Fictionwocky Leg 28

The Ballad Leg

The world lay waiting, ripe plum for the picking,

but the gate was shut fast, and no infernal lord could

force it open ‘gainst the strength of its bound souls.

And the Beast went walking, leg by leg by leg.

Aedeliphus the Bold sought to break the locks,

to sunder bright souls and rend them into separate parts

but his strength was not sufficient, and he died screaming.

And the Beast went walking, leg by leg by leg.

Ogronus the Mighty laid his hands on the Deathgate

to crush those seals foul within his hoary hands

but bright flared their soullight, and Ogronus fell down dead.

And the Beast went walking, leg by leg by leg.

At last came the mightiest, King of Hell, immaculate, resplendent

in battle dress, to rend the gate from its foundations.

The Beast did roar, and its many legs did crush those putrid seals,

And the Beast did walk through, leg by leg by leg.

By might and blight and behemoth’s breath did Hell ascend

through shattered gate and nary a warrior of the Nailed God

did stand against. Fallen, all, fallen all.

And the Beast went walking, leg by leg by leg. 

Instructions

Leg 28 – The Ballad Leg: Write a very short ballad.

Whether you use prose or verse, rely on a rhythmic drumbeat or a repeated refrain, make sure you tell a story of something worthy of a ballad. Like a tragic act, a murder, a clash, a great return. Things like these.

It should feel like a song that has been carried from mouth to mouth for three hundred years, even if everyone has forgotten why they are singing it.

(Optional refrain for a bonus: “And the Beast went walking, leg by leg by leg.”)

Link to the week’s posts.