For those who don't get it, this is my take on Denna's song that she writes about Lanre Lyra and Selitos.
Gather round and listen well,
For I’ve a tale of tragedy to tell.
I sing of subtle shadow spread
Across a land, and of the man
Who turned his hand toward a purpose few could bear.
Fair Lanre: stripped of wife, of life, of pride
Still never from his purpose swayed.
Who fought the tide and fell, and was betrayed.
This tale starts so long ago,
When heroes battled a terrible foe.
In this times of ages past,
When angels walked the land
The time when the moon was in our sky,
And when the Fae were by our side
And magic spread throughout the land
Power is held in the palm of a hand.
There rose eight cities, made with zeal,
The greatest of them Myr Tariniel.
Guarded by the greatest heroes
Brave Lanre, Fair Lyra, and Wise Selitos
But others too lived in those times
Terrible Shapers, guilty of crimes
Changing, and making, and burning,
They fought. Against nature, against rot
Despised by the humans, vile at heart
They were chased through the curtain, Iax at their head
And their they did stay, in a land of their own.
And the sky they filled with stars they had grown
But though they had land something still lacked
Iax and the others, yearned to go back
For in their own sky there was nothing but stars
No moon to look down on their newfound powers
So Iax climbed up, to the top of the world
Stole the Moon, and the joy, and the peace
For the humans then knew that nothing would stop
The Shapers were mad, and their greed had no top
So the Shapers marched forth,
Hearts bent on destructions worth.
Leading monsters and fiends,
Daruna, Mael, and gremmens,
And beasts far, far worse
Poured forth ‘gainst the cities
But there they were halted
Faced down by the Exalted
Lanre and Lyra, devoted in love
Stood, sheltered from above
They led force the armies,
And heroes of men of the Seven Great Cities
Found in the plains. Only the den,
Of Myr Tariniel, corrupted, and rotten
Sent forth no soldiers, no help in this war
Protected by Selitos, as the city he did adore
Selitos resented the fame of Lanre
But knew in his heart of his power’s decay
He alone could not stand against Iax
So he cheered for Lanre, and Lyra, and Aleph the Great
As they planned to do what no man could
They planned a great thing, foolish, and brave
To stand against Iax, greatest of them all
The battle could only result in good’s fall
As the weeks went by, battles lost and won
The hope of the men was all but gone
The Shapers pressed onward, towards the Great Cities
Heedless of mercy, they pressed ever onward,
The first city sacking, and burning to ash,
Iax grew confident, himself took the field
They marched ever onwards, the juggernaut crushing
Two more cities fell, as the soldiers were rushing.
“No more!” Brave Lanre cried,
“Far too many children have died.
Three sorrows I have already faced.
Three great cities turned to dust.
No more shall we endure, this must end now
To defeat him, I know not how
Yet still we shall meet in battle, Iax and myself.
And Fate there shall reveal Itself!”
To Drossen Tor the humans did come
In flocks of men, there to see battle done.
The Shapers weren’t worried
Saw not that they feared,
But the humans were ready, They were prepared
Lanre he stood at the armies head
Sword of silver in his hand
With a cry, and a roar, the army would stand
Iax was coming, Bright star on his brow
If he could be beaten, mortals knew not how
There on that field they did duel
Silver, and iron, great flames, and sharp words
‘Til all other lay dying, beaten and burned
Still the two fought, three days and three nights
When at last Lanre stood, and tore from the ground,
A great chunk of rock, and Iax he crowned
The great rock he crashed on top of his head
Forced him down ‘til he should have been dead
Crushed into the ground, behind doors of stone,
Iax lay in despair, for he was de-throned
And so in his spit, Iax did lash out
He delivered a clout
His blow struck true, and Lanre did fall,
His fire extinguished, but for one last call
He cried out for Lyra, in pain and in fear
Fear he would never again see his dear
But she answered his call, and came to him then,
On the ground in the mud, together again.
Too late though she came, Lanre dead already,
And so she did weep, and wail a lament,
Her voice did ring off the heavens that day
And broke the heart of wise Tehlu they say.
As Lyra knelt, Lanre in her grasp
Lanre opened his eyes with a gasp
Returned to life by her sorrow that day,
He did once more march forth, sword in hand
Determined to sweep Shapers from the land
They were in retreat, yet Lanre knew,
If allowed to survive, they would return
And when they did, all mankind would burn
He followed then, to the ends of the Earth
Fighting and fighting for all of his worth
They were almost defeated when that black day
They poisoned his Lyra, they stole life away
Lanre was crushed, fell deep into despair,
For as loud as he yelled, Tehlu did not care
He had already once saved their love from disaster
He would not answer like some dog to a master
And so Lanre left, to find what may
Allow his Lyra to live one more day
He traveled the world, again and again,
Yet still he would fail, for power over death
Is not meant for men.
When he returned disaster he met
The Shapers resurgent,
The heroes divergent
The cities were burned, one by one
Of survivors the Shapers left none
Now Lanre was great, filled with his power
And drove back the Shapers, within just one hour
This was just in time to save Selitos
Who, Lanre believed could undo Thanatos
Lanre did approach the leader of scum,
And begged Selitos to return him his wife
Cruel Selitos said ‘no’ and went on his way
Indifferent to Lanre’s shattered heart
He went to his den of the rude, and the cruel
Where his word meant absolute control
Lanre could not believe the fall of his friend
And knew that Myr Tariniel must end
So he gathered his army and marched,
To the pass, where Selitos kept watch.
There he did ask for an audience, high in the mountains,
Selitos agreed, unaware of the trick
When they arrived Lanre did show
The fire cleansed city to Selitos
Selitos was cloaked in a murderous rage
Deceived by his friend, as if on some stage
“Your wife is now dead, and you should be too
But I would say I have lied to you. When I said,
You wife was beyond my grasp, I lied, and deceived,
For you’ve earned my wrath. But no more will I help you now than then”
And Selitos reached up and grasped at his eye,
In a moment tore it out, held it up to the sky.
“Here is your truth vile Hero!
Here is your precious hope for your love
Held in the palm of the hand, is my power”
And Seitos crushed the eye, “No more can I help”
“This is my doom upon you:
May you be cloaked in shadow as is my city
May your name be turned against you, so you know no peace
And may the stars fall nameless upon you”
And Selitos threw his eye,
At Lanre, and with his eye the sky
The stars they fell, and burned Lanre down
As Selitos laughed, and danced all around
Lanre only could cry for his friend
But he looked up at Heaven, and saw there his Lyra
And so he rejoiced, to be reunited
His love and he together, he was delighted
But as he rose up, angels they stopped
And took him, and back towards earth they dropped
“You know too much to live up here
The things you have done others do rightly fear
You fought in anger, and killed without heed
You are hereby banished for this deed”
“But I did it to save the human race!”
Lanre pleaded, but they laughed in his face.
And so Lanre fell, fell down so far
His spirit doomed to bear the scar
Killed in battle, lost of his love,
He gave everything for the people
Yet nobody remembers, nobody cares
The scar of knowledge, The scar of grief.
His spirit is doomed to wander afar,
Until from the sky fall the nameless stars.
Go back to the world now, and remember well
This tale of tragedy that I did tell
Of subtle shadow spread
Across a land, and if the man
Who turned his hand toward a purpose few could bear.
Fair Lanre: stripped of wife, of life, of pride
Still never from his purpose swayed.
Who fought the tide and fell, and was betrayed.
Fair Lanre: stripped of wife, of life, of pride
Still never from his purpose swayed.
Who fought the tide and fell, and was betrayed.
Fair Lanre The Brave, The Wise, The Great
No comments:
Post a Comment