Spirits

Wind whispered through the soft feathers of my wings. I swooped down, landing before the wooden building half buried in pristine snow. The place looked strange in the pre-dawn light, as if it really was haunted.

I had been sent to investigate the place, as rumors were spreading that it housed a malicious or ghostly presence. Standing in front of the old gray church, I could start to believe the rumors, though it was still hard to imagine anything mean enough to take down a dragon. I crunched closer, past ice glazed trees, feet sinking through ice to soft snow.

Movement flickered at the corner of my eye. I stopped, staring through a broken window. Nothing. I moved closer, through snow the color of my scales. Just as I reached the steps up to the door, a blur of movement exploded past me. I jumped as an unearthly wail rent the air. I staggered as the thing charged in front of me.

Black was the first thing I noticed, stark against white snow. Black hooves thrashed the air, tangled black mane whipped in a non-existent wind. Before I could react, the creature screamed again.

“Antira!” he wailed. My eyes widened. I hadn’t spoken, let alone said my name.

“What?” I asked.

“Beware, Antirrhinum! Our kinds have not met in a thousand years, but the time is soon that they will meet again!”

I stared. “Your kind?”

“The Myrjieque Chevala, the Magic Horses,” he said.

I snorted. “What dragon fears a horse?” The stallion stilled, only his forelock billowing slightly.

“None, but the one who took my life. For I think she has learned the curse of the spirit form.” Quick as he’d come, the ghost horse whirled and disappeared back inside the building. I stood and stared for a moment, realizing…

I leapt into the air. I would tell the others of the horses approaching. But no more. I did not belong with them. My old enemy was right—even in life, I had not truly belonged in the land of the living, but in this surreal place of spirits.


Isabel Nee loves reading, writing, science, birds, and mythology. She has had prose and poetry published in elementia magazine and WATC’s Showcase Selections. She is currently writing a YA fantasy novel, and hopes to some day become a professional novelist. Isabel lives in Gardner, Kansas where she hatches chickens and (she would like to think) great ideas. She has a Facebook page where she (very inconsistently) posts her poetry.

Isabel Nee loves reading, writing, science, birds, and mythology. She sporadically practices archery, and is known to research rare genetic disorders which she then inflicts on her characters. Isabel has had prose and poetry published in elementia magazine and Showcase Selections ~ 2016. She is currently writing a YA fantasy novel, and hopes to some day become a professional novelist. Isabel lives in Kansas where she hatches chickens and (she would like to think) great ideas.

2 Comments

  • Emily says:

    Interesting story! I love it’s immediate point of view. I would also like to read more stories with dragons and magical horses. :)

    • Isabel says:

      Thanks! I love mythic creatures, especially dragons and magic horses, and I’ll probably do more Cafe stories with them. Maybe not the same two as in this story, but then again maybe so… ;)

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