#Heroes for Hire (Knight Wing)

[paintsplash1712]

I'm glad Fantasy Todoroki was able to break his curse/nomuification/demon-side, good for him.

True love can break any curse but not fix his awful fashion sense

[age-of-moonknight]

“A Little Chaos,” Moon Knight Annual (Vol. 5/2024), #1.

Writer: Dan Watters; Penciler and Inker: Marco Renna; Colorist: Rachelle Rosenberg; Letterer: Cory Petit

[bookoftheironfist]

I had a great time chatting with the Iron Fist Podcast gang about Heroes for Hire volume 1 #13, one of my all-time favorite Iron Fist issues! We also talked a bit about Luke Cage's forthcoming "Gang War" event tie-in, as well as Danny, Colleen, and Misty's collective 50th anniversary next year.

[soranatus]

Heroes for hire 👊 By Daniel Parker

[excelsiorfics]

Missing

Date: Feb 15 2011 Author: snowynight Rating: General Word Count/Status: 2,382, complete Dynamic: Colleen Wing/Misty Knight Characters: Colleen Wing, Misty Knight, Jean Grey, Kurt Wagner Tags: Established Relationship, Action/Adventure, Mystery, Women Being Awesome

Summary: Misty and Colleen investigates a seemingly simple missing persons case, but when the missing person's going to Xavier Institute, it gets more complex.

[jxsterr]

something crazy that’s just crossed my mind is the whole thing of does zelda miss link while she’s stuck in the past? i know the memories don’t do shit all justice to tell us ANYTHING about zelda’s feelings on this whole situation but it does make you wonder. i personally think she misses him like he’s dead

because imagine this. you’ve been trapped in stasis for literally a century. you’ve watched all of your friends and family die. then your knight, the one you watched die in your arms, finally comes back and frees you. you then move into a small house together, it’s not much but it’s honest living. you spruce it up with decorations until you can both stand back and say, “yeah, this feels like home.” you live the next year or so quaintly, travelling around hyrule to restore it to its former glory as best as you can, all within the company of someone you hold closer than a best friend. he’s still there, even though he doesn’t have to be, and follows you ever loyally. you wonder if he’ll ever go his own way, but his insistence on remaining by your side makes you think otherwise.

you believe in the strength of learning, that the children of hyrule need to be better educated in order to solidify a strong future for the kingdom, so you build a school. you hire teachers and organise the school’s curriculum, taking part so much that you become a teacher yourself. he greets you every evening when you come home and plates up dinner already piping hot so you don’t have to worry about it. life continues this way, simple and non exhaustive, living earnestly beside someone who would extinguish the sun if it meant you’d smile. you love him, realistically, and he loves you too.

something stirs under the castle and, like the good princess you are, you go trundling into the depths below with your loyal knight to solve the problem. it bears endless discoveries, things you know you’ll stay up all night studying; things that bring you so much joy that he holds your torch so you can enjoy it without interruption. instead of the torch, he’s soon holding a shattered blade in his bloody hand, arm eaten and burnt raw by something that smells so vile it’s all you can do not to vomit. you watch the world fall into peril once more, and as you do so, you feel yourself falling to the exact same fate. you see the way he throws away legend and jumps after you, knowing that he is also falling to his demise. you see the fear in his eyes, the way tears cling to the corners of them and feel the burn of your own.

his plan was always to die by your side, and he will do it by any means necessary.

you wake up and he’s gone, your world is gone, and you’re somewhere new. two strange people greet you and quickly take you under their wing, and while a new world means endless discoveries, you can’t help but wonder if link is dead. did he kill himself alongside you, only for you to somehow survive and let him fall alone? the thought makes the bile creep up your throat.

who’s to say that, during the period of time where link is unconscious, she isn’t wracked with guilt at the realisation that he may be dead? she’s thousands upon thousands of years in the past, and his body may be the only one laid cold at the bottom of that chasm. would people even remember him? yes, he was the hero of hyrule, but he’d always kept a low profile. humble to a fault, she’d tell him. and the fault may be that if he’s dead, perhaps only her name would grace the lips of hyrule. the survivor’s guilt would eat her whole knowing that he’s died for her twice now.

so you can imagine her relief when she feels the pull of him and his sword. the relief when she can make her vow to him. the relief in knowing that he’s okay, somehow, and that he’s alive above everything else. but now that she knows he’s okay, what’s there left to do? well, miss him, of course. they’re inseparable and very rarely do things without the company of the other, she’s going to miss him like her right arm.

in the day she’s surrounded by people—sonia, rauru, mineru and her army of constructs, plus the rest of the people of this era of hyrule—but come the night, she’s alone. her bed lacks the warmth it used to hold, doesn’t bear the imprint of where her love has slept beside her. she’s painfully, irrefutably alone. she’ll step out onto the balcony of the castle alone and wish he was by her side, wish that she could just speak to him again even for a little while. for as long as she walks this hyrule, there is an overwhelming, gaping hole in her chest. she finds comfort in the presence of sonia, rauru and mineru but there’s only so much they can do. she talks to sonia about him. she talks to rauru about him. she talks to mineru about him. anyone who will listen to her speak of her talented hero, she will talk to.

she rides a construct and thinks of him. a steward construct explains to her the biodiversity of the land and she thinks of him. she spends her nights at her desk, quill in hand and illuminated by candlelight, and writes in her diary as if she’s speaking to him. it cuts her open over and over with every day she has to wake up alone.

when she decides the only thing fate has left in store for her is to become a dragon to aid link in the future, she weeps for days on end. she knows that this is it, everything she’s ever known will be beyond her forever now. she lives on in the skies, but her soul dies here. all those years they spent together building a life together, growing, all for nothing. they were cursed from the very beginning. ever since they fell to the calamity the first time fate has had it out for them. and so her last thoughts while she can still think are of him. she prays for his safety, for his success, and for him to have a happy and long life without her. she weeps knowing she’ll never grow old with him or get to experience the revival of her kingdom. it tears her from the inside out, and she screams even as a dragon at the loss. it’s overwhelming, devastating beyond any weight words could hold. she’s lost everything, lost everyone, and lost herself. she was doomed from the beginning. she was never meant to be happy.

so yes, the ending of totk should’ve been a HELL of a lot more emotionally charged. seeing someone you thought was dead AND that you worried you’d never see again?? she’d be crying for hours in his arms

[skeletinmoss]

@harmonialcollisions here's the dragon Virgil au

One of my unfinished works. A little fanfic named Mercenary dragon. (it's not in english)

Virgil is a dragon, and like any dragon he likes pretty things especially gold. He found a way to get gold pretty easily: work for humans. Most paying jobs is assassinating requests and for a dragon they are pretty easy to do. Same was supposed to be when he accepted a request to kill the prince. The problem Virgil didn't account for was that Prince triggered his "pretty thing" reflex.

Now he is stuck. He can't finish the job because he can't damage the pretty thing. Doesn't help that Prince is irritatingly oblivious to the whole situation.

Roman thinks Virgil is a knight hired to protect him from a planned assassination. Yes, he has wings, and fangs, and magic and constantly drinks potions to keep a more human appearance. But hey, he's just cursed, it would be rude to point out. He's still a hero who saved him, so Roman has to be polite to him. Besides he's kinda good looking

[cloudycera]

I hate Tom Taylor.

I know people let his shitty writing slide cause he “Gave us bisexual Jon Kent” but I don’t give a fuck, I hate that man with a passion, he cannot write to save his god damn life. His idea of a twist is hero actually evil and they kill people spooky spooky. His character writing is ass, his storylines suck, he ruined night wing and Barbara, he destroyed Jon Kent before he even got a chance, injustice is plain ass (don’t lie to me you know it is) and let’s not talk about the good for nothing knights elseworld comic everyone forgot about.

I legitimately have no idea why Dc still hires him, with every comic he pushes more and more complaints come out. Everything he makes is boring, plain, lifeless slop. I cannot imagine waking up everyday to write hot garbage and feeling completely satisfied with my life, thinking I’m the most original bitch on the planet cause I wrote Superman saying “Global warming is bad”.

And I was there when young justice had a tiktok era okay, I’ve seen cringe but at least there was still substance and Characters made sense but Jesus Christ. He’d start something but only touch the surface because that’s all he can do, his writing is the equivalent of white liberals echoing everything they see, oh yeah superman thinks immigrants are people too let’s never get back to that. Lex Luthor is just racist in Jon’s comics, like I know he’s an irredeemable asshole blah blah blah but legit he’s not even mad that Jon is fucking with his plans, he’s just pissed that he’s half human. And he says that a lot.

And Taylor is not the only one to blame for this cause everyone forgets this but Dc comics has editors, it’s their job to make sure things don’t suck ass and they’ve been on crack for 4 years apparently. It’s like they take the script and hand it over to the artist without reading it.

Be scared if That man writes for your favourite character because i promise you he’ll write some shit like police brutality is bad but not all cops are all that bad and some criminals deserve it because he’s a centralist asshole.

[duckapus]

WuM Evershade Valley

King Boo's domain. While he's managed to keep the weather there mostly normal (not completely normal because supernaturally occurring eternal rain anywhere is gonna fuck up the air currents of the rest of the planet no matter what) despite it once being part of the original Mushroom Kingdom thanks to Ghost Magic, the sheer proximity to the Maristela Empire combined with the fact that it's, well, a valley makes it prone to flooding. Most of its structures look old and abandoned to anyone who isn't undead Because Haunted House Aesthetic, and even the settlements that aren't (which are mainly inhabited by descendants of Mushroom Kingdom refugees (and refugees from other places that became part of the Empire) from Moria's initial takeover) still have a dark and, spooky pseudo-medieval vibe to them, mainly looking from the outside like tiny villages a few wrong moves from being swallowed by the Forest.

King Boo isn't really any different from what he was like back in the day, ruling his subjects with an iron fist that they put up with either because they're just as nasty as he is or because it's at least better than being stuck in the Empire. He also loves taunting Moria and Juliano with the fact that he knows exactly what it is that they're missing and will never ever tell them in a million years. He actually picked his top enforcers for this exact purpose.

7 Grand Dad

Yes, the infamous Bootleg Mario. He also hasn't changed much, other than being King Boo's right-hand-man. He has no idea who Moria used to be or that she and Juliano once had a connection to that idiot Mario.

Aeon Sentinel

A massive fully armored knight with jet-black wings and a horned helmet who looks like a humanoid version of Galacta Knight's Aeon Hero (Dark) form from Super Kirby Clash. As you might expect, it's an older Desmond being corrupted and controlled by King Boo. No one has ever seen him without the armor, and he is completely silent and seemingly emotionless. Most ordinary citizens in both the Valley and the Empire believe that he was once a rampaging demon from another galaxy that was tamed by the King's power before he could destroy the planet, but this obviously couldn't be further from the truth.

Dob Bobowski

Bob and Marcy's deadbeat dad. I figured he'd still be around since Garos are ridiculously long-lived in this series. He was a mercenary for centuries after abandoning his children and clan, and was hired as an enforcer by King Boo both because of his skills and because having a Garo, especially a Bobowski, on his side would definitely fuck with Moria's head.

[docgold13]

365 Marvel Comics Paper Cut-Out SuperHeroes - One Hero, Every Day, All Year…

December 27th - Iron Fist / Danny Rand

Danny Rand was born in New York City to Wendell and Heather Rand.  When Danny’s father was a child, he happened upon an inter-dimensional portal that led to the mystical city of K'un-L'un. There he ended up saving the life of the city's ruler, Lord Tuan, and was adopted as Tuan's honorary son.

Wendell eventually left K'un-L'un and became a wealthy entrepreneur in the United States. He married socialite Heather Duncan and had a child, Daniel. Wendell later organized an expedition to return to K'un-L'un, this time taking along his family and business partner Harold Meachum. The journey ended in tragedy as Wendell and Heather were both killed and Danny was abandoned by Harold Meachum.  Fortunately, young Danny was found by the denizens of K’un-L'un and provided shelter in the mystical city.

Growing up in K’un-L'un Danny became the student of Lei Kung the Thunderer, who taught him martial arts.  Danny proved an excellent student and greatly excelled in his training.  As a young adult, Danny was offered the opportunity to face the dragon Shou-Lao and possibly gain the powers of the Iron Fist.  Using his guile along with his prowess as a fighter, Danny succeeded and defeating Shou-Lao.  

Having placed his hands in the heart of the dragon, Danny becomes the Iron Fist, bestowed the ability to channel massive amounts of chi energy into his fists and deliver devastatingly powerful punches. Shortly thereafter, Danny returned to New York City to seek on revenge on Harold Meachum whom he blamed for his parents’ deaths.  

Meachum had gone on to become a powerful business man and head of Meachum Industries.  Learning of Danny Rand’s return, Meachum dispatches a number of agents to try to assassinate him.  Danny overcame these foes and finally confronted Meachum; yet choses not to take vengeance, seeing it as a cruelty that would dishonor his parents name. Meachum was killed by a mysterious ninja and his death was blamed on Danny.  

Thereafter, Danny began his career as the superhero, Iron Fist.  Herein he is frequently aided by his friends Colleen Wing and Misty Knight. He later becomes partners and lifelong friends with Luke Cage and the two operate as the Heroes for Hire.  

Actor Fynn Jones portrayed the character in the Netflix series, Iron Fist.  The hero first appeared in the pages of Marvel Premiere #15 (1974).

[comicsart3]

Misty Knight is one of the all too few black heroines in comic books. Part of the Marvel universe, Mercedes (“Misty”) Knight is a former NYPD policewoman who, after losing her arm in a bomb explosion, was fitted with a super strength prosthetic thanks to the genius of Tony Stark. Misty decided to go freelance as a private investigator, bounty hunter and unofficial government operative. Misty linked up with Colleen Wing to form the Daughters of the Dragon, an outfit similar to DC’s Birds of Prey, but with a more overtly commercial slant: these ladies are for hire, although not to known criminals. Misty has no super powers as such, but in addition to her prosthetic arm, she possesses formidable martial arts and firearm skills and is highly athletic.

Although Misty first appeared in Marvel showcase titles in the 1970s, it was not until the early 2000s that the character became fully established in the Marvel Universe, appearing regularly in the titles Daughters of the Dragon, Heroes for Hire and Valkyrior. In the page featured above, Misty, Colleen and Nick Fury Jnr, who has hired the women on behalf of SHIELD, are after a psychotic professional assassin gone rogue named Rutherford Winner. Clearly not able to go through regular channels, the crew are empowered to brook no interference in pursuit of their quarry!

The page featured is from Daughters of the Dragon #2 (2018) written by Jed MacKay and illustrated by Joey Vazquez.

Sources: ReadComicsOnline and Wikipedia

[bookoftheironfist]

Enter: Deadpool! I joined the Sons of the Dragon Iron Fist podcast this week to talk about Heroes for Hire volume 1 #10, Luke and Danny's very first run-in with the Merc with the Mouth.

[amalgamat1on]

Haremlit Tier List

Peak: S+

- Celestine Chronicles

- Heretic Spellblade

Great: S (95 – 100) (4.5 – 5.0)

- T.A.P

- Demon’s Throne

- Tsun Tsun TzimTzum

- Neural Wraith

- Alpha World

Very Good: A (90 – 95) (4.0 – 4.5)

- The Lost Reavers

- Fight Town

- Haven

- Tournion

- Amnesty’s Adventures

- Immortal Supers

- Entangled Fates

- Ave Xia Rem Y

Good: B (80 – 90) (3.5 – 4.0)

- Shadow Rogue

- An Orc at College

- Binding Words

- The Aspect

- Herald of Shalia

- Meta Marshal Service

- Lightfoot

- Mastering Magic

- Emperor Forged

- Forsaken

- Avalar Explored

- I Don’t Want to be the Hero

- Dungeon Bound

- A Warm Place

- Princesses of the Ironbound

- Monstar Saga

- Lion’s Quest

- Top Tier Privateer

- Chimera King

- Wings of the Seraph

- Valens Legacy

Above Average: C (70 – 80) (3.0 – 3.5)

- Otherworld Academy

- Arand/Darren Verse

- Lost Fleet

- Saving Supervillains

- Mages Cultivation

- Amazon Star Academy

- Aether’s Revival

- My Cottage was Transferred to Another World

- Our Own Way (old version)

- Creature Girl Creation

- Star Justice

- Tamer: King of Dinosaurs

- Descend

- Survival of the Fittest

- Sect Wars

- Super Hero Academy

- Titan Mage

- Cultivating Chaos

- Summoner

- My Ninja Girl

- Raw

- Rise of the Weakest Summoner

- Minotaur Maze of Monster

- Forbidden Arcana

- Echo Online

- Paladin of the Sword

- Dungeonteer

- Succubus Summoner

Average: D (50 – 70) (2.5 – 3.0)

- Son of Fire

- Chronicles of Shattered Earth

- Like a Fine Wine

- Monster Girl Islands

- Dungeon Master

- Luck’s Voice

- Dungeon Delving for Loot and Levels

- Full Frontal Galaxy

- War God for Hire

- Savage Ascension

- Monster Empire

- Champion

- Four Laws

- Gryff the Griffin Rider

- The Escherian Core

Below Average: E (25 – 50) (2.0 -2.5)

- Branded

- Immortal Swordslinger

- Dark Lord’s Command

- Man Made God

- Kaos Trilogy

- Gem Knight

- Lust Witches

- Wyvern Academy

- Void Runner

- Shifter Girls

- Beyond Superpowered

- Phase Titan

- Bonded Spirits

- Outsider

Bad: F (0 – 25) (1.5 – 2.0)

- Becoming the Paladin

- The Horned Mage

- Succubus Lord

- Bone Lord

- Dungeon Cleaners Inc.

- Soul Gem Collector

- Gambit

DNF: G (N/A) (N/A – 1.0)

- Saxon Max

- Night Walker

- The John Blake Chronicles

- Rage King

- Ex-Superheroes

- Growth Hero

- Biopunk Revelation

Honorable Mentions:

- Raconteur

- Strength Unleashed

- Mud, Blood, and Magic

- Supplying Supers

- Mob Sorcery

- Wisher Beware

- Sex, Death, and Money

- Elemental Alpha

Honorable mentions don't get an official ranking due to only one book being completed in the series at the time.

[laikaflash]

I’m babbling about heraldry from a fighting game again

This is sort of a redux of my post about the mostly horse-themed heraldic motifs on some of Siegfried’s designs. As before, I’m starting with his PS1-exclusive Soul Blade costume. Specifically, the back of it.

(Screenshot taken from SPGAMES’ video.)

I thought there would’ve been at least one drawing of this coat of arms in concept art, but all the illustrations of the tabard-and-chainmail costume I've found only show him from the front. I wasn’t even entirely sure what the charges (beasts) on it were supposed to be, but my best guess remains that they’re dragons. The same game mentions in Siegfried’s “Edge Master” story that he was named after “the famous hero”. That would be Siegfried from the Nibelungenlied, who gained nigh-invulnerability from a literal blood bath after slaying a dragon (except for the back of his neck, where a fallen leaf happened to land). It’s a nice touch.

Here’s my hypothetical (and likely ungrammatical) blazon for the coat of arms: Per pale, Gules and Azure, two Dragons, Or in Dexter and Argent in sinister, combatant.

It’s hard to find an example of a coat of arms divided per pale and with charges that aren’t counterchanged and I see why. (Seriously, my only other reference was Joffrey Baratheon’s.) Grumbling aside, it does follow the rule of tincture (metals on colors). For reasons that will be elaborated on later, I don’t think this necessarily meant to be Siegfried’s arms, as it may appear. The combatant attitude (pose) of the beasts is a fitting choice for him though.

From the same game, we can see another gold dragon on a red field over Ostrheinsburg during the siege by the unseen Marquis Andre. The blazon would be mercifully easier: Gules, a Lindwurm ondoyant Or. (This dragon has two feet and no wings, so it counts. “Ondoyant” means “wriggling”. Undulating, if you will.) I’ve posted about this before, too. The Soul Archive website specifies that this banner is his. It’s not visible here, but an engraving of the same Lindwurm can be seen on a render of a catapult in the linked post.

Though a little difficult to make out, atop the towers toward the left are the damaged standards of Sir Stefan. Scratch that. Those are imperial banners of the Holy Roman Empire. (I don’t think it worked that way, but I’m not going to harp on that.) The imperial eagle can also be seen on the walls in this stage (see below).

(Screenshot taken from Raivop’s video.)

These look metallic and, judging by the perspective and scale, huge. Little information is given about Sir Stefan aside from his hiring Siegfried as a mercenary, but the former’s description as an “independent knight” might mean that he was a Free Imperial Knight. Ostrheinsburg was his castle, and it is shown to be enormous. In the second image, you can see in the far distance a keep surrounded by several rings of battlements. Even in the ruined parts shown in subsequent games and concept art, there’s a sense of grandeur to it inside and out. It would seem that Sir Stefan was a powerful knight.

I have to wonder how long Marquis Andre was able to enjoy his victory before Nightmare took over Ostrheinsburg. I don’t remember if any of the canon said his fate outright, but it’s a safe guess that he didn’t survive.

Later games gave Siegfried and Nightmare equine motifs, at least in certain costume details. (And in the latter’s case, the pun comes with the territory.) In most of his designs over the series, Nightmare’s helmet had a long, prominent spike on the forehead and flaring metal plating on the back of it, reminiscent of a unicorn’s horn and mane, respectively. (Although, some designs eschewed those for a long, red mane from Nightmare himself.) Soul Calibur VI took this a step further with this winged unicorn rampant in his character portrait. (Strictly speaking, its attitude is forcené. Couldn’t get a pun out of that.) It’s a surprisingly majestic thing for this monstrous knight.

Funny thing is, heraldic unicorns were often more goat-like (with cloven hooves and a beard... and a lion’s tail) and symbolized wildness itself. For lack of sources, I’m a bit iffy on where winged ones fall in this, though.

For comparison, below is Siegfried’s character portrait. If you put just the backgrounds side by side, you’d see the beasts almost as mirror images, combatant if you will! My interpretation is that the broken horn symbolizes that Nightmare is still a part of him, however much Siegfried will try to sever himself from him. Thinking on it again, it’s occurred to me that, unlike antlers, broken horns don’t grow back. In that light, the broken horn may symbolize that Nightmare still has some power over him, albeit in a weakened state.

While the intent here may be that they’re two sides of the same coin, this could also be a carryover from his 2P outfit in Soul Calibur III. Note the winged horse on his tabard. In the leftmost drawing in the top image, the tabard itself appears to show a coat of arms.

(I forgot whose video I screenshot this one from. I believe it was of a mod.)

The in-game model shows a second winged horse on the back. I don’t know if I’m more put off by the charges being in the first and second quarters or the Argent charge on an Or quarter. By itself, a possible interpretation of the pegasus (pegasi?) is fame. I’d speculate that the intended symbolism here is related to the phoenix motif on his default outfit (the reddish feathers on the pauldrons, what appears to be a phoenix—assuming it isn’t a stylized eagle—on his belt buckle), i.e. a metaphorical rebirth. The pegasi may symbolize him rising above his past as Nightmare.

Personally, there’s a reason I headcanon a variation of the above as Siegfried’s coat-of-arms. While it’s hard to pass up the dragon motif for him, I think of the winged horse suits him as something of a reminder of how he started: a son of a knight. A coat-of-arms is passed down from father to son, so in my mind, it’s also something that keeps him connected to his own father.

[themalhambird]

No storm came on The Dragon’s wings:

It stole down in the night.

But the villagers awoke to see

The mountain set alight. 

What sky was spied through heavy smoke

Was burned a hellish red

A coat of ash scorched every throat

And all were filled with dread.

Rumour raced around and soon

They sent word to their Lord:

A mighty wyrm had claimed his  land, 

And marked it for Its hoard. 

The fire blazed until the rain

Broke forth and drenched it out.

For no man dared form a water-chain

On what might be a dragon’s mount.

Weeks passed without a second strike,

But still the village feared.

And the fear grew greater still

When their Lord appeared.

He came with  wearied, ashen face, heading

A train of battered knights

And summoning his subjects ‘round,

Confirmed that they were right. 

“A dragon has settled up there- the beast

Very nearly killed me. 

And yet…it offered me a chance 

to sheathe my sword, and treaty.

Like all its’ kind the creature has

A dreadful lust for gold. 

If we send it monthly offerings

It will let our babes grow old.

Remain content within it’s lair-

For I myself have proffered

The dragon to hunt within my woods

And take what they can offer.

Your lives and land will not be touched,

Though you may have lighter coffers

A costly but a certain peace

Is what this bargain offers

(For we could engage a Dragon Slayer-

Give Kings’ ransoms to some outcast

And pray to all the gods there are

The man’s both skilled and steadfast

For if he’s slain, the dragon’s wrath

Will send us all down to the grave.

Or else we learn we’ve given all

For naught, but to a knave

Who leeches every lick of gold

From all your worthy hands,

And, with his pockets richly lined

Flees to distant lands)

But hear me! I’ll be ruled by you!

Good people, give me advice:

Shall we risk hiring a thief-

Or simply…pay the tithe?”

The Lord had scarcely stopped his speech

As their  verdict was returned:

A little extra tax was naught

If their lives could be preserved!

And so each month the Lord sent men

He personally commanded

To collect and safely move such sums

As the hateful beast demanded. 

The months turned in to years, the years

Somehow became a century,

And the tithe had grown to such vast sums

Few villagers staved off penury.

A deputation travelled to

The Lord with a petition

“Send for a Dragon Slayer, M’lud!”

But his Lordship would not listen.

“Your grandfathers,” His lordship sneered

“Begged mine to make this treaty. 

I’ll not undo it on a whim because

You common folk grow greedy.

Besides, my coffers- you can be sure-

Are just as sparse as yours. 

A Dragon Slayer’s prices

Are not such as we could afford.”

He dismissed them and, as they traipsed,

Back out into the night

The  blacksmith muttered to the miller:

“The bastard’s robes are samite.

“Can’t afford it-kiss my arse!

I’ve heard he’s eaten orange.

Whatever the fuck an orange is-

He’s not living off pottage.”

They journeyed back, a weary group-

Denied, but not defeated

For as they travelled they’d all agreed:

They’d raise the funds they needed.

It took some time, it took some skill

(it took a small amount of cheating:

The Brewer made sure to overcharge

Any knight who fancied drinking.)

Winter turned to Spring Spring turned

To Summer- Autumn followed.

The farmers’ fields were bountiful-

Their childrens’ cheeks were hollowed.

And Gwenllian, the Blacksmith’s daughter,

Took his work to City Market:

Some swords, some knives- she also had

Gold hidden in her pocket.

Every sale she made that day

Grew the little stash,

Until at last she closed her stall 

And counted out the cash.

More than she had ever seen-

But probably not sufficient

To tempt a man to try to kill

A fire breathing Lizard.

Gwenllian half shrugged and pushed

Away any misgivings.

Dragons weren’t common enough 

For their deaths to make good livings. 

So any amount of money might do-

Call it a- a deposit. 

Slay the dragon, take-

Say half the hoard? For the mighty hero’s profit.

She headed to the tavern:

Where -so weeks of rumours said-

Some disgraced- banished- errant knight

Worked for board and bed. 

She told the woman tending bar

“I’m needing a skilled swordsman.”

“Aren’t we all, my duck!” she cackled, 

Then: “But I s’pose you’re meaning Cadvan.

And a pretty lass like you-why not,

Gawk all you want my dear,

No harm to me if you

‘Sit there sipping beer.

You have this- first tankard’s free,”

She poured Gwenllan a beer,

Then yelled across the crowded room

“CADVAN! GET OVER HERE!”

A man appeared, of Gwenllian’s age-

His hair, like hers, was golden.

A sword hung from his belt; he bore

A pair of mismatched pauldrons.

“The Lady wants a word- be sure

You make it entertaining,” 

The hostess winks and bustles off

As Gwenllian begun explaining

Who she was, from whence she came

And the money that her neighbours raised.

“You’re a knight of some kind, are you not-

Will you kill monsters, if you’re paid?”

Cadvan said, gentle-toned

“Give me three hours to prepare.

You know where in the hills the monster lives-

You can guide me to its lair?”

Gwenllian confirmed, Cadvan bowed-

Well, more inclined his head. 

He left her and she left the Inn to wait 

with her donkey and wagon instead.

When Cadvan returned, Gwenllian saw

He was clad in well-kept  armour. 

He pulled himself in to the cart, 

Sat quietly beside her. 

The journey to the village passed

In companionable silence,

Interspersed with small talk, and beneath

A cloud of looming violence.

“Have you ever,” Gwellian asked

“Slain a dragon before this?”

“No,” Cadvan gravely replied.

“But…other monsters? Yes.”

His mismatched pauldrons glinted

In the evening’s failing light. 

Gwenllian said: “tell me of it,

If we survive the night.”

She struck a tinderbox and lit

A torch to give them light,

And guided him to the lair of the beast

She’d brought him there to fight

“How is it,” he asked quietly

“You know where this thing nests?”

“My Lord’s grandfather knew it first;

He told all the rest”

A cave mouth, like a gaping maw

Scarred the barren hillside.

Ink-fingered shadows swallowed them up

The moment they stepped inside.

They still pushed on, Cadvan drew

His sword in controlled readiness.

Gwellian wished the torchlight burned

With a little bit more steadiness:

The light it cast made monsters loom

With every shelf and stalactite.

Her heart pounded in her breast

As she tampered down her fright

They hadn’t gone above a mile

Down in to the damp and cold

When the path curved round 

And they came upon the gold.

A handful here- a handful there

Petty little hills

Not nearly what there should have been

For a century’s worth of bills. 

And in the middle of the coins

Scattered through the cavern,

Loafing like cats do on laps

There was a tiny dragon.

“‘Tis but a hatchling,” Gwenllian said

As Cadvan sheathed his sword.

“Tis not the mighty wyrm that we

Were told of by our Lords!”

The knight stepped forward-The dragon lept!

 And landed on his shoulder

It purred and curled around his neck

And tried to groom his armour.

“What does this mean?” asked Gwenllian

Cadvan turned and anger shone

Deep in his eyes as he said

“Your dragon-tithe’s a con.”

Her face grew cold- her fury blazed-

She slowly clenched her fist.

“I do not care the price I’ll pay-

I swear, he’ll pay for this!

‘Tis treason to depose a Lord,

But what do we owe to a King

Whose lordlings commit such vast thefts

As would see a peasant swing?

Try and stop me if you’re sworn, Sir Knight, 

But-” She fell quiet- he shook his head.

“You’ve paid me, Mistress Gwenllian,

To see a monster dead.

And I would have no honour if

I took his Lordship’s part.

Gwenllian- I was banished because

I stabbed my leige- lord through the heart.”

She stared, he grimly smiled.

Eyes blazing as he said:

“Such a noble man he was,

Forcing women to his bed!

And as a knight is sworn,

In chief, to protect those in need

I have no regrets for what some may call

A blasphemous misdeed.

But soft- let me take you home.

First, tell the village what we’ve found.

If we have numbers at our backs,

We’ll stand on firmer ground.”

Gwenllian agreed, and they walked back

To where they’d left the cart

The sapphire hatchling hanging on,

Refusing to depart.

They arrived back at the village

As dawn kissed dark skies gold. 

They roused each house and asked them

To come hear their tale be told.

It was the day the tithe was due

And everyone expected,

Seeing a knight, that they would learn

The money need not be collected. 

Gwenllian explained that there had been

But spare change in the hoard

Most of the coin they’d sacrificed

Went straight unto their Lord.

The village heard what she said, and

When the tax-men came that night

Though they knocked ar every door

No one was in sight. 

And a mob stormed toward the castle

Armed with torches and with scythes

Demanded to speak with the Lord

Would not be denied.

The Lord came out to meet them-

With his knights all at his back.

He heard the charges made at him

And answered the attack:

“Dragons live for centuries-

Because it’s small, it can’t be old?

My friends- this is a stranger’s ploy

To run off with the gold!

“After all, it’s common knowledge that

There are two things you cannot trust-

A dragon slayer, and a wench who

Looks at him with lust.”

Some of the mob grew doubtful-

They muttered twixt themselves,

Till Gwellian asked him sweetly

“Then may we see your cells?

Your garrets and your halls my lord-

Let us all explore:

Let us see your empty treasury and

We’ll trouble you no more.”

The Lord considered briefly,

Turned to his men and softly said

“The secret’s out- draw your swords

Strike every man here dead.

My lands span half this valley-

So one village has run dry.

I own a dozen others where

I can give this a try.”

He turned back and said

To the mob: “Please, friends- step inside.

Satisfy yourselves that I 

Have nothing I should hide.”

He walked back behind the castle walls-

And his soldiers all closed ranks,

They lunged toward the villagers

With sword and mace and axe.

Some fought back-many were killed-

Others quickly fled

Cadvan seized Gwenlian’s hand,

Pulled her down among the dead.

He put his armoured body

Between Gwenllian and the battle

And tried to shield her from the sight

Of her people slain like cattle.

‘Twas inky black when all went still

But for the moans of those still dying.

And the guards had all given chase

After those who were fleeing.

Cadvan pulled Gwenllian to her feet-

She struck him across the face

“You said, with numbers-” she gestured wide-

“Well, look at our mistake!”

“I did not foresee,” Cadvan confessed

“That he would attack-

I thought in the face of those he’d wronged-

He’d give the money back.”

“I’m getting in that castle,”

Gwenllian vowed

“It it’s the last thing that I do I swear

I’ll take the bastard down.”

“The guards are gone,” Cadvan said,

“On the chase- we can walk in.

Just pray before his men come back

We’ve found out where he’s hiding.”

Side by side they went-

Methodically they hunted,

The hatchling lodged in Cadvan’s plate

Snuffled, yawned and grunted.

Then all at once was wide awake-

It ran off- it was hell bent

On following the trace of gold

Of which he’d caught the scent

The humans both went after it,

Fearing someone would see

The creature and raise the alarm

Of a potential enemy.

And so it was they found themselves

Face to face with the lord

Who was sitting basking in 

The glow of his great hoard.

More coins than he could ever need-

Than he could ever spend!

Cadvan drew his sword and said:

“This is at an end.”

The Lord sneered and grabbed at his own blade-

He slashed at Cadvan’s throat.

As Gwenllian stepped forth and brought

Her torch down on his lordship’s cloak.

She watched, her face as stone until,

At the sound of people running

Cadavan took her hand and said

“If you would live, we should be going.”

Distracted by their master’s screams,

No servant stopped stopped the couple,

Assuming the knight was one of theirs,

Hunting down the cause of trouble.

So Gwenllian and Sir Cadvan fled-

Where to, I will not say

For well ye know the King’s own spies

Hunt them to this day

Do not but hear- listen,

Listen and then spread

This tale for, all ye peasants. your

lords would see you dead

If it but brought them pennies,

Never mind true power and wealth.

If you can’t follow her example then

At least drink Gwenllian’s health!

A dragon has been demanding tribute of gold from a small village for years. And when they finally hire a slayer to deal with it, the slayer finds a dragon thats barely a hatchling