Once Upon a Time in a Legend Castle

Silvery spider-webs lurked in shadowed corners;
domicile to hairy black spiders, creeping in the dust.
The lighting of the Legend Castle was always dim,
especially down in the dank dungeons filled with rust.

Out in the stables, a glorious white horse stamped its hoof,
impatient for its prince to awaken from his downy bed.
Their journey would be long and treacherous as always,
but the gold prize always reduced the feeling of dread.

The white horse rose its head at the slightest noise,
and there at the door, stood his prince clad in armour.
Mounting his steed, he urged the beast forward,
and they galloped out of the castle past the farmers.

The black forest loomed, trees leering and jeering;
Still the prince urged his white horse toward the gold.
Utter darkness swallowed the princely pair whole,
raising a chill from their bones, making them so very cold.

Sounds of snapping twigs and crackling branches,
hissing and growling, had them alert and in a scare.
The stench of death as thick as blood filled the air,
and shiny red eyes seem to appear from everywhere.

The Legend Castle was far behind, and still they rode on.
Tiny creatures scuttled away, leaving a curving pathway.
Sudden smoke clogged their throats and blinded them;
A surprise ambush left everything in total disarray.

The heat of fire burned their tender flesh, leaving it raw.
Voices shouted orders, ropes etched tattoos into their skin.
The prince and his horse, could not escape their brutality,
but neither would they just let their attackers win...

With blindfolds removed, a gut-wrenching sight evolved;
broken bodies littered blood-stained, grimy grounds.
Skulls in disrepair, and limbs completely removed...
The prince and his horse lost hope of ever being found.

The Legend Castle was long in the distance of nowhere.
The bodies here were ravaged or yet, deceased.
The stench of death was unmistakable - it surrounded.
There was no way they would ever be released.
***
In the Legend Castle a Queen sang a little lullaby.
Her courageous son had left on yet another journey.
Today he would be returning with plentiful gold...
But little did she know he would arrive on a gurney.

Back in the Legend Castle, people ran about wildly.
Their only prince was in immeasurable disrepair.
His limbs were twisted in a grotesque fashion,
and his mental state was completely up in the air.

Whatever those cruel individuals had done to him
The Queen could not repair; he was a destroyed man.
Back in the Legend Castle, the atmosphere dimmed,
For their queen suicided and their prince was less than.

By A.Sherden
03/09/12

*LTFR Club Challenge