Part 1

Part 8

They stand and breathe
Amid the bones of long-dead men.
It can’t believe
That Daric is back here again.

“What brings you here? Why do you hide
Inside that shell of hollow pride?
I’ll end that false serenity
And show you your identity.”

“I’ve had my fill of your dark lies
To drag me down to my demise;
You shall not take me down that road
To pay debts that I do not owe.

“It doesn’t have to be this way
The cross can take your curse away.
Upon the Hill of Myth I met
A man who can forgive your debt.”

“Forgiveness? Curse? I am not cursed,
I’m justice of the universe!
All men must fall beneath my power
And every day and every hour

“They live or die at my command
All live in fear of my black hand.
None escape the truth inside
Of demons finally untied.

“Did not my gift to you suffice?
I shall give a greater share,
To fill your veins with darkest ice
And we shall see then how you fare.”

His sword grows heavy in his hand
His movements weak and sluggish,
As frauds and intrigues underhand
And fantasies quite thuggish

Assault his mind, distract him for
The beast’s first leaping, slashing claw
A single talon finds a gap
Between two plates before it’s snapped

By plate edges that scissor closed
As Daric with his free hand throws
A punch to force the great beast back
And then continues his attack.

His sword arm is now wracked with pain
As he swings it up again
He lands a weak and glancing blow,
But the blade sticks and starts to glow.

The beast now screams as its flesh burns,
It stumbles back then quickly turns
To flee the way that Daric came;
With horror, he cries out her name,

“Beatrice!” Daric finds the tip
Of the beast’s claw, with clenched teeth rips
It from his shoulder, screams in pain,
Then sets after the beast again.

Part 10