Hey, this is DarkMagnus. I'm just coming to let you all know that I'm officially not going to be working on this epic anymore. I just feel like I need to branch off and work on other things, so I'm going to de-
WAIT WHAT AM I THINKING
IT'S TIME FOR...
Chapter V
The Giant
Frost hung heavy in spirits all
As they explored the mountain's wall
The few beneath Sodel's command
Without him, doubted what he'd planned
Their picks had pierced the sleeping stones
From deep within came horrid groans
The rock had fallen from where it lay
And slumbered still, and watched the day
End upon the sharpest note
That filled the cave and rocked the boat
Yet scream alone could not compare
To mountain depths that met them there
It began as though it was a sigh
This gave them hope; ('A cavern's nigh!')
The sound then grew to roaring din
That shook the walls and struck the men
And soon the noise was near indeed
From thinning walls it seemed to bleed
They knew that past the broken stone
They'd find the bringer of the moan
From there they paused, with shifting eyes
Among them fear had no disguise
And yet, one mentioned, was it not
The fate ahead, or Sodel's lot?
This was the case, they all agreed
And so with blistering, bubbling speed
They crashed like iron through the stone
And met the bringer of the groan
And there they saw- the half at least
Of a great and mighty fearful beast
Trapped beneath the mountain's blood
Caking, shifting, endless mud.
The brave did laugh at sight of this
Some bellowing, from others hiss
They laughed, and laughed, fell onto dirt
They laughed until their held sides hurt
And all the while, the beast lamented
Dishonorably he lay cemented
While devious band quickly conspired
What to do with he, the mired.
Back in the cold at cavern's maw
Lay fallen man in Sodel's claw
"I beg thee- beg thee! Spare me, please!"
The sunken-eyed coward did try to appease
But Sodel, fully taken by venomous wrath
Did strike down the man who had guided their path
And roared at him, crippled, now bleeding in snow
"Who is this man who your fear seems to know?"
The man replied choking on blood or on fear
"His face is that of a man I hold dear!
My father, my father is the hermit's pale ghost
Who guards this dark mountain as unwilling host!
His eyes, which once looked upon me with great pride,
His lips which once spoke of the distance he'd ride!
He told me of riches he'd one day return,
And for him my dear mother and I ever yearned!"
If Sodel's heart was moved his dark eyes showed it not
And in that white forest, and on that red spot
He left his companion to die in the cold
The punishment given for lie he had told
He said "You once told me you visited this place,
And I've made falsehood true by my will, by my grace.
Yet is is your father who led us here to-day.
And so it is his wage I shall gratefully pay.
Farewell, man of stories, man of lies and of gold
Man of cowardice exceeding in face of the bold.
I will miss ye but briefly when treasure I find
And think of ye only in the back of my mind."
The sun then extinguished and the dark absolute
Overtook the cold land of all evil's black root
And the band of the brave stoked the sizzling flame
That hotly did roar beside Giant's dead frame.
They stripped off his skin and they cooked it in strips
And they bit with their teeth so fat shone on their lips
And Sodel returned, and they raised up their picks
He returned the salute, and said "Now we are six."
This chapter brought you by the moral event horizon.
Author
Topic: The Epic of Sodel Udir (Read 29564 times)