N'aard realized
This was not common
dragons and man
enjoined harmony

How then did it come to pass?
N'aard's and Vulsa's son
taken from cradle to lair
in wonderous flight

N'aard of the eagles' blood
following on steed
through mountain trails
of powdery white death

Inside the lair of Fariner
N'aard helf fast his
broad and sharp axe
as the odor of sulfur burned

Fariner raised her long
and slender neck but
neither fire nor death she
rained upon him

N'aard heard his son's squall
and braved to pass Fariner's
cold unforgiving glare

It was then he saw the
dragon's calf as still as
the morning dew and
Fariner bellowed her dragon's
cry and N'aard understood

As he had become the eagle
when baptised in that sacred
blood, his son was to be the
dragon, born again as his own
father had done.

THE SON OF THE DRAGON

The boy felt the sacred fire
burn through his bones and
his blood

As the ebony steed carved
a path in the dark and the
gods cried in anger above

N'aard pulled his son closer
to him
Swathed in a cloak weaved
from an emerald loom
As the Y'mir's breath
sought the young child's death
N'aard continued to ride

The hooves of the black steed
spit thunder
It feared not the gods or their
ways
But N'aard knew the law he broke
and the price gods demanded he
pay

IN THE DAYS BEFORE DRAGON'S AND MEN

The sun arose
streaming across farm
and woodland
as the black steed
put thunder to rest
and N'aard swung down
fast from the saddle
with his young son held
firmly to breast

Vulsa raced out of their cabin
and pulled back the cloak from
her son
Then the bottle she grasped
fell to the ground with a crash
and screaming, Vulsa started to
run

N'aard felt fear but bent closer
To look at the face of his son
then he uttered a gasp
and remembered the past
In the days before dragons and men

Neath' the full moon
N'aard became eagle
twas' a price to live longer than most
but the old gods were cruel
setting just one holy rule
Dragon's blood was never to host

He placed his son down by the stallion
and his cleanched fist he raised towards
the skies
and as black clouds drew nigh'
He bellowed this cry
"Damn you gods, I'll see all
of you die!"

And the rains streamed down from
Valhalla
flowing like warrior's blood
he carried his son toward
his cabin, knowing now what
had to be done

TEARS OF THE DRAGON

N'aard brought his son to their cabin
Placing him down in front of the hearth
He was no longer a child
For the dragon inside
Left the child, now father to man

Vulsa came in and knelt
down by her son
His skin turned the jade hue of beast
and slowly she stroked the head of the boy
As her tears failed to bring her relief

N'aard eyes gazed softly at Vulsa
as his hand held the hand of his son
"You've broken the law of the old ones
now see what your rashness has done!"

"Be still, wife and carefully listen
Fariner's calf was somehow left slain
There was no other way to give back it's life
or the flames of the dragon would rain!"

"But what of Egil, what of our son?"
"This is truly too heavy a price,
The dragon's rage I'd rather face
Then to give up my son's life."

"Upon the moon, soon to be full
I'll awake in eagle's form
And the Rainbow Bridge won't
sway my path until I avenge
what the gods have done!"

The boy lay heavy with fever
his form changed to both dragon
and man, while Vulsa's tears ran
N'aard with dagger in hand went outside
to the black steed to plan.

DRAGONS AND ELDER GODS

The sun burned through
clouds blackened with venom
a warning from
ill-tempered gods
As N'aard consulted his
fiery steed, its wings
released from their bonds

The great beast was cast out of Asgard
where it chose to defy even Thor
Now it served only N'aard of Midgard
Seeking revenge on them all

N'aard's plan was both clever and reckless
On the wings of the eagle he'd fly
To face Heimdal at Bifrost
and steal the keys or die

Beyond the Rainbow bridge it stood
The celestial fort of the gods
Odin himself named it Himinbiorg
and no human could pass it alive

The great steed was a man once
named Gripir, a servant to both Odin
and Tyr but he drank of Giall's blackened
waters and like Fenris was banned from
their side

N'aard coated four daggers with poison
as well as the shaft of his sword
He fashioned arrows of gold
Fearing no god or lord
and awaited the rise of the moon

WHEN ELDER GODS WEEP

Beneath the harvest moon on high
The eagle flew through darkening skies
a winged stallion by its side

Midgard became a tiny sphere
As Bifrost came so very near
His vengeance burned like an ember's glow
As he thought of Egil far below

In the village of Da'nar she waits
Fearing the gods and her husband's fate
The gods are deaf to Vulsa's plight
As her son transforms that very night

Where once his fate was that of man
Egil now as dragon stands
His blue eyes changed to fiery red
Where once were arms
His wings are spread

Vulsa leaves her loom to check
Her sleeping son in the room out back
When a sound like thunder splits the night
And her young heart leaps with fright

She races to her young son's room
Forgotten now the magic loom
The rafters of the ceiling cracked
Stained with dragon's blood from
the dragon's back

The far wall across the garden lies
As she sees the dragon take to the skies
Vulsa screams out Egil's name
In a voice that echoes out her pain

Vulsa kneels before the ruins
Of all her dreams cut down so soon
And through her tears she calls aloud
To the elder gods beyond the clouds

"Return my son for my heart to keep,
do not the gods have souls that weep
can you not feel this mother's plight
return my boy to me tonight!"

The night just laughs with the gods distain
As thunder roars and dark clouds rain
And as Vulsa slowly walks away
She can only feel her pain

EGIL AND THE DROMA CHAIN

Below the yellowed maze of night
Egil flew in dragon flight
The highlands whispered out his name
As his wings beat through the rains

He could see the Droma chain
That bound the great wolf Fenris
He heard its leathery bay and
turned in flight its way

The wolf it snarled
its great jaws howled
as it stood between two worlds
Then Egil looked into its yellow eyes
and somehow understood

It was once the son
of the god Loki
condemned for both
strength and size
Then Egil knew the task ahead
He must free the wolf or die

Egil shot flames at the Droma chain
That burned like the suns fiery light
But these bonds were forged by Odin
And still they would not break

"You must seek the aid of Nithogg
who gnaws at the great tree of life,
Find the dragon at Yggdrasil and
I will aid you in your fight."

Egil thought of N'aard
and the tears on his mother's face
As his golden wings beat like thunder
Toward the tree named Yggdrasil
He raced

YGGDRASIL

The tree of life
from the Ymir's dust
The root and the seed of time
Where the golden dragon
sought Nithhogg who consumed
both its roots and vines

His path took him by fading novas
shooting stars and the furthest of
suns
To where the great dragon waited
At the place where all life had begun

N'aard stood upon the Rainbow Bridge
The eagle now waiting as man
And Heimdal blocked the only path
Fiery sword held in hand

From beyond the clouds
Flew the fiery steed
Snorting fire and thundering hooves
But Heimdal paid no heed at all
The great god did not move

N'aard notched his wooden bow
He wore a cloak from the magic loom
The golden arrow found its mark
But no god dies that soon

Heimdal fell upon Bifrost
but with the last
of his strength he screamed
A cry that was heard in the vast
halls of Asgard before the great
god died

Tyr, the war god arose from his slumber
Feeling the spirit of the god who was slain
Then he called forth the souls from Valhalla
And upon the bridge they did stand

N'aard had stolen the keys to the kingdom
But found the dead now all blocking his way
He put down his bow and raised up his sword
Fearing death would claim him this day

They picked up their swords and charged forward
N'aard cutting a path through their ranks
But their numbers seemed almost countless
And he had only his cloak to give thanks

For the magic cloak from Vulsa's loom
healed his wounds from any attack
Until a boney hand from a man long dead
snatched it from his back

N'aard felt now the thrust of each sword
Each blade took the life of the man
From a hundred wounds his soul did flow
Until death claimed N'aard for its own

Vulsa felt the death of her husband
And to the emerald loom quickly ran
Enchanting a spell, she knew all too well
Upon the bridge, she did stand

She knelt by N'aard's broken body
and cradled his head in her hands
"At the price of my own, I give back
your life."
And as she died, N'aard started to
rise.

He picked her up gently and kissed her
The dead stepped aside as he crossed
And he carried her off to Valhalla
For a warrior's soul's never lost

WHEN THE ALL-FATHER SPEAKS

N'aard crossed through the gates of Valhalla
Where all warrior's souls come to rest
He laid Vulsa down by a garden of stone
As the sun slowly rose from the west

Then he felt such a presence before him
That he fell to his knees in surprise
When he dared to look up
He was startled to see
Tears in the All-Father's eyes

It was Odin himself by the gateway
With a staff carved of oak in his hands
He reached out touching N'aard's bare shoulder
And in the hall of the gods they did stand

"I weep not for the woman named Vulsa,"
Odin spoke in a voice cast of stone
"For the wife you have lost was my daughter
And none save yourself this has known"

N'aard spoke not a word to great Odin
But thought of the emerald loom
Where she had weaved the cloaks
of fine spun thread that now hung
about the room

"Do you see now the role of my daughter?"
"What the emerald loom meant for man
Vulsa weaved not a cloak but the fabric
of life like the hourglass flowing with sand"

Then with a clap that sounded like thunder
They stood once again at the gates
As dark clouds gathered endlessly
And the hours all grew late

WHEN DRAGONS MEET

Beyond all worlds lay Nithhogg
Who consumed the roots of life
But for every branch the dragon ate
Two arose to take their place

Egil flew near the dragon
It was twice the gold ones size
"I have come in aid of fenris"
He heard not the great wolf's lies

"I have no love for gods or kings"
The slithering voice loudly said
"Why should I leave my nesting place
to serve the son of Loki instead?"

"Can you not see, can you not hear
or has time just left you blind
The yggdrasil tree no longer grows
It surely must be a sign"

Nithhogg arose and flew by the tree
Its branches turned harder than stone
"There is much to learn oh' golden one
we must seek that the truth here be known"

Nithhogg trusted not Fenris
Nor the gold one at his side
But he knew that when the great tree fell
Would be the day that the elder gods died

THE GREAT WOLF'S LIE

N'aard knew not Egil's mission
As he sat by the gods in the hall
But he could see the sadness on
the All-Father's face as Odin faced
them all

"There was a day when man paid worship"
The voice of Odin roared
"When mortals feared our anger,
the wrath of the thunder god"

Thor clutched the hammer, Mjollnir
And stood by Odin's side
"Then from all the power of the storm
let those on Midgard hide"

He raised up awesome Mjollnir
And for forty nights it rained
But man built arks and hid away
No worship in his name

Then Odin stayed the hand of Thor
And shook his flowing beard
"They seek us not, the end is near
It is as I had feared"

The golden dragon and Nithhogg
Flew close to where fenris lay bound
And shot down their flames on the
Droma chain and in silvery fire
it burned

The great wolf raised up towards the heavens
And with a sweep of its huge paw it slew
Both the golden dragon and Nithhogg
Before seeking revenge, overdue

Fenris set foot upon Bifrost
Where Tyr, the war god did stand
The great wolf howled a fearful roar
As Tyr raised up sword in hand

IN THE EYE OF VITHARR

The winds howled
Asgard shook
And even the Ymir shed tears
In the hall of the gods Odin waited
Showing no sign of his fear

The sword of the war-god was fearful
Blazing crimson and blue through the skies
As Tyr struck the wolf like a fiery star
Fenris turned, refusing to die

Hugin reported to Odin
The battle was not going well
Tyr called upon Valhalla's ghosts
But one by one they fell

The great wolf bled from a thousand wounds
But its hate blocked out the pain
And the blood flowed down on Midgard
Like the last and final rains

It was Thor who let the madness scream
As he stood by the All-Father's side
"Should we not aid our brother or is
it his fate to die?"

"The god of war has bought us time
stands the army at the gates
You must lead the charge, the battle drums
Slay the wolf or seal our fates"

Thunder god and hammer
with warriors soon arrived
But Tyr lay slain on Bifrost
By the wolf that would not die

The sky grew black, the heaven's dark
as bolts of lightning reined
Mjollnir was a thunderclap
Hurled from Thor's huge hands

The arrows flew, the swords all rang
As Fenris cut down their ranks
Until alone one god did stand
The wolf upon his flank

N'aard watched from Himinbiorg
the celestial fort of the gods
Then he mounted the black steed
swiftly and towards the carnage
they charged

As quickly as the lightning struck
Fenris the great wolf healed
Until it swallowed whole the thunder god
And forced the king of gods to kneel

N'aard leapt from the black steed's back
And across the bridge he ran
To hold the trumpet of Heimdal
In his mortal, trembling hands

He somehow knew without knowing
That the wolf had slain his son
And as he raised the trumpet to his lips
He knew what had to be done

It was the horn that sounded ragnarok
The day of the death of gods
And as the walls of Asgard fell to ruin
It played that deadly song

N'aard opened up his eyes
As a shroud of silence fell
And from the ashes of the elder gods
a new god was born as well

N'aard picked the infant up
As a voice called from the flames
She was a god and yet his wife
Fair Vulsa was her name