Obsidian
Men of valour open their bowels at the sound of her name
The beast that lies in labyrinths of fire and ash
Many foolish braves have returned from her lair
Wild-eyed with tongues ripped out
By their own teeth to tell tales of a monster
A dragon rising from a volcano to feast
On the hearts of men
Burnt hearts still beating
Desperate for revenge
Are strewn across a land scorched
By her gaze scarred by her breath
A place where even death comes to die
Where life cannot bloom as poison leaks
From her pores and acid from her womb
A winged basilisk ascending
Obsidian was born where fire meets
Water and clouds form
Volcanic glass in dark splendour absorbing night
She glitters like fire reflected on ice
Her breath is an inferno spitting out black diamonds
She is a dragon forged in a furnace
Conceived in the eclipse of moon and sun
Black sapphire soaked in squid ink to emerge
A magnificent tenebrous beast in flame
Her gaze pierces like adamantine as she shines
With the brilliance of lava cooled down then polished
And polished again to shimmer like moonstone
A black star blazing in endless night
In search of adventure and fame
Vallant follows the trail of these tales
The stench of sulphur soaks the air and saturates his lungs
Dying trees with bare limbs expose their bark
Reaching out in silent pleas begging Vallant
Warning him to turn turn back
But deaf with zeal to conquer and kill he marches on
His steps remain imprinted in ash deep and thick
Like moss in this graveyard of sequoias
Felled down by Obsidian
Mountainous monoliths loom at the gateway of her lair
Deep into the gaping gloom
Vallant descends
Sword unsheathed in his right hand
The echo of his iron-clad feet is a knell
Ringing out in the granite crypt
He enters a labyrinth of ash and fire
Fathoms deep in the tenebrous tomb
Vallant hears the scraping of four axes
Grinding against stone
And a continuous hiss of steam rising
He wavers for a moment but boldly cries
Come out and face your death
The axes fall silent
Steam enfolds him in a cloistering cocoon
But valiant as ever
Fingers trembling he shouts
Obsidian come out
A shadow glittering darker than night appears
Eyes like shooting stars pierce through thick gloom
To reveal the monster
Who calls
Her voice a clear brook from the mouth
Of a fountain trickling through verdant woodland
Rests on him serene as a pool reflecting light and sky
Who calls my name
Her question whispered tender
Caresses his ear soothing his rattled nerves
To chase away suffocation and fear
Captivated Vallant gladly yields to surrender
And lays down his sword as flares of fire usher in light to reveal
A hidden silhouette in the dragon’s form
You are no beast
But a woman enchanted
Where shadow caresses light
I see you
A princess waltzing alone
Buried in the monster I see your reflection
Beauty under a spell
Trapped in nyctophilia waiting
For true love’s deep kiss
I will free you
I touch the taste of your tears
As you weep over
This curse that has you
Locked in a cage of magnetite skin
You cannot understand
The poetry of my skin
This opal palace I languish in
All you see when you gaze and look at me
Is a bird imprisoned
But I am glorious
I am free
Come meet me in caverns of obsidious bliss
Taste dusky viscous lips as we reminisce
Reminisce and return with me to moments
When men knew love
A time before they stole my jewel and ripped my skin
Abandoning me to my true form
This fortress of fire and scales
Woo me back into the age when chivalry was true
Sit with me plunge deep
Into fathoms of breathless wonder
While I lick off your skin
As you die a little and wake
Wake up
When your metamorphosis begins