===
War
===

Dark shapes boiled upon the clouds,
twisting to and fro.
The horses ran about in fright,
commands were hushed and low.

Even dragons ceased their roaring,
on that darkened day,
for though the sun still shone,
the light was far away.

The air seemed thick with terrors,
and howls winged through the sky.
Yet still the silence crept,
and drank the whole world dry.

Wading through the lamenting,
one could feel the fear,
and ancient primal cringing,
from the monsters who crept near.

"Is this how we fall?" some bellowed,
each waving sword and shield.
The dying asked this too,
as they lay upon the field.

"The Halls await us!" claimed one,
prepared to tumble away.
"But Who's?" cried the rest,
their faces drawn and gray.

"How can we know?" spoke a figure,
struggling from the ground.
"If our end crawls nearer,
will you all go without a sound?"

"If you can feel it in the air,
then stand up from the dead,
join me in my final stand,
against this twisted dread."

"Silence!" wailed the many wounded,
their lives pouring from each tear.
"Each city slows its heartbeat,
blood floods the Parathen Gare."

"Look to the enemy beneath,
now do you feel our pain?
Each deadly plunge of steel
shall leave no man the same."

Our hero gazed down at his foe,
his eyes grown wide with fear,
since as the woman staring back,
was the same that he held dear.

He knew well what he had done,
deep within the fray.
But now it was too late,
and he saw he could not stay.

To end one's life is easy,
just as many surely know.
Instead he set to wandering,
amid the blood-stained snow.

Despair, child, was never new,
for our world still walks the stars.
And all those wars from long ago,
each leave their burning scars.

And I know not of the hero,
save that he walked with care.
For every beast of the past
will always stalk and stare.


Penned by my hand on the 20th of Valnuary, in the year 583 AF.