Dark Tide,
By the Midnight Poet, Seregil

They moaned, they shifted, they stirred in their grave,
None spoke nor moved their eyes.
It was quite a sight that autumn night,
To see those dead men rise.

One by one, they clawed to the surface,
Each ending their eternal repose.
Dead for years, their orders were clear,
To destroy all men that oppose.

Their eyes were sunken, their teeth all but gone,
Their gait, ungainly and slow.
Why did revenants depart from their tenements?
That, I will never know.

Stumbling through the fields in search of their brethren,
Their numbers increased tenfold,
And from bones that clattered hung clothes long tattered,
Fashions from the days of old.

From my hilltop view they seemed to gather,
And quickly form into lines.
Their only volition, to fulfill their mission,
And move out before the sun shines.

Then all at once, my light was noticed,
Dull gazes were turned up to me.
Unflinching stares, dark foreboding glares,
Seemed to pierce their way right through me.

Moving all at once, they needed no leader,
Their old bones creaked as some pointed.
Their march began duly, in a line right to me,
Movements ethereal and disjointed.

What to do now, am I going to die?
Will I soon be part of this troop?
Dead and forgotten, evil and rotten,
Why did I stray from my group?

I looked behind me and saw no one there,
I wondered where they had gone.
I squinted my eyes, and to my surprise,
They too had become evil spawn.

They dragged themselves up the side of the hill,
No longer were they my friends.
Walking but dead, their deathwounds still bled,
And I knew that this was the end.

Flanked from all sides I drew my sword,
And with a final curse I was set.
Evil be damned, here I will stand,
They haven't gotten me yet.

They dragged themselves closer, my sword arm shook,
I could hear their murderous thoughts.
The ground heaved, a dead arm unsleeved,
Forced it's way up from the rocks.

They came from everywhere, even from under!
This will not be a fair fight.
I steadied my hand for a pitiful last stand,
And hacked into it with all my might.

A piercing screech echoed through the valley,
As my sword struck hard and true.
That's one for my allies and their untimely demise,
And here's another for YOU!

But as my sword descended again on this fiend,
A dull pain left me shocked.
Lacking agility, it still had ability,
And in military style it blocked!

The force from the blow split my sword into pieces,
And in my mind I heard his reply.
"In 300 years tested I've never been bested,
And I'll enjoy watching you die."

A grab at my foot, a lift of his arm,
And I fell to the ground with a start.
With amazing speed it was standing over me,
It's sword plunged into my heart.


I felt no pain and he withdrew his tool,
And things about me turned cold.
The thing's head tilted as it studied me closely,
To watch my fate unfold.

But a magical charm had saved me this once,
My power was drained completely,
Before he could react, I was off my back,
And from the neck it's head severed neatly.

"You know you can't kill what's already long dead,
I suggest you stop your resistance",
The skull's jaw chattered by the writhing cadaver,
And it's hollow eyes glowed with insistence.

With my spare knife in my hand, all seemed lost,
As I saw the army approaching.
How could I win against these soldiers of sin,
Damned for my ill-timed encroaching.

"Are you all mad, what do you want?"
I shouted as they drew near.
"Your soul for one, and when we're done,
The WORLD" one said with a sneer.

"Over my dead body!" was my heroic retort,
Which drew out hideous laughter.
They were quite elated at what I just stated,
I realized the humor a bit after.

And at that moment, a deep voice boomed,
"We don't have the time to waste!"
With a grudging turn, their anger burned,
But the orders were followed post-haste.

The one I had felled had since reassembled,
And turned with a final word.
"I'll remember this", it said with a hiss,
And throughout the valley he was heard.

They turned away and toward town they marched,
A few eyes glanced back at me.
Toward an unspeakable deed, at the army's lead,
Rode a dark and malevolent banshee.

His wispy cloak billowed in the night's wind,
As he broke formation to stare.
Then spurring his steed, he moved with such speed,
That they both seemed to ride on thin air.

What's to be done? What can I possibly do?
I began to uncontrollably weep,
The quiet town, was just settling down,
For what would be their final night's sleep.

"Don't worry my boy, they're all taken care of,
I'm the shepherd and they are my sheep.
And after this day, if you stand again in my way,
You'll be the next one I reap!"

As that echoed in my head I heard screams from afar,
That were cut short one by one,
I sat down in the sands, my head in my hands,
And waited for the horror to be done.

After what seemed like an eternity I heard marching,
Booted feet keeping up paces.
That dark army was passing me once again,
It's ranks filled with fresh faces.

Then they all stopped and stared ahead blankly,
That hideous banshee came around.
"To sleep my children!" he bellowed with a laugh,
And slowly they sank under ground.

The distant glow of the lonesome town burning,
And the survivors' grief-stricken song,
Were all I could sense as the morning commenced,
All evidence of the dead army gone.

Penned by my hand on the 4th of Mayan, in the year 351 AF.