Jade Mistral — Plateau Wind Dragon in Flight

The story of Jade Mistral

A fictional story inspired by the artwork.

Wind reaches the top of the plateau early enough to stir the cedar before the low valleys turn bright. The dragon uses the tree as a guide. When its outer branches bend steadily in one direction, the current has cleared the lip of the cliff. That is when Jade Mistral can leave the rock and gain height without passing through the rough air below.

Pearl-colored plates mark the underside of the dragon, and green scales break up the longer curves of the body. Pale wings spread around the raised head, and two blue whiskers extend into the air. Cool light gives the outline a sharp edge. The bank of violet cloud behind the creature lets the warmer light near the horizon remain distinct.

In the story, the dragon travels the same ridge whenever a storm has passed. There are patches of loose stone below the cedar, and the first flight of the day shows where the wind has cleared the dust away. A guide in the valley watches for the pale wings to turn and uses that signal to choose which path to open.

The composition holds the instant when the dragon commits its weight to the air. The tree gives the exposed ridge a recognizable scale, while the line of the whiskers and the wings carry the eye into the space above the cliff.

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