Each piece of art will be paired with a short story of 200-1000 words. The art will be at the bottom of the chapter.
The prompt list I'm using can be found here: https://www.instagram.com/p/CUSzT18LbFp/?utm_medium=share_sheet
The circle glows a bright red, the air smells of ozone. My voice joins the other's in a discordant chant. At the other end of the circle, our leader raises his voice to a shout.
"Oh ancient ones, grant us your ears! Allow us but a trifle of your immense power, so that we might bring you into our world!" It's a familiar scene. We've done this many times before. Maybe it's the storm, but for some reason, I feel like we're getting closer. I raises my voice even higher, matching the Latin chant word for word. I can't tell if it's memorization or something else that draws the words from my mouth.
The wind ruffles our cloaks. My eyes are drawn to the circle, and I realize that it's beginning to emanate heat. A smile begins to creep its way onto my face. This has never happened before!
I can practically feel the elation of the members around me. As the red light grows nearly unbearable, the sky is filled with the rumble of thunder.
Or is it thunder? The sound comes again and I stop talking instinctively, looking up into the sky. It's covered in clouds, now glowing a familiar ominous red. Something scaly breaks the clouds for a second with an earth-shattering roar. It can't be. It is.
The blood-red dragon races above us, the rain that touches her instantly turning to scalding steam. I look at the others, and see they're all smiling like I am. I look at our leader.
Her face is a mask of terror. On the wind, I catch her words.
"I'm not in control. Something went wrong." Those are the last words I ever hear from her.
The earth twists, revealing something entirely different, and she falls in.
The dragon, flying above us in all her glory, seems drawn to the new hole in reality. I barely have the time to move backwards as she plunges down, faster than a speeding train. Her mere presence burns my skin, but then she's gone.
The hole in reality closes.
In a second, the wind has settled. I stare at the world around me, completely unchanged. Our god is gone, and with her, our leader.
The sun is shining in the sky, and us ten—nine are standing in the middle of an empty field.
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