PRINCESS AND THE DRAGON

In long forgotten days of old,

There was a city of renown. Bathed in Gold.

Above all the others, it stood alone.

A city which shined, in days of stone.

Of a peace and beauty, none would conquer or fight.

Where love and happiness were the rule of life.

Its strength was that of Dragons,

Mighty, old and wise.

And from these beasts who loved them,

Came the bounty of their lives.

As the dragons hearts was pure,

They were beloved to the throne.

And to no others did they grace their love,

No other lands, did they call home.

Their came a Princess named Elmira,
Who radiated light.

Innocent and sweet,

Who'd barely known a pain in her whole life.

Born of a royal line, charged to protect,
The Dragons and their blood.
So it is only known,
By those who have a heart that's pure with love.

Once whilst riding, from her Dragon she fell,
Over the forests to the West.
Which grew too thick for her Dragon to land
To rescue or protect.

Three days and nights she suffered alone
In the woods where she was tossed.
Laying starving and wounded in the darkness
Till she feared that she were lost.

When upon angelic beauty of the Princess fallen,
Came a woodsman and his sons.
Who saw the Princess as a wounded prize,
That had easily been won.

For as long as Men and Dragons have roamed the land,
Legend had spoken of the Dragons heart.
And of the powers, a taste of its blood,
Is fabled to impart.

Seizing opportunity that they may know,
They played upon her state.
“We shall see you safe, but in return,
You must give each of us a taste!”

For the Princess had been broken,
Her innocence was lost.
And she made a deal with wicked men,
Unaware of its true cost.

Once delivered from the forest,
She took a blade, and cut her hand.
And gave the blood, that she had promised
To all three of the men.

And as each one drew her blood, to taste,
She stated something clear:
“Things as pure as this should not be tasted,
By a heart that's full of fear.”

Each in turn, the men drank of her blood,
And in them it took its seed.
And from each of them rose,
The nastiest of Dragons, the world had ever seen.

Once she was left alone, and they flew away,
She started the long walk home.
Across many strange lands, she travelled,
Until she came, to places that were known.

And when the Princess came upon her lands
She found its skies corrupt.
Where noble Dragons light once soared
Now was nothing up above.

What not long ago had been her home
Now lay ruined, on the ground.
What once was mighty, no more than dust.
And no-one to be found.

No farmers were there in the fields,
Their crops had been destroyed.
No shops still standing which could be kept
And none they once employed.

And as she gazed into the sky,
She saw what had wrought them so such pain.
Three black dragons, perched upon crest of mount,
Casting down their flame.

On a road to nowhere, she wept in regret.
And there she sat for many days.
Her tears unnoticed by all of those,
Who passed her by that way.

They had no eyes to see her tears,
Until no more had she to weep.
Then weakly had she pleaded, after tears were gone,
Until she lost her will to speak.

Till there came upon her, a man of the North,
Simple and humbly dressed.
Though he seemed to her a little strange,
He wasn't like the rest.

He knelt before her and tore from his sleeve,
Wet it, then wiped her face.
Then placing a flask up to her lips,
He made her have a taste.

Looking up at him through broken eyes, she asked;
“Why have you given this to me?”
He said, “You say that like there need be reason?”
“Such care should be given free!”

“M'Lady, I am one of those who is sad to see”
“How we treat our fellow man.”
“And that those who passed you, could not stop”
“to lend to you their hand.”

“This world wasn't made for just them, you or me.
But for the many, by our many hands.”
“If you see someone needing, you should try to give.
And always seek to 'understand'.”

“And though sometimes it may seem harder,
To love than it is to hate.”
“Our goodness is judged by that which we give,
And not that which we take.”

“Now I've known love for some time now M'lady,
And if there is one thing I have learned:
It's that even the bitterest of tears, with time will dry,
Though the pain inside still hurts you.”

“And that even if you've pleaded so long and hard,
That you've lost the will to try …
If a true heart listens carefully enough,
Then they're certain to hear you cry.”

She regarded him through faded eyes
And found hope in a true heart.
Though his face was tired, and his skin was scarred
No gentler man could pass.

Then to the man, the Princess asked
“Why have you come to me today?”
The man answered her by pointing West,
“To see the fabled Dragons slay.”

She regarded a dagger on his belt,
Crafted from cheapest tin.
But saw no weapons for slaying Dragons
Carried here with him.

Sensing her thoughts he said; “M'Lady,
Though my dagger may not seem much,
Its bested all manner of the finest steel,
So in it too, can you place your trust.”

“And who is it that you're fighting for?”, she asked,
“I see no crest or creed.”
“Fight for heart, do I, M'Lady,
For mine, and any knowing need.”

“As I am one who's known dark-times,
When none stood to fight for me.”
“And felt those pains which die inside you,
When none have eyes to see.”

“So for seven years did I train in battle”
“To defend of me and mine.”
“And fight for those who would need the things
I learned within that time”

The Princess looked intently upon his face,
Lest recognition she failed to find.
“I've lived in these land my entire life,
And I don't recall you in that time?”

To this he answered “These lands are foreign to me,
My home is nowhere near.”
“I've come across the Northern sea,
Great distance to be here.”

“For of Seven years as blade was taught,
Did I also learn ways of love.”
“Though we may be of different lands and trials,
We all share the sun above.”

“And though I may fall here today, not a man of your land,
My blood shall bleed no less red.”
“No injustices should ever be turned from our eyes,
Lest inside this, we find them fed.”

Though she had no more tears to cry of pain,
Her eyes welled with tears of joy.
Welling from a spring of waters, deep within her,
That no manner of hate, could ever destroy.

For like the noble man before her had said,
'No such light can ever be covered by dark.
For even in the darkest of our nights, can we see,
With but a tiny flame to light our path.'

So again did she take a blade to her hand,
To again see it bleed for man.
“Then drink of this my fearless Knight,
And see none ever have you beat again.”

Trusting her words, he did drink of her blood,
And his blade was turned to grand.
And from him sprang the greatest of Kings
That had ever graced the lands.

His armour shone with a brilliance,
That neither claw, nor flame, could dent.
And his scars became a strength for which,
The mountains themselves would bend.

For as the men of the woods, had drank,
And by blackest beasts, were they consumed.
The man of heart had so become,
One to whom, no such beasts shall be immune.