Castle Of Epiphany by Joseph B. St John

Through the clouds of Candlewood, ancient castles appear.

Locked in a balance of imperfection, they reach to a heavenly sky.

I grab my sword and head toward the celestial gates.

 

The Castle of Epiphany stands the largest amongst the crowd of cathedrals.

Its entrance is blocked by the great Dragon of Sai.

Its scales block the Forever Door of what is real and what is an illusion.

 

I gather my wits and stare down the beast’s haunting eyes locked on mine.

Blue fanged, it leaps toward my cloak and I pull my sword-it’s cold and swift.

The first stab buries deep into the Dragon’s breast and air gasps from the wound.

 

Beholding the great beast, it severs my soul from my heart.

He pulls the desire and dismantles the mind.

Fear grips my innards as the breath rips from my chest.

 

I have heard of his power before in the whispers of the warriors crushed  before me.

The beast has rode the crescent moon and splintered the sane night.

No one has survived the magical lizard’s scaly touch.

 

“None”, it is said and all who have said it are dead-

pulled to his whispering tongue longing for delight.

He is the one that stands alone awaiting the steeling challenge.

 

I push my sword deeper into his chest as he rails and brays.

His mouth fastens on me and his head lunges at my throat.

I remove my sword only to return it over and over again.

 

The red crimson covers my hands in reptile ooze.

His eyes roll back into a hollow, yellow hole,

soulless, forgotten, never to blink again.

 

A treasure awaits me inside of Epiphany- gold to last for ages.

I open the draw door back and wander into the dwelling.

It is empty, cold and dark.  A dragon protecting nothing?