Fym

Deep in the ruptured jungle
Where the river dives and dies
Is a simple cabin, where a lonely scholar hides
And she's lost in study, on the night before a storm
When an arcane letter slides in beneath the door

'Wait! Oh deliv'rer!'
Too late; not a remnant in the mist
So the scholar uncoils the parchment in her fist
'Dear Fym Sallow
Ever closer to the truth
I can lift the power
That resides inside of you'

Young, but awake
A destiny ever calling after her
A runaway Daleian girl
Cataloguing creations and hereafters

There's no sense to this parchment
I've read it through and through
It's all too much, I've had enough
I know it can't be true

I lie awake in the sweat of a dream
I hear her call, I'm not sure what it means
The Azdinist speaks of the Den of Dawns
Promises power, says I belong
I belong

Watch, as a silence begins to shroud the pragmatist's lair
And a new sun rises, but she hasn't left her chair
She's awash with wonder, yet impish in denial
This 'Den of Dawns' no more than an institute of lies

A delusion, sculpted by a ludic fantasist
Who, despite their ardour, have failed to convince
'Dear Fym Sallow', after finding where she is
In the ruptured jungle, where no-one lives

I lie awake in the sweat of a dream
Dwell in her spells, I'm disinclined to believe
The Azdinist tells of the shattered sword
Scatter the glassblade into the world

I was a gath'rer of absolute truths
Now I ruminate on the absurd
The Azdinist speaks of the Den of Dawns
Tells of the task - seek out the shards!

(Here in the Cuthrealm of eternal dawn
We trust in the Azdinist to bring us the one
To seek out the Paluns of the Umbral sword
We wait with an offering for the day you come)

(Here in the Cuthrealm of eternal dawn)
Here, in the Den of Dawns
(We trust in the Azdinist to bring us the one)
We trust her to bring us the one
(To seek out the Paluns of the Umbral sword)
Of the Umbral Sword
(We wait with an offering for the day you come to us)

On the day you come to us
In the Cuthrealm of the Den of Dawns
We trust in the Mistress, and she will bring us the one
Who'll seek out the fragments of the Umbral sword
And once they're delivered, it can be reforged as one

With the sister blade of Lustre
You'll siphon every piece of Umbra
Sink your blade in the distortion
Be not afraid, as the darkness fades

Here, in the ruptured jungle
I can't make up my mind
I lie awake in the sweat of a dream
Dwell in her spells, disinclined to believe
The Azdinist speaks of the Den of Dawns
Promises power, says I belong

I was a gath'rer of absolute truth
Now I ruminate on the absurd
The Azdinist speaks of the Den of Dawns
But I'll stay right here, 'til something occurs

There I was, living on my own
With the wild jungle fox I'd adopted
But since she died, I've a hollower life
And I'm feeling much less productive

But the message, it came
And I'm in disarray
Could it be? Should I leave?
Can it wait for a day?
I'm not brave, but to stay is a waste of a fate
There's a foreign figure at my door
(Knocking at the door!)

Listen, Mistress, I've no interest
I just like to read
Just because I've done my research
Doesn't mean it's meant for me
Yes, I guess I'm curious but
That is where this ends
There is nothing you could do
To get this girl to leave the nest!

The Mistress frowns, looks me up and down
Before grinning into a laughter
'Oh my dear Fym, you poor lonely thing
I have just the companion you're after'

With a flourish, the sorceress conjures the image of
A Lavender Fox beside her
Stood as tall as a man, with a wonderous wingspan
I blink, but the illusion is gone!

I'm stunned, 'Okay! I believe in your power! I can be who you need just watch!'

Listen, Mistress, I was dubious
But now I'm convinced
Soif I'm to be your student
Where do I begin?
Yes, I guess I'm curious and
There is much to learn
By the vulpine wing, I'll travel
You can have my word!

We head to the base of a mountain
Through a window of light
The Mistress says I must climb it alone
Before I'm able to fly
At the top is a Warden
The keeper of the blade
I must practise and prove I am worthy
To wield what the Mistress made

My feet slip through fern mist and nettle
As I rise the isolate spire
Textures are found and forgotten
My mind a menag'rie of zeal and abnormal desire

There is a breeze albeit directionless
It signals no change in time nor change in temperature
My thighs grow weak the incline is merciless
The test that awaits me doubtlessly far more arduous

Do I have the mettle?
The sword-keeper waits at the summit
Here's where my Azdinic journey begins
(Here's where I show myself worthy to him)
I may be afraid but I'll learn
The trees and the steepness diminish
And I'm at the top

There in the clearing stands an acolyte
(He beckons me and)
I follow on into a clastic shrine
Harsh and reluctant
(My instructor ever doubting me)
But still I persist until my Azdin shines

I cast the fire
Suffer the strain regain my might
The more I acquire
The less of a doubt in my master's eyes
On the precipice
Posture the wind and sway the light
Birth of a sorceress
Azdinist

And when the blood spills from my mouth
And I think of home
I know I'm due to focus up
Hone my body and test myself
Anchor like there's no way out
Tenfold my regeneration

As I reach the plethora of power
My teacher crosses the shrine
'Here behind this door resides the promised sword
It's yours so take it if you can'

When all my strength fell redundant my memory offered the key
So I hurl one last whip of fire as I recall the lock
Esoteric as it seems I've read about these things

I watch as the lock yields
(And the door begins to shift)
Revealing some smothered light-source in a blackened sheath
(Suitably Lustrous)
'See the blade is named becomingly
This blade is yours and only yours to wield'

I cast the fire
(Suffer the strain regain my might)
The more I acquire
The less of a doubt in my master's eyes
On the precipice
Posture the wind and sway the light
Birth of a sorceress
Azdinist

I swallow back nerves and bile in my mouth
It's time to make my way down

My feet slip through fern mist and nettle
Say goodbye as I glide from crest to the core

The paluns I seek each swathed in umbral distortion
The first lies beneath a bloom of flowers opulent
'There is a breeze that only a petal could learn from'
This dreary riddle was his final verse before I left
My quest is to start at the chasm
'Fox Lavender waits at the edge to take me across'
I arrive but the creature is absent
The winds of the void enfevered
The bloom past the chasm so fertile yet so far away

SKY SAILING

The Lavender Fox descends, and scampers beside me A pouch of petals fastened under its throat And I understand The wind’s riddle resolved, our flightpath revealed As passenger, I hurl a handful And we greet the air!

At the whim of the wind Lashing and pulling Maneuevring, eye on our shepherd, our petals of pink Hoping they’re helping and Trust me, new friend My heart rests on your wings now We left the nest with a chasm beneath Still I trust you, new friend In our first elevation

For a moment, our course holds steady And then we’re

High again We’re sky sailing Winding in turbulence Found in friendship

BEYOND THE BLOOM

In awe, we land before the fragrant veil Our first steps treading technicolour So far beyond the pale Though I could cast a fire T’would be a pity to destroy When we’ve no shortage of time

What lies here, beyond Umbra’s bloom? Though I could burn away I would much rather preserve this Such pleasant distortion I sheathe my blade We push into the bouquet Stumble into Rapturous blackness Since we play the fool of the flowers This prison beyond them is nothing But death-grey decay

All that we touch turns to soot And we trample on Yes! We must wander on!

The murk of the gravewood It vastly encumbers my senses And yet, I feel sure of a presence that mirrors our stride The Lavender Fox, it whips around As if to accuse a wilting shrub But there is nothing there Naught but the shade

Lustre illuminates As soon as I brandish, it is gleaming I am led by the blade

Deep in the false night, Tendrils of ghost-wood start clinging Every step forward, the bracken resisting our stride I feel it crawling my shin, cut it back - it coils again Why must you persecute Wraith of the glade?

Do we approach the core? Or do we die here in the strangle As the plantlife contorts?

The smother continues, but still I slice against its grasp I strain ‘til my eyes sting - ahead I see the source! Just a little more! This web will not be my grave!

Just as we reach the core, I turn to see the Lavender Fox Poor thing, ensnared by its wing… How much will be severed By this blade if I…?!

My one-winged companion, Abandons, in gruesome mistrust And I’m left alone with my deed With eyes too inflamed to be fuddled by glamour I sink my friend-stained blade into the palun And it sings, as it siphons The bloom above begins to die

WILT

Petal on fox-blood, my new sheath As all around me Colour rains, the sun prevails Yet harm is all I care to deal and dwell on

If I had thought that it would end this way That every bloom was due its wilt I would have scorched the opulence No flower should be worth more than a wing

How could I have known

I lie alone, entombed In what remains of something beautiful This shedding, never ending Keep me buried Help obscure my crime

And as the essence of the palun Sinks from forest to the blade I sense its burden, feel its venomous Reminder of the choices that I’ve made

How many years have I done this alone now?
How many wonders have I swindled or bled from their home
While I’m so far removed from my own
There is no way to know
If I cared, and I don’t

Yonder fountain, and field of red lightning
No enchantment ornate as my own
Tread over sea, sent to seek, steal and leave
Everything withering in wake of my wave

Wind in my stride
Carries a cloud
Crimson as my eyes
It’s not that I don’t feel alive
I just feel untouched by the passing of time

All that I know is
This way to behave
Bother and burden
Won’t stop me these days
Nothing compares to
The weight of the blade
It glistens like a cascade
Gasps like a lung

Well maybe I sold myself cheap
Or should I be grateful for the journey that was thrust upon me?
It depends where it leads, where it ends
On the state of my sorcery
The way that it’s spent

Ever since Ultor, the mountain, my teacher
I’ve had a fire who yearns for release
And since the bloom, I have reason to assume
All shall wilt, never wait for those weak to the blaze

Destiny calls
Wailing like winter
Both broken, and sharp
So harden your heart
Though old, still a fool
Pray light be my guide

All that I know is
This way to behave
Empathy severed
By the hand of endeavour
With no way to measure
The weight of the blade
It listens in the darkness
It tastes as a tongue

The Mistress, she waits in the den of dawns
I dare not return, but the blade weighs so much
…well, maybe I could…

Oh to be bound by the weight of the blade
So hard to see past the weight of the blade
For every light stolen adds weight to the blade
One-hundred years of my life to the weight of the blade

All that I know is
This way to behave
Empathy severed
By the hand of endeavour
With no way to measure
The weight of the blade
It listens in the long night
It whistles a song like a

Bird, much too heavy to fly away
We’ve wedded the ground and accepted our fate
Rather than dwell on the things we’ve lost
We deal in destruction to the wonders of the world

Pilgrim to pilgrim
He gave his advice
'Head North-East, to the frost-web of winter'
Well, now I've arrived here
Bracing the blizzard
Finding the maze
What a curious structure
I'll set it ablaze

This tumultuous sound in my head
It ceases my carnage, it shrieks and it begs
As I venture this prism of ice
I am forced to extinguish my fire
Something in the glacier calls
Speaks without a sound to me
What has been begotten here?
Umbra, what have you done?

(Speak to me
With sorcery)

I focus my Azdin, search for the call and
Wait, wait, I wait
Until, at last I can hear the spectres of the ice!

'Let us be, beast of fire
Meek, we are defenceless
We are light within the ice
Living but with no way out
Must you melt that which holds our life?'

Prisoner to prisoner
I understand
All of you, guide me through the kingdom
And I'll stay my hand

(Beast of fire)
Show me the way and we can shine together
(Beast of fire)
Spawn of light
Lead me to your frozen heart
(Beast of fire)
Listen to me
Trust my mercy, lest you'll burn
Guide me through the kingdom

We reach winter's blinding kernel
Palun in my gaze
Pallid dawning in my mind

I promised to spare them, but if
I remove the source
Then, without light, they will die
How do I spare you?
I'll replace that which I take
I can afford to be kind
So shine

Why, Fym, why ever did you hurt me?
Some friend, she left me in the darkness

Back and forth, I pad across the den of dawns
Dragging with me, my one wing
Just like me, it's seen better days
Just like me, it had purpose in a pair

I'm useless to a pack
That panders to my woe
They offer tasks to keep me entertained
When I sigh, they look away

Oh I wish I had a wing
I wouldn't ever give the other up though
It's all I have left now I'm
Nothing but a lavender you picked before it could bloom
Still, here in my home
I adjust to being alone
But I feel like I'm wasting away

Heal me, can anybody hear me?
Waiting for somebody to see me

I hear a commotion in the square
God, it's been a while
It's her, it's Fym
She's finally returned

She took my wing and gave me flight
She left me there to die
Now she approaches
I snarl but she persists

Don't touch me
You've done enough already why don't you just leave me to my pain
Now
You come, perhaps, to end the job
In a way I want you to, I hope it doesn't take long

She raises her hand
And brings it down to my back
I wince but
It's painless
My vestigial limb disappears

Fym: 'It's okay, my friend
It's all better
You need no wings
You're balanced again
It's okay, my friend
You're all better
You need no wings
You're balanced again'

She gave me flight
I can fly again!
I don't need wings
I'm sky sailing

Hapsyo By Rjuod
Suj Sovabo
Galoj Lo Mico
Lo Ijo Mo Badj

On that night
The Mistress comes
Barters the price
Of my return

'You have done so very well
So far on your quest
Put that role aside for now
We are under threat
An apprentice to the Gods
Majgyn is his name
Rise up through his trusted ranks
Warn us of his ways'

So I became the king
(of light)
A life not mine
(In my disguise)
I watch so many die!

Morl-Majgyn
With me at his right hand
Scourging cities
Slaying mystics
All the while I keep him blind to the dawn

Roij

In serpent surrender
My name is forfeit
But forgiven never
If the dragon starts to suspect
The lives I've taken will all go to waste

That's why I remain the King
(of light)
And dull my mind
Enact his crime
But still the guilt feels like it should be mine!

(Light)
The days just disappear
A continent in fear
Is there a kinder way
To satiate his reign?
What if I fake my further crime?
With illusion I can lie
What if I'm taking back my life
I'm taking back my life!

Sorry, Majgyn
No more dying!
I thought, with a smile
All were cheated by a glamour
At least for a while
But Majgyn, he grew dubious
The cracks began to show
To his lair I'm summoned
I think he knows

'You have done so very well
I thought up til now
You have disappointed me
You have forced my hand'
Then his malice entered me
Envenomates my soul
'No longer can you disobey
The Apprentice God!'

I will stay the King
(Of light)
A life not mine
(He need not doubt)
There's no way out
There is no way out!
Morl-Majgyn!

Now I suffered as a mother would
Considered things nobody should
The day came, with so much pain
But to my relief, we were just the same
We were just the same

One fake to share my face
Still my fate and take my place
In unison, we operate
It's the only way

So there's two of me now
Just in case I didn't quite explain it
With my doppel I can be in two places
I divided by design
Now in two minds
She buys me time

Doppelganger
Unshackle me forever
Oh Sallow Double
The sister that I mothered
You take the weight

But as consequence
She's bound to sin
While I'm free to dance
(After all, I'm still to do the many wicked things my lord, the serpent
Wants me to)
Though I am you, and I fashioned you, I pity you
(Drink up the venom from the chalice, so to delegate and liberate, it's
Me and you)
It's you and me

Oh what a devious plan!
Cus there's two of us now
Let's be clear, I'm still the one in pain here
But damn it doppel, you are my salvation! (redemption)
So stay in touch

Doppelganger
Unshackle me forever
You know it
Sallow Double
You hoist me from the rubble
Doppelganger
I love her
Though two, you are the one

When geyser erupts
By the star-pools I stir
To see a crimson-eyed girl
Through the mist
Yes, I know her to be

Fym
And she comes, just like the bird
Sent by the wyrms
(Seeking prophecy)
See past the end, won’t understand
Still she must ask

’Where have your bat eyes been, friend
Peer in the black no longer’
Oh, how I wish I could
‘Seer - still a self-exiled demon
Redemption awaits you
And child, without you
I won’t leave
Redtail, tell me what you see!’

Every time I shut my eyes, I fall into a dream
So terrible, unable to wake
I see the end, the start again, the writhing wheel
The blackened coils of a snake
It binds me!
The geyser spills, my trance it breaks
I drift away, it starts again

(I should be left alone)
I am no friend to you
(I am no friend to you)
You are no use to me
(You are no use to me)
I am no use to anyone anymore
(I am no use to you)
I have to be left alone!

With tears in my eyes…
Once beast on a hill
Now a pitiful portent I am

What have I done?
What have I become?
Though I implore that you leave me to the mercy of my dream
Stay beside me for a while, tell me of yours travels ’til I travel to sleep

Here, in the final abyss
Beneath my wicked wind
I'm so much stronger
Than when last I was here
I have returned to seek
A darker shard within
I have no equal, so
I have no fear

And the rupture, it beckons
This garden of the gods
And the rupture, it beckons
How darkness calls!
Bleak architecture
Woven in the walls
Never seen it before
But I've seen it before

U A UN E AA ORA ORA

You were chained here
Your seed was sown before the shards were thrown
Profane ones
Your work is at last propagated
Rejuvenated by Umbra's song

So leaving the shallow
I sweep through a wreathe of nameless mammals
Into Python
The second chamber of the pit
What awaits me there

Fangs descend down on me
I pull them out because I know
I won't bleed
I'll tear the demon's

Flesh with the blade
Bring death like a fire
The fell shriek of the spawn is my choir
Though I've gotten old, I feel lighter
Their blood-stains make Lustre brighter

SZER A UREWA EWE A AREYA
SEN UREWA U

In the next chamber
I catch sight of
A mural depiction
The Shield and the Chimera
Both unconventional
Both may yet make their appearance

What will I find here?
What kind of shield and
Will it help me, do I need it?
What dwells down here
What kind of demon is
This abyssal incarnation

It waits in the dark and
It begs for my fire
A howl deep in this trench messiah
Once the shield portrayed is acquired
I'll seek the child (seahorse, sealion)
Though I've gotten old, I feel lighter
Their blood-stains make Lustre brighter!

Still, on they come
On they come

I'm stepping stones
Treading relics now recalled
A shame to stain the lost
Expressions of the cult

Nalu, I can hear you
In the art and in the walls
Nalu, I have found you
Who'd have known you were so close

Though I learned your name
I admit I hardly know you at all
On I tread, along your riverbeds
Light my way, silver vein!
Hidden, crawling
Breathing, defacing

Blast unleashed, and walls unmade
Shield in sight, and not much time!
Jump the rubble, snatch my prize
Dodge the rain of
Stone coming down
All coming down!

I hit the dead end
But for two small tunnels
It's this or I'll be smothered
Two stones
Tossed in right and left
I focus my Azdin
Listen for their landings

One stone sizzles into magma
So deep within the walls
The left one seems to land
But how can I be sure?
My time - it ebbs away
To the beat of the barrage
Nought else to do but take one breath, and shut my eyes
And… jump!

This slope, it narrows as it goes
And so, I let the shield go
I have to lose my form
And with it, I spend too much power
I turn to liquid, funnel down

Drip down, and reform
Deep in Nalu's womb
Blue encrusts these walls
Like dead coral
Like a corpse

Yonder, Umbra calls
Past the coral maw
Stripped of all but sword
From the void above, my foe at last comes forth

Babe of the trench, you cannot know what made you
Slither, seahorse snout, your flattened wings, they betray you

My sense obscured
I draw my sword
Forget that I am not immortal
Your eyes of black
Your coral blasts
Your godform is born so primal

What's your weakness?

Encrusted by the after-strikes
You slowly ensured your demise
So blade in hand, I take my chance
And slit you from spine to the snout

And though I
Slay you, I find myself so spent
I might as well have slain myself
Still I have one more light to snuff

Shining just ahead
Though I've not the strength to reach it
Set behind a glassy veil
With I, too weak to sink the sword, to leech it
I throw myself against the final seal
My shattered body now a wreck
I pass the verge
With one last lunge
I still have one more siphon left in me!

We scream, as it drinks!
The trench, in death, is now alive!

I stumble back
Buckle to my knees
And shut my eyes and wait to die

Inside of me, I feel it snap inside of me
My enchantments, and my double
All relinquished from me
So Majgyn, he'd kill me anyway
So fitting that the many-legged creatures swarm all over me
Help me decompose, if that's what's best for me

Yet through the myriad feet, I sense lavender now falling down on me
Don't save me now, I'm begging you please
You fool, just take the blade, abandon me

Awaken
The faces that surround me offer smiles
They gesture to the table at my side
Oh Umbra, as intended, now devised

Oh saber
The one to wield you has not yet been stirred
A Walker to be broken from his curse
My Mistress moving on, she's spent my worth

And yet they fondly pour themselves down onto me
Congratulate me, these fools
Can they not see?
My power failed, and to the serpent we are revealed
An acolyte corrects me in my fear
'Your double, she remains, what do you mean?'
I tremble as I force myself to speak
I cannot see her, nor control her
She is free

I'm so tired
But still alive
Moonrise
The paths intertwine
At moonrise