“DANCE WITH ME”

Draw close, draw close, you wanderers,

Let firelight paint the walls—

For I will tell the story

Of a love that conquered all.

Not prince and maid, nor knight and rose—

But beauty paired with dread:

An elven girl of moonlit grace,

And the ogre warlord spread

From horn to heel in monstrous scars

With eyes of red and blue…

Yet she saw not a beast in him,

But a heart both fierce and true.

THE BALLAD

He was born upon a storm-night

When the mountains cracked with roar,

A babe of tusks and hardened hide

Upon the battlefield floor.

No cradle wrapped his infant cries,

No gentle kiss, no name—

Only thunder for a blessing

And the scent of smoke and flame.

The clansmen feared his mismatched eyes,

One burning red as wrath,

The other cold as winter ice

That froze his bloody path.

They called him omen, cursed one,

A beast meant to destroy—

And so he learned too early

What the world expects of boys.

He grew into a titan

With shoulders broad as gates,

A sellsword with a butcher’s strength

Who carved through warlike fates.

Kings would hire his fury,

Lords would pay in trembling breath—

For when his blood-rage swallowed him,

He was a walking death.

Villagers fled before him,

Caravans turned to flee—

For tusks and horns and burning eyes

Spelled doom for all to see.

But none knew the quiet sorrow

He carried in his chest—

A longing for a gentler life

He never could possess.

Across the silver rivers

Where the elves made star-bound homes,

Lived a maiden soft of spirit

Who in moonlit forests roamed.

She gathered herbs for healing,

She sang to ancient trees—

And many whispered she was blessed

By fates no mortal sees.

But though the world adored her,

She felt a silent ache—

A longing for a story

Only destiny could make.

She dreamed of someone mighty,

Someone broken, someone bold—

A soul to match her tenderness,

A heart to share the cold.

One dusk beneath the starlight

She found him slumped and torn,

A wounded beast of violence

Who barely still drew breath.

His blood pooled on the mossy roots,

His tusks cracked from a fight—

Yet in his glacier eye she saw

A spark that begged for light.

She knelt beside the giant

Though her hands shook at the sight,

And pressed her palm against his chest

To soothe the fading might.

“Rest,” she whispered softly,

“Your storm has passed tonight.”

And though he could not answer,

Her voice pulled him from night.

She cleaned each wound with trembling care,

Her magic soft and warm,

The contrast wild against the bulk

Of his colossal form.

He thrashed when fever took him,

His blood-rage clawing free—

But she sang an ancient lullaby

Till calm returned to be.

When morning cast its amber light

Upon the forest floor,

He gazed up at the tiny elf

And trembled to the core.

For none had ever touched him

With tenderness before—

And something broke within him

That made him long for more.

“Why did you save a monster?”

He growled through gritted tusks.

She answered, “Monsters kill from hate—

You only kill from thrust.

But I see pain within your eyes,

Not cruelty nor greed.

If the world sees beast in you…

Then I’ll see what you need.”

He knelt, a mountain bowing low,

Before her fragile stance,

And vowed with voice like cracking stone

That fate had not by chance

Bound her path to his that night—

“My life is yours,” said he.

“Command me, maiden, heart and blade—

Or simply… dance with me.”

She blushed like dawn in springtime,

Her laughter soft and free,

And placed her hand in his huge palm

Despite disparity.

He lifted her with trembling awe,

Afraid she’d break apart—

Yet she only pressed her cheek to his

And calmed his frantic heart.

There in the quiet forest glade

They swayed in gentle grace,

Her feet atop his armored boots,

Her arms ’round his embrace.

The moon beheld their secret

And held its breath above—

For never had it witnessed

Such unlikely, tender love.

But nothing pure stays hidden,

And soon the rumors spread

Of a monstrous mercenary

And elf-maid who shared a bed.

Princes burned with envy,

Kings trembled at the thought—

That she, the forest’s jewel,

Loved a beast none else had sought.

Lords arrived with finery,

With gold and woven charms,

But when they neared her woodland home

They met her lover’s arms.

One glare from those unmatched eyes—

One red with savage flame,

One blue with glacial judgment—

Sent them fleeing all the same.

She teased him for his jealousy,

For scaring men so dire—

But he only pressed her close to him,

His breath a rumbling fire.

“I’ve killed for less than envy

In days when I was wild—

But for you, fair heart, I soften,

Like a beast re-tamed by child.”

A king who lusted for her hand

Declared the ogre foe,

And sent an army through the woods

To strike a crushing blow.

But though he stood alone at first,

With only rage and bone—

She would not let her giant fall

To fate she did not own.

She stepped before the archers’ line

With fearless, lifted chin,

Her small frame shining golden

Against the battle din.

“Who harms this man,” she thundered,

“Shall face the wrath of me—

For love has made us equals,

And equal we shall be.”

Her courage was the tinder

That lit his deadly flame,

And he roared into the battlefield

To carve out kingly shame.

His tusks shattered their strongest shields,

His fists cracked iron helms—

For none would steal his maiden

While blood still stained the realms.

But as he bled from countless wounds

She rushed to stem the tide,

Her healing light a trembling shield

Against death’s hungry stride.

Each time she touched his battered skin

He felt his fury cease—

And in her voice he found a world

Where even monsters feel peace.

Yet numbers overwhelmed them,

And she was seized in chains,

Dragged screaming from her lover

Across the ruined plains.

The ogre bellowed thunder,

His vision burning red—

For without her he was nothing

But the beast they all had said.

He chased her captors northward,

Through blizzard, swamp, and storm,

His body torn with arrows,

His spirit bruised and worn.

But neither hell nor heaven

Could turn the titan back—

For love had carved a blood-bound oath

Along his jagged track.

The king who sought her beauty

Offered her a crown,

Promised her a palace

Of jewels and golden gown.

But she spat upon his offer,

Said, “Keep your hollow throne—

I want no diamonds forged of lies,

Nor kingdom built on bone.”

When the ogre reached the castle gates

He tore the doors apart,

And every armored guardian

Felt terror seize their heart.

His roar shook ancient rafters,

His footsteps shattered stone—

For nothing in creation

Could claim his love as throne.

The king fled to his treasure vaults

To hide from monstrous ire—

But the maiden strode before her love

And quenched his raging fire.

She touched his face so gently

That the beast inside grew still,

And together they confronted

The king atop the hill.

“Your greed has brought you ruin,”

She said with quiet might.

“This man you called a monster

Stands truer in the light

Than any crowned deceiver

Who hides behind his gems.

Release your grasp, O broken king,

And face what justice stems.”

The ogre raised his trembling fist

But stopped at her command,

For she, the only voice he knew

Could still his monstrous hand.

And though he longed to crush the king

And end the bitter tale—

He bowed his head beside her,

And let mercy prevail.

Together they left kingdoms,

Together wandered free,

For crowns and courts and nobles

Had brought them misery.

They built a home of cedar

Beside a quiet stream—

A sanctuary hidden

Where love could brightly gleam.

In mornings he would gather wood,

She’d weave her flowers there,

And though his hands were monstrous

They brushed her silver hair

With tenderness unmatched by kings,

By princes, by the wise—

For she saw not his terror—

Only truth behind his eyes.

One night beneath the starlight

He asked her soft and low:

“Will you dance again, my heart,

As once you did below

The branches of the forest

That brought me love and fate?”

And she replied, “A thousand times—

My soul cannot but wait.”

She climbed upon his giant feet,

He bent his horned head down,

And in his arms she spun as though

The stars became her crown.

Their difference mattered nothing,

Their love was wild and free—

And every step was heaven

When she whispered, “Dance with me.”

Years rolled like gentle rivers,

Their love grew ever deep,

He guarded her from shadows,

She guided him from sleep.

For though he dreamed of violence,

Of battles long since done,

She soothed his every nightmare

Till daylight kissed the sun.

Travelers spoke in taverns

Of the lovers in the glen:

The ogre with two haunted eyes

And the maid who softened men.

Some claimed she tamed a monster,

Some claimed he saved her soul—

But bards who knew the truth would say

They simply made each other whole.

But peace is never endless

In a world of mortal strife,

And creatures rose from shadows

To challenge their shared life.

When demons stalked the valley

And threatened her with harm—

The ogre rose in fury

With thunder in each arm.

But she, no longer timid,

Stood beside him at the line,

Her eyes fierce as burning dawn

Her voice a holy sign.

Together they destroyed the fiends

In one united flame—

For that which love protects,

No darkness dares to claim.

They aged as lovers rarely do,

A mortal and a giant,

Yet nothing stole their fire—

Their bond remained defiant.

Her youth stayed bright with magic,

His strength endured through scars—

Together they watched time drift by

Beneath the silver stars.

When at last her breath grew slower

And her hair turned dawn-like pale,

He held her gently close to him

Beneath the moon’s cold veil.

“Dance with me,” she whispered,

“One last time before I rest.”

He lifted her with trembling arms

Against his scarred-up chest.

They moved in quiet circles,

The world fading soft away—

Her heart against his trembling form

A final sweet ballet.

And when her soul grew weightless,

Her last breath soft and free—

She smiled and whispered faintly,

“My love… come dance with me.”

He built for her a monument

Of cedar, stone, and light,

And every dusk he visits it

To dance alone at night.

Though monstrous still in visage,

His heart beats slow and true—

For love can tame the fiercest storms

And paint the storm anew.

Dance with me, my moonlit love,

Though worlds may part us far—

For though you lived in daylight,

Your heart became my star.

Hold my soul through memory,

Let mortal sorrow flee—

For in your eyes I found my name…

So come and dance with me.