The demon sleeps in the deep,

Among the bones and crumbled walls

Where blood drips a quiet rhythm

As it falls from the heavens to the ground.

It is his home, his lair and his cage.

His talons rest delicately upon the soil

And twitch from dreams of warm flesh.

He is restless. A ribbon of smoke

Swirls from his bejeweled nostrils

And drifts away.

---

My children come to me

And speak of their adventures.

We will fight for you, they say,

You, the queen of the fairies

And the king of the stars.

Find your battles, I say,

But you must not fight the demon,

For he is also my child.

---

One ruby eye hungrily opens,

And the daggers grip into the living earth.

The demon awakens,

And he stretches his wings and wishes to be freed.

I know of his wish,

But I pull the chains tightly around his throat.

I cannot let you free, I tell him,

Although the flames inside you

Also belong to me,

And they burn both of our hearts.