Empires of Ash

Dark dominion Not a speck of light in sight Feverish and fatigued I walk Searching for that glimmer of hope Am I destined to find that which I seek? I follow the path laid out in front of me I follow... To who am I so bound? Where is this free will that eludes me now? To who am I so bound? Where is my free will? It eludes me now... Blinded ever still I attempt to claw my way out of this dark abyss The precocious arcane knowledge that I possess feels drained And alien to me now Soon enough I will find you I gather strength and release a flash of light Revealing the soul of the darkness It shows the way and a figure stands before me All along you were present within me Ages ago you vanished Uncertainty, confusion, hatred, relief You shall not escape again Staring down at torment itself I reveal all that plagued my soul My hatred resurfaces A sinister wave of energy emits from me Haunting memories, I shall not back down...I unleash Here you found your final resting place.

Around me they circle Emerald tones of past and present Oaken beings stand tall The sturdy mounds of granite surround us all Sapphire glowing above Bask in the glory of our mother She protects us ever still... And so we shall reciprocate For without her glory We are but lost souls on a journey to nothingness Oh mother, hear our call We summon you to show us the way For we are lost in the wilderness... Within us, we bear the torch The virtues of our matriarch Embedded in our every being, to be awakened She is eternal After the eras of our occupation we shall soon wither And you shall so beautifully remain.

At the top of the hill, a legion of the unknown gathers We stare into each others souls with malicious intent All on the line, we charge As it rages, seeming unlikely to cease They all clash, knowing their fates Arcane waves of energy flow through the air Steel dips itself in blood Here they all shall die with honour The landscape now painted crimson The sanguine liquid caressing the ground No sign of sheathing, it rages on Dusk approaches, limbs now ache Death yearning to embrace our souls Sons of the earth wage in a battle for the honour of ancients The gods look down on us and smile with satisfaction Songs will be sung around embers Whispers in the night will accompany our feats Moon light comforting our trek away from home Stories told of all odysseys in the wake of victory For it shall be told Here, in faraway lands Blood was split Fight with honour, they said Die with dignity Fate approaches blindly Bound by blood Through the endless night They send us off To meet our gods.

Beneath these hills there runs a stream A blood-red course where dead men dream In winter’s cold, their ghosts I see Their Pale Host ever follows me Their pyres burned high, their arms they gleamed And now they lie in Glory’s sleep And though I lived, the light to see The Pale Host still walks beside me They wander far, grey banners high Though ‘neath these hills their bones still lie Long through the mists and wilds they roam But the Pale Host never will march home.

The dust settles Tumultuous feeling, we rise Walk the fields in search of our own Lifeless many lay So many slain Our enemies quaked in fear Our swords drove strong Barren fields now covered in blood The battle cry resounded throughout these lands Weary, we retrieve them all Prepare them for their journey Onwards to eternity we send them off Into the hands of the gods We now march back to those we love We sheathe our weapons and begin our journey homeward Battered, our feet rest firmly in the soil We look upon the stars, pondering Green pastures over the horizon, awaiting Soon it shall come to pass Destiny encompasses Broken and battered souls carried away by the wind Oh, Greatness The smell of blood no longer lingers Onward to reward, pursuits of bliss Lifelong time of battles cease forever It creeps over the bend We see... Oh, greatness It creeps over the bend We see, we yearn, we deserve I fall to my knees Lash out a cry of contentment Home is where I shall dwell Battles waged for years and years Here I shall rest until my dying day.

Through the peaks and valleys, oceans, and fields This wondrous habitat thrives Serenity infects the skies Peaceful as the evening clouds cry And as amber rises at dawn We reflect as if all is gone The tides turn, the winds sway And as it all rests on the drip of the hourglass It shall renew itself and restore balance Serenity infects the skies Peaceful as the evening clouds cry And as amber rises at dawn We reflect as if all is gone The tides turn, the winds sway And as it all rests on the drip of the hourglass It shall renew itself and restore balance The earth roars with tremendous might The power of its rumble, a flame ignites Rejoicing in rays Dampen my being Sift through endless moss, a feeling so fleeting To be regained once more Through the ages nature tore.

On these frostbitten plains I await A withering realm, a mere shadow of its former self Dilapidated and lonely We chose to fight for a cause Honour, pride, dignity, and love Through the passage of time, it became exposed Attempting to reclaim what was never ours From the pebbles that dance in the rivers To the leaves that glide in the wind The rays that warm the pastures And the rain that spawns new life We were once one Now blinded by selfish deceit Drifting further and further away We were once one Now blinded by deceit We drift further away Through ashes of our once great host Travel through continents to lands unknown Yet we witness faceless clones of our adopted reality Transcendence non-existent The final bell begins to toll Far from redemption We slowly burn all scrolls Extinction, we beseech Anguished, I tread Wondering why? Watching all die Empires of Ash, cry! From the pebbles that dance in the rivers To the leaves that glide in the wind The rays that warm the pastures And the rain that spawns new life No longer shall we rise above our failures No longer shall we chant The end is nigh We interred our kingdom.