Shadows of Myth and Legend Page 3

  His rules you must forever abide

  Do not look upon him

  No peeking from your cottage

  Or angry Dullahan will

  repay you with bloodshed and carnage

  Lashing out with his whip

  The spine of a former guide

  He’ll tear your eyes from your head

  Where up until then they did reside

  He opens up his mouth

  Terrifying grin spread wide

  Prepares to call your True Name

  Sending your soul to the other side.

  Prince of Lies

  Our great pious

  Benefactor

  Works tirelessly

  With our Rector

  Completing our

  Great library

  Books set beside

  Cinerary

  Relics and maps

  Sit with statues

  All treasure of

  Worldly value

  This man who brings

  Items of worth

  He is our guide

  While on this earth

  So fortunate

  Are we brothers

  To have him and

  One another

  The one who brings

  Knowledge to us

  From far places

  Wild and wondrous

  Places the book

  Upon the shelf

  The Prince of Lies

  Satan himself.

  The Morrigan

  Clothed in dark hooded cloaks of crow feathers

  Black against the night

  Morrigan appear on the battlefield

  Causing such a fright

  All three raise their arms up to storm filled skies

  Drawing deadly might

  Eyes roll back as they look at the battle

  With prophetic sight

  Not happy with the outcome their shriek casts

  A green sickly light

  Soldiers on one side begin to sicken

  With strange plague and blight

  More poor soldiers catch the Morrigan’s eye

  Sword and spear gripped tight

  The men turn upon each other killing

  All on left and right

  Satisfied the Morrigan in a flurry

  Of feathers take flight.

  Water & Ice

  Sating the Selkie

  On a splintered and sodden plank

  You float upon this misbegotten sea

  With bodies floating upon its surface

  Like a corpse filled cup of tea

  Beneath these depths you dare to dive

  Past sirens who do wail

  Whilst Selkies feast on the skin stealers

  Who in the blackest night set sail

  Come to me my love

  My tasty morsel of blood and bone

  I wish to once again sink my teeth

  Though I will end up all alone

  Alone alas, yet sated

  And that my dear is the catch

  I must drink deeply and feed fully

  If my little ones are to hatch

  Once I bring them forth

  Into these dark tumultuous waters

  I will no longer be alone

  As I swim forth with my daughters.

  The Winter Queen

  In the dark world of Shadow

  During Solstice the Longest Night

  The Winter Queen stirs

  While her dreaded frost minions

  Take flight

  In this land of cold and fear

  Stands a palace of ice and stone

  Where locked deep within

  Sits the Winter Queen upon

  Her throne

  Awareness returns to her

  As she tries to open her eyes

  Memory and pain

  Erupts, but ice seals away

  Her cries

  The only thing not frozen

  Are Winter Queen’s immortal tears

  Which sparkle as they

  Flow down her cheeks mingling with

  Her fears

  No one dare enter her realm

  No man will ever kiss her lips

  For death lingers in

  Her embrace, into abyss

  He’ll slip

  So on this dark Solstice night

  The Winter Queen sits upon her throne

  Knowing she will sit here

  Forever frozen and all

  Alone.

  Grindylow

  Come hither now my child

  Step near the water’s edge

  There is something waiting for you

  Just beyond yonder hedge

  Walk just a bit further

  Onto the moss slick stones

  So the Grindylow may take you

  So he may break your bones

  Grasping with long fingers

  Wrapped around your leg

  Grindylow will crack you open

  Just like an uncooked egg

  He will pull you under

  You cannot breathe to scream

  He will drag you all the way to

  The bottom of the stream

  There he will feast upon you

  As he dances through weeds

  Lost children are what sustain him

  Your flesh is all he needs

  Unless you now listen

  To your old gran this day

  And stay far from the water’s edge

  When you go out to play.

  Ghost Ship

  Ghost ship on the horizon

  Creaking of rigging and mast

  Sailing out of fog and mist

  Ship sailing out of the past

  Seaweed covered rope and wood

  Sail cloth rotting and tattered

  Faces stare out from the deck

  All their hopes and dreams shattered

  Eyes full of naught but sorrow

  ‘till they remember the lies

  Malice wakens in their hearts

  A red glow lights empty eyes

  Promised wealth and adventure

  They willingly left this shore

  Sent into Hell’s gaping maw

  Cursed to sail forevermore

  Left out upon dark waters

  Never again to touch land

  Reaping souls of men who dare

  Walk upon this stretch of sand.

  Garden Pixie

  There is a Pixie in my garden

  Spreading plant seeds and pollen

  Nurturing flower and herb blossoms

  Though Autumn leaves have fallen

  Coaxing seedlings and saplings to sprout

  Up through hoar frost covered loam

  Waiting for his dearly departed

  Dead wife’s spirit to come home.

  Banshee at Water’s Edge

  The Banshee wails

  As your death draws near

  Her keening cry

  Emanating fear

  Hag of the mist

  Goes down to the lake

  As twilight nears

  Your soul she will take

  At water’s edge

  She pulls forth a shirt

  Covered in blood

  Not dark stains of dirt

  Washing your shirt

  The water runs red

  Once it runs clear

  You will be long dead.

  Hippocamp

  Little Hippocamp

  Stallion of the sea

  Poseidon’s servant

  Never to be free

  His chariot glides

  High atop the waves

  Pronged trident in hand

  Pulled by sea horse slaves.

  Wendigo

  Corpse gray man eater

  Denizen of ice and snow

  You come down from the dead North

  When the arctic windstorms blow

  Smelling of decay

  You rend with sharp tooth and claw

  Forever to wear
your curse

  You dared break our sacred law

  Glutton from the North

  During that winter long ago

  You murdered and ate your kin

  Making your vast hunger grow

  Gaunt faced Wendigo

  Always hunting your next kill

  Hunger cannot be sated

  You can never get your fill

  Cruel ravenous beast

  Feast on human hair and skin

  Obsessed with your foul cravings

  You commit the gravest sin

  Corrupted creature

  On blood and entrails you feed

  Vile appetites and longings

  Damned by your terrible greed

  Sick loathsome monster

  Gnawing on cold flesh and bone

  Forever ruled by hunger

  Eternally cast out alone.

  Kiss of the Korrigan

  Take care brother

  As you fetch water from the well

  Beware the spiteful Korrigan

  Be sure to ring your silver bell

  Avert your eyes

  If a beautiful maid be there

  Singing a lovely ballad

  And combing her long golden hair

  You must beware

  The evil temptress lays in wait

  For a naïve man of the cloth

  Since we bring out her deepest hate

  Plug up your ears

  Do not listen as she sings

  Her song is imbued with power

  Once entranced, death is all she brings

  The Korrigan

  So like a female praying mantis

  She lures to her a foolish mate

  Then kills him with her fatal kiss.

  Swan Maiden

  Take me down to the shore

  Where the wild grass grows

  We will sit by the marsh

  Water lapping our toes

  My words may be harsh

  Full of hatred and no’s

  Please dear see through my lies

  You’re the one for me

  Lift me up to the skies

  Where all the birds soar free

  The wind blurs my eyes

  With you I long to be

  Come dear save me this day

  Change out of this form

  Feathers take me away

  As swan I’ll face this storm

  Nothing can make me stay

  Feather cloak keep me warm

  You brought to me my cloak

  Love me forever

  Before my captor woke

  His head I did sever

  Words a gurgling choke

  No longer so clever

  He thought himself so smart

  On that fateful night

  My feathered cloak to part

  From my body in fright

  Forced me in his cart

  Beneath the pale moonlight

  Beware to all who dare

  Approach pond or lake

  With splashing maidens fair

  For your bones I will break

  and rip out your hair

  Then your life I will take.

  Kraken

  Sail across the surface

  Shadow against the sky

  He will always see you

  With his all-seeing eye

  Beneath the sea he waits

  Kraken the Ocean King

  Alert ever watchful

  Forever listening

  For the heartbeats of men

  Who enter his domain

  The blight and pestilence

  That putrefy and stain

  In their vessels of wood

  Scurry on his waters

  Dumping their poison wastes

  Harpooning his daughters

  How dare they dump and spill

  Barrels of corruption

  Always bringing with them

  Sorrow and destruction

  A realm war has been waged

  Blood oaths have been spoken

  Peace will be achieved when

  All your ships are broken.

  The Bestiary

  B

  Banshee

  Barghest

  Basilisk

  Black dog

  Brownie

  C

  Changeling

  D

  Demon

  Doppelganger

  Dragon

  Dullahan

  Dwarf

  E

  Elf

  F

  Fafnir

  Fairie (Fairy, Fae)

  Fetch

  G

  Gargoyle

  Ghost

  Goblin

  Grindylow

  H

  Hippocamp

  J

  Jiang Shi

  K

  Korrigan

  Kraken

  L

  Leviathon (see Kraken)

  Loup Garou

  M

  Mauthe Doog

  Morrigan

  P

  Phoenix

  Pixie

  R

  Reaper

  S

  Seer

  Selkie

  Siren

  Spriggan

  Swan Maiden

  U

  Unicorn

  V

  Vampire

  W

  Wendigo

  Werewolf

  Z

  Zombie

  From the Shadows

  DARK, DISTURBING, HAUNTINGLY BEAUTIFUL

  978-0984247509

  www.FromTheShadows.info

  About the Author

  E.J. Stevens is the author of From the Shadows and Shadows of Myth and Legend.

  E.J. is a graduate of the University of Maine at Farmington with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology. E.J. Stevens has worked in a variety of jobs that demonstrate the human condition including schools, psychiatric hospitals, and (*shudder*) shopping malls. She currently resides in a magical forest on the coast of Maine where she finds daily inspiration for her writing.

  Connect with Me Online

  www.FromTheShadows.info