Click here to see the inspiration for this flash fiction piece.
Story Dice: On my Writing Wednesday post, I created a sentence for 7 different writing prompts that used story dice. For Fiction Friday, I picked my favorite to turn into a flash fiction piece. My favorite sentence was built from the fantasy prompt:
I rolled a 2, 5, and 4, which correlated to 3 different pictures I had to translate into a word of a noun, verb, or adjective (depending on the table). My words were dragon (noun), cast (verb, to cast a spell), and large/huge (adjective). My resulting sentence was this:
Dean cast his last spell at the dragon, horrified to realize that instead of shrinking the dragon down to a tadpole-sized threat, he had blown up the dragon to an enormous size, making it a huge problem.
From that sentence, I made my flash fiction piece below. I hope you enjoy it! It was fun to write.
Dean and Finn sprinted through the scorching tunnels, their boots slapping against the hot stone floors as a ferocious dragon thundered behind them, unseen but close.
“Don’t you know a freezing spell or something?” Finn panted, his breath ragged.
“Oh, I know just the thing!” Dean exclaimed, skidding to a halt. Finn rushed ahead of him, planting his shield into the ground as a barrier. Dean muttered incantations, the words barely audible over the echoes of the dragon’s roar that reverberated through the cavern. Though they hadn’t glimpsed the beast yet, its presence was undeniable—like a living furnace chasing them down.
“Any time now would be nice,” Finn growled, beads of sweat rolling down his face. “I know I’m a tank, but I won’t hold up for long if that dragon decides to breathe fire again. With how hot this lair is, I swear my shoes are melting onto my feet!”
While Finn complained, Dean continued chanting, his voice growing more resolute. “Fiant procellae,” Dean said, his tone final. Suddenly, a fierce pillar of fire twisted through the cavern ahead of them like a blazing tornado.
Finn glanced at the firestorm in shock. “What the hell was that?” he shouted, hoisting his shield as he resumed running away from the dragon as well as the newly created firestorm.
“I panicked!” Dean admitted, stumbling after Finn. “I couldn’t think of the word for water, so I summoned a storm, hoping it’d bring rain!”
Finn shot him a disbelieving look. “So instead of a rainstorm, you made a firestorm?”
“Well, yes…” Dean mumbled, guilt creeping into his voice.
Despite the danger, Finn couldn’t help but chuckle. “If we weren’t about to die, that would actually be kind of cool.”
The two continued through a labyrinth of tunnels and caverns, the oppressive heat bearing down on them. It was hard to tell if they’d been running in circles or if the dragon’s lair was just that vast. The walls all looked the same, and every turn felt like it could lead them straight back to the dragon.
Without warning, Finn skidded to a stop, causing Dean to crash into his back and fall to the ground.
“Ow—what was that for?” Dean grumbled, picking himself up.
“Shut up!” Finn hissed, his body trembling. Dean peered around Finn’s broad shoulders and saw why his friend had stopped: they had stumbled into the dragon’s nest, where its hoard gleamed in the dim light.
Gold and jewels sparkled in piles around them, and Dean made the terrifying realization that they were as deep into the cave as they could get. Worse, there was only one way in or out, and the approaching footsteps of the dragon grew louder with every second.
Finn’s eyes darted around. “Alright, let’s stay calm. How much mana do you have left?”
Dean grimaced. “Maybe enough for one big spell—or two small ones. Not really ideal for a dragon fight…”
“Great,” Finn muttered, rubbing the back of his neck. “Okay, here’s the plan. You start prepping a spell—something to get us past the dragon—and I’ll hold it off.”
Dean nodded, already muttering the beginnings of a spell under his breath. Finn took up his defensive stance once more, his shield raised as a barrier between Dean and the danger that was creeping closer. Sweat rolled down Finn’s face as the ground trembled beneath the dragon’s steps.
The beast finally appeared, its massive head snaking into the cavern, glowing with a malevolent orange light as it prepared to unleash another torrent of fire. The dragon’s eyes locked onto them, and its lips curled back in a snarl.
“What are you waiting for?” Finn yelled, his voice cracking under the pressure. “Blast it with whatever you’ve got!”
Dean raised his arms. “Facti sunt magna!”
Dean cast his last spell at the dragon, horrified to realize that instead of shrinking the dragon down to a tadpole-sized threat, he had blown up the dragon to an enormous size, making it a huge problem.
“I mean facti sunt non magna. Non magna!” Dean pleaded with the spell. Unfortunately, the magic had been cast, and the spell was at work, enlarging the dragon rapidly. Fear kept Finn and Dean rooted in place as they watched the dragon’s body expanded so tall that its head brushed the cavern’s ceiling. Luckily, the growth spurt confused the dragon, its head whipping back and forth, and prevented it from releasing its firey breath upon the young adventurers.
“Run!” Dean screamed as he sprinted underneath the still enlarging dragon towards the exit of the hoard room.
“What the hell, Dean?!” Finn shouted as he grabbed his shield and sprinted towards the exit. “You made it bigger!”
“I panicked!” Dean cried, weaving through the confused dragon’s growing limbs. “I was trying to shrink it, but I forgot the word for ‘small,’ so I tried to say ‘not big’ instead!”
“Well, congratulations! You’ve made it enormous!”
The two adventurers barely managed to squeeze past the dragon’s enormous claws as it struggled to maneuver its oversized body through the narrow tunnels. The dragon, now far too large to chase them through the cave, bellowed in frustration that it couldn’t follow its prey. It unleashed a torrent of fire in the tunnels, but Dean and Finn, equipped with plenty of adrenaline, had already rushed far beyond the reach of the dragon’s fire breath.
The adventurers weaved in and out of the tunnels, narrowly missing the still burning firestorm spell, until they finally burst out of the cave, gasping for the cool, fresh air.
Finn turned to Dean, still fuming. “Are you an idiot mage or something? We almost got squashed because of you and your damned spells!”
Dean’s cheeks flushed crimson. “It was supposed to be a shrinking spell! I just… forgot the right word.”
“And magic doesn’t appreciate a ‘not’ thrown in for good measure, I take it?”
Dean rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “I sorta forget to include the ‘not’… magic normally doesn’t use negatives.”
Finn stared at him for a long moment before shaking his head. He couldn’t stay mad at his best friend, idiot or not. “Next time, we’re bringing your sister.”
Dean couldn’t argue with that. “Fair enough.”
Singed and armor slightly melted, the two adventurers limped back toward the village, grateful to be alive, if not slightly worse for wear.
B.R. Quinn 