A terrible warrior of ursine power

Mikhail of the Kuma
fallen in Spring Crown Tourney, A.S. XLI

A terrible warrior of ursine power
In whom yet dwelt a noble heart.
Known through the land for the care he took
Whether frail or vicious the foe,
To strike with just enough and not too much
Of blade or brawn or bone.

By highwaymen beset,
Through treacherous trail
‘Cross desert lands,
Mikhail of the Kuma came,
To make his brother warrior,
The Bridget Baroness his Queen.

And onto the field his first foe met,
The mighty Knight Jamal.
Eagle and bear
Did struggle there
Until the Kuma stood
Victorious on the field of blood.

Other foes did come and fall
‘Neath the mighty blade
of the Kuma’s glaive.

Until at last before him danced
The crafty knight Sir Ed, who
Fast and sinister did ply his trade,
Cleaving the Great Bear’s head
With deadly force until he fell
To the blood-besotted plain.

But our valiant one
Was not yet done.
There were still foes to stun.
The most fearsome of them all
The deadly sharp-fanged Wolf,
Sir Drogo, knight of great renown.

The well-matched warriors clashed
So furiously their ladies groaned
But when their duel was done,
Blood of both did stain the ground.

The Radiant One, the Baroness,
Led her champion out again,
This time to face the leonine
Sir Gamyl of Mottrum.

One cuts, the other jabs
A flurry of ripping steel.
And then, one fatal blow.

Slow, dripping venal tears of gore,
The Great Bear falls to Earth,
Never to rise again
‘Till the phoenix flies from flame.
And from on high above,
The stricken ravens scream.

While, unconsoléd she—
The kneeling, Radiant One,
His brother, Bridget Baroness,
She weeps.

Dire, oh dire the death of he,
Mikhail of the Kuma,
The noble-hearted giant
Who passed amongst us.
All too fleetingly,
And too uncrowned.

— Lady Ouregan filia Flaviani

... is a 7th century Romano-Celtic warrior. Her family was a part of King Arthur’s Court in Wales and migrated, along with Himself, to Breton during the Saxon invasion of Britain.

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