“DANCE WITH ME”

[BARD’S INTRO — SPOKEN]
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
[VERSE 1 — THE OGRE’S BIRTH]
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.
[VERSE 2 — A CHILD OF RAGE]
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.
[VERSE 3 — MERCENARY LIFE]
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.
[VERSE 4 — FEARED BY ALL]
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.
[VERSE 5 — THE MAIDEN’S WORLD]
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.
[VERSE 6 — HER LONELINESS]
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.
[VERSE 7 — THEIR FIRST ENCOUNTER]
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.
[VERSE 8 — HER COURAGE]
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.
[VERSE 9 — THE HEALING]
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.
[VERSE 10 — HIS AWAKENING]
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.
[VERSE 11 — FEAR AND CONFUSION]
“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.”
[VERSE 12 — THE OGRE’S VOW]
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.”
[VERSE 13 — THE WHISPERED DANCE]
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.
[VERSE 14 — DANCE OF MOONLIGHT]
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.
[VERSE 15 — WORD SPREADS]
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.
[VERSE 16 — SUITORS TURNED AWAY]
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.
[VERSE 17 — HER SCOLDING]
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.”
[VERSE 18 — THE KING’S DECREE]
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.
[VERSE 19 — HER STAND]
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.”
[VERSE 20 — THE OGRE RAGES]
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.
[VERSE 21 — THE MAIDEN’S MAGIC]
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.
[VERSE 22 — CAPTURE]
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.
[VERSE 23 — HIS PURSUIT]
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.
[VERSE 24 — THE KING’S OFFER]
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.”
[VERSE 25 — HIS ARRIVAL]
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.
[VERSE 26 — THE KING’S DOWNFALL]
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.
[VERSE 27 — THE MAIDEN SPEAKS]
“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.”
[VERSE 28 — MERCY GIVEN]
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.
[VERSE 29 — EXILE]
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.
[VERSE 30 — PEACEFUL DAYS]
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.
[VERSE 31 — THE DANCE RETURNS]
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.”
[VERSE 32 — THEIR ETERNAL DANCE]
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.”
[VERSE 33 — YEARS PASS]
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.
[VERSE 34 — LEGENDS GROW]
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.
[VERSE 35 — A THREAT RETURNS]
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.
[VERSE 36 — HER STRENGTH]
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.
[VERSE 37 — AGING TOGETHER]
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.
[VERSE 38 — FINAL DANCE]
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.
[VERSE 39 — PARTING]
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.”
[VERSE 40 — EPILOGUE]
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.
[FINAL CHORUS — ALL TAVERN VOICES]
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.

Epic Fantasy, tavern, bardic, ballad, long-form tavern ballad