Author Information
Valley of Despair (Part 4)
Folder:
Series Poems XXV.
The Valley’s bottom climbs towards my companion and I,
As we make our way down the treacherous canyon side.
Making use of our equipment arsenal,
Malefic tied a rope to a nearby tree, suffering from decay,
And tossed the remaining length over the cliff’s side.
I gently slide down, following the path set by the rope,
With Malefic right behind, mirroring my actions carefully.
We move down the cliff, from sunshine into a fog of darkness.
XXVI.
The bottom suddenly comes crashing to us,
As the dying tree gives way to our combined weight.
The rope tears through the rotting trunk, slicing it into halves,
As it plummets in pursuit of us.
I land with a thud, my body rattled to the frame from the fall,
And my companion lands mere inches away.
We sit up, dazed from the thirty-foot fall,
And peer into the darkness leading into the Valley’s heart.
XXVII.
Our torches are the only light as we press on,
Further into the darkness that shrouds the Valley.
This land is said to be a cursed place,
For all who have entered prior have never returned.
My wandering child’s eye catches evidence of these expeditions;
As Malefic and I settle to make camp, our first of many here,
A pile of blackened, charred bones is sighted in a nearby alcove.
Our fire fades out into the darkness and I take first watch.
XXVIII.
My sleep brings to me images of mysterious shadows;
The Guardians of Draupnir, those man-like beings.
The feared ءsatrْ Knights, beings from the tales of youth.
My father told me their story when I was a child of five years:
“The ءsatrْ Knights, Odin’s most loyal warriors,
Are revered to guard His ring from all who may encroach.
It is said they live under blessing, granting them prolonged life,
Yet any able to match their skills in battle shall be rewarded.”
XXIX.
The dense ground fog fizzles into the eternal darkness of the sky
And another day begins for my companion and I.
It has been three days spent in the Valley, we believe,
The true time unknown to us with the masking of the sun.
As we journey through this dying, decayed landscape,
Many more skeletons and scattered bones become apparent.
The remains of fools who dared to seek the unreachable;
It is I who shall triumph over all-- I alone.
XXX.
Shadows appear and fade away in the murk.
“I fear it may be specters, Andvari,
For I have nary seen such figures as those, even in night.”
I peer through the darkness, scanning with all senses,
My nose taking in the thick, acrid fragrance of the place,
And I shake my head wearily.
“Nay, Malefic, not specters, but humans, like you and I.
We’re being watched… by the Guardians.”
XXXI.
We have endured the passing of several days in the timeless Valley,
And at last, we arrive at the opening of a Grand Cave.
The acrid scent hangs heavy in the air,
An ode to the death and decay that resides here in the heart of it all.
The ground is cracked, seeping the fumes of gases,
But in its midst, there is a clear pathway into the cavern.
My companion and I, side by side, take our first steps into the hall
And are halted suddenly by approaching men: the ءsatrْ Knights.
XXXII.
It is said in the tales of my homeland that the ءsatrْ Knights are gods,
Warriors from Valhalla’s halls put to earth to guide our forefathers.
The myths describe them as giants,
Men of Cyclopean stature and build,
That can never be killed, for their skills in war are unparalleled.
They roamed the Valley of the North,
Drinking the mead from Odin’s right hand,
Awaiting their Twilight, when one would come to overshadow them.
