Snow Dragon Episode V

A 10-part horror serial

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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Studying a new digital map of the caverns in Silver Fork Canyon only reinforced an unpleasant fact for Evan. His exhaustive search for a giant man-eating reptile was not unlike sifting through a colossal haystack to find the proverbial needle.

Snaking crimson lines representing tunnels in his 3D map graced his laptop screen. An older matching paper map of the caverns lay spread out across his desk. Evan highlighted spots on the digital map that showed internal structural changes to the cavern network following the recent earthquake.

He brought in Karla, a speleologist who worked with the main Division of Wildlife office in Denver, to create updated maps using ERT and AEM methods. Leeds drove Evan and Karla up Silver Fork Canyon to the main cavern entrance. They assisted her in placing pins and wiring outside the entrance at wide intervals. This allowed the electric current to penetrate deeper through the surrounding bedrock and produce a more accurate spatial reading of each tunnel and chamber.

Leeds called the sheriff’s office dispatcher and told them to send a helicopter for an AEM survey after they finished with the ERT scan. Karla bounced an electromagnetic signal through a transmitter loop from the helicopter down to the caverns.

Extensive mapping did not uncover the reptilian creature’s location or its concealed lair. Their updated maps only showed new crevices and fissures formed during the violent initial tremor and its aftershocks.

“Tough to hunt down a wild animal who hides so well,” Evan said.

His eyes shifted from the digital map back to the paper copy and he marked the location of a collapsed secondary tunnel. Evan tapped the point of his pen on the paper and raised his chin. Leeds met his gaze and shrugged.

“We need to set a trap,” he said. “Draw whatever we’re dealing with out into the open.”