I am a picture painted in light, drawn across the velvet night. Heroes, beasts, and myths I trace, but vanish come the sun’s embrace. You’ll find me where the dreamers gaze, a silent story in the haze.

I am an animal, but named after two. The first is a reptile, a ninja of four. The second is an avian, symbol of peace and hope. I am wedged between french hens, a partridge, and a pear tree

A deep-sea delicacy with some unfortunate slang, Get the wrong version of me and it's a whole thang. Bring home singular me and it's time to get crackin', Bring home plural me and you'd better start packin'.

My first four are a bird that gathers for a murder. Add the last letter and I am now fit for a king.

I am the hymn of what once was whole, a silent scribe of a vanished soul. I wear the grey of memory’s veil, In death, I speak what life won’t tell. I mark the end, yet still a prize, what am I, from which phoenix rise?