A Land Far Away

Part I - Streams of Dreams

Silence
No sounds could shred the silence
The blanket of purity covered the mists, unmoving
The mists would filter the light
Allowing only the most splendid radiance to pass through
Tranquility in beauty was what the glade was in truth
A haven of all things good and true
A place of all things whole
No past, no future... only the present
pure bliss
A dream

Above the silence shone millions of sparkling stars
Like diamonds in a wooden treasure chest
So shone the stars in the black velvet of the nightly skies
Soothing the gently rolling hills below

The rest was not meant to last
It was not meant to be
Not meant to remain the way it had always been
A vicious tremble shook the ground and found its way now
Cracking the ground beneath the gentle blades of grass
Tearing chasms where only radiant natural beauty had reigned before

And then, waking. Pearly beads of sweat on an ice-cold forehead.
No scream though, just heavy breathing. Heaving.
And the realisation of reality setting in after returning from the land of dreams.
Shining satin sheets brushing against soft skin.
The sensation of nocturnal fear.
Welcome home.

§

As such nightly visions are often called
These dreams were never meant to exist
And as they invade my fortress walled
Afraid of what I'd sooner wished
That they had never come at all

For they will always push away
My fear and my dismay
They show me worlds of bliss
Worlds which are not real
Wolds which I, inevitably, must miss

§

Blades drawn I stand against my shadow
But neither blades nor mace nor bow
Will suffice to slay what lies within my soul
Black and deep and smoldering like coal
Piercing eyes gaze and stare and will not look away
Dark pupils locked with mine refuse the light of day
And prefer the black of night
To win favor in this fight

But too late I realise I've erred
That the image I've just attacked cannot be interred
Because it is my own flesh I scorch
It is me who will fall into the gorge
And the shadow may be dark indeed
But it was sown by my own seed
And thus it shall also again be reaped
Harvested in blood and agony heaped
Death will come for me

§

The waking is like a dream started anew
Waking in the sun's rays and the morning dew
Or in darkness next to thee
Being so glad to embrace so free
Caressing thy smooth skin in the middle of the night
Enjoying thy everlasting love and thy ever joyous sight

Oh, and always such warmth from every cell of thine
And the divine feeling of your love being mine
Gleaming lips and shining orbs so perfect
So deep, so unnaturally splendidly derelict
Gold and silver cannot shine this bright
Nor attain such beauteous height

There can be but one being this crystal clear
So wonderful and pure, devoid of fear
Only good and willing, never shy
Always truthful, never questioning why
Simply so astounding, so innately divine
Surely this is no longer true
I cannot be good enough for you

Then and only then I grasp the truth again
I have awoken, in my own sweat and pain
Only to the knowledge of our love being broken
Gone, vanished, no single token
Left to prove it was ever here at all
And that is when I anew must fall

Into misery's arms, outstretched for me
Just for me and me alone

§

Pain, death, agony, wailing.
Scorched wounds and burned skin.
Those are just a few of the things I've seen.
Between four walls where no light would shine.
I was there. You made me go.
I did not have a choice. Not anymore. No longer.
My legs would no longer carry me towards thy stature.
And then I fell. Fell deep, could not save myself from the clutches of pain.
And pain is what I knew. Pain and darkness, loneliness.
Exits I saw none, for the only ladder I ever knew were you.
And then you were gone, trapped me in that foul pit.
How I cursed you, hated you. I could not bear the thought of being left alone.
Yet I was.
I was.

Part II - Ancient fields


Undisturbed they lay
The rocks and rubble on the ground
Amidst the glistening grains of sand and stones so old
Never moved by tremors nor by winds
Still forever, as nature's own still image of eternity
Waiting, waiting...
For what would never come, and someday be
For what would never be, and someday come
Come the sun and moon as twins
In the scarlet sky ablaze
By twists and gusts of ill windstreams
For when that day hath come
The moment would be upon the earth
To move and churn
And witness yet another birth

§

Frail of frame he was, and yet so bold
Not powerful in stature nor in gold
Not even possessing any status high
He wouldn't lie, would sooner die
But yet all this way he came
To proclaim his love for one of fame

The mighty lady of the well
Who would solemnly eternally dwell
Within the boundaries set for her by sages fair
Yearning, screaming, grasping gray walls in despair
Many heard her wailings from within the well so deep
Thought her a banshee, a living ghost for the walls to keep
An evil never to be unleashed
But he never did see her as a beast

And yes, her beauty did shine bright
Even though her screams would pierce the reckless night
Send the children of the village scurrying away
Be it in the middle of the night or noon of day

He feared to speak his mind
For many would condemn him, proclaim him blind
Blind by love and lust and more
Lured by the call of a ghostly whore
A young lad, barely able
To carry his sword 'twards the dining table

And yet he sat and ate his meager meal
For in his eyes shone bright the zeal
The determination which would ever be his greatest weapon
As strong as his metal shield with leather strap-on
Many eyes darted his way as he consumed crumbs of bread
Thought the fool to be as good as dead

And yet they had misjudged him
For his fate would be much, much more grim

§

The night came swiftly, covered all
In a heavy blanket of snowfall
And as shining white flakes fell down
They colored the lady's royal gown
A virgin white, spotless, stainless, perfect in all honesty
But its beauty, as alluring as it was, a travesty
And then she howled throughout the night

§

Dawn thawed out the houses 'round the well
The morning sounds mixed with the ringing of the churches' bell
"Yes", he said, "Today I will make my long descent"
"And finally my love and hate alike I'll vent"
Unconcerned of his body and lifeblood, he climbed down
Not realising he was being played like a pawn
For it had, indeed, not been his own will
To travel so far, to swallow so bitter a pill
Her spell had gone far to seek a perfect victim for her charm
Dread hung in the air, and yet he did not feel the impending harm
As he was down, doom crept closer, closed in on him at last
And only in that one moment did he reflect on the past
Only then did he finally see
The truth of she wanted to free

Only her own form emerged from the well that day
Scaring away half the town in the fray
Chaos and panic ensued, were impossible to hold
Virtue collapsed like rotten wood covered by mold

Dead he was not, but wounded gravely
As blood ran down his flesh, he climbed upwards bravely
And collapsed at the edge of town, trying to flee
From the horrors he did see
But 't was too late now, her claws had pierced his skin
No matter what he'd do, she'd always win
He had been under her spell before, could not hope to escape
Could only wait for fate's curtains to drape
Him in their shrouded veil, protect him from the mists of the lady
And then his vision changed, became shady
And then he left, wandered into the ancient fields

Never again to be seen

§

Both their souls - for as far as they still went
Were linked by wicked fate and such sweet scent
The temptress and the knight so brave
Too brave, turned into a common knave
Forced to wander aimlessly
No hope for escape, no way to flee
Locked in hell's dungeon of sand eternally

§

And yes, wander was what he did
For days and weeks and months and years
Until his face grew old and dry like parchment
Whipped by desert sands for ages upon ages
Death would not come to relieve him, no matter how much he wished it so
Alone he was, alone he'd die
But not yet

For he had yet a task to fulfill

After silence for eternity, he heard again a human voice
Or was it insanity which had nestled in his defenseless mind?
No, he heard it clearly - a woman shouting
Nay, commanding him to walk onward
Telling him he'd almost reached his goal
He quickened his step, dragged his sore carcass northwards, northwards, northwards
Ever north did he walk on
He needed neither drink nor food, for it was the curse which kept him alive
And at last, at last he came at the place he was bound to find
An altar of blunt stones, in the middle of the dry desert which had claimed so many of his years
Stones which radiated with her power, after all these years still
He heard her commands in his mind, tried to push her out
And failed
And so he began to build. He began to build his own doom, and the doom of countless others
Black as obsidian was the horizan that first night, and ever would it thus remain
The obsidian glade was born

Part III - Cold & empty


Cold is a heart that turns on its greatest love in a time of need
Empty is a soul which deserts its greatest love in a time of need
Void are the eyes of the one who stares at you from afar
As you lie there dying, as you can feel the gaze
Only then will come the knowledge
But by then, it's far too late
Too late by far

§

A myriad of colours shines daily through a window bright
But they are not seen by me
For with my love for her my very sight has died
And became impossible to see
And yet I was free

But who would want to be free from love?
Free from bliss and warmth and tenderness?
I would've given it all, my dove
If you'd returned and ended this whole mess
But you did not come, did far less

With much patience I learned to breathe on my own
I learned to crawl and stand without thy hand
Still I have to reap the bitter fruit you've sown
Endure the flames you've always fanned
And fight my way out of this quicksand

And here I stand, alone alas
But better to be alone than to be dead
Because no matter what once was
And no matter what you've said
I'm glad for what I've had

Even though it's gone

§

Through patience I've learned
That no matter how much times you're burned
Or slashed or crushed or broken
There will always be some token
To guide you through the darkness fair
To lift your hopes and push away despair
And bring you to the morning light

§

Thus I've taken to this way
Traveled through the mists at day
And through the fog at night
Only to be found by candlesight
Through forests of trees so gnarled
They could hardly be called trees...

§

Sing
Sing to me of pleasures to be had
Pleasures of the mind
And pleasures of the flesh
For pleasures I crave
Pleasures of life or pleasures from beyond the grave
Pleasures for the meek and pleasures for the brave
Misery hath no more grip on me
Therefore no more blackness do I see
And pure notes are what my ears do hear
Devoid of strife and devoid of fear
Come and let us dance in this silv'ry light
And celebrate the passing of the night

Part IV - The Chrysalis & the birth of the Twin Blades


The desert was the territory of the dark
Light refused to venture there, save to cast the occasional shadow
At night, the sparkling stars were rarely seen
Vast clouds blanketed the gray and dead patch of sand
And in the middle of this scorched land reigned the tower
The tower of obsidian, black as coal and smoldering
Rising high above the barren black wastes below
Often high-pitched shrieks would shred the gloomy silence
Would rend asunder the evil haze of tranquility
Which only served to veil the obscure happenings in this forgotten place
Thousands upon thousands of steps would lead to the very top
Of the monstrously towering monument to darkness

And there he sat. He who had built this place with his own bare hands
And the help of shadow weave.
There he sat, dead and yet alive
A barely breathing skeletally thin frame
Sunken deep into the black satin pillows

Oh, and his beady eyes did stare
Waiting for her return

§

Seas of sweat and seas of blood
Mountains of hate and bricks of pain
After much labour, the black tower stood
And his agony had been in vain
Shackled to her servitude forever
No matter how strong he'd be, or clever

And at its very pinnacle
A throne now stood, a dark-hued dais
Waiting for the mistress

§

For centuries on end, his eyes would stare
Stare into the wavering light of a candle's flame
All he'd ever see, anguish, nightmare
And her... black goddess, evil with no name
She who'd made him what he was
A servant... a simple slave

Imagine his surprise
Imagine his pure shock
When at last a sound erupted
And a key turned in the lock
The gates below swung open
And footfalls quickly came

No longer alone, he'd be
No matter what company would bring
He'd be relieved to see
A living, breathing thing
But 't was she
And she alone

Darker than the tower which surrounded her form
And a million times as splendid
She'd grown powerful and furious like a storm
Not at all the ghostly bandit
She was once made out to be

Heavy robes hung about her naked flesh
Swirling in the gusts and tugs of wind
Her face cover'd by a mesh
Hidden eyes which'd always sinned
Longing dear and dire
A soul of burning fire
A creature of the underworld

He heaved but could not move his heavy self
He saw her moving slowly, t'wards the dais

And there, she sat

§

Both of them entwined, encased in throbbing green
In vines, in flesh, in heart and liver and in spleen
Connected through pain and loathing
Nothing but dark thoughts floating
In their twisted, shallow minds
Deformed as broken window blinds

As cripple as their bodies may have been
As condemning as it was, their sin
They came together, together at last
Transformation set in fast

A mortal heart, a black abyssal soul
Merged in the obsidian tower black as coal

A chrysalis... of evil

§

Thunder roared and lightning flashed
As a strobe, lighting up the evening's blood
A blood-red molten sky
Outlining the black tower's gleaming walls
Near the hammer falls

As they merged, the heavens cried
And spilled their waters on the desert
One more flash, and then... silence
The sound of metal splitting
As the heavens stopped their spitting

And their bonding was complete
But with their joining fates
Opened the entire realm's gates
Which brought the blades of high
Swung down with a mighty roaring cry

The blades of dark steel and of adamant
Burning metal coming down on the land
One of them landed right in the tower's yard
And even if the initial impact was so hard
It lost nigh a shard

Molotoch, the slayer's blade.
And its twin Cinthore, a thousand miles apart


[More to come...]