And the ravens descended upon the
Unearthly shadow, blanketing the air, their
Cries resounding; they dissolved unto the wraith-
Like moons, they clasped the cryptic isle; the citadel
Drowning, its spires evanescing beneath the glacial
Depths. And an ancient wolf gazed out across
The fathomless chasm, the adamantine crag, haunted
Fairies of the lilac dawn – inexorable the fateful
River; the pitiless plains whereon Kutuzov reigned, the
Terrors of the brutal charger, their insatiable hooves
That clove the earth like thunder; crusaders of the black
Sun howling, their bones scattered across the bound-
Less steppe, an ungodly horde that wore unreason’s
Crown; the vampire lurking, missiles of
Armageddon lusting for human blood; no mind
To check the cannibal, no hearth to soothe
The traveler. And the river carved a swath into
The hand of immutable time, midnight calling,
Windswept sighs; unfelled the raging of the
Dragon, unwept the waning of the half-
Light. Vanquished was the realm of that false
Empyrean; the crystal chalice, a throne
Thus spent, black glass groaning beneath
The black sky, unto the shroud of silence