weigh as much as Goliath, with a pair of enormous, glowing yellow eyes the size of banquet platters.

Goliath was a dragon mutt, a mix of Flame and Stone with some sea serpent thrown in, and larger than all three put together. In some ways, he didn't even resemble a dragon. This thing was a purebred Darkwing, a creature now vanishingly rare as dragons were hunted towards extinction. A beast from legend, a portent of doom, long thought gone.

"Oh," we all said, with varying degrees of profanity.

The Darkwing screeched and dove towards us, stealing the light from the sky as it flew.

Goliath took one look at the Darkwing and launched himself at it, the white-hot fire of his breath burning through the impenetrable darkness.

"What are you standing around for? Run!" I yelled at the villagers. "You too, shiny boy," I snapped as an afterthought towards the yellow-haired idiot.

The knight ignored me. "Shall we fight this together?" he asked.

Goliath let out a whine as the Darkwing reopened the gashes on his side, ones I now knew the knight had put there.

I grit my teeth. The knight meant well, while the Darkwing would suck the light and life from the town, casting the valley in eternal shadow, making the land unlivable for miles. It could turn people into shells and bustling cities into ruins.

"Get in my way, and I'll throw you off the mountain," I said grudgingly.

"Wouldn't have it any other way, witch," he replied as the Darkwing circled around for another pass, darkness spewing from its mouth. "I have to defeat this monster."

@Chrisondra

Cam sat in the camp just below the cave of the monster. Puffs of white floated up from his nose and mouth as his breath came out in ragged gasps. He shifted uncomfortably on the hard med cot. The bandages on his sides scraped against the gaping wounds splayed over his stomach. He sighed for the hundredth time of the night as he once again tried to find a position to sleep that wouldn't give him unrelenting pain.
After spending too much time adjusting, Cam got up from the cot. He wrapped thick furs around himself, grabbed his crutch and limped out the front flap of his tent. The outside air was even colder than it was inside the tent. Dull embers of a once massive bonfire, glowed ever so slightly and provided the slightest bit of warmth. Cam stepped up to the fire and started to coax it back to life. Once it had regained strength, he sat down on one of the nearby log seats and enjoyed the warmth. He became engrossed with his own thoughts. They kept flickering back to the events of the past week. He took a deep breath and let it all return.
The party had arrived at the camp they were now at early in the week. It must've been early Monday morning. They set up and made a big fire. They started strategizing, planning, plotting. They were getting ready to kill the monster. That night, Cam sparred with his brother Will. The two exchanged blows until their arms were too tired to move. Cam could recall lying in the cold snow, his two one-handed swords sitting next him, talking and laughing with Will until it got too cold to be in the open air.
On Tuesday, Cam had helped make the breakfast. Sammy woke him up early. He remembered being so mad at her for waking him up so early, but it didn't last. He made the food, then proceeded to wake up the other three. They all enjoyed a great breakfast, but then a thunderous roar shook the entire mountain. The party stopped laughing stopped playing. They sat in silence and waited until they knew that the monster had no interest in them. The rest of the day had gone by in a blur. The only distinct thing Cam could remember was when Allie decided to climb higher on the mountain and check out the monster. She returned, whiter than a sheet. All she did was shake her head and tell the others that they should give up.
Cam wished he had listened to her. It was early in the morning on Wednesday that they had left camp to attack the monster. They walked up the path that spiraled up the mountain. Will was in front, his battle axe held cautiously in front of his body. After Will was James. He had a crossbow strapped to his back and a long bow in his hands. Sammy was next, holding her broadsword and shield. Taking up the rear was Cam. Cam could feel cold sweat dripping down his back. The whole time they walked up, he remembered the look Allie had on her face. He gulped down his nervousness and pulled himself over a large rock.
The cave of the monster was now well within view. A massive creature lay in the cave, slumbering. Every time it moved, the large pauldron on its shoulder clinking and scratched on the ground. Its tail was wrapped around its gray scaly body. The red light of fire glowed from its gullet. Large claws dug into the snow.
James brought his bow up and slowly aimed. Everyone held their breath. The string snapped back and the arrow flew through the air. It stuck right into one of the creature's four eyes. The creature stood up. It stumbled a few steps and roared. It bent down and glared at the party. Everyone held their ground. It charged, right at Sammy. She raised her shield as the creature plowed into it. She was pushed back a few feet. Her rippling muscles strained against the weight of the monster. Will ran forward and slammed his axe into the side of the monster. It once again roared, but then it did something entirely unexpected. It hit the axe out of its side and the group watched in awe as the wound knit together and healed. The monster growled and backhanded Will across the mountain. Everyone went into a frenzy. Arrows and blades and shields and blood.
Everyone was battered. Cam was by far the worst, but he kept fighting. Sammy had grabbed the back of his shirt and forced him to return, yelling that they had made a mistake. Cam tried to go back and get Will, but James and Sammy told him it was too late. They were right. Will's body lie broken and mangled in the snow. His blood tainted the pureness of the snow. A look of terror was permanently painted on his face.
Sammy and James dragged Cam back to the camp. Allie was able to help take care of everyone's wounds. While she was taking care of Cam's, he passed out from the pain.
Cam allowed his mind to return to the present. He pushed around the embers of the fire with a stick to renew it. A sharp pain pierced his side. He brought his hand under his shirt and rested it over the bandage. He could feel the wet warmth of blood. Against his better judgement, he ignored it. Allie had told him that he needed rest and shouldn't get out of bed, but he couldn't just do nothing.
Cam turned his head around as the snow behind him crunched. Sammy was coming towards him. She still had her full knight armor on, except the helmet. Her silvery blonde hair cascaded over her shoulders, her bright blue eyes seemed endlessly bright in the dark night. The falling snow made her look like some sort of angel. She walked up to Cam and sat down next to him. Her armor clinked on the log. She turned so she could see his face.
"Cam, you really should be in bed. You were wounded pretty badly." Her face contorted in pain as she imagined what might become of Cam. She could picture him just like she had seen Will. His long brown hair matted with blood, his emerald eyes devoid of life. His body twisted and broken at the claws of the monster.
"I couldn't sleep." He stared down into the fire. The flames licked at the snow on the ground and threatened to melt it. Small flakes of snow drifted lazily into the flames, causing the flame to bend slightly.
Sammy sat silent for a moment. "I'm sorry for what happened with Will this morning." She laced her fingers together and refused to make eye contact with Cam.
Tears started to well up in Cam's eyes. He hastily wiped them away. More came. Before he could get himself under control, he was sobbing. Sammy reached an arm around him and pulled him close to her side. The act itself was comforting, but the cold metal of her armor stung against Cam's warm skin. He pulled away from her and stood up. He wiped the back of his hand across his face to try and dispel the tears.
Sammy looked down at her armor where Cam had been. A splotch of red stood out on the light colored metal. Sammy stared at it for a moment before realizing what it was.
"Cam! You're bleeding!" She pushed up from the log and stepped towards Cam. "I'll wake up Allie!"
A frantic look spread across her porcelain features. She turned away from him and rushed into the med tent. Cam fell hard onto the ground. Every breath burned. He laid back in the snow and closed his eyes. Suddenly, he was back to Monday, back to when he had a brother, back to when he wasn't dying, back to when he had hope that they could vanquish the creature that had so cruelly wiped out their village. Tears spilled down over his cheeks and froze when they hit the ice cold snow. Cam opened his eyes and looked down at his wound. It looked just like Will. The way his blood had painted the snow. He pulled in a shaky breath as Allie burst from the tent.
Allies bent over Cam. She started to ask him questions, but he couldn't comprehend any of it. She seemed to be talking in slow motion. She grew frustrated at his silence and grabbed at the hem of his shirt. She pulled it up to reveal the wound. It was discolored and clearly infected. James came out of his tent from the commotion. Soon, he was at Cam's side as well. Allies rushed back to her tent to grab supplies. Sammy watched in horror as Cam's eyes slowly glazed over.
Sammy grabbed Cam's face in both hands. "You don't get to die on me Cam!" She yelled. Her eyes were red and her hands were shaking.
A faint smile flitted onto Cam's face. "Sorry," he whispered. He went limp in Sammy's arms, with the trace of a smile still etched onto his face.

@Avanari

I really like the idea of the story. With some technical work, I think you could make this into a really interesting piece. You have some verb disagreements within the story. Most of the time, you use past tense, but every now and then, you slip into present tense. It's something to watch. There are also a few places where you repeat words within a very short span of space. I really like the bit about them "both" walking away because Lilith took over his body though. I hadn't expected that! Overall, I enjoyed the story

@Karika

"That's not the monster I saw! The one I saw was green."

... I cannot put into words how much beautiful joy this line brought to my heart. Poor Terrin. I love the story, especially the end! It caught me off guard. Beautiful. I have little else to say about it. I enjoyed the writing as well.

@Adaris

I like your take on the prompt! I love Goliath and how well you described the different noises he made. What a beautiful creature. :D

I did catch a few bits that could use some editing such as "reached the mountains from through the storm", but overall the writing is pretty sound. I want a dragon mutt as a companion! D: I'm also a sucker for opposite sides having to work together to defeat a common foe.

@Reiyn

First note, I definitely recommend putting two enters between paragraphs to better split them. It's much more pleasing to the eye and easier to read.

But! Beyond that, the story was definitely interesting. I like that the beast clearly won the fight. I did have a difficult time with my suspension of disbelief when Cam seemed to simply get out of bed and go out and stoke a fire when he had gaping wounds on his stomach, but he died, so I can handle it. :D Though a bit more description on how difficult it was for him to do so would have been apt, I think.

I like that the story was behind him rather than before him, and you did a good job painting the story with a dream-like quality.


All right, with that!

Winner: Karika

Runner-up: Adaris

Thank you, everyone, for participating!

@Chrisondra Glad you liked it. Here's the next prompt: [img]http://www.bjornmoerman.com/Galleries/Aviation/Events/Oldtimer-Hahnweide/i-jRqK8B8/0/L/20130905_175141-Edit-L.jpg[/img] Deadline: 16 December 23:59 [b]EDITED[/b] [size=1]@Chrisondra @TidalMoonrise @Mypilot @PixieKnight3264 @Karika @SamIamLuvDov @Lightshadow101 @humanityxpeople @coyearth @Avanari @demonslayr62 @Auraelia @Endernil @Arithelia @Sillywinter @inthestars @Annalynn @meddlesomedragon @SocialBookWorm @SolusPrime379 @Kattata @Reiyn @Skyeset @lessthan3 @AwkwardAngel @Draxia @Toxical @0Musicheart0 @Aphelium @SecondUNIT @AloneTogether @CelestialNarwhal @Kapara @Slayborn @pharmakraken @Elroth @After @Moonwater @ArrowsFlight[/size]

@SolusPrime379 @Avanari
Sorry, that's what I get for trying to use a free image website I guess.
Have one stolen from google, as usual haha.
Post has been edited.

@Karika Could you add me to the pinglist when you judge? I don't see a document anywhere, but I'd like to participate when my exams are over!

@Adaris
I just added you to it :)
(The pinglist for this one is on page #2 and we keep forgetting to include a link to it with the new rounds oops).

Add me to the pinglist? This looks like fun, but I'm best at writing about animals.

(I don't know who to ping for this...)

@Karika