Oberon
Konstantin McKenna, Svetlana Kovalkova-McKenna
Oberon
Copyright © 2009 by Konstantin McKenna, Svetlana Kovalkova-McKenna
Smashwords Edition
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission of the author.
Long live Young Poets Societies!!!
Also, thanks to baby-sister Cecile-Katya for all the help and inspiration!
Introduction
Once upon a time, during the summer of 2008, I was teaching my children and their friend a poetry seminar. The goal was to learn about different styles of poetry and to try our hand at writing it. We wrote haiku, senryu, ballads, cinquains, quatrains, couplets, clerihews, limericks and studied all about classic forms of English verse.
After about a month, I decided to give them each a big project to work on - a story in rhyme that had to include all the poetry styles we studied. I called it a “combination poetry style”. I ended up writing stories together with each of the children; we had incredible fun doing it. Here is a story I wrote together with my 11 years old son, Konstantin.
I have to say that he came up with the idea of Oberon all by himself and was writing a story about him for a while now in prose for his creative writing studies. He decided to put the story of Oberon in rhyme and I helped him. I hope you will enjoy it as much as we did.
Svetlana Kovalkova-McKenna, March 2009.
Table of Contents
Oberon
Some more poetry by Konstantin McKenna
Oberon
Introduction
Our main character, Oberon, is a fifteen-year-old orphan with blue eyes and light brown hair. He wants to avoid conscription into King Ajax’s army. After he escapes by running away from the King’s recruiters on the day of the draft, he is immersed in a world of war, politics, and magic.
Scene 1
Escape
Oberon watches.
Another man is drafted.
Recruiter approaches.
Oberon chooses to run.
The soldier follows.
Oberon is afraid.
He runs for the gate.
His escape may be too late.
The gate doors shut.
Oberon is trapped.
He dashes for the wall.
He barely climbs on top.
He jumps from the battlements.
Only grass will cushion his fall.
Oberon is still able to run.
He takes off for the woods.
He escapes the guards.
However, his leg is numb.
Scene 2
The Woods
In the woods, there are werewolves.
A deadly werewolf has the strength of a bear.
Many of them can outrun a hare.
Oberon is in those sinister woods.
He’s headed for fort Rockk to find his cousin Thomas.
The hungry werewolves smell him.
They hunt him.
Somehow Oberon sees them.
Werewolf
Fast, muscled
Runs, hunts, howls
Has an extremely poisonous scratch
Wolfman
Oberon runs towards a tree.
From ghastly werewolf he has to flee.
A silver chain he does not see
Is wrapped around an ancient tree.
He climbs atop as wolves retreat.
There is a scratch upon his knee.
A horrid chill goes down his spine,
“The curse of werewolf is now mine.”
With werewolves gone and out of site,
Tired and frightened lad walks on for hours.
Night falls like a black cloak enveloping the forest.
Oberon comes upon a clearing,
He hears soft music and sees bright lights.
Oberon falls asleep from exhaustion.
Oberon’s Dream
I wish to survive.
I dream not to become a werewolf for the rest of my life.
I wish to be at Fort Rockk with my cousin Thomas.
I dream this clearing may save me.
Scene 3
The Elven Village
Oberon thinks he’s still in a dream.
An elven princess stands by his side.
She has long black hair, her skin is fair.
With disbelief, his eyes are open wide.
He asks her, “Who are you and where am I?”
“This is my elven village, and I’m Aurora,” she replies.
She dabs a wet cloth over his head.
His wounded leg still feels like lead.
Oberon sluggishly sits up in bed.
With a bowl of soup, an elf enters.
The soup is given to a grateful Oberon.
He feels the warmth rush to his body’s center.
He dozed off and woke up a few hours later.
He stepped outside and heard a canter.
Men on horseback attacked with fire.
The nearest building was soon a flaming pyre.
Elves fought back with arrows and spears.
The village was in a dire state.
These horsemen were King Ajax’s troops.
Oberon looked at the riders with intense hate.
Soon they were being driven back.
Elven warriors had halted their attack.
The assailants had left an inferno in the woods.
Smoke covered the forest like a huge, pitch black hood.
The elven king Vintovus swore,
“The remaining elves shall go to war.”
Scene 4
Fort Rockk
Next day, the elves are on the road to Fort Rockk.
They carry belongings on their backs.
Everyone wants revenge.
Armed with spears, arrows, and swords,
They wish to fight.
You hear angry words.
The party reached Fort Rockk by nightfall.
The mighty gate opened to let them in.
Hungry elves streamed into a great hall.
They were fed and found beds, for it was late.
Oberon requested to see Thomas at once.
In a cluttered room, a trusted guard opened a secret door.
Oberon entered a chamber full of unique machines of war.
A shiny barrel of strange black powder stood in its center.
Dirty, exhausted Thomas had a look of triumphant inventor.
“Oberon, this amazing powder can reduce castles to rubble.
King Ajax will not be able to hide behind any wall.
Black powder shall be his downfall.
One spark and it explodes.
You don’t need much to make a massive boom.”
Into the fire something Thomas threw.
The monstrous blast shook the entire room.
Oberon rose from the floor covered with soot.
“It’s nice to see you, Thomas. You have not changed at all.
Let’s draw the battle plans and talk in your great hall.”
After the dishes were cleared, a map was laid out on the table.
“How will we bring the powder to Ajax’s wall?”
“Barrels of it my catapults shall hurl.”
“We do not have enough manpower to storm the castle.
We cannot fight an open battle.”
“How about the dwarves to join our fight?”
“Short men with explosives are a scary sight.”
“They have an army one thousand strong.
Let’s go see them first thing in the morning.”
In his bedchamber, Oberon looks up at the crescent moon.
The werewolf inside close to the surface looms.
He will fight for control and won’t let it spell his doom.
Scene 5
Dwarf King
Oberon and Thomas set out for the dwarves at sunrise.
As they near the dwarven mountain, they were greatly surprised.
Atop a lookout tower, was a blaze of red fire.