I took the path through the woods
Past the swaying wheat fields
And though it lengthened the trip
I really didn't mind

For every time I traveled
I passed through these woods
Hoping that one day
I might see her again

Many thought her a myth
Others a demon or enchantress
But I knew her as only one thing
The Fox-Tailed Girl

And perhaps she was an enchantress
Wandering the forest before dawn
With her golden brown tail
And a sly look in her eye

The moment I had laid eyes upon her
I knew I was in love
The kind of far off longing
That only dreams can sate

As the sun began to rise
I stopped my wagon off the path
And took a long drink
From a crystal clear creek

I the washed my face
Clearing my tired eyes
And as I looked up
I was startled and taken aback

She stood there across from me
Leaning forward naked in the pure morning light
I looked away as best I could
But she only smiled and laughed

She appeared physically young
No more than 17 years old
but I knew better
That she was older than the trees themselves

Splashing water about
She began to play in the creek
A sense of annoyance crossed her
When I didn't immediately join in

Her tail was sleek and swayed about
As I watched I failed to notice
Her splashing me in the face
I fell over in surprise

Water rolled down my forehead
My hair was wet
And as I looked up
I saw it was raining

I was still in my cart
It appeared as though
I had fallen asleep
The sky was now overcast

I put my hood up
And continued on my journey
Wishing that my dream
Was more than just that

Leaving the deep green forest
I couldn't help but think
That I had seen something
Out of the corner of my eye

A pair of devilish eyes
Peering out from behind a tree
A wry smile and a golden brown tail
Or perhaps nothing at all

Man is not meant to be alone
Yet down this path I shall go
Through forest tall and valley low

The road stretches
Beyond my sight
The world is cold
As if at night

The stars they fall
And pass away
Darkness bleeds
On into day

I stumble forward
Through rock and thorn
Continuing on
My path forlorn

When light I see
I'll close my eyes
And with the sun
I too shall rise

Man is not meant to be alone
Yet down this path I shall go
Through forest tall and valley low
Ever onward I shall go

Timeless river
Flowing strong yet slow
White warm clouds
Floating overhead

Sweet babbling brook
Bridge of old stone
Little ones
playing in the meadow

The world is quiet
Peaceful and still
The summer winds whisper
Softly in the trees

The sun hangs low
Hiding behind the hills
thin swirls of smoke
Rise from happy homes

Night comes soon
To blanket us beneath
Far stars to protect us
While we rest our hearts

The sky was dark and overcast
A solemn warm rain fell down
On a field of dead bodies
Rays of dim grey light
Pierced through thick clouds

They walked among the battlefield
That was now all but silent
The only sound to be heard
Were broken banners blowing in the wind
And hollow footsteps pressing into the mud

They always appeared after battle
Surveying the death and destruction
Kneeling and sharing their sorrow
Those ancient souls of war
That fought when the sun was still young

Great warriors long forgotten
To the places they once called home
Courageous heroes of old
Cursed to walk for all eternity
Those Knights of the Fallen Earth

A silver blue light
Dimly illuminates the forest path

The moon hangs hidden
Behind the thick black trees

What season it was here
I could not be certain

But the air was chilled
And the muted colors surreal

The very trees seemed to breath
Exhaling long forgotten secrets

I continued on the forest path
That seemed to twist before my eyes

Losing all sense of direction
I sat at the root of a Gilrod tree

I closed my eyes and listened
Hearing a strange yet familiar tune

It was the humming of the Earth
That sweet and ancient song

The sound one can only hear
In the deep places of the world

That long ago
Have been forgotten

The sky is filled
With red and orange
Elegant shadows are cast
Over tall hills and mountains

The world prepares
For its long sleep
A hibernation,
That will span an eon

In the still night
The Earth will wait
Silent and calm
Among the void

The time will come
When the world will awake
And be bathed in the light
Of a brave new dawn

And it must awake after all
To care for it's new children
Those young creatures
That arrive

From beyond the long dark

The strange man presented it to me
A device that would allow me to travel
To any point in the past

Being an archaeologist
I marveled at this opportunity
And took the mechanism from him

He gave me instructions
That I only half listened to
I was far to excited to pay attention

Before I knew it he was gone
I stood alone with the device
Cupped into the palms of my hands

It seemed simply enough to use
So I walked out the door
And turned it back 100 years

Unsurprisingly I was standing in a field
With no buildings to be seen for miles
After all this city had only been built recently

I also realized I could chose a location
So naturally I chose ancient Egypt
And set it back 1000 years

I stood before the great pyramids
Still standing 1000 years ago
Albeit a bit less weathered

For a time I simply watched
Perhaps I was there for an hour
Perhaps several years I could not tell

As I watched I got an ingenious idea
I would go back and see
The very construction of the pyramids

So i re-calibrated the device
And set it back another 2000 years
The world warped around me

When I arrived I saw the great structures
Still standing in their majesty
No sign of any recent work on them

So I traveled back another 1000 years
To a date that many historians
Believe was the starting point of their construction

And there they still stood
Though something seemed odd about them
What it was I could not say

I thought about how far to go back again
While I contemplated this
A figure approached in the distance

It looked as though
They were reaching out to me
Though they shouldn't be able to see me

Before I knew it they were upon me
I quickly turned the dial
In a maddened panic

My thumb slipped
The dial slid back uncontrollably
Going back more that 50,000 years

I tried to stop it
But to no avail
The dial kept turning, kept going back

Farther and farther
I lost all track of space or time
Until finally, the device stopped

I looked at the machine
It did not display a year
In fact it seemed quite broken

I looked up and to my surprise
I still saw those ancient monoliths
Yet now they stood over a lush forest

The sky was dark
Illuminated only by a far off red
Emanating from the beyond the stars

And then I saw it
That primordial creature
That appears within all our dreams

I knew now that I was outside of time
And so was this timeless titan
That stood before the great pyramids

It stood tall over the earth
With outstretched arms
A low hum came from within it

And I recognized the sound
And it filled me with dread
It was the sounds we all hear

The sound when we are alone before sleep
The droning in our heads
When all else is quiet

I covered my ears
Before those towering monoliths
That stood here, long before time began

That is how he kept us
Trapped within this thing
That we call time

And we would never be free
The droning continued
And it would for all eternity

Always gnawing
In the back of our minds

A curled dead leaf
Softly floated by
And reattached itself
To the tree from whence it had come

Slowly life flowed back
Into the husk of a leaf
And it became green again
And full of life

So to, life returned
To all that had lost it
To the flowers in the meadow
And the creatures of the field

The world was reborn
Death had been abandoned
And in its place
A brave new life

Shadow wax
And shadow wane
Cast by the one
Who's left unnamed

He wanders about
In the dead of night
Feeding on fears,
And dreams of light

Perhaps you've seen him
that tall cloaked man
Who wanders the world
With scythe in hand

I dreamed once
Of someone I loved
I made the mistake
Of imagining my life with them

Everything was beautiful
The world seemed brighter
Anything was enjoyable
As long as it was with them

And then I woke up
In my dull empty room
Sad, yet not surprised
I laid my head back down

As a tear escaped my eye

The universe is but a vessel
True existence lays outside
And soon enough we will find the opening
And let ourselves out upon creation

Yet before that we must realize
That the universe is but a vessel
Not meant to keep us in,
But meant to keep Them out

Every night I would go out
And wander among the garden
Something about the night air
Made the garden feel alive

I would walk about for hours
Just watching the moon
Reflect off the gently swaying leaves
Of the great trees in the grove

I would never venture beyond them
My mind would not allow it
But on this night in particular
The trees called to me stronger than ever

So I entered the grove
Cautiously curious
It quickly grew denser
And appeared much older than it should

As I continued on
I thought I noticed the trees move
Perhaps it was just the wind
Or my vivid imagination

I followed the path laid out
By whomever had come here before
And soon I found myself
It a strange new environment

The foliage itself seemed to change
It all seemed foreign to me
I looked back only to see
No visible path from which I came

I had no choice but to keep walking
And so I continued on
That dark forest path
Into the ominous night

It lead me to a clearing
With a great lake
That so vividly reflected
The light of the full moon

The water itself seemed to glow
And as I looked out I noticed a figure
Sitting on a small island
In the center of the lake

They wore a pure white dress
More elegant than the stars
It seemed to absorb the very light
From both the moon and the water

I felt a calling to them
Even stronger than that of the forest
Though I could not swim
I began to wade through the water

I found the water to be fairly shallow
So much so that it did not rise above my waist
As I drew closer I began to hear something
A sweet voice reverberating off the water

Soon enough I came to the island
which was sparsely vegetated
The only light other than the figure
Was a strange luminous lamp stand

The white dressed woman
As I presumed her to be
Did not turn around
Nor seemed to notice my presence

In the dim yet pure light
I looked about the island
And came upon something
That I should not have seen

Strewn all about the ground
Were piles of bones
Just from quick observation
I could tell they were human

The voice I had been hearing stopped
And the white woman began to move
She moved in a way so unnatural of this world
That I had trouble focusing my eyes on her

Soon the sweet song turned foul
And in that moment I knew
That she was the one from my dreams
The white dressed woman

The keeper of night