The Dragon and the Leprechaun

A long time ago,
in a far-away place,
There lived an old dragon,
And his name was Chase.
Now Chase was lonely,
But he was mighty proud. 
He longed for a friend,
But there were none to be found.

But then, one day,
Out of the blue,
Came a grinning leprechaun
Who wanted something, too.
This leprechaun, you see,
Was very wily.
He looked at the sad dragon,
And smiled slyly.
“My dearest dragon,”
he began with a bow,
“It appears you are lonely,
And I do know how
To end this misery
In the pit of your heart.
Just listen closely,
And I’ll share your part.”

Chase was in awe
Of this funny little man.
But he was desperate, you see,
And so listened to his plan.
The mischievous elf
Placed a hand on his chest.
“There is something terrible,
That I must first confess.
It will break your heart.
You see, my dear Chase,
There are no other dragons,
In this God-forsaken place.”

Now the dragon grew angry,
At the leprechaun’s tale.
But the leprechaun stopped him
With a loud, defensive wail.
“Wait, Dear dragon! 
I will show you where
Your kind still lives
For they do, I swear.
But there is a price,
And, truth be told,
You must first help me
Find my pot of gold.”

It seemed more than fair
To help him with this deed. 
But the dragon considered
The leprechaun’s greed.
“How do I know,”
Said the dragon with disdain,
“That you won’t back out,
Once your gold is claimed?”

The leprechaun came closer
To the dragon’s ear.
He whispered to him softly,
“Well, you see, my dear,
That it is your friends
That guard my treasure.
They stole it from me,
And just for good measure,
Put it in the one place
I can never attain.
I have tried many times,
But all in vain!
I need your help, dragon,
to get my precious gold back.
For you have the wings
That I, a mere shoemaker, lack.
Once we find my gold,
I do swear to you,
You will find the dragons
And know I have spoken true.”

  Chase then nodded,
And stood up tall and straight.
“Tell me where, leprechaun,
And we shall not wait
Another minute to go.”

“Very well, dear dragon.
To the end of the rainbow
Is where you must take me.
And there your fellow dragons
Will also be, I assure thee.”

Without another word,
Chase rose into the sky.
No questions asked,
Not “how” or “Why.”
They flew towards the rainbow,
In the distance, it grew.
The leprechaun smirked,
For there was something he knew
That Chase the dragon did not.
This leprechaun had a black heart,
And a sinister plot.
Chase could never guess
What plot he was hatching.
For dragon hearts was the gold
This elf was capturing.

When they reached the end
Of that beautiful sight,
Chase saw the pot of gold,
And went stiff with fright.
For there in the pot,
Chase could clearly see,
The gold hearts of the dragons
Who fell before he
Into the clutches of that elf
Who claimed good intentions
And wove a story
Of self-pity and lost fortunes.

Any good dragon would fall
for that story.
For their hearts are golden,
Always trustworthy.

As the leprechaun trapped
That last honest dragon,
Chase poured himself
into that black prison
And gave it his essence,
His very own name.
He turned that leprechaun’s victory
Into the worst sort of game.
Chase the dragon provided
That mad little leprechaun
with a curse.  He decided
A game of hide-and-seek
Until the end of time, would do.
That leprechaun would chase him,
and the rainbow, too.
Much to that evil elf's chagrin,
He would never catch those golden hearts,
Never, ever again.