Tales of Darren, Part the 3rd: The Dragon Clashed in War with Man

Therein he lay all fevered hot,

Alive on borrowed time not bought,

It seemed as though he were to die,

As he did on sickbed lie,

And then the sickness from him passed,

As though it never meant to last,

And Darren leapt up to his feet,

Prepared to now the Dragon meet,

Now with his health fully regained,

Darren was loathe there to remain,

Yet Darren stayed in the town still,

Not for lack of strength or will,

But on account of his own scheme,

To best the Dragon from the stream,

Brave Darren had the blacksmith pound,

A suit of sturdy armor sound,

A suit covered in piercing spikes,

A suit that none had seen the likes,

And thereby armed with sword in hand,

Brave Darren trekked across the land,

To that place where a town had been,

To where he had the Dragon seen,

And still across the plain the stream,

Did smoke and froth and boil and steam,

As water ran across the hide,

Of the black Dragon there inside,

Brave Darren strode across the field,

 Gripping tight his sword to wield,

And came upon the the riverbank,

The waters with Drake sulfur stank,

And Darren called out with voice loud,

"Come forth to be by my blade bowed!"

And then up from the wat'ry depth,

The Dragon of pure black now crept,

Its coils dark, from water wet,

Its gaze on Darren firmly set,

And now the beast came fully out,

Its coils churning all about,

And it was then that Darren lunged,

And thrust his blade out for the plunge,

Yet the Dragon moved on past,

Its coils twisting steely fast,

And Darren was then in its hold,

All bound about with sinews cold,

Yet as the beast tightened its grip,

The armor spikes did its flesh rip,

And then the beast did its hold loose,

To save itself from such abuse,

And Darren dropped then to the ground,

His body sore yet wholly sound,

Then donning his dark spiky helm,

He faced odds that did overwhelm,

The Dragon reared its ugly head,

Above the knight far overhead,

And bellowed with a fearsome wroth,

And spewed a breath all fiery froth,

The sky above alight with dawn,

Looked down this battle then upon,

And as sun rose from horizon,

The Dragon clashed in war with man,

~To be Concluded~