Mystic Land~

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Mystic Land~

Post by LightningDragon »


A Little Word From The Author
Spoiler
So, I've been writing this for years. Constantly revising and editing, ever since I was nine years old. And I really want it to be a good story, because my dream was always to get a series going and get it published. I'm LOVE some feedback and criticism. This land is entirely of my own creation, which means there are going to be things that could never happen on earth. I hope to upload a map I've drawn, and pictures, but that might be a while yet. Bear with me. xD


Creatures
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I use a lot of common mythological creatures, i.e. dragons, unicorns, centaurs, pegasi, but I've also thought of some on my own.



Chapter One; Violet Dawn

I stared at the high, vaulted ceiling for a few moments, waiting for my scrambled brain to reorganize itself. Sitting up, I stretched my arms, wondering what it was that had woken me up. I glanced around my room again, noting the pale light against the wall above my bed. With a sigh, I disentangled myself from my bedsheets and strode onto the balcony, looking east, to the sunrise.

The sky was already painted with vivid colors, red and orange and yellow. I watched it calmly, shivering as the wind blew my long, tangled hair away from my face and brushed against my bare legs. I retreated back into my room, drawing the thick curtains over the doorway to the balcony. Stripping off my nightgown, I pulled on a pair of tight black pants and a forest green shirt.

Edging my door open, I glanced up and down the hall. No one in sight. I slipped out the doorway, leaving it slightly ajar, and darted quietly to the stairs. I headed down the stairs slowly and silently, the curving staircase bringing me down three flights. I paused at the bottom, glancing around the large, airy room with caution. Seeing no soul in sight, I left the tall tower, closing the door with a soft click.

I ran across the courtyard full pelt for the shadows. Clinging to the castle wall, I expected someone to call out. Hearing nothing, I made my way along the wall to the rear of the castle, where the great drawbridge stood, its portcullis down and the bridge drawn up. A smaller door sat inside the portcullis, and I opened this. The rusty hinges let out a horrible squeal, and I froze, hearing my own heartbeat rushing in my ears and tasting the metal of fear. After a quiet few moments, I exited the castle, and put a long plank over the moat. I hurriedly headed down the plank, towards the mountains which surrounded the castle.

I entered a small cave at the bottom of the tallest mountain, and squeezed myself through a small crevice in the back. This crevice opened into another cave, roomy, with a spiral staircase made of stone marching upwards. I trotted up the stairs, stepping onto a small landing at the top. The landing had several small, human-size entrances into different caves, and I walked into the one on the far left. A large mass lay in a dip in the floor in the center of the cave, and I nudged it with my toe.

Hellfire red eyes opened and stared balefully up at me. The creature lying in the cave sat up, towering several feet above me. Dark blue scales gleamed even in the dim lighting of the cave, and huge, bat-like wings stretched open. A mouth full of glistening, gleaming white fangs opened, and the dragon tapped extraordinarily long, orange-brown talons on the stony floor. He swung his head around to look out the main entrance of the cave, and his mouth opened.

"Meghan! Why'd you get me up so early?!"

I hid a smile, biting my lip. "Would you believe that it's just because I love you so much?"

A dull stare was my only answer. Shrugging, I repeated the process through seven more caves and two more landings, until I was at the topmost, biggest cave of the mountain. "Violeta!" I sang out, and the dark violet mound of scales stirred, pale blue eyes opening and staring at me. With a sigh, she sat up and stretched, and I felt a warm stirring in my heart. Violet was my dragon, my heart, the other half of my soul, and I literally could not live without her.

She lowered her head until she could look me in the eye, and I scratched a knot of scales at the corner of her jaw. The dragoness hummed with pleasure, deep in her throat, and the cave vibrated.

"I suppose I'm taking the others hunting?"

I smiled. "Why else would I wake you so early?"

She shrugged huge shoulders, and yawned. The shortest of her fangs was the length of my entire arm, from shoulder to fingertips. She shook herself, and shuffled to the back of her cave, where a spring of clear cold water lay, and took a deep gulp. I made my way to the ledge at the front of Violeta's cave, sitting there with my feet dangling off the thick stone, thousands of feet in the air.

"I wish you wouldn't do that," Violeta muttered as she stepped onto the ledge behind me.

"What? Don't you think you could catch me?" I teased.

"I'd rather not take the chance." With the scraping of a huge heavy beast on stone behind me, the dragoness laid down, curling the tip of her tail around me.

I quietly regarded her. She was a slim dragon, and small for her breed; not that there were many to base that off of. She was a member of the rare Indras Celestials, one of the largest dragons in existence. She herself was just under seventy tons, and nearly three hundred feet long. Her scales were a deep, dark violet, her belly, throat and neck a lighter shade of lavender. Her talons and teeth were a gleaming snow white, and a ruff of slim white horns framed her face, with a delicate membrane suspended between the horns. Her eyes were a bright, light blue, much like my own.

"Vi," I said, and she glanced at me. "You really should take them hunting."

With a nod, she stood, and hurled herself off the ledge and into the air with a joyful cry. The dawning sunlight sparkled off her scales, turning her into a beautiful point of light; from the lower caves came the other dragons.

Jade, a dragon not much smaller than Violeta, had lived in Mystic Land for twenty-three years, nearly her entire life. She was a deep, moss green, with a sunny yellow underbelly and wings, with bright green eyes and gleaming white spikes along her back.

Emerald was also green, but much smaller; nearer to twenty-five tons or so. She was a lighter green, with a pair of ivory horns jutting from her forehead. Ivory spikes ran from the tip of her nose to the tip of her tail, and her underbelly was of the same color.

Ignis was a deep red, with black underbelly and throat. He had vivid yellow markings along his forehead and jawbones, as well as yellow horns and a double row of spikes along his back, which joined into one when they reached his tail. His eyes were a mixture between orange and golden yellow, and he was a bit larger than Emerald.

Snowstorm was grey and blue; his eyes were a bright red, and he had a stocky, muscular build, and was larger than Ignis.

Seether, Vile, and Crymson were all around the same size, ten or eleven tons. Seether was a deep blue, with an orange-brown underbelly and talons; his eyes were hellfire red. Vile had a sleek, slim build, a lighter blue than Seether and venom yellow markings over his face; his underbelly and eyes were the same color. Crymson was a blood red, with a pale yellow underbelly, green eyes, and a stocky build.

I watched the small flock head northeast, towards the Silver Forest, scales gleaming like gems. Looking over the land, it all seemed so peaceful, so calm.

What could ever go wrong?
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Re: Mystic Land~

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Chapter Two; All The Time In The World


I slipped back into the courtyard of the castle, edging the door in the portcullis shut behind me, and made a mental note to oil it sometime in the near future. I glanced around quickly, and headed across the courtyard again, nervous agitation making my heart thunder. I was maybe ten yards away from the keep tower in the center when I relaxed, and started to think I'd get away with sneaking out.

As the thought entered my mind, an arm like a steel bar grabbed me around the waist and lifted me into the air, and a large hand clamped itself over my mouth. I screamed in reflex, but the sound was muffled. I kicked backwards, glad that I was wearing heavy, leather boots, but my attacker was holding me too close for it to do much damage. I started flailing around, and clawed at the arm that held me in the air, when a familiar voice murmured next to my ear; "I think we need to work on your defense skills. Now, would you mind not clawing my arm to shreds?"

I was set on the ground, and whirled around to see the captain of the guards, Aretan, staring at me, an amused light in his hazel eyes. "Aretan!" I screeched. "Don't do that!"

He smiled. "I won't anytime again in the future, if I want to keep the use of my arm," and held out his arm, the one that had held me in the air. Bloody furrows ran from his writs almost to his elbow, and I flinched.

"I'm sorry," I murmured, and laid my hands on his arm, sending a small wave of healing magic along the scratches. The flesh grew back, and new skin formed in ridges; gradually, even the pink skin of a scar faded away, and Aretan examined his newly healed arm, rubbing his skin over where the scratches had just been, amazed that it didn't even hurt.

He looked up to thank the princess, surprised when he saw she was halfway across the courtyard. He jogged over to her side. "Where are you going?" he questioned, looking down at her.

"To let the horses graze," she replied. The massive courtyard held a huge, huge well where the entire castle got its water; nearby were the pastures the royal herd grazed in. The royal herd was the pride and joy of the horse-masters of Mystic Land; each one had the characteristics that were looked for in their breed. The battle horses were tall and powerfully muscled; the scout horses were lean and incredibly swift. Even the burden horses were damn near perfect, tall and broad-shouldered to carry extra armor and supplies for knights.

Aretan followed the young princess into the stable, which was actually inside the castle; a huge double door led to the courtyard. A horse was shrilling angrily; probably Pride, he thought. Pride was the absolute leading stallion of the horses; none of them, not even Blackfoot, a huge burden-horse stallion whose hooves were as large as Aretan's face, dared challenge him. The horse-masters had done well with his bloodlines, but the beautiful stallion was as aggressive in the stable as he was on the battlefield.

The young captain of the guard stopped a few feet from Pride's stall, a huge box with thick oak paneling. The palomino was wheeling around his stall, ears flat against his skull and nostrils wrinkled, an obvious sign of his displeasure. Meghan continued to the door of his stall, soothing him with low, sweet words. Slowly, his ears pricked forwards again, and he stood still. She unlocked his stall door, and the stallion stepped into the main aisle of the stable, bringing to life the vivid proportions between the short, slim princess and the huge battle horse.

Yet, he was as sweet as a kitten with her; he dropped his head over her shoulder to nibble on the ends of her hair, and she scratched his neck along the crest. The stablehands were busy unhooking the stall doors for the rest of the horses, and Meghan lead Pride out the big double doors. The other horses followed in a slow, majestic stream, each of the stallions finding a place near Pride and the princess. The big palomino led his own small herd, three mares, two yearlings, and a filly, into their personal paddock, and Meghan closed the gate behind them.

Storm, a lighter battle horse stallion, passed by with his herd, including the four-year-old chesnut filly who was to be the princess's mount. The young horse was tall, with a clean build and gleaming gold-brown coat. The only reason she wouldn't be a knight's mount was because she had bright blue eyes, nearly Meghan's in shade; the queen had immediately asked that filly be for her daughter.

Aretan watched Meghan lock the paddocks, caressing particular horses as they came over for treats. "Damned unnatural," he heard a voice mutter behind him, and turned to look. The eldest stable-master spat onto the ground a few feet away. "That's a witch's talent, not a princess's. Damned magic." Rekell, that was his name. Aretan stared at him coldly, fists balled by his sides. The old man wandered away after another moment of staring at the princess, and Aretan sighed.

He couldn't blame him, not really; only the royal family had magic, and the current queen and king, Meghan's parents, never used their magic to do anything; they only sat in their tower all day, for the past hundred or so years. Meghan was an outgoing, friendly young girl, with a lot of magic; maybe she could set the land's minds right with a lot of effort. He sighed again, and walked to the tower keep slowly, deep in thought. He took his place, leaning on the wall by the door, and watched the castle slowly wake.

Well, at least she has a lot of time to make people understand. All the time in the world, really.





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Re: Mystic Land~

Post by streamqueen »

Wow O.o that..... Is really good I like it, and I will be keeping an eye on this to make sure I dont miss any chapters! :D I luvsas it! <3 <3
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Re: Mystic Land~

Post by LightningDragon »

streamqueen wrote:Wow O.o that..... Is really good I like it, and I will be keeping an eye on this to make sure I dont miss any chapters! :D I luvsas it! <3 <3
Why thank you~! I haven't really written in a while, so I wasn't sure how it would turn out. I'll try to have chapter three up by today or tomorrow. ^_^
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Re: Mystic Land~

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Yay! :D
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Re: Mystic Land~

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Chapter Three; The River


I was sitting on the top of the barred fence, watching Pride's herd graze, when I felt the warm brush of Violeta's mind against mine. I'm taking the others to bathe in the Serpent River. Care to go swimming? I grinned, and slid off the fence, making my way to the tower keep with a few stops to greet a servant or one of the many cats that ran around, keeping the castle's mighty vaults of food vermin-free.

I slowly made my way up the spiraling staircase, feeling a bit of reluctance. Don't get me wrong, I love my parents, but I felt they could be friendlier, more outgoing rulers. With a sigh, I glanced out on of the great widows, the people in the courtyard already small. I knew people didn't like magic, or dragons, or even my family; and then I felt a surge of determination. I would get them to respect my family, the choices we made, the dragons, and magic, if not like it.

I paused outside my parent's great room at the top of the keep, gathering my thoughts, and pushed the door open. My mother was sitting on their huge, majestic bed, writing down notes from a piece of paper beside her; possibly tax rates, I thought idly. "Mama," I called softly, waiting until she glanced up at me. "Can I go for a ride on Pride?"

She thought for a moment, then nodded. "Don't take Pride, though, take Lightning; and make sure you return to your studies when you get back."

I nodded. "Thank you mama!"

I slipped back out the door, closing it behind me. I felt a strange sense of reluctance at having to take Lightning instead; it wasn't that I didn't like the energetic young mare, it was that I didn't have the same sort of bond. Pride had been born when I was younger, and my parents had let me be more of a tomboy when I had free time from my studies; once I'd turned ten, though, I was expected to learn how to behave like a lady; dancing, fine manners, all of that absolutely, wonderfully boring stuff.

I was fifteen now, and as such, I'd missed Lightning's birth and almost a year of her training. I hardly knew anything about her, besides her appearance. I shook my head. "Well, I'll just have to find out," I muttered under my breath, and made my way back down the stairs.

I pulled a well-oiled leather saddle and bridle off the racks labeled "Lightning." I also pulled out a grooming box, setting them in the aisle while I went to get the horse. I leaned on the railings around Storm's field, and whistled. The handsome black stallion's head flew up, and at his reaction, the rest of the horses stared at me. "Lightning," I called, low and sweet, and the golden chestnut shifted her weight uncertainly. She glanced at Storm, and her father glared at her.

With an unhappy sigh, Lightning plodded over to the gate, which I opened in front of her. The mare glanced around, seemingly in surprise, that I didn't have a halter, and I saw the tensing in her muscles as she prepared to bolt away. I took a firm grip on her forelock and looked her straight in the eye. "Don't even think about it," I said firmly, and she snorted, twitching her tail in annoyance. Even so, once I let go of her forelock, she followed me, curious.

She stood calmly in the center of the barn's massive aisle while I looked her over. She was surprisingly clean; even the white socks, which she'd gained from her father, still gleamed. I ran over her soft coat with a rag, then slipped the bit into her mouth and fastened the bridle. I heaved the saddle onto her back, tightening the girth and noting with satisfaction that she didn't try to blow out her belly, as horses tended to do; sometimes I almost thought they enjoyed seeing a careless rider's saddle flip around and send them into the dirt.

I swung into the saddle and turned Lightning around, calmly walking her out the stable's huge oak double doors. She moved easily, I noted; I'd have to thank the horse-masters for training her so well. She was calm, too, not spooking even when a cat bolted right under her hooves.

Once we exited the castle's grounds, and gotten past the mountains, I asked her to go a bit faster, pleased with the smooth trot. I let her stay at that pace for a while to be sure her muscles were warmed up, then asked her to go faster, into a steady canter. I knew she could keep up this pace for a few hours with no trouble, and I busied myself with studying the surroundings. Still, Mystic Land was calm. I almost wished there could be a battle of some sorts.

♠*♠*♠

I saw Violeta sunning on the riverbanks before I saw any of the others, and dismounted. I wasn't sure how Lightning would react around any of them; horses had a natural free of the huge predators. I led the mare the remaining distance to the Serpent River, glad I only felt the mare's pace slow a bit. She didn't stop, or try to bolt; she just seemed content to follow me. I dropped her reins at the edge of the massive river, downstream from the dragons; I was sure she was drop-rein trained, and she was in easy distance of water.

With nothing more, I simply stepped into the water; the river was very, very cold, and I shuddered. "Maybe I don't want to swim."

Jade snorted with amusement. "Well, in that case, you can help clean us." Obviously, the dragons ahd no problems ordering a princess around. I shook my head, and pulled a towel out of a saddle pack on Lightning's saddle, wiping river mud and gore off the scales of the dragons where they'd missed. Afterwards, they stretched out on large rocks, both in and out of the water, letting the sun dry them.

I loosened Lightning's girth, and the mare blinked at me, almost gratefully. She dropped her head to doze, and I made my way back to Violeta, who by now was only a few yards from the horse; still, Lightning hadn't spooked. I felt some respect for the young mare.

Violeta cracked an eye open, and stretched out a foreleg; I laid down on it, and she carefully curled her head and neck around me. We sat there for a good part of the afternoon, simply dozing in the sun.

An ominous rumble of thunder had me sitting up, eyeing the sky. It took me a minute to realize; it was a sunny, cloudless day.

I glanced at Violeta. "What the hell was that?"
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Re: Mystic Land~

Post by Lily153 »

That `s really good.




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Re: Mystic Land~

Post by streamqueen »

That is a really calm horse even I would've bolted at the sight of a dragon! Unless it was one of those tiny dragons you know the ones that resemble dragonflys, anyway it's good! Really good! Can't wait for more! :roll:
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Re: Mystic Land~

Post by LightningDragon »

Thank you both~! And yeah xD I guess I kind of wanted Lightning to be a bit different from a normal horse.
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Re: Mystic Land~

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Chapter Four; All Is Not As It Seems


I grabbed Lightning's reins and pulled her towards Violeta, who had one giant paw laid flat on the ground, talons pointing upwards. The mare snorted uneasily, but followed me into the center of the dragon's palm, and Violeta gently closed her talons around us, then lifted off the ground, the rest of her little flock following close behind. It took us a long while to reach the castle, even with Violeta at her top speed. When she brought us down in the courtyard, I could see my mother, screaming at the sky.

Violeta opened her paw, and I leaped out, running to my mother. She was sobbing and wailing, tears streaming freely like a river down her cheeks. "Mother! Mother, what's wrong?" I cried as I got near enough, and she opened her eyes to stare at me, her eyes red with tears. "Thunder," she sobbed, voice cracking. "Something's wrong."

I felt like a stone dropped to the bottom of my stomach. Thunder was my mother's dragon, Violeta's mother, and had over a century of experience behind her. If something had gone wrong, it was serious.

My father threw open the door to the tower, and it smacked against the stone with a loud clack. He searched around the courtyard wildly for a moment before he saw us. He hurried over, gathering my mother in his arms. "Shh," he murmured. "Meghan, you have to find out what's wrong. Take the other dragons."

I nodded, automatically snapping my head around at the loud, concussive thud that echoed in the air. It was Aborsen, my father's dragon and Violeta's father, a giant behemoth over five hundred feet long, with gleaming, pure, pitch-black scales. He landed in the courtyard; as huge as even Aborsen was, there was more than enough room for several other dragons near his size to also be accommodated. The horses were thrown into a frenzy to be so close to him, and I thought I heard a few human screams of terror as well.

He swung his huge head around, chocolate brown eyes worried, and a warm blast of breath flew from his nostrils; he wrapped the tip of his tail around my parents, and locked eyes with Violeta. "Go, young one," he said to her, his voice reverberating within my head, shaking my sight.

Violeta nodded, and picked me up carefully, holding me in her talons, and threw herself into the air, followed by the rest of the dragons, all of them quiet and serious now.

♠*♠*♠

Violeta was flinging herself through the air, heedless of the speed. Tears were whipping from my eyes in streams when we finally came over the Silver Forest. We did a careful circling, widening it every circuit until we were towards the edge, where the trees were smaller and farther apart.

Violeta let out a horrid, screaming wail, and my own mouth dropped. Thunder was lying on her side, trapped under a bouquet of trees, her beautiful sunset orange scales slathered in mud and slashes. We landed, the other dragons plucking the trees off of her as carefully and quickly as they could. She was breathing heavily, eyes shut tight, though she looked at us when we landed.

An inarticulate cry escaped from my mouth, and I set my hands gently on her neck, sending a wave of healing energy into the great dragon. Violeta helped, supplying me with a great deal of strength, and we soon got Thunder onto her feet, and into the air, admittedly shaky. When we landed in the courtyard of the castle, all the healing and strength we'd poured into Violeta's mother had faded to almost nothing, and she sank back onto her side with a groan.

Aborsen made a low moaning noise, and curled himself around his mate. The other dragons arranged themselves comfortably, within eyesight of Thunder.

My mother hurled herself towards her dragon, still blubbering, and my father came to me. "Whatever the hell happened to Thunder, I want you to find out. Tomorrow, you're going to examine the forest. And don't you dare sneak out tonight," he said in a deadly quiet tone, and strode away to the dragons.

I rubbed a hand tiredly over my face, and turned to the tower, stumbling wearily towards it as I watched the sun sink behind the castle walls.

Gods, why can't I do anything right?

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