A Journey's Renewal (Mythic Series Volume Eight)

And then the day,

We had waited for,

Down arrival the glowing frame,

Bow we did when he came,

Instruct he did without the speech,

Yet still we knew what must be done,

We packed the horses,

And gathered men,

In the morn away we went,

Through the towns,

And in the fields,

We would know when it would be,

The first of seven darkened duels,

Then the first would show,

We were ready, well prepared,

The sky of blood foretold this tale,

Through the wretched voice of a witch

We came across, peddling answers on the way,

She said how it would start, when it would begin,

Each premonition was detailed exactly as we found them,

The sky would reek of misty fog,

Bloody skies covered by veils of grey,

Steeds would stammer across terrain,

Down one warrior would be,

From attacks we could not see,

Void of direction,

The shots ensued from each location,

The men were counting,

How many of them,

Would we contend against?

Then a shot grazed by me,

My horse rose,

The headdress distracted me,

And I saw the creature

Confronting us,

It was small like an elf,

But fast like a serpent,

And with the strength of a jinn,

The men were warriors, each of them,

But such a sight, they could not see,

From each direction, frightened them,

Men failed and men fell, and many more would fail once more,

The roots were stained because of them; the ground in spite of them,

I knew what must be done, no other option unveiled its head,

Else my soul would pay the consequence,

Archers I lined one by one,

Stretched the quiver,

I commanded light to fly from them,

And the night was bright once again,

Soon thereafter all the trees,

Each branch wept for its friends,

An inferno which was not meant,

Yet from such scandal,

Our assailant could be seen,

And it was not long,

Before it screamed in repent,

For what it had done,

He claimed he was but one of many,

Scouring village and mountainside,

Through the hills and rivers wide,

For a battle cry had signaled them,

He prayed I take his words,

And vowed his truth to follow our cause,

He vowed to serve us well,

Cowardice after fury,

Is a dignity I cannot defend,

Those were the last pleas provided

To such a thing,

From the ground,

On display,

A jeweled dagger was found,

In a crusted sack besides his arm,

I prayed to the Gods for their guidance,

For their protection and offered this weapon unto them,

For when they wished I would have it with,

Alive or dead, it would stay with me,

And the sky broke clouds and day revealed,

A path not encountered in that burning brush,

A path that would surely lead us,

Into the second of the seven we are bound to touch