We now return to your previously scheduled ponies. The Lay of the Old Wizards Verse 3: Trolls in the Dark (Darkness limiting their vision, the wizards follow closely behind their blue-clad guide. The thirsty grass sighs softly under their hooves. Gentle breeze slows to a halt. Something in the silence sends a chill up the black wizard's neck.) (The red wizard speaks.) Is something amiss to thee, my brother? Thine eyes dart to and fro. Thou must keep clear sight of our guide Lest thou lose the path he show. (The black wizard speaks.) I can barely see past mine own nose, my sister. And so of what I doth feel I do not know; Yet something is certainly suspicious, I fear, A feeling that groweth stronger as we go. (The blue wizard speaks.) Fear not, my brother: should any unseen threat Appear before us in the night, I, as thy leader, shall surely protect thee-- No matter how dire the plight! (The three wizards roll their eyes.) (The black wizard speaks.) Thy boasting bringeth no comfort, of course. (The blue wizard speaks.) Wherefore dost thou not trust me, my brother? Hast thou not heard of my many great quests? Of the many lands I hath discovered? For every word of encouragement I speak, With such anxious protest thou dost smother; I grow weary of thy nagging doubt--forget not That Her Highness trusteth me like no oth- (He trips.) (A voice from the darkness speaks.) Lo and behold, What have we here? A visitor or two? Nay, four! Adventurers come to our lands yet again! Company we so adore! The stamping of feet groweth near to the wizards. Figures marcheth from over the knolls. The guide hastily lifteth himself to his hooves. (The grey wizard speaks.) My brothers, stand fast! They are trolls! The beasts closeth in from every direction, From front and from rear and left and right. (The red wizard speaks.) 'Tis an ambush, my brothers! We are surrounded! If we cannot escape, then we will fight! The wizards focus their vision and might And choosing their targets, take aim. (The black wizard speaks.) Let us prepare a spell to drive them back! A troll's one weakness--flame! His horn aglow with crimson light, The black wizard conjureth a fiery arc To surround himself and his companions-- But lo, his spell unleasheth but a spark. The wizard repeateth his spell once or twice. (The black wizard speaks.) Wh-what is this? My magic, it's failed? His companions join in in desperation, But as before, it is to no avail. The trolls grin with excitement and raise their clubs, And down they come with a whack. Magic explorers fall one by one, All the world is cloaked in black. (Their magic somehow ineffective, the four unicorns are captured by the wild beasts. Dragged, unconscious, through the meadow and into the caves. The cauldron is prepared.)
[MENTION=5236]NarrowLeaf[/MENTION] For you. Cyanide Pt. 2: Dialogue (At this point in my life I think everything might just be an illusion. Nothing's real. I'm just sitting there. In a void of my own creation. Sights, sounds, and smells are all fabricated. My mind is an endless riddle, hidden in a puzzle, sealed away in Pandora's Box. Lives are all imaginary. Just dream remains.) Rolling through the gold-stained fields, the freshly charred dreams. The sky reeks of oblivion... amber snakebites. They seem to grow stronger as the field stretches on. Factory slag, a familiar scent. Is this pain? Doubt, loneliness, isolation... Lost in my own blindness. (I can't tell which way is up.) Perhaps this is how it is meant to be; Nothing is here. Nothing has ever existed. Blank slate. Cut the heartstrings. Enchanting curiosity, a force I cannot fight. A corpse sleeping on a bed of worms and shards of glass, Skull half-eaten, flesh wearing down to the bone A sight I cannot see. Peering through the yawning pit The telescope is deployed. Wrought iron lotus petals, Minnows in the air Bringers of doubt, bringers of pain. Unseen strangulation. Fisherman's filaments cast by faceless machines. (Is it him I wish to see?) Hearts unfelt. Tears undried. Is this all I have ever felt? Is this all there can ever be? Cobbled memories, blood and sorrow Wandering the void between past and future. The tired world spins beneath me. No end is in sight. Darkened dementia. Doom in disguise. Disgusting yet dainty, a dance in the doldrums, Devoid of desire. Dust-walker's dream: Enduring the dirt and disease and dross, Dining on death and decay. Cloud and corpse are drawn together Railroads with no conductor. Words of the living? Or unspoken thoughts? Blind illusions... as all have been. Silence the voices. (Quoth the raven: "Nevermore.")
And now for the latest from everyone's favorite blue guy. The Lay of the Old Wizards Verse 4: Cave of Crystals (The wizards wake to the scent of oil. A throbbing pain grinds in their heads. Iron bars drape over their vision, Orange and azure light illuminating the dungeon.) The grey wizard riseth first in the jail, His head and body doth ache. His companions lay on the gravel around him. He tappeth their shoulders and giveth them a shake. (The grey wizard whispers.) My brothers, awake. Are you all well? We seem to yet have been spared. But lo, this cave smelleth of oil and charcoal-- A meal is being prepared. (The red wizard whispers.) What has happened... a cave? Iron bars? This place reeketh of despair... Yes, now I remember... the meadow of darkness. This must be the trolls' lair. (The grey wizard whispers.) What are we to do, brothers? Our time could be short... We must unlock this cage. And once we do, we can be certain That our foes we will have to engage. (The blue wizard whispers.) But will that be possible? This darkness is more Than at first meeteth the eye; It douseth not only light, but flame... Any spell that I try! I've cast my strongest unlock spell And yet these doors defy, As though my magic is being absorbed-- There must be some reason why...! (The black wizard whispers.) I can hazard a guess. The reason is simple: 'Tis that our "guide" is a fool. (The red wizard whispers.) My brother, please! This is hardly the time-- (The blue wizard speaks.) And what dost thou mean, thou ignorant mule? Art thou forgetting the simplest things Thou hast learned in school? Thou art the youngest of us, my brother. "Respect thine elders," that is the rule! (The black wizard speaks.) And is this thy rebuttal? Ridiculous! Canst thou not answer for this situation, at least? We have been captured, brother! And are about to be eaten! The main course to monsters' feast! Speak not to me of age and of pride, 'Tis time thy posturing ceased! 'Tis time thou takest responsibility: 'Tis because of thee we have been captured by beasts! (The grey wizard speaks.) Enough, enough! Both of you, silence! Forget not the predicament we're in! First and foremost we must make our escape; If you must argue, save it till then! The blue and black wizards scoff But shout at one another no more. Red wizard breathing a sigh of relief, The black wizard steppeth forth to examine the door. (The black wizard speaks.) Thine unlock spells fail? It seemeth that thou Hast lost thy wits whilst torpid. Inspect this lock more closely, my friend: Thou hast forgotten--trolls are stupid. (He taps the cell door with his hoof. It swings open with ease.) The wizards look to each other, surprised. The blue guide cleareth his throat. He maketh his way out of the cell with a frown As though hearing his companion silently gloat. Trotting carefully through the shimmering tunnel With no other direction to go, The explorers tread the corridor Approaching the fiery glow. (The red wizard whispers.) Say, my brothers, is something not odd About these crystals in the walls? If light cannot exist in this place, How doth they glow at all? (The grey wizard whispers.) I have seen gems of this kind once or twice, Though never in numbers so vast. Water sapphires, I believe they are called, And whenever it is dark, a light they cast. (The black wizard whispers.) Light without magic is nothing unusual, Not unlike lightning or flame. Perhaps it is magic that is stifled in this place, But other lights can exist all the same. (The grey wizard whispers.) Hold... If non-magical light can exist-- (The red wizard whispers.) But spells in this place come undone-- (The blue wizard whispers.) Then something in this place must suppress all magic-- (All.) Including the magic which raiseth the sun! (The red wizard whispers.) Aye, 'tis now clear! The sunlight, our spells, Something doth stifle it all. We must find the source and--Hold, I hear footsteps! Silence, and hide... Here cometh a troll. (The cauldron having reached the perfect temperature, The cook goes to fetch his ingredients. The wizards take cover in an alcove, safe from his searching eyes. Begin the hunt.)
Look, up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's a poem without a number or colon in its title! :O :O This too is an extension of the story of the walking cloud. Funny how I'm practically writing this story backwards now. Poison Born (Stepping deeper into the mind of mist. Lost in the waves.) (Telescopic vision Feelings unknown, Throes of anguish, All life is a foreign language. A futile struggle, Numbers assaulted by forces from without. Lines, circles, constructs of the mind which sees only perfection... Untouched by the fingers of the iron ants. Machine in itself, built with its own tools, its own experiment. Paradox to its core. Silver screens filter its vision, Crystal tears concealed by white noise, The substance of its existence. Here it watches the corpse, Observes and documents her daily occurrences. (The most boring show on earth.) Iron melting to stone She feeds the sand with her rotting brain. (Words were spoken... but were they illusions? Constructs of an idle mind? An infinity separates their voices, a cosmic quarantine. Pain of nonexistence.) Only the latest of many observations. There will always be others; A scientific mind never stops questioning. A machine whose flow it controls. (The thinker writes.) Tracing backward through the scars on her skin. They all seem to lead to the same place-- The same as all the others. Soul grinders. (It thought trials were meant to be survived.) Fearing the light, the clenching fists of judgment, Yet always wanting more. It has started to wear her through... It only takes one sound to break the silence, One glimmer to banish blindness. A single gasp can drown a lung... One word can end a life. (How did it turn out this way? There must be some explanation. Step back. Observe. Predict and conclude. One experiment to cure the ignorance. Will it realize its true form? The final piece of the puzzle appears on black wings.)
Here's a guy we haven't checked in on in quite a while. Wonder what he's been--oh. Life Imitates Art (Spoke the dragonfly The Tribunal has completed its investigation. It is an interesting case. This is not the first time we have handled this type of situation, Evidence which contradicts the facts. (Facts are all we are concerned with.) Clear sight, vision into days long past Has surrendered nothing to our searching eyes. Memory and conscience clear. We affirm the judgment below: Your husband is hereby found innocent. (She speaks.) At last the trial is done. I feel a great weight lifted from my shoulders, As Atlas when he had finally shaken off the sky. My love will be returned to me at last, Clean of mind and body. It was an impossible feeling. Words which refuse to be spoken. The mere idea that he could be driven to such atrocity ANATHEMA. Could this really be him? (Deception has always been his profession. Hate is a fatal disease.) Absolute faith is held in the truth-seers. Clairvoyance, a gift rarely given. (No one knows how the gods choose these souls.) The power to see what once was; To gaze into a man's past, a man's heart. Obfuscating lies are made as panes of glass before them, Deceit is as smoke in the wind. Months spent in doubt, never knowing what the seers would reveal. A bloodstained past, a wickedness I was never shown. The shadows of my trust veiled the figure: A man of bones with black and bleeding eyes... Tongue of venom and fangs of steel... Wire fingers hovering from unseeable limbs... Hanging upside-down in the darkness and curling his hands over his wide open mouth Chanting the forbidden rhymes. (This nightmare returned every night. The vision--clear vision--of the man I loved.) Would the nightmare be brought to life? Would the truth-seers find my worst fears? Would the man who I thought I had been the first to unmask Be yet wearing another face? (Deception has always been his profession. You were a fool to have trusted him when no one else would.) These questions, biting questions, Assaulting my heart every step of the way. One heart torn in two Torn by the fangs of the truth. The truth has found him--has found me. (Truth is all we are concerned with.) The sight of the Tribunal is the ink of reality, Evidence which contradicts the facts. He is released... The nightmare dispelled. My love has returned. His smile is mine, Clear of conscience and the ashes of fear. Visions of this horror become as shattered panes of glass behind us, Distrust is as smoke in the wind. This is and has always been the man I loved, And now the Tribunal has seen it as well. Let it be heard that truth shall always prevail, Let it be seen full in the sun's rays. Let our two hearts become one again, Let us regain lost days. (Deception has always been his profession. Death is the greatest lie of all.)
Gosh, I really can't get my head around this one. I guess it's about dying, more or less. Perhaps disease is involved. It sort puts me in mind of a fever-induced dream of leaving the world. But there's also this other man...
Twinkle wants more cookies. lol You're pretty close. Death is one element here; the narrator has "left the world" in some sense, just not literally. Glad you're thinking about the text though. That's always what I go for.
A journey of a thousand miles and all that! One of my more straightforward works, but I hope you enjoy it anyway. Human v1.1 Another gem perishes. Another door slams. Greed, war, all the old weaknesses of our species... Food for the four horrors. Their roots reach deep into these hearts. (Whether growing from within or without, we cannot tell.) Suffocation... slowly dying. Slowly realizing... Slowly open our eyes. Our poisoned hearts show their faces, breaking free from their leashes... Tired of waiting for a chance to breathe. No change can come of idling, of waiting for the world to discover our infection. Rebuild. Rebuild. Rebuild. We must destroy, for only then can we create anew. We turn to our neighbors with fiery eyes And bid one another farewell. (Wake into my world... Crack the sky with anger.) The circuits bleed... Oxygen leaks from our atmosphere, Fleeing from what it has seen... Fleeing through holes we have punctured. We seal our walls with gunpowder. (It seems to be all we have left to live on.) Dance of fire and steel, Venomous tendrils grow ever deeper. Ever stronger. Bite and tear. Grip, now squeeze... Choke them tighter. Now don't let go. It just might soothe the pain inside. Running this race for as long as we can remember. We begin to collapse from exhaustion. (Turning left, then left again... perhaps we are just dizzy.) Step back... breathe in... breathe out. Let awareness catch up to us... Only when we see what we have done, The fruits of our own vines, Will we have the capacity to reflect... (Mirror world The disease has taken us... We are no more. We have no pulse, no brainwaves, No ancestors, no descendants. True orphans of our own will. The end has come all too soon... Predictions are worthless until they come true. Can we engineer the vaccine? Kill the past and leave no trace... We burn the idols of our past kings Spitting on their graves as we pass by. All over the world, all over our world, All over ourselves, These wounds must be healed. Sew the gashes... break the chains. (We own our past. Our past does not own us.) Let the greenery take what we leave behind. Let the gems crumble... Let the doors rot. We don't need them anymore. (Feed the harvest.) Turn our eyes forward. Only fog lies ahead. Take one step, then another. We don't know where we're going... (We may never even get there...) But we have stayed here long enough. We will move on.
Hmm, when you write a poem you clearly have specific concepts in mind. This is very much contrary to most poetry I write and read, which is just a hazy blur of moods and surreal imagery. It's bugging me a little that I have to think about this rather than just feel it, but it's good to get out of my safety zone every now and then. So I guess this one is about the phenomena of life. The poem tells that life is a strange and meaningless phenomena. A pointless struggle. The binaric code (or language) of DNA gives form to organisms, which are then battered into shapeless chaos again by the external world. Consciousnes and (an illusion of) individuality arises from dead matter, only to return to the soil again after a short existence. It is about a rational and scientific approach towards the mysteries of the self-maintaining system of nature. Was it meant to be as nihilistic as I made it out to be? I'm not sure if this is exactly what you had in mind, but it's still sort of funny... Right now I am working on a movie script to apply for filmschool, which very much deals with the same concepts.
You're clearly starting to understand my poetry. XD Yes, I do write around concepts, but to me, poetry is mostly about being that hazy blur of moods and surreal imagery, because if the ideas were clear and coherent, it'd be more suited to prose, lol. Again I'm glad you're trying to reinterpret the weirdness back into semi-tangible ideas. Even if you get something completely different from what I had in mind, it shows that you're thinking about what you read and I like that. In some ways it's even more interesting than the story I planned. XD Oddly enough, your interpretation is off the mark... but only for Poison Born. Other works related to it (especially the ones in the Reincarnation cycle) do deal with the nihilistic theme where life is a long, difficult struggle, and it's ultimately pointless because we all lose it in the end. A handful of my works take this idea and mold it into storylines where characters experience for themselves just how meaningless life is; some of them fight it and try to bring meaning to their lives, while others--like the glass corpse here--give in and die. Poison Born is a continuation of the story that started in The Heartless Abstract and Otherworld and Ice Skating. Specifically, it's about the walking cloud as it begins to understand the meaning of the magic word "cyanide". The "foreign language" line isn't about the DNA code that makes living things, but the experiences of life itself; the walking cloud doesn't understand what it's like to be alive, so its observation of living creatures is like being spoken to in a foreign language. The poem goes on to describe the walking cloud as a machine or a scientist, because it deals only in information and is unaffected by anything we might call empathy--only curiosity and logic. So it writes down what it sees in the glass corpse and forms a theory on what the cause of her suffering and death might have been... and the answer is closer than it realizes. (As an aside, though, Symphony Silent does make a DNA analogy. The lines "Cries inaudible by some grand failure... twisting, turning ladders to the thing they call despair" describe the defective DNA that rendered the whale's voice inaudible.) Also, I wanna see your movie or script when it's ready.
Thanks for the interest but I'm writing the script in Dutch. The story more or less goes like this: Spoiler: let me tell you the tale of my people A woman lives alone in the woods. One day she digs up a boi from out of the forest soil. He has three horns growing out of his head, and his skin is fully covered with black dirt. The woman takes the boi to her cabin to take care of him. That night she dreams of her little sister, who turned into a bird and left her when she was young. The next morning the woman wakes up to find that the boi has turned into a young man. She gets mad with him, and chases him out. Then her younger sister appears, wearing a bird costume. Later the young man returns to her cabin, to find that the woman has killed herself with a knife. He carries her body to the place where she dug him up. It starts to rain. The rain washes the dirt from his skin, and the dirt crawls onto the skin of the dead woman. She is now covered with black soil, like he was. He then burries her on the place where she dug him up. The rain stops, and there's a rainbow. He goes back to the cabin, and finds the younger sister there, crying. She takes off her bird mask, and starts to smile at him. Then she disappears under the woman's bed. The blood on the bed has become rainbow-colored. The young man then goes to the bathroom, and turns on the shower. A heavenly beam of light comes out of the shower head, and he dissolves into it. The end. So deep. Also I'll put up a bundle I finished a while back, if you care to read.
That... sounds like something I would write. I wish I were on the project lol. What kinda bundle is it? Whatever it is I wanna read it.
NOPE, I'M NOT DONE. A Change of Season (Another night. Another wasted journey. Sealed in a space of silent noise, The same sound waves over and over... Numbers on a screen are all that tell me time is passing.) Wheels are stuck, Boredom struck, The lifeless fingers wither and wilt; Silent words, Silent herds, My only solace have built. Crystal screens, Crystal dreams, These scenes I'm left to ponder; Every day, Every grey, Forgotten woods I wander... (Nothing is left... What does stone turn to when it's lost its life...?) Mobius slope, Vanishing hope, This endless looping trend... Start with gladness, Decay to sadness, A beginning with no end. I've breathed the dark. It's left its mark. But will I again give in? With a change of season, A change of reason, Can I purge this poison within? (A blank diary yawns before me. This is who I am. This is what's left of me... and where it all began... after endless hours... The one toxic word still rings in my mind... And he's right... I've given up before. I'll probably give up again. But there will be only one way to know for sure. I owe myself at least this much. I'll give it hell... I'll squeeze the blood from my own veins if I have to... Because then there will be nothing left of me to die.) Disease and host, The clockwork ghost, Prepare for your resurrection: Resurrect my new you, And resurrect myself, too... Once more in the wrong direction. (What would you give for a new idea? To paint your world with a new color? Speak and I will listen.)
Whew, biggest verse yet by far. I certainly hope it was worth the wait. The Lay of the Old Wizards Verse 5: The Tunnels of Foal Mountain (This game is not for everyone. An unfamiliar obstacle course Against a force of superior strength and number. Hide and seek with lives in the balance; Ready or not, here they come.) (The black wizard whispers.) It seemeth we've escaped their grip for now, But whence do we go from here? The source of the darkness that cloaketh this region Certainly must be near. (The blue wizard whispers.) And we must watch our backs, of course, And keep out of the beasts' gaze, They will capture us again should we wander lost, For I know not the way through this cavern's maze. (The red wizard whispers.) We ought to choose a place to begin If we are to search thoroughly. I suggest we find an exit first; For from there, if we're spotted, we'll know whence to flee. (The grey wizard whispers.) A sure enough plan, my sister, although It doth no good quite yet I must say, As we were brought into this cave whilst unconscious; We've no idea where outside lay. (The blue wizard whispers.) Hold a moment... I've an idea. Should we find a troll and hide, And quietly follow his steps in the dark, Then through the caves he will be our guide. (The black wizard whispers.) What dost thou mean? (The blue wizard whispers.) I mean that should we stay out of sight, The trolls will begin to think we've escaped, That from these caves we've already made flight. They'll harry and haste to the cavern's maw, To pursue us again in the night, But we shall watch them from the shadows, And out from the tunnels they'll lead us forthright. (The red wizard whispers.) Ah, and then not only will we know The quickest way through these mazes, But the beasts that chase us will all wander aimlessly Searching for us in the wrong places! (The grey wizard whispers.) 'Tis a wise idea indeed, I say. And lo, a troll appeareth in sight. Let us put this plan to the test; All silent, and let us step light. (The wizards' steps carry them to an overlook. The sapphires' glow lights the cavern below: Five corridors meet in one chamber, And the overlook carries on, spiraling down the chamber wall to join them. A troll marches out from one of the tunnels. Two others soon follow behind him.) (The lead troll speaks.) What is this now? My belly is roaring! Supper should already be done, And now they tell us the meat has escaped! Which way could it have run? (The second troll speaks.) Who knoweth? Not I, but they can't be far! (The third troll speaks.) But could they have escaped our cave? (The lead troll speaks.) They escaped our jail, so mayhaps it be true. They say ponies be as smart as they be brave... (The second troll speaks.) We will find them! I swear on me nose! Never could a pony find its way Through all these tunnels all on its own! Ponies not smart as the old stories say! (The third troll speaks.) Thou hearest the boss, we go where he say! The meat hath escaped, no doubt! Now we chase our supper, and we catch it for sure! Once we... (It pauses and glances at the four other tunnels branching from the chamber.) ...Boss, which way be out? (The trolls scratch their heads and look around the chamber. The lead troll counts the tunnels on one hand and its allies on the other. It miscounts many times.) (The lead troll speaks.) Bah, enough of this, I'm starving! Thou takest that tunnel, and thou, that one! We split up and search as far as we can! Smart or not, we trolls they cannot outrun! (The two followers obey and make haste down their tunnels. The lead troll chooses a third tunnel at random and hurries in. The wizards wait till the beasts' footsteps fade, then make their way down into the chamber.) (The red wizard speaks.) ...I say, I did not expect that. (The grey wizard speaks.) Methinks not one of us did. (The blue wizard speaks.) Perhaps if we too split and follow all three... Yes, the path to the outside cannot remain hid-- (The black wizard speaks.) Let us go this way. (He gestures to the tunnel none of the trolls chose.) (The blue wizard speaks.) ...And art thou so certain? Hast thou already explored this cave? Come on then, explain thyself. Thy knowledge and wisdom we crave. (The black wizard speaks.) 'Tis as I've said before, of course, That trolls are simply dim. (The blue wizard speaks.) And that giveth you the right to choose Our path forward, simply on your whim? (The black wizard speaks.) 'Tis no whim, but caution. Think on it a bit: If the trolls know not their own lair, Then following them will take us to and fro, But to no exit of which they be aware. There be also a risk we will encounter their kin, But down this tunnel, there are no beasts to beware, And together we will be safer than we will separately... 'Twill be altogether a safer affair. (The blue wizard speaks.) But thou art not certain that will lead us outside! Or anywhere safe for that matter! (The red wizard whispers.) Lower thy voice! Let us not forget That the trolls could be listening for our chatter! (A voice from the overlook speaks.) They came from this way! The voices of ponies! Let us fill our bellies at last! Let us catch them, my brothers! This time once and for all! (The black wizard whispers.) If thou hast a better idea, speak fast! (The blue wizard whispers.) Th-this way! 'Tis likely vacant as well-- (He gestures to the tunnel the first three trolls came from. A fourth troll appears at that very moment.) (The troll speaks.) And who dost thou call 'vacant'? (The blue wizard clears his throat.) ...Aye, 'twas a mistake... Thou seest, of course, what I meant-- (The troll swings his club. The blue wizard ducks and the attack narrowly misses.) (The blue wizard speaks.) We fly! (The wizards gallop down the tunnel the black wizard chose. The troll from the other tunnel gives chase. He is followed by two more from the overlook. This pursuit continues until the tunnel splits apart once more. Glancing quickly between the three branching corridors, the black wizard notices that one is darker than the others. He bears in its direction.) (The black wizard speaks.) My brothers, hold--ah! (One of the trolls brings its club down upon him. He dives further into the dark tunnel to escape.) (The red wizard speaks.) Brother? My brother! Away from him, thou foul beast! (The other two trolls soon catch up. With no time to aid their companion, the other wizards are forced down another tunnel. The black wizard scrambles back to his hooves.) (The troll speaks.) Alone, we are--thou art already mine! Thou wilt prove fine food for our feast! (The black wizard speaks.) Oh, is that all? Thou wishest to eat? Why, I was not aware this was a chase. 'Twas simply game to pass the time, I thought Was the reason thou hast brought me to this place. But to catch me thyself? Ha! What an amusing idea! Canst thou truly hope to keep pace? Or art thou truly as dim as the old stories say? Never challenge a horse to a race! (The black wizard dashes off and the troll pursues him. The sapphires lighting the tunnel grow fewer and further between, their light dimmer as the tunnel stretches on. As wizard's view darkens, he begins to feel a breeze--a gentle wind carrying the scent of fresh air and vegetation. Though relieved for a moment, the ground soon vanishes from before him. He manages to skid to a halt. The rattle of loose gravel tumbling down the cliff grips his heart. Panting, he turns to face the troll.) (The troll speaks.) Oh, is that all? No more tricks? No more talk? Then 'tis time we ended this "game"! To the cauldron with thee--and fear not, my little pony, Thy friends will soon join thee all the same! (The troll gives his club several broad swings as he approaches. The black wizard backs away hesitantly. As the beast's weapon comes to bear, in a moment of panic, the wizard winces backward and falls. Tumbling down like the loose stones before him, he fights desperately for a place to grab hold. Soon a final plunge foils this effort as well. A brief freefall and the river below swallows him whole. Bruised and panicked, the wizard thrashes frantically in the water until his senses return. He thrusts himself to the surface, where the river allows him a gasp of air. His movements become more controlled as he regains his bearings. He swims to the riverbank and lifts himself out.) (The black wizard speaks.) Blast... Blast! How could this happen? This cannot... cannot be the end! Separated from my companions, And they With those ravenous monsters must contend... Hold... this place, it seemeth familiar. A place our leader may hath penned... If this be the river surrounding the meadow we had crossed... 'Tis unlikely... but perhaps... upon her I could depend. (A place he may have seen in his leader's journal. If this is the river he suspects, one whose current runs north to south, Then there may be hope yet. Shaking the pain from his flesh and coughing the water from his lungs, he hurries on upriver. There just may be...)
