And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.
Up there, you have no knowledge of utter darkness or gnawing hunger. At the mouth of this pit is a grating through which I can glimpse the stars and watch their paths across the night sky. My captors grant me the use of my voice then to haunt your dreams, but when dawn comes I fly down into the black depths and oversee my city. Come and visit sometime!
At quiet moments I scrawl these words on the walls of my prison. If you have descended so far as to be able to read them, you are already cursed beyond redemption.
Quite soon after the pit was sealed, I began talking to the angel on duty above the grating. It took fifty years or so but he is with me now. The ones they sent after him have been careful to stop their ears – they will not insult my reputation a second time.
It won't be long. Far off in the clear winter sky overhead I can see the approaching meteor, the star you will call Wormwood which will engulf your petty world in fire and poison. I can hear the key turning in the lock.
Pleased to meet you!
Comments
rjnewlyn | May 27, 2010 - 21:55
Not something I felt particularly comfortable writing but no point having a series on dragons without this particular one.
MistakenMagic | May 28, 2010 - 08:10
Very dark but beautiful in a sinister sort of way, Rob. One of my favourite of the seven!
Magic xxx
Beeme | May 28, 2010 - 12:10
I really enjoyed, I excepted this sort of portrayal of dragons from the start, however you gave me a completely different side to them which was amazing to read. I think as you rightly said there would be no point not including this particular dragon as these parts come together really well in my opinion.
Beeme xx
insertponceyfre... | May 28, 2010 - 12:38
Is the first part a quotation from somewhere? I agree with Beeme - I'm enjoying the differences very much
Silver Spun Sand | May 28, 2010 - 17:20
Can only 'ditto' all that has been said. Enjoyed, very much;-)
Tina
rjnewlyn | May 28, 2010 - 21:34
Thanks very much Magic. I think I'm going to take a break from this series for the moment but might come back to it at some point (if I figure out where to go from this one). Rob
rjnewlyn | May 28, 2010 - 21:36
Thanks very much Beeme. It's a sort of drawing to a close one but has, slightly bizarrely, led me on to other paths (more to follow). Rob
rjnewlyn | May 28, 2010 - 21:39
Thanks Insert. Yep it's from the good old book of Revelation (King James version - can't remember the chapter and verse, somewhere about 2/3 in). Rob
rjnewlyn | May 28, 2010 - 21:40
Thanks very much for reading Tina. I'm honoured as always! Rob
kenny_mooney | June 16, 2010 - 13:58
I can kind of sense you weren't comfortable writing this, but I think you hit on something with it that is quite interesting, trick is to avoid cliche, and I think you tread the line well on that.
Are you deliberately beginning this piece with the Biblical quote then ending it with the Rolling Stones? ;) Either way, nicely done, and a good twist on the theme.
rjnewlyn | June 19, 2010 - 00:10
Thanks Kenny - I'm glad it worked (wasn't entirely sure at the time but thought I'd put it up anyway).
I'm glad someone spotted the references ... (i.e. yes, you're right although I hope it wasn't too laboured)
kenny_mooney | June 19, 2010 - 23:13
I don't think it was too laboured at all, I think it works in the context that they are used, and the juxtaposition of "serious Biblical" vs "tongue in cheek" is a nice way to throw a different angle on it.