The hero left the castle and he met his family

his sons were singing songs about their father joyfully

he only had the morning free before he had to go

but none would dare rebuke him if he left a little slow

He sat beside the fire and told his sons about the fight

and how they’d never hear a song of any stronger knight

their mother told them they should let their father rest a while

and he was happy once again to see her somber smile

But something in her golden eyes was different than before

she’d never looked as worried when she sent him off to war

“surely you don’t fear that I’ll be injured on the road

in my absence did your faith in all my strength erode”

He thought she may enjoy a joke, but still her smile was cold

showing little interest in the stories that he told

“did you really slay the mighty dragon with your sword

tell me what you know about the northern dragon lord”

The hero was confused but said the same thing as before

“the dragon was the monsters’ king, that’s what I killed it for”

she sat across from him and said with sadness in her eyes

“your words could bring more danger to us than you realize”

The hero’s face was frozen by the unexpected claim

how could such heroic actions earn him any blame

he barely had the sense to ask her what she meant to say

“what is it I’ve said or done to make you feel this way”

She sighed and after taking one long breath she waved her hand

“maybe if you see it for yourself you’ll understand”

the room they stood in changed into a forest full of trees

he marveled at the way she cast so great a spell with ease

“I told you long ago about the fate my village met

but where it was and why it fell, you don’t understand yet”

she brought him to the memory of somewhere that she knew

but when he saw the vision his confusion only grew

A busy village in the woods beneath the northern hills

living among monsters that would give a human chills

some villagers had pointed ears, and some even had tails

some looked more like animals with feathers or green scales

There were many races living life without a care

paying no attention to the monsters living there

“this is near the village where my family is from

none of them aware of all the horrors yet to come”

“What could be more horrible than what I’m seeing now

demons raising monsters isn’t something I’d allow

weren’t you from the elven lands beyond the eastern sea

how could any demons be your friends or family”

“The people you call elves are members of a distant race

the ones that you call demons differ only by their face

but in the northern hills we all were safe from human wars

safe from misconceptions and heroic deeds like yours”

The hero couldn’t understand a single word she said

if anybody heard her story she could wind up dead

he knew the humans didn’t think of elves as enemies

but friends to northern demons were not safe in times like these

He worried what would happen if the emperor caught word

but then he was distracted by a vision too absurd

flying in the air was something which could never be

the very dragon he’d been fighting only recently

Overcome by panic he began to cast a spell

haunted by the battle he remembered all too well

he drew a fiery blade for fear that everyone would die

his wife reached out to calm him then she pointed to the sky

“Humans used to know the dragon is no evil threat

there are many things your race is too quick to forget

the dragon didn’t just protect us from our human foes

it’s guarded all from chaos and destruction no one knows”

He realized the villagers who saw the dragon smiled

he couldn’t see a trace of fear on any man or child

“I’ll show you what we really feared, an evil that is real

and I assure you, it is only truth that I reveal”

The forest suddenly transformed from green to snowy white

illuminated only by the moon one winter night

as his eyes adjusted he identified a sound

anxious cries of fear and panic echoed all around

He couldn’t understand the language, but he knew their fear

something evil which he knew too well was drawing near

dark clouds filled the starry sky to hide away the moon

by the air alone he knew that war was coming soon

An army full of maniacs who worshipped death and pain

every mage and monster laughing like they were insane

the villagers all fled their homes, no choice left but to run

and then the sky was filled with light much brighter than the sun

Before it even landed it unleashed its fiery breath

the dragon in mere moments welcomed every foe with death

the village had been saved before the battle could begin

before the dragon no invaders stood a chance to win

The village was at peace and watched the dragon fly away

the hero’s wife then ended the illusion of that day

he looked at her in pure confusion, feeling cold and weak

he fell back in his chair and waited for his wife to speak

She gazed into the fire with weary eyes but still she smiled

“These are memories I’ve guarded since I was a child

I only saw it once, but just as all the stories told

the dragon kept us safe from humans since the days of old

In the end, the southern tribes were taken anyway

the dragon couldn’t save two villages in just one day

humans in their numbers drove us to our ruin then

those who lived will never see their families again”

The hero frowned and looked suspiciously into her eyes

as she spoke he’d gone beyond a feeling of surprise

“sure, the dragon may have killed your enemies for you

but you can’t praise it just because it didn’t burn you too

You said your village fell to humans later anyway

the dragon didn’t care enough to save you on that day”

he instantly regretted speaking of her homeland’s fate

but even if he took it back, he knew it was too late

She closed her eyes and shook her head, but wasn’t hurt or sad

the hero was confused to see the calm smile she still had

“I know that you have suffered at the hands of fate and war

and it has always saddened me to know what you fight for

My family was closer to the fairies and their kind

even if we too have left some older myths behind

it is not my place to interfere in someone’s fate

but this is far more dangerous than you anticipate”

“You’re the one who doesn’t understand a hero’s quest

fate itself has brought me here to face this final test

destiny has guided my adventures all along

what hero wouldn’t slay the evil dragon in a song”

“As you’ve said, the dragon couldn’t save us from our lot

but are you really strong enough to do what it could not

will you take upon yourself the fate which you’d unseal

is there nothing more of fate your own heart can reveal”

“The very fairies which you spoke of gave this quest to me

I showed them that a farmer wasn’t all that I could be

if it’s not for fighting, what could all this strength be for

this is what I need to do, I need to go to war”

He stormed away in anger, for he’d live to fight again

once he had succeeded, she would understand him then

he turned around to promise he’d protect her from all harm

but she’d already run to him and grabbed him by the arm

“If the dragon did abandon us after your fight

there is nothing you could ever do to make it right

I may not understand your fate, I only know my own

but know that all your suffering is not just yours alone”

The warmth and worry he could feel with every word she said

filled him with resolve to bravely face the days ahead

“you’ll see that after all is said and done that we’ll be fine

the hero’s role is not a dragon’s, that burden is mine”

He called his children to the door and quickly said goodbye

once again he’d leave them, but his children didn’t cry

they proudly sent him off to war and bid him safe return

for who could kill the hero which a dragon couldn’t burn

The emperor was there to send the army on their way

and thousands came to wish them well and celebrate the day

the army was ecstatic to go challenge new frontiers

The dragon slayer leading them relieved them of their fears

He led his army north and not a moment did they waste

their only northern obstacle to glory was erased

finally they’d claim the lands denied to them so long

fate itself could not hold back an army half as strong