Despair struck hard against my shield
Valor holding fast as I held ground
I swung out with faith
righteousness would find its mark

War raged within my vision, within my mind, even within my very soul
I could not lose to darkness, victory must be mine.
I fought with every breathe the dweller of death
Wielding his will at every turn I he struck, he battered, he cursed.

The night still stood, the light still had yet to rise
Doubt loomed in the background of the noise
The noise of those of Valor falling at every turn

Time slowed as weapons clashed, wills collided, as black ink upon white
parchment
Finally the light returned, the faithful number laid quiet on the
fields, diminished but still standing victorious in the end.

So lay their foes, desolate across the plains the truth of evil spelled
out in blood from both sides.

Oh, how the thorns were numbered by the fallen roses.
Oh, beautiful life, even in death a rose lies proud to sacrifice for
right
The slow resounding drop from veins of those that were
Drums out the march for those that still are to rally the troops

Stay the course, fight the fight, and hold tightly to freedom apart from
the taint of the unexplained

Penned by my hand on the 25th of Bellum, in the year 453 AD.