The Hunter

In the billowy wind of the evening
Upon the winter late
When the elms bow their heads to the mountains
Saluting their frozen fate
And the footpaths are lost to the dusty snow
That no one dare tread there
The lonely hunter pressed on
Strolled on…
Quest'd on…
A solemn hunter gazed on
Beneath the frozen sky

Through darkened woods he ambled
Paws frozen from the ice
Nearer he came, and nearer
The prize was in his sight
Oh the fire in his eyes like the golden sun
Swirled endless, red and hot
As he pawed through the snow in search of…
In quest of…
In love…
The tiger hunter prowled on
To find his spirit's love

On all fours the feline prince walked
His tail whipping the air
And the raven colored stripes he bore
Slashed over his fiery hair
His ears bore bands of silver
How majestic his body stood!
As he fought through the blinding blizzard
The howling of the blizzard…
Yet the furnace burning in him
Drove his frozen paws on

At last he came to the village
Where all was calm and array
He lurked through the water thin darkness
The snow here strangely tame
The white-washed houses were covered in ice
Ghostly and hard to tell apart
In the air he could smell the aroma
The sweetness…
Of his love…
In there by the oak was her home
Where she slumbered there that night

The hunter ran to the window
And parted his brawny jaws
From between his fangs that delivered death
A song he gently called
Yet, alas!  His love was not asleep
For his song had reached her ears
And she pulled her windows open
She saw him…
She smiled…
And sang out the serenade
That finished the hunter's song

Her pelage black as the midnight
Spanned her from head to paw
With her jade green eyes cast upon him
A love poem in her maw
As she braided feathers of a kestrel
Into her long black hair
Through her eyes flowed the essence of moonlight
Her spirit born of moonlight
Those crystals forged of moonlight
Sang a thousand songs that night

"Ah, my love, it has been long,"
Said the hunter below the sill,
"But do not fret for I am here
To save you from the chill"
The wolf maiden breathed a gentle sigh
As soft as angel's down
"I never doubted for a moment
That you'd come
To me
For in my dreams I saw us
As one beneath the moon"

Up to her window he reached
In search of her gentle face
As his paws touched the fur of her silken brow
His heart began to race
And her hair as black as the ravens wing
Came plummeting over his chest
Oh the sweet scent of forest in her fur
Of mountains
Of rivers
Sweeter than a thousand laurels
Was her breath to the life in him

"I see you," said the she-wolf
She sat up straight and tall
"But the tread of the dawn is heavy now
The bugler will wake to call.
Yet tomorrow in the light of the rusty dusk
Just before the twilight sets
I shall run to the crystal river
And there, my love, we shall wed
We'll never look back to the blizzard
But to the full moon sky

So back the hunter turned his head
His spirit found anew
But before he left he stood for a kiss
Maybe just one or two
Though it broke his heart that he had to go
He dashed into the ice
For upon the quilt of the virgin snow
The daybreak thrust its fire
And cast its golden arms in search
Of the tiger now gone from sight!

All day sat the maiden upon a bench,
Her claws clicking on the ground
On like the crawl of a glacier
The clock hands made their rounds
Till at last when the sun sank far below
The horizon now steeped in blue
She dashed forward into the forest
In search of…
In love…
To meet with her gentle hunter
By the crystal river's side

But alas!  As she ran through the swamp thick night
She could not see her way  
For the full moon that lit up the path before
Upon the blackened clouds it lay
And a rumble pierced though the murky dark
A flash that split the sky!
How the clouds brandished its lightning
And bellowed out its thunder
Still the questing maiden traveled
Beneath the shameless sky
How the minutes bled into hours
She staggered through the storm
Her silken fur matted down to the skin
Her paw pads scraped and torn
But at last in heat of the brazen storm
The river was in sight!
As she gazed around for the hunter
She saw naught but shadows
Oh where had her beloved gone to
In the midnight's wicked hour?

Onward she drove her bleeding paws
To the wind she held her nose
Seeking out the scent of the tiger
In hopes that he was close
Yet the howling winds raced every way
And with them any last scent
How the lightning raged at the darkness!
The thunder growled to the darkness!
How the maiden howled in the darkness
For at last her eyes had seen

The tiger hunter had come, he had!
To the river's side in the wood
But the surge of the raging river rose!
Had the tiger understood
That to cross the jaws of the brazen foam
Was to kiss Death on the lips?
Yet to reach his love in the stormy air
He raced in…
He dove in…
The fiercest rapids he challenged,
Flaming fur against the foam

He struggled through the water,
Paws scraping the river floor
His head sank below the surface
Breath leaving him more and more
How the wolf on the banks cried out
Till at last she herself dove in
For her heart nearly broke as she watched him
Her paws ached with longing for him
And if braving the rapids she'd find him
Then nothing dare stand in her way

She tore after him in the river
Every muscle ablaze from strain
Yet in the heat of their struggle they found
Nothing but panic and pain
In one last glance they held with each other
A gaze that nearly froze time
The hunter, weary but burning
Surrendered to the haughty river
And vanished over the fall of the crag
From the sight of his crying love

…………………………………….

Even now it is said on a billowy night
Upon the winter late
When the elms bow their heads to the mountains
Saluting their frozen fate
And the footpaths are lost to the dusty snow
That no one dare tread there
The wolf maiden specter can be seen
Searching the river's rapids
Still the questing maiden travels
To find her one true love…

"The Hunter"
Draikairion 2010 (Sarah E.)