The Castle of Metus

In the forest of shadows, amidst the setting darkness,
A crumbling leaf echoes through the walls of fear.

As the horse hoofs dig a mark in the dirt,
The rain recedes into the shadows of draught.

A twig breaks, the crackling kindles a fire,
Drips the moist dew, as night hones the darkness.

An echo is heard, a low hum of sorrow,
The forest shrugs, a shiver runs down its spine.

The knight in clanging armour, raises his sword,
The knee buckles, a fall of the century ensues.

The dark night, clad in fear, raises its shield,
Against a sword sharpened to the grit of sorrow.

The knight fights the night, fear a fools bravado,
The clanging armour crashes again, shatter, the sound echoes.

A spear of nightmare, thrust deep into the flesh,
The knight raises his arm, the sleep is lost.

The clanging armour and silence of the shadows,
Clash into the night, as the castle of Metus trembles.

I fight myself, the shinning armoured knight,
I fight myself, the shadow donned night.

I fight, and rally to win the Castle of Metus.

City of the Sleepless

The sun sang the lullaby, 

As it bid farewell to the earth,

What a waste, what a waste.

The nightlings waited, 

As children for parents to leave,

With darkness, merrymaking. 

The moon stepped the lights,

Ambient white light, you may call,

The night was alive, revelry every where.

The night grew intense, cold wind swept,

And with the raising chill,

Merry making reached the peak. 

Old and young alike, wandered the streets, 

Matching their steps, a drunken dance,

To the low hum of the night wind.

At length the star of the night arrived,

Clad in the frozen coat, 

The mystery man, Sleep they call.

And each being, young and old,

Matched the steps to the cold,

As Sleep danced, to the trumpet ball.

Soon in the dead of the night, 

The party reached the end, 

And as the first rays of sun hit,

The day woke, blissful to the night.

The Traveler-4: The Riders of the Dark Sand

I have traveled long and far, in search of things that the world has seldom heard of. The journeys I have taken in search of Fear, The Forest Nymphs, and the Devil himself have already been written about. My journeys have taken me to the ends of the world, from where there seemed no return. One such journey took me to the land, covered under a sea of sand. It was everywhere, it spanned from horizon to horizon, and it was here I heard about the Riders Of the Dark Sand.

I was part of the caravan, and we were to cross this great desert to reach the other side, to the green lush fertile land along the River Nile. The caravan was actually a transport for a precious jewel, guarded by an old priest. There were stories about him, and how he had always guarded the jewel from the desert robbers.

I walked over to him, eager to know what was so precious about the jewel, but before I could ask him, he started the tale.

Long ago, during the reign of Thoth,
The heaven was torn apart in war,
Horus in arms against Set, the God of sands.

Thoth conceived a jewel, of pure power,
Power to alter time, and resolve fights,
And handed the jewel to a man, priest in his temple.

But the greed in man's heart was strong,
And he yearned to be powerful,
He fought for this jewel, to control the time.

One such man was Hareb, a mighty warrior,
Who up with his four men, laid siege on the temple,
Killing the priests, and stealing the Jewel.

His insolence angered Thoth,
And this anger gave birth to a curse,
A curse to be captured within time.

And together with him, his men perished,
Only to be risen on the day of no moon,
When they fight to regain the Jewel.


Well it was an astounding story, and the old priest could see the glow on my face as I heard about the power of the Jewel.

"Stranger, be warned, no one has ever returned back from the desert nor has the jewel reached the temple by the Nile. Those who die in battle with the Riders, . . . ", his speech was cut off by the bull horn. The journey was about to commence.

I was a bit afraid, but still was determined to see the marvel that lay up ahead in the day.
We were fifty brave men, strong warriors to protect the Jewel, and I was confident that I would be able to set foot on the fertile land across this great desert.

So the journey began. . .


Fifty brave men, mounted on horses,
With swords drawn ready to fight,
Across the desert, they ride,
They ride along with the sun.

The hot days, take their tolls,
But the brave never give up,
For across the desert, lies their dream,
A dream of fertility and pride.

The priest travels along, guarding the jewel,
With fear in his heart he rides,
And as the sun dips towards the horizon,
His eyes betray his fear.

"I have traveled this sand, thousand times,
But never do I see the green land."
Sang the priest, as the skies darkened,
And darkness covered the land.

"They will come, and take all of you,
They will come, to enslave your souls,
But for me, I have the jewel, so I shall live,
The jewel shall set my times right."

And soon the sands turned dark,
And no moon shined in the sky,
Then we heard the sounds of hoofs,
As the Riders of the Dark Sands arrived.

Four men, and their horses breathing fire,
With swords drawn, ready to take the lives.
"If its four, we can take them", I thought,
But my hopes soon turned to despair.

With his hands the rider waved to air,
"I am Hareb, listen to me oh great sands,
I have been yours for many years,
Now give me what is mine"

Soon the earth shook and split
And our sights were blinded by the winds,
And then rose the many who had died,
Died protecting the Jewel of Thoth.

The undead, rose to their feet,
As my men charged ahead into them,
And I watched each of my men fall,
Fall to the swords of the undead.

It was me now, who stood afoot,
Between Hareb and his jewel, his desire,
And with a drawn sword I charged into the men,
Slicing the already dead to death.

"Its futile, that you may fight,
For your men are dead, and you stand alone,
Its futile, that you may fight,
For I still can summon the demons from hell"

And with a scream, Hareb leaped forward,
Knocking me off onto to the sands,
And as his cold sword pierced my chest,
I saw the priest stab the jewel with his staff.

I saw the life flash in front of me,
And the light shone bright, blinding me,
And then darkness followed for days to come,
Until I heard the call, and life ran through my veins.

I rose up again, with the sword in my hand,
And my men stood next to me, ready to fight,
But the fate had a different plan,
For now I was also the Rider of the Dark Sand.


Glossary:
Thoth: Wiki Page. Thoth is also the moon deity.
Set: Wiki Page.
Horus: Wiki Page.

This is one of my favorite songs. Its known as hammerheart from the band Bathory.

Now that the wind called my name
And my star had faded now hardly a glimpse up in the empty space
And the wise one-eyed great father in the sky stilled my flame

For the ones who stood me near
And you few who were me dear
I ask of thee to have no doubts and no fears

For when the great clouds fills the air
And the thunder roars from o, so far away up in the sky
Then for sure you will know that I have reached the joyous hall up high

With my bloodbrothers at side
All sons of father with one eye
We were all born in the land of the blood on ice

And now you all who might hear my song
Brought to you by the northern wind have no fear
Though the night may seem so everlasting and forever dark

There will come a golden dawn
At ends of nights for all yee on whom
Upon the northstar always shines

The vast gates to hall up high
Shall stand open wide and welcome you with all its within
And Oden shall hail us bearers of a pounding hammerheart

T9

The Fall

there were times i cried
there were times i tried
to stand up on my legs
and face the world
there were times i knew
i was close to you
to hold your hand raise up

cos i know...
i can be what i want
but i fear to fall
i fear to change
the way i live my life
i want someone to raise me up
and help me walk again.