Snow Dragon: Episode IX

A 10-part horror serial.

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A mythical monster has awakened beneath Deer Falls following an earthquake. Can the Duggan family destroy this vicious and lethal predator before it drives the sleepy Colorado town to extinction? 

Snow Dragon is a prequel to Pandora Reborn — my debut horror novel released in 2018. All 10 episodes of this horror novella are available exclusively to paid subscribers of my Strange New Worlds newsletter or patrons of my Patreon page.

Check back each Sunday for the latest episode through the end of September.

I | II | III | IV | V |VI | VII | VIII | IX | X | Epilogue

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A stunned silence enveloped Evan. What Casey told him and Marie on the ride home from the library didn’t simply border on the impossible. It sprinted across the dividing line between reality and fantasy with plenty of room to spare. Conjuring a beam of magical light to drive away a subterranean reptile?

Nonsense.

Pure unfiltered nonsense.

Accepting the possibility snow dragons were based on a real reptilian species required a mammoth leap of faith. Evan refused to take another leap by assigning magic a meaningful role in their current situation. Believing in magic marched straight into the heart of ancient and ignorant superstitions. Primitive civilizations regularly mistook science for magic and used their limited knowledge as justification to indulge in dangerous beliefs and practices.

This wasn’t a path Evan wanted to explore.

“Your mind is playing tricks on you,” he said, closing the front door behind his wife and son. Evan walked over to Casey and laid his hand on his shoulder. “It’s understandable after the trauma you endured. Once you calm down again, we’ll all have a clearer understanding for why the giant reptile fled.”

Casey scowled at him and cast his eyes downward. He plucked Evan’s hand off his shoulder and brushed it aside.

“I’m not crazy.” His son’s tone grew cross as he met Evan’s gaze again. “I know what I saw. Magic is real. Christina used her powers to save me. I don’t care if you believe me or not. That’s what happened.”

Evan sighed and cast a sideways glance at Marie. She narrowed her eyes and gave him a quizzical look.

“I believe him. Science can’t explain everything.”

He rolled his eyes. Of course, his wife embraced a paranormal tall tale. Rambling on about these things on her podcast was cute and fun. But it felt dangerous now while dealing with a real threat from a real animal with real lives at stake.

This wasn’t the right time or place for doubling down on folklore over science. They might as well build a stone altar and offer a sacrifice to appease an imaginary god’s wrath as claim magic saved the day.