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Something that happened long ago
We were traveling across a dark land, vibrant green with the frequent rain. Everywhere around us were rolling hills and dark forest. The landscape was different from what I remembered. More wild as the human population retreated behind their walls. The threat of war. Bad for some, good for others. I took a deep breath. The air was heavy with rain and with magic. The trees whispered, and I could almost understand them.
Along the road, on my left, came the ruins of a large stone castle. The moat was long dried and overgrown with bushes, ferns, and trees. Behind a thick blanket of ivy covering every almost every inch of stone, I could see the twisted shapes of the sentinels on the battlements. Their bat-like wings flared and they held on to the stone with long, misshapen claws. Their mouths were stretched wide, and I could see their long fangs, their forked tongues. They stood their watch, even when the rest of the castle crumbled around them, melting back into the forest. When I saw that dark castle, I felt my heart swell with pride and longing.
We saw the lights in the ruins, heard the echoes of the intruders’ voices, and I took to the skies as our car carried on, through the entrance of the castle. Down I swooped. We had learned, centuries ago, that the best way to cause mayhem and fear in the masses was to attack from the air, and I relished the wind flowing over my wings as I fell towards an unsuspecting intruder.
They didn’t stay unsuspecting for long. I dragged the first one up with me, screaming, then let him fall back to the earth. He hit with a wet thud. The others screamed. Oddly, none drew weapons, but the bloodlust was upon me, and I swooped after a second one, using my claws to rake her neck so I could drink some of her blood as we ascended. I heard growling and snapping from below as my driver returned to his natural form and leaped into the fray.
It didn’t take long before we, my brother, my driver, and I, stood before the last two survivors of the archaeological party sent to study my old home.
“It only takes one to sow chaos, my lord.” The large mastiff’s jaws didn’t move, he didn’t didn’t speak out loud, but in my head. I nodded at my driver.
“True, but which one?” I sifted through their memories, startled at the passage of time since my last wakening. “The heiress or the assistant?”
“The assistant, most definitely. Too many people might listen to the heiress.” My brother grinned, and he looked as gruesome as I, covered in the blood of the archaeologists.
I nodded. “Very well, quickly,” and I gestured for him to do the deed.
I did, after all, have a town to visit soon.
Along the road, on my left, came the ruins of a large stone castle. The moat was long dried and overgrown with bushes, ferns, and trees. Behind a thick blanket of ivy covering every almost every inch of stone, I could see the twisted shapes of the sentinels on the battlements. Their bat-like wings flared and they held on to the stone with long, misshapen claws. Their mouths were stretched wide, and I could see their long fangs, their forked tongues. They stood their watch, even when the rest of the castle crumbled around them, melting back into the forest. When I saw that dark castle, I felt my heart swell with pride and longing.
We saw the lights in the ruins, heard the echoes of the intruders’ voices, and I took to the skies as our car carried on, through the entrance of the castle. Down I swooped. We had learned, centuries ago, that the best way to cause mayhem and fear in the masses was to attack from the air, and I relished the wind flowing over my wings as I fell towards an unsuspecting intruder.
They didn’t stay unsuspecting for long. I dragged the first one up with me, screaming, then let him fall back to the earth. He hit with a wet thud. The others screamed. Oddly, none drew weapons, but the bloodlust was upon me, and I swooped after a second one, using my claws to rake her neck so I could drink some of her blood as we ascended. I heard growling and snapping from below as my driver returned to his natural form and leaped into the fray.
It didn’t take long before we, my brother, my driver, and I, stood before the last two survivors of the archaeological party sent to study my old home.
“It only takes one to sow chaos, my lord.” The large mastiff’s jaws didn’t move, he didn’t didn’t speak out loud, but in my head. I nodded at my driver.
“True, but which one?” I sifted through their memories, startled at the passage of time since my last wakening. “The heiress or the assistant?”
“The assistant, most definitely. Too many people might listen to the heiress.” My brother grinned, and he looked as gruesome as I, covered in the blood of the archaeologists.
I nodded. “Very well, quickly,” and I gestured for him to do the deed.
I did, after all, have a town to visit soon.