Emotion Flash Fiction

I want to thank CASSIE MAE and ANGELA  COTHRAN for this fun blogfest! I've read a lot of really great work and met many fantastic authors. Thanks so much!


Appalled: to fill or overcome with horror, consternation, or fear; dismay:

The raging dragon reached the Kaempern travelers before the horse and rider could, but Ian witnessed the terror. He heard the screams. Fire rose from the earth like an inferno ignited by a match from hell. 

The dragon had spit his wrath and flew into the sky, hovering like a vulture. Waiting to strike again.

When Ian finally reached the blackened earth, pain pierced through his being like a sword, his stomach turned sour from the stench of burnt flesh.

Stunned, he dismounted.  Men, women, and children lay scorched on the ground, some crawled, others lay still, others walked in circles, confused. 

"No!" he cried. "No." For a moment his mind fogged, his body froze.

Through his tears, he saw people walking in the distance. He struggled to regain his senses.  If he didn’t come out of shock and act before the dragon struck again more people would die. He had to bridle the anger and pain.

“The shield,” Ian tried to holler, but his voice cracked. “The shield.” This time he could hear himself, but no one responded. He mounted Sparkles and searched desperately for the Dragon Shield. Within moments he found it lying upside down, abandoned on the ground. His feet trembled when he dismounted again. With shaking hands he grabbed the wooden targe and glanced at the sky.

The dragon hovered overhead; its shadow blocked the sun, stirring a cold wind that blew ash and sparks across the prairie.