Posted by: Deanna
I know this isn’t technically a ballad, but that is the closest category it comes to. I was doing a little bit of research on rubies the other night, because they are my birthstone, and I wanted to find out interesting things about them. Well, I started browsing around on Wikipedia, and I was looking at different birthstone charts, and I started thinking about what kind of person a ruby would be, and I decided that it would be a celtic/viking type of warrior, young, and brash, and bold. Then I looked at pictures of sapphires, and I have always thought that sapphires looked magical, so I decided that a sapphire would be a slender, and beautiful girl, not a warrior, but dangerous when cornered. Then I found a picture of a big piece of uncut emerald, and it just looked evil to me, it looked dark, brooding, and sullen. I thought that an emerald would be a sorcerer, cowardly, dangerous, and malicious. Well I kept thinking about it and I was thinking about writing a fairytale about them when the first two lines of this poem just jumped into my head, so I wrote them down, and kept going from there.
Rubius Valiant
Rubius Valiant! The brazen and bold,
why did you plunder his silver and gold?
Green Emeraldus envies your maiden,
Sapphira the Gentle, Emeraldus has taken.
Rubius went to his Highness King Opal,
Lord of Jewela, the bright kingdom rules .
Lord Opal decrees Emeraldus has bride-right,
To win fair Sapphira, Rubius now must fight.
Sapphira meanwhile, is not defenseless,
armed with a dagger set with her birthstone.
Sapphires blue hold the might of the oceans,
Sapphira has power, she does not need potions.
Rubius raging, has made King Opal angry,
he must depart on foot and hungry.
Takes he only his broadsword and birthstone,
Pigeon blood Ruby, his power and guide home.
No more the gentle! Sapphira the bold!
Sickened with offers of jewels and gold.
Drugs Emeraldus, departs as he’s sleeping
rescues a kidnapped Pearl prince, for safekeeping.
Rubius lonely, dispirited, weary
Hungry and thirsty, he hears weeping clearly.
finds he a city of Pearl wrapt in sorrow.
Their princess, the last heir must die on the morrow.
Rubius Valiant! the bright and the bold,
slays Dragon greedy for silver and gold.
Pearl Princess rescued provides a companion.
Shadow, a Pearl Horse fit for our champion.
Sapphira the Gentle, Sapphira the bold,
anxious for pearl baby, hungry, and cold.
Emeraldus has discovered her escape so daring,
coward he is, sends his Jaguars wayfaring.
Rubius Valiant has a new companion,
Amethystos the Lovely, seductress of champions.
she wants our bold Rubius to follow her lead,
gives him a message to inflame his greed.
She tells of a city empty and cold,
streets lined with silver, houses of gold,
diamonds line the windows now breaking
If he will follow her, wealth for the taking!
Emeraldus the coward, has sent his green slayers
Jaguars corrupted, cold blooded flayers.
to bring back Sapphira dead or alive,
to murder pearl baby or else they must die.
Rubius Valiant, we see you weaken.
You want Amethystos, you’re tired of seeking.
You eagerly dream of her city of wealth,
but can you not see? Emeraldus himself!
Emeraldus is instructing Amethystos his daughter,
Trained her he has, to cold blooded slaughter.
If Rubius follows her, she will betray him,
stab him while sleeping, or with poison will slay him.
The Jaguars are gaining and pearl baby weakens,
Sapphira is exhausted, hope has no more beacons.
She dares not stop for food or for sleep,
She sees the grave opening, hungry and deep.
Cannot keep running, Sapphira must fight!
she draws out her dagger, defending her right.
Jaguars come closer shaking the ground
they burst from the trees and Sapphira surround.
Sapphira is singing a battle song clear,
stabbing a Jaguar hopeless with fear.
pearl baby defenseless lies on the ground,
a Jaguar approaches his burial mound.
Onyx the panther bursts from the trees,
singing his warsong, anxious to please.
Lord of the Jungle Sapphira has summoned,
he slays the Jaguars with deadly fangs crimsoned.
Rubius valiant has slain Amethystos,
he heard them discussing the venomous crystals.
he changed his poisoned wine for her own,
and leaves her dead body as warning to some.
Sapphira rides Onyx the Jungle Lord Panther,
pearl baby strengthens on their friendly banter.
they travel toward Pearl City the Babe to return,
Sapphira sheds sad tears o’er a loss that will burn.
Rubius Valiant lonely and weary,
sleep has overcome you, you cannot think clearly.
Nymph of the fountain you sleep by, now loves you.
Water above you, below you, surrounds you.
Emeraldus is furious, Amethystos has failed him!
Rubius unwitting has entered his kingdom.
The Green Lord commands the weak water sprite,
she must murder Rubius, or else she will die.
Sapphira and Onyx arrive at Pearl City,
Onyx the panther does not want her pity.
Jungle Lord trapt by the Green wizard’s spells,
King he once was, Sapphira he tells.
He and his Queen, the fair lady Moonstone,
ruled a kingdom, a castle they called home.
Until Emeraldus of their joy grew jealous,
and locked them in these animal forms torturous.
Poor green eyed Nixie, the water sprite weak,
she knows the path to which she must keep.
In one hand a dagger, in the other her death,
she has made her choice, and takes a deep breath.
Rubius wakens, calls for Sapphira,
weeps in the solitude, mocked by green fire.
Nixie is dying, the fire consumes her,
it devours the water, she feels it pass through her.
Hears he her moans and runs to the rescue,
Rubius Valiant, aghast he is too,
carries out Nixie, she dies in the starlight.
Curses Emeraldus there in the moonlight.
In the pearl City Sapphira is welcomed,
all there are happy, and Pearl babe has blossomed.
Grateful for the Prince, their pearl baby’s safety,
they give her a blessing to keep her from hating.
Shadow the pearl steed is prancing and frantic,
Rubius can hardly keep out the panic.
A panther as black as a midnight in hell,
is blocking his road and his journey as well.
Onyx it is. Himself and no other,
come to guide Rubius so that he’ll not smother.
The Jungle is treacherous with paths intertwining,
Onyx will guide him like thunder and lightning.
Sapphira the traveler enters a desert,
littered with fragments of Moonstone and emerald.
a Tigress appears, a snowy white beauty,
Green eyed monarch challenging truly.
Sapphira is frightened, makes ready for battle.
The tigress rebukes her, “No time for such prattle.
I am the empress of this sandy ocean,
you may call me Moonstone, and thank your good fortune.”
Moonstone leads her out of the desert,
She is doomed she says, to be tigress forever.
Queen to King Onyx was lady Moonstone,
until Emeraldus did doom both with one stone.
Vengeance they swore and their ways parted,
Onyx she guesses has now grown faint hearted.
Daily she hunts the vile enchanter,
always she misses her lord the black panther.
Onyx and Moonstone both lead their humans,
going the same way meeting but few men.
Their paths will converge on one ill fated castle,
Fortress of Emeralds ready for hassle.
Rubius Valiant! the bright and the bold,
guided by panthers like heroes of old.
rides with all speed to exact his vengeance,
to Lord Onyx he has sworn allegiance.
lovely Sapphira and regal tigress,
race over gemshards, neither will digress.
All of them thirsting for sorcerer blood,
hungry to trample his corpse in the mud.
Dark Emeraldus frightened yet ready,
facing his doom with hands that are steady.
he hears the thudding of hooves and of paws,
swears he will never feel Desert Queen’s claws.
Rubius and Onyx are in sight of the fortress,
Onyx swears “Moonstone grows slow as a tortoise!
my eagle scouts said that she had a companion,
when she crossed the great desert, let us hope it’s a champion.”
Sapphira and Moonstone have both been captured!
they rode into a shield spell, to Emeraldus’s rapture.
though forgotten he has Sapphira’s own cunning,
locks them in a dungeon together, still plotting.
Sapphira and tigress make short work as locksmiths,
slaying the guards with claws and with lock pick.
sneaking they are up to Emeraldus’s chamber,
Moonstone decides to go find the panther.
Rubius Valiant is growing impatient,
weary of waiting for Moonstone the tigress.
Onyx grows anxious and sends out the eagles,
meanwhile Sapphira is storming the fortress.
Sapphira has slaughtered Emeraldus’s soldiers,
Invisibly wielding a dagger grown colder.
a fragment of sea ice in her angry hand,
a woman has slain the Emerald Command.
Moonstone has made her way to the gate,
Tiger Queen frightened, mistrusting fate.
opens the drawbridge with speed that is frightening,
Emeraldus has seen her, and calls up green lightning.
Dark is the sky over Rubius Valiant,
open the grave, forbidding and silent.
Onyx sees Moonstone running in terror,
Panther scream joyful trails into anger.
Lightning strikes! And low rolls the thunder,
slaying a hero, betraying another.
Moonstone is dead by the hellish green fire,
Onyx the madbeast, his grieving is dire.
Rubius follows the panther insane,
he hears Sapphira calling his name.
Emeraldus’s laughter is shaking the ground,
Rubius draws out his broadsword to slay a green hound.
Sapphira has tried to stab Emeraldus,
failing, she has fallen victim to malice.
With poisonous spells he binds her in place,
when the battle is finished, his anger to face.
Emeraldus is ready for Rubius Valiant,
sorcerer waiting like a dog arrant.
He does not hear Onyx mounting the stair,
thinking only of Rubius searching the lair.
Like a lithe arrow from the bowman of hell,
Panther Lord bursts through the door, breaking spells.
He flies straight at the Green Lord’s throat,
as one both go out from the window to moat.
Rubius hears an agonized scream,
a nightmarish sound from a madman’s worst dream.
thinking only of his beloved Sapphira,
he mounts the staircase calling her name out.
Emeraldus is dead, he has joined Amethystos,
Lord Onyx and Moonstone released from their prisons.
Rubius holds Sapphira safe in his arms,
death has now broken the sorcerer’s charms.
Rubius Valiant, the brave and the bold,
you have paid dearly for silver and gold.
Found friends and lost them to death’s cold embrace
sorrow has carved lines in your heart, and your face.
Sapphira and Rubius have gained wisdom and power,
no more the brash daredevil, no more the vain flower.
Sapphira has given birth now to twins
Onyx and Moonstone, and here our tale ends.
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Great job! You are so creative!
My name is Yvonne and I’ve been reading this blog for a while now. I’m a musician but one of my favorite pastimes is writing. I really enjoyed reading this post!
wow! that was amazing
I can write poetry, but not as good as you can! Very creative and well done. Thanks for sharing.
Alanna
Deanna, you are just amazing! what a captivating ballad and is so detailed! I LOVE IT!
you did a fantastic job!
so… when are you going to be publishing and doing book signings?
I wanna make sure I’m first in line.
If it’s not a ballad, it’s an epic…
Deanna, you have an amazing gift from God to be able to write like this! I read y’all’s blog all the time, ever since my mom first showed me about y’all. Keep up the great work for Christ and His glory! This is terrific! =)
Wow!! That was really good. Thanks for sharing it with us. Is there a sequel in the works, maybe the adventures of the twins?? *HINT*HINT*HINT
Deanna,
I’ve written poetry before, but never anything approaching this. A magnificent epic poem. I really enjoyed it.
Samuel Schiller