Legends seeped in myths

Seeped in legends:

The Dragon’s Hoard

Shining silver, gold, and bronze

Glittering emeralds, sapphires, and rubies

Stacked up higher, higher, higher

The luxuries of kings, great emperors, and divine pharaohs long forgotten

Cluttering coins and rusting crowns

Goblets, pearls, maps, and amulets

Velvety carpets, lush animal skins

Glinting swords and a grand scepter surrounding a branching tree of solid gold

And then

A tail

Long and thick and scaly

Fumbling step backward

A resounding

echo

echo

echo

through the twisting and wandering chambers

of dark ember

A large, sharp, glinting emerald gem opens

All knowing and eternal

Reptilian, overwhelming, magnificent

Paralyzing:

The Dragon’s eye

Nostrils flare

Exhaling billowing smoke

Smoke rising, curling,

Swelling and washing over me

Me:

Wretched Knight in Shining Armor

Fortified head to toe

Drenched in cold beads of sweat

Courageous, proud, and oh so foolish

My gaunt, petrified face hidden by steel

The emerald eye encompasses my world

And that

is the

last

thing

I