legendarynovel

Prologue

A black silhouette in the fog. A dark sky in the night. A brisk breeze in the bare limbs. A sound far far away of a scream of a creature about to die.

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The whole island almost seemed to shudder in the wind that brought the fog. What little trees were to be had quaked, and birds cowered under roofs and sheltered in barns. The green grasses covering the craggy landscape rolled like waves in a sea caught in a storm. People locked them selves away in fear of being swept off their feet. 

It was a disaster. 

Every year, on the same day, these strange winds appeared over the island. No one knew why, even the most knowledgable meteorologists couldn't figure it out. They all just knew to stay out of the winds when they came.  

It was baffling, too, how the winds completely avoided the British Isles and the Irish Sea-only blowing over the Isle of Man.  

The island itself like it was still set in medieval times, with its stone buildings and fences and cobblestone or hard-packed dirt roads. Anything else would blow away or crumble under the pressure of the 190 kilometres per hour winds.  

Even automobiles were traded for horses and pony carts, and the luxury of pretty landscaping with delicate flowers was abandoned.  

But this year, the winds were a monster. All the years' before were like a kitten compared to what blew over. Loose stones on fences shook so hard they fell off, and chains around barn doors shuddered and trembled so hard they cracked-letting loose a whole herd of sheep, which in turn were shoved up against a stone fence. They baa'ed in terror. All over the isle in the barns, animals cried out in fear-cows moo'ed, pigs shrieked, horses screamed and kicked their stalls. Stable boys locked up with them for the twenty-four hour period tried to calm the most valuable of livestock, giving the prized bulls extra treats and letting the working draft horses out on a lead to walk. Anything to get them to stop rearing, kicking or making noise in their stalls.  

One barn in particular, set way out by itself in a sea of pastures, resembled more of an ancient stone castle. The outside was a marvel of Celtic architecture, and the inside looked like it still held kings and queens. Instead, of course, it held kingly stallions and queen-like mares and regal geldings. The stall walls were exquisite polished wood and the floors were padded. Everything screamed comfortable. 

Except for tonight. The horses reared up in extreme terror and bashed polished hooves against the stall doors and screamed. Stable hands rushed around, but every time one would quiet, it would go mad again by the wailing of the wind and the horse next to it. There was almost nothing for the stable boys to do to calm them. It was all a waste.  

The head trainer paced in his flat above the barn in anxiety. He'd be lucky if any of them were sound by the end of the night. His cat got up from bed and went to him with purring, but it did little. He kept mumbling to himself about the losses of such nice horses and how there was nothing they could do.  

Suddenly, an unnatural scream tore across the island. It was not a horse-it was not a human.  

Everything quieted. Even the wind seemed to hush to a gentle breeze. The only thing to be heard was the trainer's breathing.  

It happened again.  

As experienced as the man was with animals, he was baffled to as what the creature was. It was nothing anyone had heard ever before. All over the Isle of Man the screams were heard but not one person could place it. At irregular intervals the screams occurred. The trainer was relieved when the horses stayed quiet, as were the stable hands. Whatever the screams came from, they were silencing the horses and that was good. 

But if one looked out their windows, they could see a black outline in the sky. One with massive wings like an eagle's, but with a slender, long tail that ended in a clump of feathers.

* + * + *

So I was being really bad and I started this. It's not linked to anything, so I don't really have to worry about disclaimer. But I have borrowed some character shells for some people...