A Knight, a Dragon, and the Truth

i.

I carved my path with steel in hand,
a noble blade to cut the wicked down.
The beast defends its keep, yet I withstand,
for honour demands I save the crown.

The fair princess waits within: so pale,
a beauty trapped beneath a massive claw.
But with one fateful strike beneath a scale,
the horrid beast is killed — a fatal flaw.

I take her hand; she trembles at my side,
but not with joy — her gaze is sharp, unknown.
“Come along,” I say, “No longer must you hide.”
Yet in her eyes burns a fire all her own.

I freed the maiden, slew the beast in a fair fight —
So why does something still not feel quite… right?

ii.

The steel-clad fool now treads upon my land,
a reckless knight, unshaken by my fiery roar.
He sees a monster — does he not understand
the thing he fights is her guardian, not captor?

The girl under my wing sought out these lands,
and bade me burn the bridges she had crossed.
Yet heedless, he arrives with bloodstained hands,
unmaking that peace for which she’d paid the cost.

My fire fails me, my talons snap too slow,
and in my final breath, I see her weep.
For not for herself, but for what we both know —
the thing that he has killed was hers to keep.

As I fall, I hear her whisper one last prayer;
not saved, not freed, she is brought new despair.

iii.

Oh wretched knight, you know not what you’ve done,
when you saw a beast and drew your blade to kill.
You did not pause to ask who I was running from,
nor why I chose this castle, so remote and still.

For I was never the dragon’s prisoner nor prey:
Not just warm and safe, she kept me loved!
She offered more than I could ever repay,
and now the world feels colder than it once was.

You take my hand and whisper tales of home,
of golden halls and the duties I must bear.
After having known wild love and blessed freedom —
what waits for me but a colder dragon’s lair?

You think you’ve saved me — played the hero’s part —
but all you’ve done is break my heart.