I awoke in a grave of an over-grown wood,
Where above my head the treetops stood,
And a light shone the timber and brush of the ground,
Where the moss of all ages created a mound,
The weeds were extreme in their length everywhere,
- Leaving in sight not a single plant bare.

Then I spied from the scene just to the west,
The wings of an eagle poking out from a nest,
I climbed from my grave and proceeded to call,
When he dropped what he had in the pit of his claw
A ring rolled out into the dried prickly grass,
The gem of a ruby as shiny as glass,
The gem was laced from top to bottom in gold,
And carved inside, two initials in bold.

The eagle stared with large curious eyes,
As he turned with great haste up toward the skies,
He opened his beak, and let out a screech,
"A human a human, a soul-******* leach!"
When in minutes I heard a strange pounding occur,
- their faces in numbers came, in a blur,
I gazed upon the massive structures of beasts,
Over one hundred species I counted at least.

They pulled me with force to their chests with a roar,
As we started with haste through the arboreous floor,
Then coming out into an opening pass,
- I gazed up the face of a broad rocky-mass,
With urge it had seemed it was up we were bound,
We trudged up a steep incline in the ground,  
Two towers formed at the top of the mountain,
As we hiked up the rock past a lion-head fountain.
We climbed a great length over dirt, weeds, and gravel,
With the towers ahead growing more in our travel.

I looked at the faces, the snouts, and the beaks,
I could hear the snorts, the grunts, and the squeaks.
Their claws inching further with  strength in their grip,
I could hardly keep up as I started to slip,
They would cry victory in their native tongue,
With howling and croaking both old and the young,
I retreated my steps but they held on too tight,
The gravel rolled back as I started to fight.
They snarled and drooled and gleamed their red eyes,
As the towers in front continued to rise.©