Читать книгу Hespers Wizard - Dante B. Kun - Страница 4

Calibus the fierce, brave griffin,

Sensed Bracken while in routine flight,

So he chose to go out on a scout about,

Amidst a chilly, blood moon night.

Much more brave than smart,

He flew swift a cloudless night sky.

For Griffins have no fear of death,

Nor concern for a cold, evil eye.

And how great Bracken smiled,

From his dark place deep within,

As he schemed, conjured, and lured,

That foolish, brave, Calibus in.

Thus bold Calibus did attempt,

What he felt should quick be done,

And Bracken grinned so wicked wide,

At an unfought battle now totally won.

Under a thick, forested canopy,

Bracken hid his black armored force,

Except two goblins riding griffin back,

Toward the warriors unwise course

In amber moonlight above cloud line,

They attacked Calibus throughout the night,

And brave Calibus gave them both,

A most magnificent and impressive fight.

Yet with each harsh victory hard won

He grew more wounded and torn,

And from under the thick forested canopy,

More new enemies were cruelly born.

After the first two attackers, came another five,

And those five griffin riders soon swelled to nine.

Calibus stopped counting at twenty,

For brave Calibus was fighting for time.

His tragic time had suddenly become timeless,

Held hostage to cruel war cries and blood,

Gripped now within gore on bloody claws,

Seized by Goblins, fresh-dead in black mud.

A timeless battle as dead griffins crash branches,

Plummeting silent to cold, hard, ground.

To lie within the ancient silence of all silence,

Within Death’s cold absence of sound.

Many a black armored, griffin rider,

Calibus ripped clear of his vicious mount,

And screaming goblins plunged to unforgiving earth,

Far too numerous to count.

Yet Bracken calmly waited uncaring,

Let this skirmish take the whole night!

He smiles knowing brave Calibus will be his captive,

Before he feels the first morning light.

Brackens grim army is immense, he is wasteful and proud,

So he toys with brave Calibus above any cloud.

Calibus cannot advance and he cannot retreat,

Encircled by slashing enemies, he faces a bitter defeat.

As a griffin he’s immune to Bracken’s spell “dragon fright,”

For spells that cast fear cannot stop griffin-fight.

Yet Bracken has learned to use the night,

And he knows the benefit of avoiding the light.

Yet finally battle weary, clawed deep and torn,

Brave Calibus falls to cold earth and scorn.

Captured then, dragged, and chained to a rock,

He finally see’s the wicked force he had no hope to block.

His true heart cries out to his dear wizard friend,

Against Bracken’s vast army Nyber must bend.

How Bracken flames and roars in darkened glee,

Now Calibus is right where he wants him to be,

Bracken does not yet seek this wild griffins death,

He summons two griffin scouts, Halidor and Seth.

“Go to this foolish wizard, tell him thus:

He may, if he will, parley with us!”

With the ancient tradition thus followed,

Bracken rumbles sated deep within,

He will observe parley with this young wizard

An exchange only Bracken will win.

Brackens dark thoughts drift to sweet Hesper

Cold love and seething hate an equal mix,

And Bracken loves his final solution,

Her free will he knows how to “fix.”

That ungrateful blue dragon Hesper,

Will soon be chained tight in a velvet cage,

Then Bracken’s world will finally be ready

For the full measure of Bracken’s dark rage.

So both Halidor and Seth flew the stygian night,

Allowing themselves to be captured while still in flight.

They eagerly crossed Nyber’s charmed boundary land,

Letting his confusion spell place them well in hand.

They each stayed well focused deep within,

So great Bracken in link would soon know,

All about troop strength and forward defenses,

And a young wizard, Nyber Khan, Bracken’s foe.

How Bracken grinned so very wicked,

At young Nyber’s “cute” little confusion spell,

He released an ancient spell of counter,

So his armored troops might place themselves well.

A brave bugbear named General Crokus,

Entwined Halidor and Seth within his net.

He rubbed their burgundy-black griffin fur,

And counseled them not to fret.

For General Crokus respects all free griffins,

He knows they are fearless and fly any sky.

He knows they have no fear of death,

And they simply scorn the evil eye.

Upon towering battlements of black stone and light,

Crokus drops his netted prize.

Young Nyber Khan surveys them both,

With his wizened wizard eyes.

His over eager seeking spell

He cast much to quick right then,

For he was curious to learn both their names,

And all the places they had recently been.

Yet once he cast that seeking spell,

Into Bracken’s subtle net he fell.

For seeking spells must always come back,

With crucial information that you may lack.

And there was fierce Bracken, as clear as day,

And within this cold vision he had much to say.

Their frozen link was now connected and Nyber took

A fearful look within Brackens secret book.

The dark magick within began to gather and grow,

Nyber saw many things he would rather not know.

He saw a boiled blue lake, soiled silver sand,

Crushed red poppies, and burned forest land.

His tough brave generals

Led well his blue armored troops,

They fought long, hard, and relentless,

From concentric, tight loops.

Yet each time their hopeless circle tightened,

They were forced to give up some land,

Countless blue armored warriors

Were cruelly cut from the band.

Bracken’s battle mad troops,

Were numberless and bold,

His dark magick was timeless,

Malevolent and cold.

The blue fought courageous to the last,

To the end, until there were none.

They all died hard for freedom,

Lost in a vicious battle not won.

Then Nyber and dearest Hesper,

Alone within the cruelest night,

Would stand before the great horde,

And face Brackens unforgiving might.

In a flash of golden light,

Bracken’s harsh vision was finally done,

Thus showing young Nyber,

He had nowhere to run.

True, he could fight the good fight,

Yet there was no way to win,

Nyber’s ears were still ringing,

From the lost battle’s great din.

So now comes the parley,

The old forms are strictly observed.

Bracken’s black diamond claws,

Are most twisted and curved.

From his forefinger claw,

Black light is emitted,

“Your Calibus for sweet Hesper.”

Thus fine parley submitted.

“One little blue dragon”

“To avoid all you’ve surveyed today.”

“No need to lose any life,”

“Or your true wizard way,”

“No real need for this fight,”

“Your painful death or this war,”

“Just cage my blue dragon,”

“And you’ll see Bracken no more.”

Yet truly wise wizards always learn,

To seek balance and always find,

The many unlimited, unknown pathways,

Within the unexplored collective mind.

They know to trust their truest feelings,

And their inner promptings too.

They use the wizards high art of discernment,

In all they seek to do.

Though Brave Nyber sees no way he can win,

He still trusts his true promptings from deep within.

So he faces cruel Bracken deep in link,

His grey eyes find focus and do not blink.

Nyber sends forth his truth to power,

For he has decided to refuse to live unjust,

He answers brave, refusing to cower,

He chooses right action and a path of trust.

“Halidor and Seth I will give freely to you,”

“ But I cannot help you enslave the free dragon blue.”

“So please return brave Calibus home to me,”

” Forget this foolish war, just let us be.”

“A free dragon can have no real quarrel with you,”

“She is just a playful, dragon blue.”

“She has a divine right to her place in the sun,”

“From your tyranny I will refuse to run!”

“Fine Then!” Bracken rumbled earthquake deep,

“I’ll crush all these weak forces you try to keep,”

“I’ll love boiling your lake and soiling your sand,”

“I’ll love torching your precious forest land.”

“I’ll shred all your fields of poppies bright red,”

“And I’ll rip sweet Hesper from her secret bed.”

“All under your command I will rip and tear,”

“Your weak blue armored troops will get you nowhere!”

“And when I’ve finally tired of torturing you,”

“I’ll grind you up to make a stew,”

“A wizard stew of kith and kin,”

“And Nyber Khan will never be again!”

“A tasty meal I‘ll just love to eat,”

“Amidst your pretty blue armored troops in total defeat.”

“I’ll summon my crows to help consume you too,”

“And I will make her watch it all, your sweet dragon blue.”

Nyber never even blinked,

Anyone sane might have thought he would.

Upon the ancient battlements of ebon stone and light,

Alone he darkly stood.

He wore his purple robes of magic power,

And his gold embroidered hood,

He stood tall and faced Great Bracken’s vision

The only free wizard who could.

In a flash of emerald light Nyber broke the cold link,

Enough of this cruel Bracken for it was now time to think.

He motioned General Crokus quickly to his side,

“Mount your fastest griffin for there are places you must ride.”

Nyber gave truthful counsel to all his generals,

He gave them all a choice,

He showed them Brackens cruel vision,

Yet they answered in one fine voice.

“We stay and fight” they all did say,

“We will make this Bracken rue the day,”

“That he brought war to us and our fair land,”

“This war will bleed his evil band.”

“For we must cost him dearly here,”

“So other lands will never fear,”

“This dragon’s deadly trespass upon their lands,”

“His wicked magick, his heartless hands.”

And so these brave ones made ready for war,

To bring truth to a power with an evil core.

To give up their lives and homes and land,

And hopefully bleed this evil band.

They stand ready to sacrifice and bring a tough fight,

To keep from the darkness a small point of light.

To allow slavery for one allows slavery for all,

To fight for one person’s freedom is to honor freedom for all.

As a dragon Hesper caught this evil, cold link,

Saw Brackens vision and her brave Nyber not blink.

Here pure heart was crushed when she saw his inner light,

To know full well she had caused this fight.

Her brave heart weakened for her handsome wizard was lost,

She will go back to cruel Bracken no matter her cost.

She so loved Nyber Khan for the strength of his heart,

But a war with wicked Bracken she now wanted no part.

Yet when she tried to cast link with great Bracken,

Her crafty wizard smiled deep within,

For Nyber has learned to catch well her links,

And thus learn where she has been.

Now Nyber cast the only spell,

Ever he cast against a friend.

And Hesper’s silken dragon wings,

Just kept refusing to unbend.

“We stay and fight” she heard him sigh,

His wizard link well done.

“We fight him tough! We go down hard!”

“Thus evil has not won.”

“How can we ever endure this?”

Hesper sobbed so hopeless and lost,

“This madness is all my fault”

“So I must bear the total cost.”

Nyber just smiled and strengthened the link,

She heard and felt her wizard wink,

“One day at a time is what we do,”

“One day at a time is how we get through.”

“We know the answer if we don’t try,”

“We reach for new life and we don’t die.”

“To speak truth to power is often hard,”

“For the jester called life will deal the card,”

“So we must do what we know is right to do,”

“We form a wall with our brave warriors in armor blue.”

“We make Bracken pay for all he gets,

”And we will never hedge our bets,”

“We make him pay across our board,”

“As we bleed his wicked, evil horde.”

“One day at a time gets things done,”

“One day at a time gets tough battles won.”

"You never chose the path he laid,"

“His cruel decision you never made,”

“So stay the course, give well your word,”

“And this spell I cast was never heard.”

So sad Hesper gave her solemn word to stay,

And fight the good fight every day,

Her silken wings unfurled, and she gained flight.

She flew her very last patrol that night.

Bracken’s forces were just a day’s march away,

And there was so much more she wanted to say!

She loved this young wizard and she so cursed her form!

She longed with all her heart to be again elven norm.

But things not yet said, she could no longer say,

And now there would never be any way,

To become her true self, to just hold his warm hand,

To escape cruel Bracken and his hateful band.

So she took to wild flight,

A warrior still true,

Her emerald eyes flashed green fire,

Her diamond scales turquoise blue.

She vowed to fight hard,

And cost well Bracken’s horde,

To make them all pay freedoms price,

Upon her doomed wizard’s sword.

Hesper never chose this ugly way,

This dragon form, this fearful day.

She never chose to lose her only true home,

To be denied her freedom, be forced to roam.

Yet she has chosen a noble path,

For she has chosen truth to power,

Her brave wizard has done the sacred wizard math,

And there is no longer any need to cower.

She has seen the ancient wisdom within young Nyber,

When he refused Evil Bracken a cruel choice,

And she heard the ancient truth within all the brave generals,

As they spoke truth to power in one brave voice.

So she just watched her young wizard, Nyber Khan,

Studying ridgelines from his lofty perch,

Longingly last seeing,

His precious forest of pine and birch.

Upon ebon battlements of black stone and light,

Alone he darkly stands,

He raises a blue banner high in the wind,

And calls forth his troops to protect their lands.

His enchanted sword of elven steel,

Is shimmering a deep royal blue.

A runic bow spans his broad, strong back,

A quiver of seeking arrows too.

He sighs out loud with a sad smile within,

Another wizard link well done.

Young Nyber Khan and Hesper,

Hold a fierce link and see as one.