From Final Fantasy
The Wyvern gets mistaken for a dragon a lot, but it’s not really the same. No breath weapon and they come in two species. Both have very powerful rear legs and leathery wings. One has a barbed tail and no arms while the other has a clubbed tail and very tiny, almost vestigial arms. Another difference between them and dragons is a Wyvern cannot talk or understand speech. They’re very territorial too, but have keen senses that pick up on another animal’s strength. So it might be willing to attack someone like Luke Callindor or Sari, but Nyx and Timoran Wrath would make it cautious.
Fizzle calls them ‘First Dragons’ and that’s a good description of their origins. The Wyverns were here before the dragons. Kind of a test run by the gods, which most people don’t realize. The Windemere Creation Mythos has it that Angels (Good), Demons (Evil), and Dragons (Neutral) were the first things put on the planet. The Demons wiped out the Angels while the Dragons stayed out of the fight then the Demons were locked away in the Chaos Void. This is the religious and bedtime story version since a lot of animals were created first. Those three species are really the beginning of complex-thinking life on Windemere. So the Wyverns were around, but not really a global factor. Kind of like the early versions of the dinosaurs that people only vaguely recognize.
It is interesting that these creatures have survived all of the global disasters and found niches in different terrains. They are mostly found in forests or near mountains, but Wyverns are extremely adaptable. Many have stated that there is an aquatic version that lingers around whirlpools, but nobody has ever proven this. Only the Club Wyvern and Barbed Wyvern have been confirmed to exist. Though that’s really it because only a handful of people have managed to tame a Wyvern and use it as a mount. So there’s not a lot of in-depth understanding until I use them more. Definitely solitary predators that only gather for mating season.
Adding the Wyvern into the bestiary was something I wanted to do for a while. I’ve actually had it in places in each book, but cut it out because it never mixed. Didn’t even make it into the outline because I couldn’t get it to work until Curse of the Dark Wind, which had an impressive debut. Be nice to use them more and I’m keeping an eye out for it. Maybe I will create a character who is able to ride one . . . Perhaps I’ve discovered what ‘Beardy’ from Ichabod Brooks & the City of Beasts is.
Want more Wyvern? Click below.
Cover Art by Jason Pedersen
Legends of Windemere 
Interesting how they can pick up on another animal’s magical strength, too (or I can’t imagine them being all that weary of Nyx).
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It isn’t so much magical strength, but aggression and power. Timoran is easy to see because he’s big, scarred, and can turn on a primal intimidation. Nyx is different since she is smaller and doesn’t appear threatening. Her confidence and temper are what clue creatures like the Wyvern into her being something a bit too dangerous to tangle with.
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Ah, of course. Confidence. So you could presumably trick them by appearing confident?
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Not exactly. There’s more to it with Nyx because of her magical nature. Casters take some strength from the confidence in their abilities, which also leads to them keeping that power close to the surface. A confident farmer would only get eaten because they’d lack something underneath that.
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Not necessarily. Depends on how large a turnip they’re holding at the time. Those can be pretty lethal, you know.
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True. I’ve played Super Mario Bros. 2, which is proof.
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And don’t get me started on those mushrooms.
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How many kids have been disappointed by that food? No sudden growth or extra life. Oh, and it doesn’t matter how many flowers you eat. Not if a spark of flame from my hand even after clearing the lawn of dandelions.
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Sigh… Crushed dreams…
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Could be worse. We could be Luigi.
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Or Kong.
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I don’t know. He does have a popular series and a cast of supporting characters now.
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But no girl, right?
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I think there’s Candy Kong. I know Diddy Kong and Daisy Kong are together.
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I’m so far behind in cultural references…
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Me too, so I looked it up. Google is our friend . . . and overlord.
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I think to rid one of these you would have to be in good physical condition. The wings look like they would operate like bat wings which would mean a lot of turbulence. Need to be strong to hang on.
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That should be ride.
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Barbarians that live among them or maybe a group of orcs. Both would operate similarly to the Gaian griffin riders. I have notes somewhere about various groups that use flying beasts like griffins, perytons, pegasi, etc. Wyverns were in there somewhere.
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Wouldn’t be me that’s all I know.
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Wyvern is pretty ferocious, even without arms. Is it rideable?
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By some brave souls, but probably not very common. It’d be like someone in our world riding a hippo.
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I like what you said at the end, about how you’ve been trying to work them into your books for a while and it just never quite works out. The trials and tribulations of being a writer, eh? But you finally got them in there! Congrats!
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They did get to make a cameo. Means I can slip them back in when later series give me the opportunity. 🙂
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