11/02/2024
My second submission to Vocal's Fantasy Prologue II challenge.
Here's a small taste. To read the rest, please follow the link in the comments.
The river ran backwards on the day the Queen vanished;
All nature exulted the end of her reign.
Dry fens and parched fields were by its waters replenished;
Therilion’s bare branches didst bloom once again.
The tall, lonely mountains, now no longer despondent,
Cursed glens in dark forests, forsaken no more.
New streams wound unbidden through dunes dry and desperate;
Bright coral now flourished o’er pale ocean floor.
For the hero of yore from the grave made his journey;
E’en death could no longer his vengeance postpone.
And all peoples rejoiced who were freed from her fury,
When Ael Aren’s savior laid waste to her throne.
Whither does she wander, the cruel Queen of Ael Aren,
In halls of the living or vale of the dead?
Some whisper in secret that her pow’r will awaken,
And the world once again shall fall to her dread.
The great river now flows from the sea to the mountains,
Where stone drinks her waters and life fills the air.
But beware when rocks bloom and blood runs like a fountain—
These heralds resounding of coming despair.
~
The last words of the ballad drifted from Nonahir’s lips and seemed to settle upon the forest itself. For a moment, all lay still. The birds, who had fallen silent when the ballad began, remained perched in quiet reverence. The dissonant chorus of nature was hushed—the buzzing of insects, the croaking of frogs, the chattering of squirrels, and the tapping of woodpeckers. Even the leaves in the high canopy held their peace, unmoved by the breeze.
