Creature with a mane, front claws that maim
Cloven hoofed hind legs, goat stomach but not head
A fire brews within it, its tail is scaled and hisses
The original, the monstrous maven, the chimera craven

None could fight it save its brother, a beast born just as foul
Wing of bat and segmented tail, venomous as well
With bod of lion and face of man, the manticore could spy on
Any fiend who dared approach from a skull tipped mountain

The two were born in enmity, raised to end each other
But despite their wicket propensity, their violence found another
The scaly wyrm, a beast of legend, with wings and flame alike
Impenetrable metal hide, and horrid toxic bite

Monsters united to slay the dragon, and ended a lifelong feud
For both agreed that left unchecked, the lizard  sucked, my dude
It destroyed what it did not eat, and it ate a lot. So Manticore
Called to Chimera, and they began to plot.

“It likes Maidens, and heroes encased in iron,” spoke the man-faced lion
“We set a trap, a juicy girl chained upon a rock, we tell the dragon it’s for
Him, gifted from man-kind’s lot. Then fill a hero’s blood with venom
And give the hero rot. Drop him outside its lair, he’ll eat it without thought.”

They laid it out and planned so well, the chimera worked a magic spell,
While the drake laid out too ill to fight the monsters, they tore it to shreds
And scattered scales among us. The diamond rocks now seed the earth
In places full of poison. The remains of dragon and its greed, which left mankind unburdened..