dragon-slaying (pegasus)

on any other day
it would give me pleasure
to don my armour
to feel the weight
on my shoulders
its cold and pitiless
yet ever loyal touch
pressing against my chest
the sharp stinging smell of steel
mingled with the sweet scent of blood
from countless battles
and many formidable and worthy foes
like the seductive breath
of the finest butchery
blown into the street
to entice the animal in men
washed from the surface, perhaps
but never gone
never completely
it permeates and runs like marrow
in my metal bones

but today it brings no comfort
my heart burns with ice
my eyes are lowered
my melancholy jaw is set
for today I ride into the wild
to slay the dragon
once and for all

I faced her once before
she fought bravely, like a song
I was moved and spared her life
moved by her exquisite beauty
her rarity and power
but I was a fool

for a dragon, in the end
cannot change its nature
and despite its majesty
has terrorised this land
too freely for too long
and it is a plague of my making
and the time has come
to restore balance
to bring peace
to this blasted bit of earth