Rise of the Archon
71 Mosul’s priests entrench within Gronde’s caverns.
The King of Men sends envoy to their hold,
Offering a truce before the journey…
But Bafomet refuses Aeon’s call.
71-1 Kethu leads the envoy back to Aeon.
The cries of jungle terror wound his soul.
Heavy is the heart that knows the future,
If tainted by a mind that knows one path.
72 Aeon orders siege upon the caverns,
And during this, the Archon comes of age.
Aeon’s men lack will to force surrender,
And King of Men must ponder storm by force.
72-1 A thousand men in bronze launch their assault,
Marching two abreast upon the ridge way.
Forward, onward, up the glass escarpment,
Their spear points gleam like diamonds in the sun.
72-2 At the gate, they raise their shields to arrows,
And tumbling stones that carom from the heights.
Some are pierced, and others lose their footing,
Their screams descend to silence as they fall.
72-3 Then up the narrow trail they bring the ram,
Fashioned from the trunk of Vallis hardwood.
Twenty men must labor to engage it,
It’s head, a dragon skull with wedging horns.
72-4 Pull and swing, they crash it on the ingress.
Stones and arrows crack and pierce their bodies.
Each man that falls is drug back to the ledge…
And thrown down off the face to clear the way.
72-5 Forty times the skull will smite the doorway.
And yet, the wooden doors will not give in.
Another forty thrusts, and wills are spent.
Aeon’s weary men withdraw to safety.
72-6 The King of Men surveys his crippled host.
A quarter of his force so far destroyed.
Few are left to fill their empty places.
Wise kings won’t waste life in futile ventures.
73 The king and archon meet on neutral ground,
Bafomet’s position being greater,
For Mosul’s priests secure the Ed? path,
Threatening to hold until destruction.
74 Aeon must concede to bear the dragons,
And many of his host are much aggrieved.
They hold great hatred for the Nezulim,
And the blasphemy of evil Archon.
74-1 But Aeon comes from seed of daughter twin—
Mazda, who took poison to release them.
Good will never stray far from its mother,
Vainglory shall not spur a noble king.
75 A coup foments within King Aeon’s court—
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
Betrayal by a dear, beloved soul.
Crystal blades are sharpened in the darkness.
Ruin is the price of dueling sovereigns.
75-1 One king holds the key to Ed?’s gateway
And one king holds the way to Ed?’s gate.
One king leadeth man from dragon’s peril.
And one king draweth power from the beast.
75-2 Bafomet is master of man’s nature:
All men are plied by vanity and lust.
Men will hear the songs sung to their ego,
And men hear only words that make them just.
75-3 Aeon’s court bears hatred of the dragon,
And manifest mistrust for King of Men,
For he was raised in caves by serpent souls,
Shielded by the blades of Raptor sentries.
75-4 Agents whisper in the ears of menfolk,
‘Beware, the king who comes by Nephilim,’
‘For Raptors came to be by dragon’s will.’
‘Serpents serve their master and no other.’
75-5 By this, King Aeon’s men are turned to fear.
And thus conspire to supplant their king.
Aeon’s closest captain shall betray him,
Delivering the king to Mosul’s priests.
75-6 ‘Come with me, my brother, to Gronde’s cavern…’
‘The Sons of Mosul have agreed to terms.’
Aeon knows that Kethu has betrayed him,
But Aeon knows there is no other way.
75-7 Aeon was no ally of the Raptor.
The King of Men was toppled by a lie.
Men are led by fear unto their slaughter,
By those who ply the terrors in their mind.
76 Courts without a king are feeding frenzies,
Devouring themselves to sate their greed.
Courts without a king cannot make headway,
For oxen will not plow without a whip.
76-1 Many vie to be the Me?n steward,
And lead their kind to victory through the gate.
But none shall rise in ranks to take the staff,
And so, men turn to Bafomet in fear.
77 Bafomet ascends as luminary,
While Aeon’s court is turned upon itself.
Aeon’s men are made to swear their fealty.
The ones who won’t are driven off the ledge.
78 Bafomet’s position is imperfect,
It lacks the knowledge of the sacred path.
For this reason, Aeon will stay living;
The king must summon He who knows the way.
79 Bafomet consults the prisoner king,
Imploring him to save all Me?’s kind.
But the king is hardened by his hatred,
Resolved to see them all consumed by flame.
79-1 Aeon had not felt betrayal’s toxin,
For this, he was defenseless to its sting.
Hatred was expression of his anguish.
He wished for death to end his suffering.
80 Again, the searing fires of Sol rage.
All the waters are evaporated.
The soils bake to seas of crackling stone.
The last of surface life is turned to ash.
80-1 Nestled in the shade of dying Vallis,
Nurtured in the sweltry condensation,
A bloom unfurls against the furnace flame—
The garden’s final blossom splendors Vê.
