Wings of winter light
whispered of the wildest sky.
And he wrote upon my dreams
a silent song that made me cry.
He came to rest upon the earth,
a crystal brilliance in the night
and as he watched me gain my breath,
he seemed to question why.
For time eternal stood we staring,
in silence stood we, two as one,
as in his ancient eyes our souls met
and I knew he sought someone.
Again the dragon called his keening
and my heart did fold two.
I stumbled and I faltered
and the pain came fresh anew.
Crushed and gasping on the bare
ground, my life so very nearly gone.
He once more gazed in my direction
and ceased his haunting song.
My heart was rent asunder
and I could not take the pain
yet as my body reached its end,
the aching notes began to wane.
“Human,” spake the dragon,
“I shall give back to you, your breath,
but you must listen to my lore
so I live on yet in my death.”
“Lord, your majesty is utmost,
and my eyes can scarce behold
the magnificence of your splendour,
your entity, so bold.”
“Human,” spake the dragon,
“I know not much of men,
save the scorn they held for my kind
and of destruction they did rend.”
“Lord, it was not of my doing,
though my race have done you harm
I would gladly take your pain,
and bring you yet to calm.”
“Human,” spake the dragon,
“I sense a kindred in your soul.
It is nothing I should speak of
for yet you will grow old.”
“Human,” spake the dragon,
“rise and stand before my fire.”
“Lord I cannot," came the words
"for your song in its ancient power
Has stolen of my essence,
taken from me all my worth
has pierced my mortal flesh,
and left me bare as this dry earth.”
“Human,” spake the dragon,
“throughout eons we have flown.
We have seen the birth of elf and man,
the death of all our own.”
“Human,” spake the dragon,
“I am the last to carry the fire
and I need to find a vessel
for the magic of the higher.”
“Lord, I cannot yet take
in your time, I cannot comprehend.
But whatever I may do to help,
trust I will be there as friend.”
“Human,” spake the dragon,
“I have a choice I must yet make.
Sleep now where you lay and we
shall speak ere you awake.”
The darkness crowded in
as his scales dimmed in their light,
And the dragon knew his time would not
step beyond this night.
A choice now lay before him
as he looked upon the world
To see the ending of the power
could make all time unfurl.
And yet there was no race left,
none of the dragon’s mould
to take upon their souls the weight
of the lores of old.
His diamond white scales shimmered
as the moonlight cast its spell,
and in the silver light the shadow
of his youth did dwell.
His sorrow seemed unbound
and he knew that time was done.
He looked upon the human form
and hoped she would become.
Gently he awoke her,
and watched her raise her head.
Her fiery hair falling round her
as her weariness was fled.
She looked upon him with
such eyes as he had n’ere seen before
And in her human mortal way
she filled him with an awe.
She would be changing,
how could he tell her
of the deeds that would be done
of the mark that she would have
to bear to help the lore live on.
Of the way her life would move
into an endless time and space.
Of the knowing she would have to leave
the sight of her own race.
“Friend,” spake the dragon,
“an ending time has come.
And of you I must ask a boon
that yet can never be undone.
In receiving of this last gift,
your life will be not yours to own.
And the soul of the earth, her magic,
will, in your body, grow.”
“Lord, I see into your pain
and the time come of your death.
And if in my life I can help your kind
I will to my last breath.
Give me what you offer,
give me of your soul.
And through eternity we’ll travel
ere as one we shall behold.”
The dragon felt such pity
and it was new beneath his skin.
And as he gave her of his essence,
she too gave herself to him.
He felt of all the feelings
that come naturally to man.
She grew inside his aura
saw the greatness of his span,
Together as they danced a dance
the moon did hold them by.
And she witnessed in that night
a thing that made her cry.
The earth did mourn his passing,
the night seemed old and tired.
And the frail shape of the lady,
was crumpled by the dragon’s side.
The final breath escaped him
and he sent within its wake
a knotwork of their souls
that time could never break.
His head fell gently to the ground,
the silence came anew.
And though she knew she breathed,
she lay with him, still so true.
A gentle magic stirred within her,
and she opened up her eyes.
And their brilliance was like crystal
and the moon did cast a sigh.
She looked upon the Lady
and knew a magic had been born;
A mix of ancient and of new
to move forward into the dawn.
Gracefully she arc’d her journey,
toward the coming day
and as ever in the eons past
she took the dragon’s flesh away.
A new star hung that night,
in her eternal sky.
And the Lady moved into herself
and stood to say goodbye.
"Lord, I feel you now inside me,
I know your soul within my soul.
All your power is my charge now
and I if I live half as bold
As you lived your eons over,
as you kept the earth’s great lore,
I make my promise to you now,
to do as you have done before."
The Lady stepped into the day
and the new day was in awe,
for she radiated beauty
that no man could yet endure.
With shining crystal eyes she looked,
on the world she yet once knew.
And saw within its very frame
the magics and the hue.
She knew of things that n’ere were told,
she knew them to be true.
And she walked into this new life,
head held high, one from two.
© E.B.2005
