The Lost
In the depths of the Cringing Woods
A civilization was lost;
Suddenly their exotic goods
Could not be had at any cost.
The surrounding nations wondered
With what fierce plague they had been crossed.
They feared the thing that had sundered
Them from this once mighty ally
All the foolish few who blundered
In search of the Tourden Valley
Were lost, never heard from again.
None wishing to join the tally,
Soon the Kurai were forgotten.
The memory of them dwindled,
Left only in good fair gotten,
Soon the wonder they had kindled
Was marred with rumor and rotten.
With the passage of time brindled,
The legends of them still remained,
Dark stories told over strong ale.
Though with lies and additions stained,
Their rich savor never grew stale:
The Kurai treasure to be gained
If against demons you prevail.
And so it was that Kent departed,
Seeking the long lost history,
Once the words from lips had darted,
He was drawn in by the story.
He strapped his mighty sword on hip,
Its silver hilt gleaming hoary.
Bow on his back and with tight lip
He strode into the glaring trees.
The king’s men got word of his trip
And so sought their own greed to please.
Calling upon their aged lord
To send armies, treasure to seize.
They enter the wood, a steel horde
Tracking the legendary Kent
Moving swiftly ever toward
The goal on which he is bent
Not knowing of the thousand swords
That behind him the forest rent.
Others of the nearby nations
Did the rumors of Kent heed,
Lacking skill or patience,
They too pursued their greed.
Their armies prepared their rations
And followed where the first did lead.
Kent strove through the wood,
Following roads long dead.
The mystery in his mind did brood
As he was deeper led.
The armies did well,
Having him at their head.
For only he could tell
The way to find the ancient race,
The citadel where they dwell.
So they kept his pace
As he through ruins roamed,
Seeking for the place
The Kurai called their home.
Each township lay dark
The jungle ‘round them grown
Without any sign or mark
To show where the settlers had gone.
Kent left the desolation stark
Making for the capital
Not knowing what he would find
But hoping it would reveal all.
The armies followed him in kind,
Growing tired of the stall,
Desperate for gold, but resigned.
The capital too was overgrown,
No sign of population,
Trees consumed the stone.
But Kent’s sigh of desperation
Was not with silence met
But in rattling swords and exclamation
Did he his answer get.
His sword flashed into his hand
As he at variance was set.
His few foes had great command
Of the unsteady terrain
But all his strength did Kent demand
And so his feet did gain.
The enemy in awe persisted
In the trap they’d lain
But finding themselves well resisted
Began soon to refrain
“Your name?” One insisted
As they stepped back from the feud.
He answer in relief
And a question pursued:
“Why do you assail me as a thief,
With methods sly and crude,
Answer me, spare yourselves grief.”
“Your might and skill we do respect,
But us you have greatly wronged.
What reaction did you expect
With such armies behind you thronged?”
It was then Kent heard the armies,
Eager to end the march prolonged.
It pained his heart to hurt these
Men of such great skill,
Hidden among the ruins and trees.
“I did not know, but I’ll help still
To drive these foes away.
Command, and I will do your will.”
The leader smiled, nothing to say,
And began to lay a plan.
Chaos would be their way,
Manipulated to the man.
For they would each other slay:
Greed and mistrust ran
Wild between the several forces.
As the great city was looted
These two would run their courses.
The enmity deep rooted
Would pull as a thousand horses,
By the few warriors recruited.
A Work in Progress, forgive the delay.