That was seven years ago,
Youth had smoothed me out long ago,
Refitted these bones with fresh skin,
No way this old scar would need treatment,
What is going on here?
Tell me why you bandaged my arm,
How did I get hurt this badly?
Matthew didn't flinch when he said,
I just wanted to cover it that's all,
You were inviting unwanted attention.
That was the truth, his words were spoken flawlessly,
His steady grin stood still,
He didn't turn away, as he often did when,
He was lying.

It was Sharin's will that kept them,
From death's solitary company.
Only once satisfied and ready,
Would they return to her side.
Many Sharin's ago dragons learned respect,
As protective music saw their supremacy challenged,
It was despair that threatened them most,
Sharin held them close,
With invisible arms that enclosed,
Around mankind in darker times,
Composed of many efforts,
Leaving none ununited.

Puddles of old raindrops,
Fog nipped at those wettened edges,
Dew collected on their uniforms,
Fitted just for them,
Many times had she resewn them,
Each time cutting fingers,
Opening old wounds that bled,
It wasn't her territory and yet,
She endured for them.
Johnathan remembered telling her no,
I'll do it myself, she smiled and handed his torn clothes,
To nothing more than ten.

Fog came in next,
Falling over my face providing a mask,
I coughed and shivered against weakness,
I could feel this skin becoming colder overall,
It didn't matter, after what we'd been through,
What I'd, a little nothing new was what I wanted to know,
Until I could see the light again.

Kevin stood by Johnathan's right side,
Inches from an axe covered by lambskin,
Dried and made in their old home,
An orchard, orphanage and music school,
All wrapped up in a bow of optimism,
Protected by a single dagger imbued,
With all there is to live for.
He was shown how malicious melodies,
Corrupting sound deviled by malice,
Words stolen from Sharin's lips,
Could be silenced by the real thing,
Etched onto his runed blade,
Written into its steel frame,
Handwritten by Sharin herself.

They were offered seats but chose to stand,
Each musician stopped playing, setting their instruments down,
Each singer cleared their throats and revealed their weapons for all to see,
Placing each up against a wall,
Rick made haste to the northern window overlooking the bailey,
Common folk scurried through musical rifts easily punctured,
Sharin taught him to watch life's song through gifted eyes,
Only he could see fate unfolding as past decisions morphed into consequences,
Though one could hedge themselves against wasteful inaction, unforseen frailties,
Could always manifest to dash well laid plans, he'd wanted to be a natural archer,
But his hands failed him in this request, sickness had run down to his four extremities,
Hopeful medicine did naught to save him, that is when song stepped in.
She said she refused to allow him to die so young, useless and dispirited,
So she inscribed dual songs of ability where there was none, taught him to carry a tune in his head.
Intense mental training allowed his mind to move deadened flesh,
Nerves that could no longer receive organic messages could now move themselves,
Legs and feet could travel across terrain while his hands could grasp once more,
The hands of a girl he fancied, her innocence and priorities pulled away from him,
Carol I'll break you free if I have to do so with my death...
Should Rick test desire against conscience, he could pinpoint their core melodies,
And bring about their silence.

I redirected silence away from nothing,
She'd solve it and be alone in a world that,
Would devour her again.
Beside all that would cross her fragile path,
Shivering in a ball of herself with,
Those grinning demons.
They were our friends she said once grown,
House Venom was our source of exile,
Not Toblin's promises...

Andulan grew tired of the rocky road ahead,
It prevented her from resting her head,
Against her sorely missed entitlement.
Those **** vines, running alongside my natural veins,
Have they no respect for their own host?
Ever since green mixed with white,
Trusted, swallowed, filled with light,
Against a suddenly shaded backdrop, that slunk away,
That door creepily closed, as if by itself.
Discomfort would break engagement against ground,
Her present was often plucked down back to pain,
That angelic body of mine, assigned by father and given by mother,
I'll never have another...

After being healed, she was placed back onto her feet,
Upheld her hands, grasping green keys,
Squirming in the early night air, sewing fresh jade sleeves for her to wear,
Culminating into two extendable green spears, that could be lengthened,
To strike dragons of old out of the blood scented sky...
Forward came a multitude, of tiny deaths, tipped with venom most foul,
Set loose from her chest, legs, shoulders, arms and the bangs of her head,
Each cell of her's was converted into ammunition and fired from hundreds of guns,
Racing at the pace of song, heard rather than seen, blurry to those attuned,
To Sharin's soul.
Paul and Kevin barked at the merry three,
Play the song of quickening, as fast as you can!
We must accelerate our core melodies!

In the moment, inside her entitlement,
Andulan yawned mildly, keeping her wits about her,
Those draining her below stopped for a time.
Looking outside her faded glass window, behind purple drapes,
Drawn back to uncover why she was tired, morning was here,
Despite youth and stillness, she still bowed before forces,
Observed by common melodies, it was the life inside her,
Clawing at her insides, yearning for more blood that did it,
Be patient my dear, soon enough you'll be fed,
Castle Sanguinair is ripe with flesh and wine,
A color most divine.

Fires both red and orange,
Danced around a yellow core,
As doors reduced to time-lapsed ash,
Awaited a push to bring next state to present.
Matthew dragging Janet, along as bait around a hook.
Found a way beyond the horrors something had shared with them,
Recorded silently.

If they come between us.
I'll get us far from fear.
And safely distanced from harm.

Said those lovely rags hanging from a bed of hair.
I longed to hold between my thinning fingers.
Stashed at my waist.
Twisted by youth.
I held our real hope and yet.
Lamented its part in our lives.

We heard the trampling grow louder.
As his men drew closer.
I reached for song to distract us.
From fretted conclusion.

Matthew forced us down together.
Huddled beneath that cracked window.
Still more intact than ourselves.

Doubt swarmed them, passing between their solidarity,
Rick didn't like the tone of things just beyond the next hill.
He'd grown acute to the scent of omens,
Told his horse to stop, kicking it to obey.
His brothers noticed his song's melody shift from behind.
A tune in his head kept his hands and feet empowered,
However they shook and fidgeted,
Anticipation brought anxiety over his heart,
Choking and bringing cold to its chambers.
Dungeon birth was his reality, a past best forgotten,
Never did he run or play unrestrained, bars were his friends,
He learnt to count them as people he could trust.
A flash of silver, its strength mythical,
Those hands cool and warm, eyes set on things yet unseen,
Rescued him from a dead woman's arms, those of his mother.
Inscriptions carved into his hands, written along his legs,
Cast onto both feet, glowed painfully, reminding him to stay present.
She needs me...

His eyes are red spheres of crimson: blood is a sweet aroma.
His scarlet cloak rides the desert breeze, the time is near.
The heat-rod nestled upon his back seethes with anticipation.
He does his best to calm its restless nature.
Empathy flows through him, he too feels uncomfortable.
Outside the realm of instinctual action; a grey area of instant decision cut off from regret's jurisdiction, Tervous feels uneasy and unnatural.
A creature of war cannot breathe the air of peace or live within its domain.

A gentle knock at his door,
As two escorts followed doggedly,
John turned the **** and walked into,
Cornelius's study, a room he only frequented,
When injury had befallen him or he needed to,
Escape emotional stress or old ghosts.
More times than he cares to admit,
Has this man kneeled before dying allies,
People of all stages, slipping beneath the black.
Those he should've been there for, could've saved if,
His justice was only faster than song, swifter than Venom.
Sharin's adept stood silently wrapped in respect,
Cornelius turned to face them, taking off his reading glasses,
A brown bearskin coat reassured him as he rose, sinking both arms inside,
He faced his audience with a stern, confident soldier's facade, one that,
Demanded recognition from all around.

Sometimes lying is all you can do,
The only option on the table,
Because there are times that,
Truth is fatal,
If a person you care about is unwilling or unable,
To accept defeat or concede a game,
They want nothing more than to win,
Her anger killed me four times,
Reviving me each time,
I was powerless to stop those roses from being cut,
But If I can just keep her here long enough,
Destroy that homicidal tool of madness,
And keep song playing forever,
We can leave that old life behind us.

From this vantage point he watched,
As that girl of thirteen years, changed into something odd,
A monster not of the present, but of the past,
Twisted by confusion and motivated by denial,
It wouldn't agree with anything outside itself, until it shared,
The silence within.

Bathe me in armor, bright as light.
Throw me into darkness, cold as regret.
Revel in triumph, you have won.
Shed not a tear, it must be done.

Her singers arrived,
Following dawn's return.
To bring Sharin's voice back to those,
Who'd fallen to despair.
She'd never cried one minute above us,
Though we'd been cheated by fate she,
Gave us nothing but fortune.

Apparently he'd bandaged my arm,
An old injury I suffered as a clumsy girl,
Barely more than four,
Running beneath a spreading maple tree,
He told me I was laughing when I fell,
That my crying lead him to me,
Since I'd gotten lost on our journey,
Trying to retrace our destiny.

Nothing makes sense.
Organizations attempt to make sense of it all.
The truth is, disorder is the status of reality.
Few will ever realize their goals because of this.
All will experience that which they fear the most.
In the end I will laugh as I lie hopeless, helpless and dying again.
Remember the shadows and curse the light.

Richard tore into his violin, slicing the poor thing,
He'd saw right through it if it meant he could save his friends,
Albert strummed his harp, staining it with blood as he cut his fingers,
Christopher breathed in rapidly, filling his flute with constant air,
Their performance reached the gates of castle Sanguinair, lending music,
To those without the means to pay...
Rick acted without hope, knew his arrows wouldn't work,
Played his notes without an audience to hear them,
Each was absorbed into a tangled mass of vines, caught, twisted and snapped,
In that order each time.
Lead by roaring John, Kevin and Paul pressed on,
Into the swallowing green jungle ahead of them.

After a loud bang, that deafened everyone,
Except for Rick, perched as he was.
Andulan emerged no less for wear.
Out from under a bizarre green shroud, that obscured her entire left side,
She remained standing, it had absorbed the impact, yet the small anemic child,
Still fainted from the shock.
It was taking a toll on her, she was dangling off the side of a great green monster,
Not at all in control.
Wow, that sure was a powerful surprise,
I lost track of myself there for a moment, you must've knocked me out,
Well it doesn't matter, even if you do that my ivy will still protect me from you,
And the entire world...

I wish to dance amongst the flowers.
With a girl beside me full of love.
We will rebel against time and be immortalized.
I will look into her eyes and she'll disappear.
A lock of hair I'll grasp before her departure.
It will be all I can hold onto to keep her alive.
Even as I descend into a quagmire of despair.
I will keep her there.
Sinking beside me.

These weren't hardened heroes,
Nor men with knees to bend.
He wouldn't offer them candy, or a cup of brandy.
Wine tasted awful, swill fit for fools,
Prienne's fearful tools.
Stillness gave them measure, much more than beyond,
Song was a weapon he had no means to produce,
Vocal cords of such quantity couldn't bring odds to bear,
Upon the likeliest of hoods that could wrap around his head,
Full of idealism, hopes of freedom and amnesty,
From an execution savored by the cleansed palate,
Of Toblin's passed on habit.
Lifted by a song leashed fellow,
Final crows and ravens would bellow,
As age revealed him a discheveled fellow.
Beneath a shroud of regret.
That blade could whistle his name but,
A crowd of ravenous onlookers,
Engorged on death and bloodied wine,
Wouldn't say his name in time.

Decimated and piled upon soaked wagons,
Carted in by droves, dead flesh once proud to stand ready,
Beside admirable men, women and a cause worth dying for,
Many voices, stilled by thoughts of we'll be without.
Implored them to check their doubt, but they wanted rain for drought,
Windows caressed by holy light, no vile sounds behind to blind or misguide,
From arms the forge would glow, returning status to unspecified use,
Abuses avenged and directed from future paths, would bring legitimate tears,
To all surviving souls,
I'm in need of men like you, wielding music as a tool to shatter crests of oppression,
Will you join our cause and bring pause to that symphony?

Pity, I could've loved all of you,
It would've been unconditional,
But it has been decided, you shall all be made divine,
And added to my grace.
John was speechless, but he tugged at his collar to free his voice,
Paul lurched forward, flinched out of fear, he didn't want to **** a child,
It was beyond unethical, it was a sin without solution.
Still, he held his trident out in front of him, drawing a line in the sand.
Should she cross it, a hidden song would catch her, and he'd skewer her,
Until she stopped breathing.
Paul clicked his tongue every four seconds, did it without facing her,
It was a small song, broken and indistinct, but it would still work.

Each Sharin adept,
Walked at a considerate, gradual pace.
Instructed to never rush a performance,
They intended to let it dictate for them,
The proper time and place.
An audience scheduled days before,
They closed Sharin's door, bid her memory farewell,
Trotted out into the newness of it all,
Here in a spot nestled at the sea's edge,
Colored black by tides of mystery,
Desire would bring the seven humble brothers,
Before the king of Castle Sanguinair,
The kingdom's top archer,
Back before age dethroned and replaced him with,
Nobody.

At the keep where he was kept,
Sleeping awake above books of little interest,
Cornelius had his guards welcome old friends,
To stand within his company.
Red was reinforced by blackened scales,
Of halting persuasion, no blade could cross,
Bend-wise, down, left or right,
Only forward against advance,
Would blows receive that which was kept,
Inside their insistence that,
Mankind's destiny not bow.
Before the command of Song or Venom.
A closed decision, offered no openings.
Slammed shut vapid covers, returned to shelves installed by father.
The scholar king, it was said he was the most well-read Farth of all time,
Far from me to judge a man whose charisma rallied freedom to blossom,
In fields of comfortable servitude, against his cruel edict, abuse was accepted,
Even loved before its passing from this world, the light stung, the darkness comforted,
Daytime's burning insults.

That ugly sword.
Bent, dented and twisted from misuse.
Landed in sodden earth beside a sticking stone.
Polished by muddy excuses.
Those he brought with him.
Matthew was a smart boy but.
He couldn't read.

I love the night.
I love the rain.
I hate the sun.
I cheer when it falls.
And cry again when it rises.
Its safe at night, in the streets slick with freedom.
We can run with cold air in our lungs.
Forget the rest and be wild with me.
The light is our enemy.

The curtains came back up,
Letting the sunlight invade our universe,
Our bubble beneath the world,
Fresh dew collected around my four corners,
From one side I could see a coat of arms,
Sitting pleasantly upon a clear white blanket,
Sprinkled with rainwater.
Returning to feet was too early a task,
To spend rare morning seconds,
On this back I'd stay,
As my cloak gathered as much color,
As hue could hold.

Matthew's eyes were steady,
Malice wasn't there, only natural concern and well,
He feared something.
Why are you doing this?
I demanded less than enthused,
I can't let you know that Janet,
You'll just have to trust me.

Cornelius wanted loyal soldiers,
More creases added to the fold,
But bluntly he was told,
Such tactics were too old.
Lest we all burn in owned fires,
Song must replace silence, for it is venom,
Tainted song is the same, sinister and deadly,
Sharin sheltered sanctified shepherds,
Gladly guiding hands away from one's own demons,
Towards new purpose, reason away from destruction,
Bathed in loss we shook off the rain and dried ourselves.
In her teachings we found our broken bodies renewed by determination,
Hard fought joy amidst the urge to just lay down,
Counting our last syllables.

Cornelius had holed himself up in his study,
Reading useless books, nursing an injured arm.
He'd obtained a spearhead to the bicep and now,
Turning a page took a dozen seconds,
Countless moments he'd see repaid,
Shaken loose from blue upon gloves,
Clutching gold cages keeping innocent blue,
From knowing the truth.
It was the most he could do to contribute,
His skills were taken from him presently,
Pain forced relent when pride refused to back down.
Past war rage kept his blood boiling,
From a mason's window he saw Sharin's legacy,
Conversing and lifting sodden spirits,
Bringing dry to the drowned,
Mirth to the melancholy.

Richard strummed his harp,
Filling the streets ahead with music incomplete,
Albert ran his bow across his violin's supple wooden frame,
Each string shook as if startled, bringing sound to music's playground.
While Christopher placed wet lips above his flute's tone hole.
Breathing in to bring balance to the foreground.
Together each element cultivated sound unmistakable,
Someone had opened her tomb, broke her free from silence,
Sharin walked the earth once more.
Faces turned to observe the seven humble performers,
Armed well with verse and musical talent.
Rick watched with an arrow ever ready.
He'd only need think and it would follow,
Passing through and through.

Matthew loosened his grip with a sigh,
Those smallnesses regained strength
Freedom felt cool against released fingers,
Strangely wet and salty from his oiliness.
I didn't want to get up right away,
It felt good to just lay in his arms,
Breathing in spring air, secure in his warmth,
Listening to him breathe in discretly,
Like he didn't want to make any noise.
His black tunic was somewhat rough against my skin,
But it was better than staining my cloak with green,
Dandelions had conquered the entire field around us,
An old waterwheel slopped up water and dropped it back into a stream,
Gently easing away my cares, my senses were dulled,
Spring was here,
We were alone.

No one came for her tears.
To collect them in a bowl.
Nor did caring words tucked in a note.
Bring her closure, still she'd had to try.
And make waiting work against facts.
Will corpses to stand once more.
Why...How, I...
Through rain and bitter cold.
She'd wander hours uncounted.
Searching for faces unfound.
Beneath venomous tides of reason.
Reasons she couldn't see.
There was no how.
Only why.

Creaking doors moved by hands.
That held no form.
Twin shadows of maybe.
Awaited obscured and unknown.
She closed eyes not yet hers.
Bent knees and kicked feet uncut by time.
Puddles leapt aside, splashing into the unreality.
The refused truth.
Janet ran it quicker than Matthew.
Could grip his axe...

Joined by that dead queen.
Who shouldn't still be breathing.
Made Toblin uneasy and groping for a way.
To see her gaze turned from him.
Not enough room in this carriage I'm afraid.
His brain wanted him to say.
A cowardly misdirection sure to sever head and leave it dangling.
Above the recently resurrected House of Venom.
The loyal need fear no such poisons.
Toblin knew better.
Every man unwise enough to kiss those snakes.
Woke up powerless the next day.
His command seized by serpents swimming beneath the defenses.
He had built over a lifetime.

However much I tried to hold it,
That smile took over once we'd started to dance,
Winds caught our cloaks, holding them for us.
My smallnesses were treated as tender vessels of grace,
Collected inside his gentle instruments of playful security,
We were both safe and in danger, it was all possible and perfect,
No barriers or protections, only the terrible magnificence of constancy.
Twisting across our five senses until we couldn't think of other places,
Only the here and now because everything else wasn't real,
It was ecstasy, his eyes fixed on my every movement.
I was a performance he'd give four stars,
If he could pluck them out of the night sky.
Curves and angles, lion heads spreading into the air,
Tempting eyes to water and noses to itch,
Dizziness made it all soo real, slowing down reality.
Allowing us to be here as long as our hearts could hold out,
Our feet kept up somehow, these stolen shoes, his borrowed boots,
Glided over green grasses beaten sticky and wet,
By our twirling figures oblivious to fatigue,
I fell first, he stumbled back like a champion undaunted,
By a jousters spear to the chest but,
He to was sent spinning to the ground.
We fell asleep watching creation reveal itself.
As our bodies began to shutdown,
Defying our desire to remain awake,
Forever.

I woke up in his arms,
Cradled in his scent beneath open clouds,
Spring had spread everywhere,
I thought it winter as I slowly opened them,
But I was pleasantly surprised.
Matthew held my smallnesses, as both strained reaching for answers,
I didn't know I wanted.

Above us clouds started to gather,
He didn't notice, his gaze was tilted away from me,
He wasn't enjoying this.
Whenever I moved I had broken a rule,
Mother's eyes wrinkled like that years ago,
Inside the few memories she left behind,
Father's greying black mane,
Always swallowed up his face,
obscuring it from view,
He was a giant when he came down to my world,
He was a grinning giant who couldn't swat a mosquito.
Mother did it for him.

John shortened his name for the occasion,
Removed his axe's scowl, replacing it with glimmering smile.
Songforged steel given the humming heartbeat of Sharin,
Filled the staircase leading to Cornelius's study,
With the subtle suggestion of song to come.
Kevin kept his throat clear and ready,
On a Kiligrind he'd let loose a melody,
To push back the ill-intent of a would be assailant,
Freeing his person to gauge the best way forward,
Towards effective retaliation.
Paul placed his hands around his Pole-arm's direction,
Keeping it bend-wise between his path and place,
Gloves given by choices made to acquire,
Gripped granted wood, knowing its holy place was still safe,
An area where silent rhymes still soothed his mind,
He knew without knowing, felt without feeling that,
Sharin is sleeping well today...

Matthew heard her blow.
That stroke belonged to her yet.
Passed her by.
Nothing changed until.
Red chill removed a sleeve.

We fight for the people,
Sing for life's sake,
Keeping the will to live awake,
Never drop into despair,
We'll soon be there,
Bearing not blue upon gloves,
Nor Crests of encompassing gold.
We'll free the blue and send it back,
To replace the grey above.
Paul placed the end of his Pole-arm,
With a hurry to a block of cobblestone,
A rounded, choice rod of wood,
Taken with acceptance from Sharin's orchard,
He can give us apples no more,
His branches are barren, such as I.
We must grant him final purpose,
Chop him down to usefulness.

Sharin taught us never to cry,
That we could continue living despite it all,
Our lives were ended by war but that only meant,
We'd have to make our own replacements.
She gave us all an education, filled our moments with life,
Tear drop apples were always close at hand,
They wept not for themselves but rather they,
Shed excess joy.

Last I remember, a blade of silver was placed in my left hand,
A cold chill accompanied by a hundred or more voices,
All vying for an audience,
Came to speak with me as a mob of viewpoints,
All contradicting one another.
So she's the newest sacrifice,
She won't last a year.
I told them to shut up which they did.
That was when an inhuman, ghostly voice,
Spoke words that felt in tune with my pulse,
When I tried to rebel I felt like I was burning,
I couldn't escape it with Matthew and run away,
Though I almost held out long enough.
I told him I needed to rest, which I did,
Lying with my back supported by a wagon wheel I,
Tried to fall into rest, but each time I began to drift off it,
Stabbed my heart,
All that was, accelerated.
Spinning lights appeared above.
I was frozen by fright.
Yell out and I'll turn on you,
I'll make his death slow,
Cut out his eyes, leave him deaf,
He won't see it coming.
I was quick to surrender,
Since resistance only bought pain
I thought of Matthew when I said,
Ok, I'll do what you ask,
He was perplexed and asked me if I was alright,
I smiled and nodded politely
It said the roses needed cutting.

Denial and reality hit harsh.
As she collapsed into what was marsh.
Her crying made the heavens shed tears.
To compete with a girl of four years.
Her's combined and swallowed theirs.
Never again would they, spill from those eyes.

Johnathan led the group,
Resting his protection upon his right shoulder,
Though his real defense lies behind his throat,
In a small chamber whose power can stop mountains,
From crashing down around them.
Rick held his bowstring taut, at the ready.
A hymn in his head kept it steady.
Loosed with a thought, it would sail rather than fly.
Towards a target of his choosing.
Since days spent practicing beside brothers and sisters,
Granted heavenly gifts and strength fought for,
With Sharin's support he made himself a threat,
To their next meal.