no mere wizard can hope to stay the course,
Of mighty Bracken and his battle tough goblin force.
He will find this young wizard, hunt him down,
Grind him, break him, to the cold hard ground.
He will burn the forest, boil the blue lake,
Crush all those pretty poppies red.
He’ll enjoy torturing the young wizards generals,
Those weak blue armored troops he’ll shred.
But now a golden dawn approaches,
Bathing the earth in magenta soft light.
Bracken has learned the hard way over time,
To never squander or waste his dark might.
So he will sleep and avoid the day,
Awaiting patiently the darkness of night,
When once again safely cloaked in shadow
He will take up his silent and ruthless flight.
He’s found sweet Hesper and he now knows the way,
He sleeps happy at dawn, and grins as he lay
In an emerald green cave, under a gnarled oak tree,
His dream time is now filled with how he hopes things will be.
Calibus the Brave Griffin. (Poem four.)
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