I wrote this silly thing in high school. Nearly six years ago. It's a bit forced in some places, and doesn't make sense. But this section needed at least one. So...Murphy says enjoy.
"Many heroes of forgotten lore
Once fought upon these parts,"
Said the Teller I adore,
Who carried the scars of broken hearts.
A traveler from lands of people pained
And exiled with a soul crimson stained.
Or so the story's told.
A teacher of the disregarded past,
And the last drifter of the Sages' path,
The children of the town were left aghast
By the tales of blood and untold wrath.
The parents called their children back
To keep the truth in the black.
All but I left the Teller lone.
I, orphaned by the titanic blue,
Walked the streets with blistered feet.
Staring with eyes of a washed out hue,
Besieged by the rhythmic, crashing beat.
I, the marred child, before the Teller stood
Blind to his smile beneath his Sage's hood.
And the story did unfold.
The Teller quietly looked about,
And his distant eyes fell on me.
"Ah, young one, so sweet and devout,
Shall I speak of the monsters of the sea?"
How this Sage knew me so,
I would never know.
But such tales were too real.
"Tell me of the Warriors Seven!"
Said I, "Who crossed the River of No Return!"
The Teller's eyes lifted to the heavens
As the sky began to churn.
Like gypsies, the wind danced around,
Bringing ocean smell and ocean sound
And a promise of a storm.
"My child, this story began not long ago.
Just barely two winters to the day,
Seven fighters set out at first snow,
To find where a great treasure lay
In rest beyond a no-man's land
Guarded by a witch's hand.
Just past the River of No Return.
"These fighters seven where fighters for hire.
Each marked by the sins of human kind.
One, a girl survived a greedy bandits fire.
And an idle man with a tactician's mind,
Another raped by drunkards and left for dead,
And a rebel who though only of wine and bread
Beyond the River of No Return.
"There was a thief who envied all
And stole at every chance.
A giant as angry as he was tall
Wreaking havoc as he advanced.
But of the seven, they feared the best:
A proud leader with a grudge to put to rest
At the River of No Return.
"As they reached the River of No Return
Beneath their feet the earth began to shake
And the hills were overturned.
As they fled from the earth's violent quake,
The leader watched the earth open and swallow
Idle man and gluttonous rebel into its hollow,
At the valley of the River of No Return.
At this point the Teller did hesitate
As if ghosts spoke against the infamous tale,
And its telling to such a simple-minded ingrate
Like myself, but still I shouted against the gale:
"Do not stop! What of the witch, good sir?
What happened when the warriors invaded her?
At the River of No Return?"
"Ah, yes, the witch," the Teller said,
"A woman of looks so plain,
But of the coldest eyes as hard as lead,
And tied with spirits of demons slain.
An ambitious woman of improbable goals;
To the spirits she had lost all control,
Trapped, past the River of No Return.
"Beneath the sky's faint diamond shards
She was the studious scholar, caring and coy
But under the golden glow's regards
She was the demons' toy.
And during the spirits' wicked regime
She guarded a treasure of a dragon's dream
Beneath the River of No Return.
"But despite the death of two,
The Warriors did persist.
And when she saw their goal was true,
The witch allowed them in her midst.
Ever surely from the night the sun did emerge,
From her control demon power surged,
The battle of the River of No Return.
"Creatures, shadow made, appeared from air
And a ogre from a twisted mind
Was released from its lair,
And its dinner it did find:
Two girls, but archers ever skilled
Lamed it before they themselves were killed
At the River of No Return.
"Four were slain, but three remained.
And the thief, so sly, snuck away
To find the witch's body drained
From the monsters spawned that day.
So envious he of the witch's great power,
Perilously over her his sword did tower,
To strike the witch dead.
"But upon the river valley yonder
The giant bellowed with grief and rage;
For their deaths he thought his blunder
And even the ogre shook where it was staged
Then the giant took a great lunge
And into the river giant and fiend plunged
Where they were never seen again."
"Wait, good sir! An inquiry:
How could a simply river devour such beasts?"
The Teller paused, down he smiled at me.
"This river wasn't simple in the least:
Flesh that met the waters without her consent
Mysteriously vanished from existence,
For thus was the way of the River's magic.
"The land through which the river flowed
Was the witch's justly through word and law.
Anything foreign on her land she will know
Every wing, plant, animal's claw.
Was hers forever, magically bound
Those in her waters were doomed to drown,
As the witch always wished.
"Hovering over the river's edge,
The proud leader clenched a fist in ire
And screamed out a livid pledge
To finish the mission backfired.
With a need for justice the leader were driven
To avenge the deaths her friends were given.
The leader strode to the witch's castle.
"To destroy the witch the thief had tried
Already was he sword ready and posed
The witch, with terror, before him petrified
When suddenly the air stilled and his arm froze
The witch, eyes so cold but filled with fear
To have such a violent death to her so near
Even the demons recoiled.
"The leader had burst in to find
The thief by now ready to kill
'Not you!' he said, 'Her death is mind'
He only sneered for her blood he meant to spill
'She's so strong,' said the thief, 'Why not me?
Her magic should be mine rightfully!'
The thief claimed , his blade against her throat.
"The witch, at the voice of the leader proud,
Turned from the thief and his wicked blade
Then slowly removed she her witch's shroud
To expose eyes that had long eye began to fade.
'As you see: I cannot, you both want my life.
I sense swords and souls tinged with strife.
Have I caused this hate?"
The Teller paused, and silently he mused.
"The witch was of great magic and drive.
She read of a world where all were abused
And the public killed to stay alive.
However, never she ventured the river from,
For she was to be free of sin to become
A vessel of forbidden power.
"Thus the trade for her liberty from sin
Was to lose the gift to see the world around her
And to give the loss of sight to the next of kin,
But never did qualms of her sacrifice stir,
Though she doomed her family to darkness.
The witch knew she had achieved greatness,
No matter if it was tainted.
"The witched rolled away the thief's reach
And pressed herself against a wall.
'Only because I willed did my land you breach'
With a potent air said she, standing tall.
'Determined you are, to steal my treasure?'
It is yours, 'twill be my honored pleasure.
But for this demand a favor.'
"the sightless witch gestured to the sword,
And smiled so icy cold a grin,
'My death,' she said simply, 'For my hoard.
For already walks this earth my kin.
As a result, my death will strike her blind,
And you, proud leader, she shall find
Then inherited my power shall be.'
"The thief growled and with the blade he thrust
To bestow to her the death the witch yearned,
The leader leapt forward to stop the one unjust
But already her life to world returned.
Her blind eyes, with victory glowing
To the thief's dismay, himself glowering.
The thief wrenched his sword free and fled.
"So the witch's fear was broken,
As was the thief's passion for her death.
And to the once leader she gave a token,
As she breathed one final breath.
'Unto you I give a mission
To end this fatal repetition
And let my kin live.
"Then with a tired sigh, the witch laid back,
'To you, last of the seven, I grant fame
For I cannot return the friends you now lack.
Instead everywhere known will be your name.
An exile, but a prince of treasures untold,
Of jewels cursed, and blood tarnished gold,
From the River of No Return.
"And that's the story, my child, it is complete."
The Teller said with a smile so weary.
"I was a proud leader, my mission bittersweet.
But over now is my search so dreary.
I've searched from mountains to seas,"
Then his triumphant eyes turned to me.
I, kin of the witch of the River of No Return.
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