2. Dark Under the Dell
"I durst not go beyond this dell for any money..."
My hand
aches;
Trembles flames before my eyes,
Bark crumbling from the
brand beaneath my fingers.
Sparks shatter over my arm, yet I feel
so terribly...terribly cold.
Our watchful ring of fire faces
outward under this pale sliver of moon.
A meaningless boundary,
this dell...
Our only hope a frail boundary of fire.
Beyond
the frail touch of light, they drift up... shadows;
Dark holes
torn in the warm fabric of night.
Unnatural. Drawn from another
age, another war.
Desolate and malignant,
They are coming
For
me.
Fear assails me, returning to clutch at my throat,
Pounds
in my chest.
Suddenly alone, all illusive comforts swept away in
a maelstrom.
Foreign to mine, another Will forces me down,
Drags
me down to a fearful place.
I cannot do
Otherwise
Than to
obey its
Desires,
And if it desires
My death,
Even
to that end I am taken, slowly, inexorably.
My own will
scrabbles in vain for shreds of sanity with bloodied fingers,
I
would defy them, I must.
Fire of brand behind me, fire of
blade before,
Yet no light of living world can reach me,
Neither
Could they help me now.