Beyond Our Horizons

[MongoGutman]

As I said elsewhere I've got a new scanner/printer and I've just found out how to scan a document and turn it into a text file, which gives me a chance to present this which I only had in hard copy (due to an old computer crash). It's kinda long so I'll present it in 3 parts (if the first meets with approval). Nothing to do with DW, though it is semi-comic fantasy (not really funny but not to be taken too seriously). Some of you might remember an earlier poem, The Kiss of the Witch that I presented some time ago - http://www.terrypratchett.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=4222 and two of the characters from that also appear in this, though much older.

Beyond Our Horizons

Part One: The Dragon and the Camel

Beyond the horizons that we know
Where orchid scented winds do blow
Over rivers fast and mountains high
Through skies where range the pegasi
Lay Camadra, land of peace and plenty
Where no beggar wanted for a penny.

Edric the King and Gwynness, his daughter
Ruled by wise words and laughter
A happy people of hearts most light
That seldom lie and never fight
They had no use for hate and fear
And all was peace and good cheer.

Gwynness' beauty was widely famed
She'd lustrous hair in a glowing mane
Around a face so pure and skin so soft
She seemed like a gift from the friendly gods.
The flowers wept and the birds looked wry
Around Gwynness of the elvish eye.

When not about affairs of state
She gave her time to ministrate
To those who ailed and sickness knew
As time went by her knowledge grew
'Till she was known throughout the land
As their Princess of the Healing Hand.

Suitors called without pause or rest
To court Camadra's sole princess
But though all spoke in honeyed words
Each in turn Gwynness spurned
Behind their words she heard the lies,
Saw the greed that lurked behind their eyes.

As much as her beauty, so was famed
The throne that she would someday claim:
Her father had seen many a long year
And his daughter was his only heir
So the man that Gwynness would agree to wed
Would soon wear a crown upon his head.

The King, though old, was hale and hearty
Under his rule life was a party
And the people all day wore beaming smiles
Until, one day, began their trials:
For Arlech came to Camadra fair
And chose it for his Dragon lair.

Arlech raged across the land
Before his flame no man could stand
With tooth and claw and dragon-fire
He consumed Camadra's peace entire.
In hordes the frightened people fled
Spurred to haste by mortal dread.

In other times when disaster struck
Camadra thanked her good luck
The wizard Yarrow made the land his own
And could be called to defend his home
But now, it seems, he'd gone to ground:
Search as they might he could not be found.

King Edric in terror for his nation
Put forth a royal proclamation
That whoever would this chaos check
And put an end to the dread Arlech
Would win the hand of the fair Gwynness
And would, in time, the crown possess.

Now, though proud, the fine Gwynness
Was for Camadra a loyal Princess
She loved the land and happy people,
Each rude haystack and temple steeple,
So did submit in regal manner
And would the Dragon contract honour.

Far and wide the word was spread
Of a Kingdom won for one dragon dead
To save the land from Arlech's danger
And restore the peace to fair Camadra
Yet Gwynness' hand and elvish eyes
Was seen as a jewel atop the prize.

From near and far the claimants came
In search of wealth and love and fame:
Knights in armour and archers too,
Heroes of every shape and hue,
Men with schemes and clever plans
Each sought to win Gwynness' hand.

But though all fought with skill and wit
Showing strength, nerve and grit
None could take the Dragon's head
And one by one they wound up dead
Camadra suffered the Dragon's spell
As in turn each champion fell.

So, in time, the flood dried up
For few were left to try their luck
Camadra groaned 'neath Arlech's yoke
And the people had near lost all hope
When came to battle the Dragon foe
The wizard black, Durando.

This Mage, of dark and evil aspect,
Laid out his plan to banish Arlech:
He could not promise the dragon's death
But to free them of it's fiery breath
He'd open a portal through time and space
And send Arlech to another place.

Gwynness found herself dismayed
Of this suitor she was afraid
In desperation, she protested
That this plan was most defective
A devil of guilt they would invoke
To visit Arlech upon another folk.

Durando sneered to hear this quibble
Such concerns to him u,ere merely drivel
his moral fibre's naught but tissue
But to address this minor issue
And to save them all from guilty pains
He'd send Arlech where Hell already reigns.

Edric, who sorrowed for his daughter
Yet had to end the dragon's slaughter
Besides, the scheme seemed most hare-brained
And unlikely that the prize be claimed.
Though in his mouth the words were worms
He must agree to the wizard's terms.

And so the day was set to make the try
The place, where Arlech oft would fly.
A royal party gathered to see the test
That could rid them of the dragon pest.
Calling on forces fey and fell
Black Durando cast his spell!

Standing inside a mystic circle.
Speaking words to make blood curdle,
Calling on forces with threats and prayer,
Inscribing runes upon the air,
With a final dramatic cry
He pointed his wand up at the sky!

This wand of the Wizard black
Had runes inscribed all down it's track
And at its tip was a devils paw
Clenched up tight and showing no claw
But as Durando spoke his final words
A pointing finger slowly uncurled.

Gwynness laughed. for nothing happened
At Durando's fail her heart did gladden.
The wizard smiled into his beard
He knew his plan had not been queered:
The gate could not be visible in the least -
If they could see it, so would the beast!

The hour arrived of the dragon's flight
Arlech came soaring at treetop height
On a course directly overhead
Towards the gate the dragon sped
Yet at the brink of the gate he veered away:
From thin air a new monster joined the fray!

Two pair of wings held it aloft
They did not flap, were hard not soft,
It had teeth that whirled around it's nose
And from it's throat a drone arose
But, perhaps, the most wondrous fact
Was that it bore a rider upon it's back!

From the skies above those Flanders fields
Where daily men in droves were killed
Flew a young pilot in a Sopwith Camel
Seeking for Germans for to do battle,
James Reynolds of the Royal Flying Corps.
Into Camadra's skies flew through the air-door

Arlech screamed at this new arrival
A threat it seemed to his survival
No matter how weird and strange
No beast should ever dare his range.
Climbing high, then turning back
The Dragon swooped to the attack!

With claws outstretched the dragon fell
But Reynolds saw and gave a loud yell
He banked and dodged Arlech's claws
And realized he'd found a war:
He'd have to kill this fearsome beast
Else he himself would decease!

He circled 'round for the airman's grail:
To get a bead on the enemy's tail.
His target found, he opened fire
Arlech screamed and flew up higher
Again he swooped, with open jaw -
Flame he spewed, from his fiery maw!

The royal party stared in awe and wonder
At this battle fought with roars of thunder
Who would win and who would lose
It seemed the fates could only choose
Twixt Dragon dread and gallant flier
One spitting lead, one breathing fire!

The Camel got it's sights on its foe
Arlech escaped with a barrel roll.
Once again did the Dragon stoop
Reynolds pulled up in a loop the loop.
Fire and noise lit the gathering night
Below they could see every move of the fight.

The Dragon and Camel wove a tangled web
As they chased and turned and dodged and fled
Neither could land a killing blow
While they danced a jig in the twilight glow
'Till to one move they both were led
And they attacked, flying head to head!

Closer and closer the fliers came
Each to be certain of their aim
The dragon sucked in a mass of air
Ready to light a deadly flare
Reynolds fired first with the greater range
Through Arlech's eye and into his brains!

The Dragon roared fire like a torch
The plane in flames was badly scorched
It's wing and tail were caught alight
No more could the Camel sustain flight
Arlech fell like a stone from the sky.
Reynolds must a crash-landing try.

The flier staggered from the burning wreck
Near where the Dragon had hit the deck
He looked to see the fearsome beast
That had almost made him it's feast
The Dragon he'd fought for the skies
Changed shape before his very eyes!

What once had been the mighty beast
Shrank as it's huge size decreased
Wings disappeared and tail too
The resemblance to a human grew
In the end there lay on the ground
An old man wounded most profound.

Reynolds knelt by the recent foe
To whom he'd dealt a mortal blow.
The flier thought he must be mad or dead
When he heard a voice inside his head
While his life's-blood soaked into the ground
The old man spoke without sound.

"My thanks to you, though you've dealt me death
Heed my words, though I've got no breath
You've saved me from a wicked spell
That turned me to a beast from Hell
Its deadly nature I could not control
Though it was the vessel of my soul.

"An old student of mine cast the spell
We'd argued his use of magic most fell,
And he used his wand with a devils hand
To make me a Dragon instead of a man
He bound me into a draconic brain
And Black Durando is his given name.

"They called me Yarrow in this land
At least they did when I was a man
Arlech they named the beast I became
In who's form I knew, oh, so much pain,
For saving me from that dark beast of strife
I thank you with my last breath of life."

Perhaps Yarrow had more to say
But alas he'd come to his end of days
He died by the light of the airplane fire
In the arms of the man who had been it's flier.
The flames reached the plane's fuel tank at last
The Airman was sent flying, engulfed by the blast.

The royal party arrived at the site
Surveyed the scene by the fire's light
Amazed they were, and wracked with grief
To see their wizard friend deceased
They mourned his death with tears and woe -
All bar the wizard Durando.

Reynolds lay sprawling close nearby
So hurt was the Airman they thought he would die
They tended his wounds right there where he lay
Then bore his senseless form gently away
To a manse that lay not far away,
This strange warrior who'd won the day.

When the Airman was in a sickbed laid
Durando demanded that his price be paid:
Arlech had been banished from the land
Through his use of magic most grand
He'd fulfilled the contract full and true
So Gwynness' hand was his right and due.

Gwynness protested Durando's claim
The terms, she said, were not so plain
Events had not gone to Durando's plan
And they owed a debt to the brave Airman
Whilst the Dragon was gone, so much was true
Unclear it was to whom the prize was due.

Durando dismissed this doubt and said
That the Airman was lying in his deathbed
Gwynness retorted the man could yet live
They owed the best aid they could give:
They could not ignore their debt to this man
And she would tend him with her own healing hand.

King Edric listened to both arguments
Then with regal composure he gave his judgement
The Wizard and Airman, each had a claim
Yet the fate of the Airman as yet was not plain
Who was the victor could not be said
Until the stranger was well or was dead.

Durando cursed the judgement made
Come Hell or high water he swore he'd be paid,
And yet to show his goodwill he said he'd wait -
But not for ever, they must set a date:
He'd be back at first fall to collect what he's due
He'd better be paid, or the day they will rue!

The Wizard bowed then, and bade his leave
But they'd see him again, they must believe.
He spoke an odd word, like a thunderous crash
And he was gone, in a brilliant flash.
The King raised his eyebrows, to his daughter he said
"You'd better make sure that Airman's not dead."

tbc...

[MongoGutman]

Ok, fair enough: no one likes it - reading back over I'm not that impressed meself - I'll continue, though, for the sake of completeness...


2: The Assassin's Heart

For three nights the Airman was on the brink
With life he had but a tenuous link
No one could say if he'd die or abide
Gwynness nursed him, never leaving his side.
On the fourth morn he rallied, sleeping easy in bed
The Princess had saved him from ending up dead.

Now, in Gwynness' heart curiosity raged;
Who was this man, what did he presage?
She examined for clues his clothing and tack
And had a look through his odd shaped backpack.
She was no wiser for all of her peeks
Why would anyone carry a huge silken bed sheet?

She repacked the satchel, had a look at his belt
The pouch that hung from it, how heavy it felt
An odd lump of metal was hidden within
A handle, a barrel, for her finger a ring.
Reynolds, he groaned and woke with a start
To see a Princess point a gun at his heart!

"Don't shoot!" Reynolds weekly cried.
"You're awake!" Gwynness in surprise replied.
Reynolds went on "Point that gun away!"
Gwynness answered "What's that you say?"
They both realised talking was no good
For not a word from each had either understood.

Reynolds slipped back to the sweet darkness
Gwynness hurried over to apply a compress
With all her skills and lotions and potions
She lavished her care with utmost devotion.
The Airman responded to her ministrations
His progress exceeded her expectations.

It wasn't long 'till Reynolds woke again
Gwynness was there, no gun in her hand,
He realised that she was his nurse
Gradually they began to converse
In fits and starts they learned to talk
With many mistakes which caused them to laugh.

Reynolds remembered the aerial gate
And beating the Dragon in a dog-fight
But then his memory started to fade
And he knew nothing of the landing he made,
Of Yarrow and his words at the last,
Or getting caught in the explosion's blast.

He didn't believe she'd not heard of the war
That ravaged the world beyond the sky-door
Or that magic and spells were so very real
He couldn't figure out just: what was the deal?
They realised the truth, learning each other's words
They were from two whole different worlds!

Gwynness told him of Camadra's woes
And the problem that Arlech the Dragon had posed,
Of the bounty offered to save the land:
That who killed the beast wins a Princesses hand.
She told him the truth and never lied
But omitted to mention that she was the prize.

Hearing this tale Reynolds was shocked
Was he to be with marriage vow,s locked?
He'd fought 'cause he didn't want to be dead:
He'd had no desire to get himself wed!
His words Gwynness the wrong way rubbed
In some strange way she felt herself snubbed.

When Reynolds asked her to describe the Princess
A mischievous thought occurred to Gwynness
She told of the wealth and the lands and the fame
She spoke of the crown he would someday claim,
All of the riches that were to be had.
The Airman said maybe a wedding's not bad.

Gwynness then spoke of the Princess herself
How she was the drawback to all that wealth:
As ugly as sin and as dull as a thud
The homeliest woman ever having blue blood
Reynolds broke out into a cold sweat
And asked if there was any way out he could get!

The plan of the Wizard Gwynness explained
And the aerial door that had swallowed his 'plane
How the Wizard would return in the fall
Reynolds said he could have her, crown, lands and all
With this solution Reynolds was relieved
Gwynness didn't know what to believe.

Though this exchange takes but a moment to tell
It went on for weeks while Reynolds got well
And in his tower rooms far, far away
Durando grew more impatient each day:
Resentment, like rats, at his heart gnawed,
About how his plan for the throne became flawed.

He'd thought that the Airman would surely die
Of the wounds he'd got in his fight in the sky
But as he scryed by his looking glass
He saw the Airman was recovering fast
And so to respond to Reynold's survival
He'd send an assassin to dispose of his rival.

Late one night, not long before Fall
Nature made known to the Airman her call.
Wearing naught but his thin bedclothes,
He took up his crutch and slowly arose.
While in a chair by his bed Gwynness slept
Out of his chamber Reynolds quietly crept.

Reynolds returned, his business complete,
To his sickroom to go back to sleep.
As he opened the door he let out a shout,
Someone had entered, while he was out:
Over Gwynness a monster was poised -
It spun around, disturbed by the noise!

It hissed at Reynolds in the flickering light
A manlike Creature of the Night,
That filled the room with a graveyard smell
It's face was fiendish, fierce and fell
With gleaming fangs and eyes of red
It yet was quick - although it was dead!

At the sudden noise Gwynness awoke,
Felt the small wounds that bled at her throat -
She screamed at the sight of the ugly Beast
Who struck her throwing her from her seat!
Spurred by the sight of this brutal smack
Reynolds leaped yelling to the attack!

In his haste Reynolds had forgotten
His leg was as firm as branch that was rotten
It buckled under him as he was jumping
He grabbed the Vampire and they both went flying
Through a leaded glass window out into the night
The pair fell from two storey's height!

They hit the ground with a bone jarring crash
Reynolds was cushioned by the Vampire's flesh.
It threw him aside and jumped to it's feet
And turned to attack with its claws and its teeth.
Reynolds was shaken, confused and dazed
It seemed he'd reached the end of his days!

In all the fury, the fight and the rush
Somehow Reynolds had held onto his crutch
In the fall the shaft had ended up snapped
He held it up now as the creature attacked
Its chest hit the point, broken and sharp -
It impaled itself, straight through it's heart!

The Vampire staggered, but to Reynold's dismay
It pulled out the crutch and hurled it away!
Slime spurted once from the hole in its chest
Then the wound healed to whole but dead flesh.
It screamed at the stars. its face a mad mask,
And turned back to Reynolds to finish its task.

Gwynness staggered to the window
To see the fight going on below
As she lurched into the frame
She dislodged the rest of the broken pane.
The glass fell down, weighted by lead,
Scythed its neck and cut off its head!

The body staggered and forward groped
Whilst 'cross the ground it's cranium rolled
It fell to its knees and on to its back
It's skin dried up and turned darkest black
Crumbling to powder, there where it lay
A breeze caught the Vampire and blew it away.

Gwynness rushed down into Reynold's arms -
Neither had come to any great harm.
Each was concerned more for the other
Almost as if they really were lovers
Realising this they blushed and turned red
Much was learned, and much more left unsaid.

As morning broke Durando cursed,
His vampire should have returned.
He took out the chest where he'd kept its heart
Torn from its breast by means of dark arts
While he'd had it the monster had had to obey -
But now in the box a pile of dust lay!

tbc...

[Del]

Don't stop there. Give us the rest.

[MongoGutman]

OK, the conclusion -

3: The Hand of the Devil

As the bloom of summer began to fade
Reynolds and Gwynness spent their days
Together talking of this and that,
Each delighting in the others chat
But keeping a distance at the last:
Both knew this spell could not last.

The Airman was to duty sworn
And though he found his heart was torn
To his country's war he must return
Else honour' shame would him burn
To love Gwynness and then to leave
Would make him wear the blackguard's sleeve.

Asking how he could get back home
She told him of chances he had but one
Although she wished he would not go
She said he must ask Durando:
Only the man who had brought him here
Knew how to send him back there.

Gwynness knew that come the Fall
To the Wizard she must give her all
And though her heart was filled with fear
Camadra's call was loud and clear.
She told Reynolds she was but a pawn
And on her past she would not be drawn.

The days wore on and their love grew
Though unspoken, yet both knew
A flame that burned them from inside
And yet from time they couldn't hide
Came unasked the day that neither sought
At First Fall they both went to Court.

The two arrived at the palace gates
They were greeted by a royal page
Reynolds was led to an impressive hall
That filled his heart with wondrous awe
He was told to wait before the throne
Beneath a great red crystal dome.

Gwynness was in her plain nurse's garb
Reynolds wore, all repaired and unmarred
All the gear he'd been in when he'd come to Camadra:
The jacket and helmet and boots of a Flier
Goggles and gun and parachute pack:
(He felt quite a fool with that on his back.)

The hall filled up to overflow
With base and noble, high and low,
Priests and generals, serfs and knaves,
Reynolds wished to ask their names
But when he turned to speak to his nurse
She'd left his side, unannounced.

For a while he looked to seek her out
'Till the House guards gave out a mighty shout
And the trumpets did a fanfare sing
To prepare the way for Camadra's King
Old, but strong, and wide and tall
Edric, King entered the hall.

Behind the King and in his train
Gwynness in bridal raiment came
And though the Airman still sought his nurse
He knew the bride to be plain. or worse -
For recognition did Reynolds fail
In her flowing gown and hiding veil.

No sooner'd the King taken his throne
Than a cloud appeared under the dome
It floated down to the ground
And coalesced with a ringing sound
Unnerving as an unwelcome thought
Black Durando came to Edric's Court.

"Here I stand before you all,"
Said the Wizard to all the Hall
"To collect the prize to which I'm due
Pay up now, or else you'll rue:
Make me Prince of this fair land
For I have earned The Princess' hand!"

"Your plea has merit: I cannot deny,"
Edric said, with a troubled sigh
"But this Sky Knight here too has a claim
- I'm told that Reynolds is his name.
So, come now, Sky Knight: how do you say?
Do you contest the prize: yea or nay?

"Though I would fain here abide,
I'm sworn to fight for my country's side,"
Said Reynolds with a heavy heart
"So if the Wizard by his magic art
Can send me back to whence I came
I'll yield to him all rights and claims."

Durando was happy with this agreement,
Edric gave his ill-pleased consent.
Another day for Reynolds would've been fine,
But Durando insisted that this was the time.
The Wizard told Reynolds just where to stand
And brandished his wand with the devil's hand!

As the devil's finger began to uncurl
Reynolds mind was in a sudden whirl:
Where had he heard of a devil's hand wand?
The block on his memory released it's bond -
He remembered now the events of the crash,
And Yarrow's words came flooding back!

Reynolds let out a great exclamation
And disturbed the Wizard's conjuration.
In halting tongue and broken words
He explained to all what had just occurred.
Though at the start he was bemused
By the end Durando stood accused!

The Wizard shouted that he was innocent:
The Airman's lies were just pure nonsense!
This was a scheme that was full of shame
Designed to deny him his rightful claim!
The King quieted Durando's cries:
"We have a way to tell the truth from lies."

Gwynness was sent to the shrine of the Palace
To fetch and bring forth the Holy Chalice:
No one who drank from this grail's water
Could not tell a lie, even though he ought to:
You could trust anything the drinker told
And for one full day the spell would hold.

Durando fumed while they all waited
The end of his plans was clearly fated
He inwardly cursed all the Royal rabble
And the Airman who'd caused him so much trouble.
Never a man of even temper,
The Wizard got ready to release his anger.

Shortly returned the veiled Princess
In her hands: the Holy Chalice.
Filled with water, Reynolds was told to drink -
He didn't really know what to think,
But when the Chalice was placed in his hands
He took a deep draught and swallowed it down.

Reynolds told his tale to the Court once again
And word for word it came out the same
This time no one could doubt it was truth
For he'd drunk of the water of the Chalice of Sooth
Durando's guilt was apparent and clear,
But the Wizard's response was wrath, not fear!

The fiery fingers of red-hot rage
Gripped the heart of the black-arts Mage!
Durando seemed to grow in size
And from the ground began to rise -
Floating 'neath the rosy dome
He waved his wand at the King's throne!

A lightning bolt sprang from the finger's tip
King Edric's heart was sure to be hit!
Anticipating the wizard's attack
Reynolds unslung his parachute pack
And held it up in the bolt's path
It was torn from his hands bv the blast!

The Hall was showered with burning silk
The King, though hurt, was far from killed.
Gwynness rushed to the aid of her father
And hurried him off, behind some cover.
Durando chose Reynold for his next bolt -
To the Airman's hand leapt his '45 Colt!

Reynolds fired: once, twice, thrice!
But he was in for a bad surprise:
The bullets stopped in mid air
As though stuck in a wall that wasn't there!
The lightning leapt at Reynold's heart:
He dived and dodged the deadly dart!

A guardsman of the Royal Court
Swung his sword at the Wizard's throat:
The sword was stopped by the invisible shield
The Guardsman dropped, instantly killed!
From galleries archers opened fire
To no better effect than the shots of the Flier!

The Wizard turned his rage on them,
Firing blasts that flash-fried men
Reynolds was a man who knew no fear:
His racing mind gave him an idea!
If it would work he didn't know
But still he was willing to 'give it a go'!

While the Mage had him forgot
Reynolds aimed and took his shot
The wand, extended beyond shield's range
Was hit and snapped clean in twain!
The wand's power was released in full
The blast threw Durando across the Hall!

Reynolds was pleased with the results of his guile
Until the Wizard came striding back down the aisle!
"You think you're so clever, so wise and so smart?
I'll turn you to dung by means of my arts!"
Durando raved as he strode down the Hall
Growing in size until ten feet tall!

Reynolds was caught, nowhere to run
It seemed he was to be the Wizard's fun -
The dome burst inwards, something flew in fast!
The Hall was showered with red crystal and glass
The Airman studied the new arrival:
It looked like a Demon Prince of Hell!

As big as the Wizard, as ugly as sin,
On it's back there sprouted huge leathery wings,
From each finger was a long black claw
Yellow teeth crowded a crocodile maw -
One thing about it struck the Airman:
It had four arms, but only three hands!

It picked up the hand that came from the wand
Returned it back to where it belonged:
It held it against it's severed wrist
And it re-attached itself with a twist.
It flexed it once, to make sure that it worked
Then turned to where Durando lurked

The Wizard had prepared his most potent spell
And he hurled a fireball at the Creature from Hell
The Devil just walked through the flames
For the Hellspawn fire held no pains
Durando threw up a mystic shield
The Devil struck and with holes it was filled!

The Devil grabbed Durando and bit off his head.
Then tore off his limbs to make sure he was dead!
When it was certain it had finished with him
It looked round the Court for it's next victim.
Most of those present had fled for the door
But not Jim Reynolds of the Royal Flying Corps!

The Airman emptied then threw his gun at the Beast
His shots had no effect in the least
He stood firm while the Monster stooped to attack
- And over his shoulder, thrown from the back
Gwynness had hurled the only thing to hand,
Desperate to save her dashing Airman!

The Fiend was stunned by the Holy Chalice
It's contents burned the Devil like acid!
Its skin vaporised in a cloud of smoke
So putrid all thought that they might choke.
The Devil screamed in agonising pain
The sacred water deadly to the profane.

Seeing the effect Reynolds grabbed up the chalice
From where it had rolled on the floor of the Palace
- But all of its waters had already been poured
So he picked up the sword of the dead guard
And while to all the Good Gods of two worlds he prayed.
He rubbed the grail along the length of the blade.

Crying "For England!" and "For Saint George!"
Reynolds attacked with the weapon he'd forged:
Though he'd not dented it's hide with a bullet
He rammed the blessed sword right into it's gullet!
Reynolds ripped upwards, going for the kill:
The Devil toppled and gurgled, quivered and was still!

As Reynolds pulled the sword from it's chest
The Devil melted into a sticky black mess.
Rising again, with some help from a Page,
Edric surveyed Reynolds, took measure and gauge.
Standing amidst the debris and the flames
The King said: "Sir Sky-Knight, we must speak again."

"Now it seems you can't return to your land.
The way back lost, by your very own hand,
Perhaps now you might like to reconsider,
Claiming that which to the Wizard I was loath to offer:
Who better than one who has just saved my life
To inherit my throne and take my daughter to wife?"

"Whilst true it seems that stay I must,
And glad I am to have your trust,"
Said Reynolds to King Edric's offer
"I make no claim on Camadra's coffers -
'Though never a prize might seem so fine
Your Daughter's hand I fear I must decline"

The King confessed: "Disappointed I am -
Your actions are those of a very fine man.
Against this match it seems you have fought,
Why do you refuse what so many have sought?
While you are under the spell of the water
I would know why it is that spurn you my daughter."

Reynolds didn't want to offend the King
And might have made up some bland, pleasant thing
But he had no choice but to blurt the truth,
An unexpected and most convincing proof:
"Your Princess can keep her lands, crown and purse
For I can love no other than Gwynness, my nurse!"

The King laughed loud with jolly good mirth
That set to shaking his considerable girth.
His royal good humour Reynolds had not expected
From a father who's daughter had just been rejected!
Edric said "I'll give you the offer just one more time
Will you not wed this daughter of mine?"

He called Gwynness over to his side,
The royal Princess, dressed as a bride
Walked over to where Reynolds stood,
Looking at him through her lacy white hood,
She stood face to face and lifted her veil -
- And that, my dear friends, is the end of this tale.



- OK, so some of the verse is a bit sloppy, but you got dragons, wizards, vampires, heroes, princesses, devils, action, adventure, a love story, a magic sword and a happy ending. What more do you want?

[Batty]

I enjoyed the tale, Mongo, even though you took poetic licence with some of the rhymes!

Well Done!

[Sister Jennifer]

Really enjoyed reading your epic tale! Once I got into a rhythm the verse flowed well. Most excellent that Gwynness was a princess AND a nurse . A million bard creds to you.

The Devil grabbed Durando and bit off his head.
Then tore off his limbs to make sure he was dead!.

Might be my favourite lines. I actually let out a small, whoooohooo! at that bit.

Do you have any plans for some illustrations?

[MongoGutman]

Thanks for your comments. As for illustrations I've often thought about it but I'm not really skilled enough or motivated enough - In truth I prefer to paint with my words.

There is a sequel involving Reynolds and Gwynness if anyone is interested. It's a little more complicated, so not quite as short as this one, 5 parts rather than 3.