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The Riven Gate
Posted by King Arthur, Apr 13. 124 views. ID = 1120
This post was written in 6 minutes.
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 | Back to the present... |  | This post has been awarded 16 stars by 4 readers. |  | This post is Part 3 of a writing series titled The Barbarian Horde. |
As one, the loathsome horde advanced
With coarse and vilest cries of hate,
While o'er their heads bright arrows coursed
In fiery paths both true and straight.
Upon the city gates they merged,
All drenched in blood's metallic scent,
'Tween angered cries upon the wall,
And deadly thud of arrows spent.
And though the horde, ten thousand strong,
Beat long and hard upon that port,
Its panels of unyielding oak
Lent hope to all within its fort.
So high atop the wide stone walls,
Defending soldiers peered beneath
With shields held high against the darts,
They jeered and laughed with swords unsheathed.
Laugh not, O foolish men within,
Count not your hopes in steel and wood,
For see their king maleficent,
Whom none on earth has e'er withstood.
Akrull, the god of nameless dread,
Whom none should even dare defy,
Tips back his brutish, scarréd head,
Shrieks long and loud a barking cry.
And now appears a strange machine,
Brought forth by man and mighty horse:
A ram with monstrous dragon face,
Conceived in fiery heathen forge.
The horde was parted by this beast,
And jeers turned silent in one breath,
As soldiers faced those flaming jaws
And saw in them remorseless death.
Three times the beast crashed at the gate,
Three times its booming echoes hung,
While deep inside the city's shrines
A desperate prayer was on each tongue.
Yet fate and death laugh at their words;
The beast once more brings forth its weight.
Weep now as splintered panels crack,
And pagans pass through riven gate.
Copyright 2008 King Arthur. All rights reserved. FifteenMinutesOfFiction.com has been granted non-exclusive rights to display this work. For permission to reprint this item, please contact the author.
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