Hidden trenches, fire in the sky,
Restless spirits, days gone by.
Captured castles, a tragic escape,
Leaving one behind, a tragic mistake.
Unknown at the time, not aware
Till we regained our lair,
Off in the distance, deathly screams,
I shivered, the night eerie as if a dream.
They refuse, no we must go back,
Crazy they say, we will be attacked.
Tears escape my eyes, hard to still be brave,
I must return, or guilt would carry into my grave.
There were many what if’s, what for’s, and why’s,
I will not rest till I return with my friend Sly.
Many years he had been with me, been my friend,
And I still was not willing for our friendship to end.
Shadows in the forest, my heart would not quite,
Loudly it beat, thump, thump, each sound in the night.
Shetan, my horse, I tied safely in a hidden cave,
Looking left then right I climbed in the grave.
The grave, a secret entrance inside the castle halls,
It was a spooky place with skulls lining the walls.
Alone this time, I felt a fear like none before,
I felt the skulls watching me, the terror hit a little more.
A whispering wind, searing heat, a wrong turn?
Perhaps yes, perhaps no, flames, a hotter burn.
Indeed, it was wrong, I remember no fire at all,
I must go back, try again, must be another secret wall.
Round and round no doors, no it cannot be,
I am trapped in an inferno, no way to breathe.
The walls? Are they closing in or my imagination?
Rapid breath, calm I say, but forgetting in my frustration.
I hear voices, sounds of the dead closing in,
There he stands, Sly, my oldest, dearest friend.
Too late, Oh no. My tears melt against the heat on my cheek,
Death had found him, a walking corpse, footsteps weak.
“Shhh, come I am not dead just a disguise you dolt,
It worked rather well, now come on, get your nerves on hold.
I was only a way behind you, and created a diversion,
I did not want to be caught, death, oh no I have an aversion.”
“Quietly now, follow me, we will get through this maze,
A length of silence, entering in the midst of cemetery haze.
Shetan was grazing quietly, Jetana, watched him well,
Watching the rising sun, I realized I had been rescued from Hell.
© Cynthia Clark