Is this a new cryptid? The giant raptor of Worral

A new diary entry on hellsborough.com is coming soon:

We all know that the murk harbours unknown horrors, including a number of cryptids. But I had heard no word about this one that I spotted recently.

Likely a remnant of the saurian empire, since all birds are decedents of the dinosaurs -- as well as milting, who if you're interested in this world, you should learn about. Milting are the founding race, without milting, there would be no world here or hereabouts.

It was only the briefest of sightings -- just the glimmer of a wing.

But I knew from that small glimpse that this was a huge flapper. At the moment I saw that wing, it had arched out of the trees, just above and in front of the road that I was walking down, out the back of Worral on the slop down towards the Middlewood road.

The sun was in my eyes, it was just a fleeting moment. But I also heard its shriek -- shrill as a banshee, and distinct -- there aren't any other flappers in this neck of the woods that would make a sound anything like that.

I am positive it was not some random rooterwing or anything mundane like that. It had a distinct speckling, a plumage unlike anything that you would expect to see on a day-to-day basis. No, this was something different. The wing was primarily white, with brown speckling, and it was large -- a good foot and a half long, so that it must have belonged to some ripper flapper of some sort, not that there are that many around these parts.

I see many hoverwings, but it was too big for that, and not the same modus operandi either. This was more of a ripperwing, but the colouring was different -- usually I expect them to be grey, not brown. I have to say, it reminded me distinctly of a carrion eater in the off-world that I used to see around Oxford -- the red kite. Certainly it was about the right size (and massive), but again, the colouring wasn't right. And those creatures do not hunt like the ripperwing, they exist on carrion -- the dead, things that have died. They do not hunt live prey.

So I am left with the impression that this flapper -- whatever is was -- was some new cryptid of the murk. The roc of Worral, or at least the giant raptor of Worral.

I hunted for it that day, I spent an age staring back at where I had seen it. But nothing. I traversed the steep path back from the bottom of Stockarth lane back up to the top of the ledge at Worral road, which affords an excellent view over this beasts hunting ground, but I saw no further sign of it -- which of course made me doubt my own sanity to begin with.

Did I see this thing, did I see this giant raptor? I know I did, and I'll prove it one way or another. I mean, there has to be other eye witnesses, surely?

Anyone?

In other news, book one is now available on Kindle and paperback. I have ordered paperback author copies and will be distributing them to those of you that have helped and supported me during the last year or so. Marketing material (limited edition, of course) is now appearing locally. Subscribe to this newsletter and tell me where you scanned it (if you’re already subscribed, just reply and tell me that), and be in to win one of 4 signed copies of the novel (T&C’s apply*):

If you are reading this in November 2023 and would like a review copy, please get in touch and I'll send you a full epub.

If you can leave a review on Amazon, I'd be more than grateful.

Cheers, until next time,

Pip :)

*Terms & Conditions: Prize draw valid for new subscribers to "Postcards from The Dark Peak" between Wednesday 1st November until the closing date of Wednesday 13th December 2023 23:59PM. You will need to collect your book from a bar or pub close to Hillsborough junction, Sheffield, S6.