New Story Contest: Mythological Creature - Henry E. - 12/21/22

Contest: Winners

New Story Contest: Mythological Creature

Submitted by: Henry E., age 17, Whitefish Bay, WI

The Stormlord

There was a black dragon flying in the storm. The jungle below was half lost in fog, and the sky above was a tangle of dark clouds. The cold rain pelted her, and her wings ached, but she had to keep going or the storm might never end. Someone had to find out why the Stormlord had let the sky rage for weeks and convince him to bring back the sun.

Through the rain, she could make out the silhouette of a mountain range, dark and jagged like obsidian. She angled toward the highest peak, where the Stormlord made his nest, feeling relieved that the journey would soon be over. Though she found beauty in the rain , the darkness, and the rumble of thunder, and she didn’t mind the cold very much, she was exhausted from hours of flying.

She alit near the top of the mountain, behind a crag to block the wind, but found there was no need. The peak of the mountain was still. In the center of a huge gravely depression was the Stormlord, a blue-and-gray bird thrice her size. He kept vigil over the lifeless body of a slightly smaller bird with feathers the color of newly fallen snow. She recognized it from myths as the Stormlord’s son, the painter of cirrus clouds and halos. In the Stormlord’s ancient eyes there was vast grief and anger.

The Stormlord looked at her and screeched. Lightning struck only a few wingspans away with a deafening crack.

Blinded, shaking from fear, and barely able to hear herself over the ringing In her ears, she shouted, “This storm must end! We cannot fly or hunt, and floods have destroyed many villages. Everything depends on the weather! You can’t let a single tragedy ruin the world.”

There was another titanic clap of thunder, but no lightning. When the flash blindness had faded from her vision, she saw that both birds had disappeared, leaving behind only a few scattered feathers. The rain had lessened and was beginning to shine as rays of sun slipped through the clouds.


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