fantasy poetry | Stephanie Flint

The Dark Forest of Aneth is now out! (Go grab your copy if you haven’t already).

The Dark Forest of Aneth is the ninth and final book in my Legends of Cirena series, but you only need to have read The Restless Sands of Neel and The Dragons of the Mist for it to make sense.)

Earlier this month I included a snippet of the ballad I wrote for The Dark Forest of Aneth, and now I’m sharing the full song!

It’s long, and only bits and pieces worm their way into the main story (though Ro’nor is aware of the entire song, which is why he keeps being haunted by its tune when certain events in The Dark Forest of Aneth remind him of the tale.

The song is also included in the back of the book (along with a hefty glossary for your convenience).

But you can read the whole thing now, even if you haven’t read the story.

The Ballad of the Little Dragon Child

Little dragon child wandered through the wood
though the sun passed low through the green needle veil.
Come little dragon child,
turn back home.
When the fog rolls in so does a wicked gale.

But the little dragon child was a curious one
saw the mist curling low over pond and fern.
Little dragon child waited out the night to see
what forms this time the mist would be.

*Vocalizing* Oh…
Oh little dragon child…
Turn back home…
*Vocalizing*

But he’d heard the tales of the creatures in the wood.
Said, “I’ll camp for a while and then fly when I should.”
His patience was rewarded when as the moon rose
a soft flute sang with the peach moon’s glow.

*Vocalizing*
Come little dragon child…
Come little dragon child…

Come little dragon child, come to me…
*Vocalizing*

Ne’er had the mist danced as it did on that morn.
Swirling and churning in a trance, slow to form.
Gray silhouettes trembled o’er water as glass,
twirling and singing with none to surpass.

As the sun met the moon and the fog burned away,
Her form shifted shape with the tail of a snake
Curved horns of pearl and a magic’s cursed lure,
She smiled his direction and she cried:

“Come little dragon child.
Come to me.
I will show you all the wonders you want to see.
Come little dragon child to the mist
and I promise you you won’t be missed.”

Little dragon child no longer could hide.
Left from the rushes and asked from her side:
What beautiful music had she deigned make?
What magic allowed her to take such a shape?

“I am the goddess who lives in the mist.
I am to be worshipped when moon and sun kiss.
I am the one who you shall answer to now.
Come gather with my children, and I’ll show you how.”

But the little dragon child saw through her disguise,
for the only “gods” were beings who lied.
He feigned perfect interest and promised he’d stay,
when in his heart he knew he’d best slip away.

But she sensed his planned flight and she cried…

“Return little dragon child.
Return to me,
for there is no other place for you to be,
Come little dragon child stay right here
or else you will have more than my words to fear.”

Little dragon child ignored her terse warning,
took to the air as the night turned to morning.
But the monster-goddess grasped the strings of his being,
held with clawed magic and she screamed…

“Come little dragon child.
Return to me.
I will keep you in my garden for eternity.
Stay little dragon child in this mist
for you’ve promised me you will never be free.”

Her magic-laced claws tore the strings of his wings
and ripped them away in a powerful swing.
He gave a sharp cry as he crashed to the ground,
no longer to fly without wings that he found.

But the little dragon child would not be deterred.
He waited for the chance when he could flee from her word.
Waited through the ages until one moonless night
when the monster-goddess slipped from her worshippers’ sights.

The dragon child hid while the monster dropped form.
She partied all night and then close to the morn
fell to her drink in a dulled-senses sleep,
never noticed in the rushes, the dragon who creeped.

Next to her sleeping, a cursed amulet he found,
of magic tied, and then forced by command
to give her such form as to be worshipped as a god,
rather than as a mortal, the monster with claws.

With amulet in hand, he asked for new wings
and the magic agreed, “Yes,” if he’d take it with him.
Though never would he fly on his own again
he rises with a crescent moon to claim freedom.

*Vocalizing*
Oh little dragon child…
Clever little dragon child…
*Vocalizing*

“I’ve returned not a dragon child,
nor a dragon with wings.
But I’ve brought down a foe who’d imprison all beings.
Now I’ll return through the sunlit mist
with a tale that I’ll never, never forget.”

And as he flew to the bright new morn,
the first of her worshippers discovered her form.
And though he didn’t stay to see what they did,
he smiled when he heard her sharp cry…

“Oh little dragon child,
what have you done to me?
My worshippers have turned, cursed, and now flee.
Oh little dragon child,
be gone with your tricks.
Gone forevermore, my prized amulet!”

Clever little dragon child returned through the wood
as the sun rises high through the green needle veil.
Clever little dragon child
returns back home.
When the fog rolls in, there’s no wicked gale.

*Vocalizing*
Oh clever dragon child…
Returned back home.
*Vocalizing*

There we have it!

“The Ballad of the Little Dragon Child…” which has a few parallels to the events of The Dark Forest of Aneth, if you can spot them. 😉

Read The Dark Forest of Aneth today for only $3.99 and see how I incorporated the ballad into the book…

New to Legends of Cirena? The Restless Sands of Neel and The Dragons of the Mist both lead into this book, and both are in Volume One: six stories for $10 instead of the usual $15. Or start free with The Wind Mage of Maijev.