by Simon Temple
more to salvage,
Some remnants and some totally destroyed,
And the saved were safe,
And the destroyed were banished far away,
None had the hearts to yellow a-kins,
And the undergrounds laughed no more.
But the undergrounds were not to give in,
And a new undergrounder came,
Its name never spoken,
But the undergrounds nicked and deemed,
It is the Fearful.
And at that, the Groxians shuddered,
And young sons and daughters were turned in,
And Noitrocks prayed to continue,
The Fearful was not to the Ancients' Ancients,
And when the knowledge-abled left,
The Fearful set into movement,
To enslave the Grox.
And here again the Groxians shuddered and cried,
But the strong hearted, they begged Noitrocks to continue,
And he continued, with throat uncleared,
The banished were given new faces,
The Fearful bade them to return,
And they returned to the clan-houses,
And to their “distant brothers”,
The village cheered for them,
And showed them the Object,
And though the undergrounders will cowered when shown,
Radiant gift of the sun,
These were not of the underground,
Being of formerly innocent hearts,
They did not flee,
And the Fearful bade them to take,
And the Grox shrieked and saw,
Their 'distant brothers' fleeing,
With the Object burning in their blackened hands.
And soon after,
Ancients' Ancients turned yellow-beard one by one,
And the youngest of them, Coollorrs,
Bid for the able to give chase,
And the Grox ran after their sun object,
And the banished became unhanded,
And the fearful bade them to toss the object,
Into the enchanted wind, to be borne away,
And the Grox screamed and cried,
The object flew under clouds of darkness,
And none of them came back,
Only news from the birds,
Who screeched of black hands,
As big as twenty birds one on another,
Which dragged them beneath.
And the undergrounds laughed and laughed,
Cheered merrily engrossed in entertainment,
And when the ancient, Ccollorrs,
Came home not,
The remainders fled,
Towards the waters,
Under shelters by foam and bubbles salt,
Many days from home,
And lived there for a while.
And the Groxians sighed,
Their hearts at rest when remembered,
Of their new home,
Near the beach, near the forest,
But far from home,
And Noitrocks begged for them,
Bear with me,
The tale must end, he said,
And he continued.
And there the remaining ancients' ancients,
They turned yellow-beard when the first cry,
Rang the new home,
And the cries of mourners,
As ancients' ancients joined the sun's sister,
And the next generation came,
And life was once again, even for a short while,
Of the past, before the Fearful,
Before the undergrounds.
But once again, the undergrounds were unsatiable,
And the Fearful once again instilled fear,
And brought the dark clouds,
But the ancient dream weaver, Coolasz,
He dreamt of their sun that spoke,
Of the tale of sun's land,
And told the Grox,
But the clouds were dark and,
Borned flame on their backs,
And came the followers and the heedless.
And Noitrocks cried,
And the Groxians sighed,
And Coolasz, the dream-weaver,
He heard the sun spoke and listened,
And Seron bade the Groxians to sleep,
The wind is still eastward, he said,
But Coolasz cried out and asked,
What of the direction,
that night of the borne-away,
And Noitrocks searched his library,
And all his scrolls,
And gave the answer,
Nay, the only tale of the borne-away,
Only the tale I told was of it,
From the fire-side of our beach-home,
And he asked the reason,
And Coolasz told him of the sun's message,
She bade us welcome to her world,
And he said, she welcome us,
Then the object,
Be it where it may be,
Borned by the wind and clouds,
Guided by the sun's sister,
To the new land.
And all Groxians cheered and agreed,
That could be a reason well, they said,
And after two days and two nights,
Noitrocks ended his tale and slept,
And the rest of the fleet,
Slept with the lantern,
Sun light that shone once more,
Within their hearts.
As exact as time, rose the sun,
And the Groxians woke and saw the west,
And they cried in terror,
For behind camouflaging clouds and fog,
Dancing on bubbles and foams,
Ships with masts of the underground,
And crew of the heedless,
And every Groxian went to Sharkon,
And equipped and waited for the ancients,
And Crardoe sent reconnaissance,
And news of terror returned,
The fearful had armed the heedless,
And the Groxians rowed harder,
They were heartless to kill their own,
and they rowed harder,
And the heedless fleet chased them,
Through high sun and high moon,
Ever on their tail, their masts flying high,
And always the Groxians rowed ever harder,
And always the heedless followed,
And the Groxians began to run out of food,
Shrunger, the female ancient, she told of food,
Only to feed one week,
And still no news of the eastern land,
And still the heedless followed relentlessly.
Alas, the supplies ended faster,
And fish had to be caught,
But the heedless were following,
And when the children cried,
The fleet stopped and armed themselves,
But the heedless came head on,
And fired the machine of the underground,
It screamed deafening,
And the sky had to shut its ears,
And all the fish were frightened off,
And the first Groxian ship sprang a leak,
And the Groxians cried,
And let fly the arrows.
But the ancients saw Gricklock,
One of the heedless leader,
He was hairless,
And he had a black helm over his head,
And a black gem protruding on the left eye,
And sucked in light that entered,
And all behind him,
It was a night a-veiled,
Though the time was evening.
And all the arrows that flew,
They disappeared in the black night,
And the Groxians cried surprised,
And they turned to the ancients,
And the ancients looked at themselves,
And a voice spoke,
It came from Gricklock's mout
h,
But not of Gricklock's voice,
And it spoke,
Grox, follow us back to our land,
There is no land in the east, only water,
Come and we will give you,
Your rightly deserve.
And Coolasz turned red,
And screamed back in thunder,
We take no terms of the bewitched,
Of the traitors, and of the undergrounds,
And the Groxians cowered,
And Coolasz continued,
Return to your plane, be banished to hell,
And the Groxians were shocked,
Of the plane of unspoken,
And Gricklock's eye-piece,
It turned black with darkness,
and dark with blackness,
And Gricklock screamed un-Groxly,
The wrath of the underground be brought down,
And he gave the signal to his fleet,
Of ships of hell, of crew of heedless,
Of machines of wickedness,
And they flew at the Groxians.
But the time arrived for the moon,
The sun's sister,
And she came and the Grox looked at her,
And she looked back,
And the heedless, unbothered,
Charged in ships of hell,
Of black and hard on horizon,
And Kalarntar, he who mixes,
He threw the summoning powder,
And called forth whatever good creatures,
And the creatures surfaced from the sea,
Of all sizes and shapes,
But they were not of good, yet they were not of evil,
And they upturned both ships,
And sent the heedless and Groxians drowning.
But the sun's sister,
She sang for the creatures,
To be fair and just,
And to be good,
And the creatures heeded,
and went after the heedless,
Though their ships be hardier,
And darker,
They overturned still,
And the heedless fleet,
They disbanded and flew towards everywhere.
And soon it came to the know,
Crardoe, he saw the ships escaping,
And the ship that held Gricklock,
Hurried to the east,
Faster than the Grox behold,
But Crardoe was the ancient,
And the ancients asked,
Why of the east?
And soon they realised, they were right,
And the people knew,
The land of the east,
A land of the undergrounds,
And they let out the word,
We row quickly now,
No time to spare.
But the remaining heedless,
Those of sunken,
And those that stood,
They revenged the creatures of the sea,
Their weapons of hell,
That turned living into shells of hollowness,
And the creatures could not run,
The weapons that held their stare,
And Seron commanded,
We must not run from our saviours,
Though there be a stake,
Turn back and ready your weapon,
And the Groxians turned and sent,
Glinting arrows to the heedless,
But the heedless fought off the arrows,
And slashed the Groxians,
They fought in sea, they fought on boat,
And the heedless were dark,
But the moon gave Groxians light,
And according to Ssoroth, the star gazer,
He told of the appearance of the stars,
Of the Northern Orb constellation,
And the Groxians dispelled the darkness,
And the heedless were dark no more,
But they were not souls,
And the shells crumbled and blown into the sea,
and the Groxians cried,
And the creatures of the sea watched.
And the king of the creatures,
He of magnificient skin and size,
Asked of their purpose,
In the far and deep sea,
Where no merchants sailed,
And Noitrocks told him,
As they sailed slowly,
Of the tale of the sun's land,
And sighed when finished,
And the heedless were not left out ,
And the king answered,
Perhaps we know of something,
that might aid you,
One of our babies,
She saw, one night of darkness,
A moon that travels by the wind,
Though the real moon be shrouded,
Unreal clouds of darkness,
And the moon that flew,
It was heading the east,
And our legends say,
After many days of journey,
Through deep and shallow,
Through unreckoned storms,
And through dangerous beast of the sea,
You may find a land,
Of the east and of the sun.
And Croos was asking,
Have ever been there,
And the king answered sadly,
Nay, there being many who did not return,
And many that were grounded,
Of the false land,
And the kind added,
Let the sea present you an item and food,
As token of friendship and thanks,
And the wave washed to surface,
A flag of wondrous design and insignia,
Of true originality and uniqueness,
And the king asked that this flag,
Be it preserved, for it will guide you,
Through storms of thunder,
And lightning of rumble,
And high it flew, on the fore ship,
And the creatures returned,
And the Groxians flew the flag,
And sailed east.
And soon as foretold,
Shallow water and sandy plains was sighted,
And the ancients discussed the solution,
And Crardoe saw the deep sea,
After a fifth of a league,
And he saw a trail of darkness,
Across the ever-length of grounds,
And the ancients needed urgency,
And then Kalarntar spoke,
I can get our fleet across,
On one condition,
And he named his condition,
As a secret be his method,
And the ancients spoke,
Of their fear of remnant of the underground,
But urgency is again priority,
And all the Groxians landed and walked the false land,
Across the sand and away from the trail,
And they blindfolded their eyes,
And turned their backs,
And Kalarntar and his apprentice, Shrarntar,
They brought the fleet across the sand,
Of a fifth of a league long,
And they took the rest of the night,
And then they called the Groxians.
And the ships were across,
Safe on deep waters,
And all Groxians boarded,
Each having their own minds,
And sailed towards the east,
After a trail of darkness,
And the next day, it rained,
Of drops of stone,
And the Groxians took shelter,
But ever onward to the east,
Oblivious of the crying sky.
And amidst the stones,
There sighted huge monsters,
Of numerous arms,
Of unumbered heads,
Of countless eyes,
But the flag ever flew,
And the creature watched,
One by one,
&n
bsp; And the Groxians watched,
Hands by hands,
And left unplundered.
And after many days of stone-raining,
Came lightning and thunder,
Of the sky cracking and breaking,
And they came upon planks and some bodies,
Of the heedless,
But their count were too little and the planks too few,
And they knew the heedless were still sailing,
But the thundering and shrieking sky,
It went on for as many days,
But the flag of safe journey,
It was flying high,
But when it flew north,
The ancients turned north,
And when it flew south,
The ancients turned south,
But the general direction was always east,
The current being of trickness,
And they sailed into bright sky.
And here the memory of Grox land,
It returned with unwilling happiness,
The sky was blue,
The sun was smiling,
And the sea was calm,
And nowhere to be seen,
The trail of darkness that disappeared,
And after many more days of hot sun,
And some days of slight rain,
The evident features of green came into view.
And the Groxians clambered to the front,
And they stared,
Eyes opening wide to fill in the infinite space,
And there laid,
A wide expanse of green trees towering high,
And beyond the roof of trees,
Lay peaks that stretched across the horizon,
And every Groxian asked,
Where shall the anchor.
And then the flag flew south,
And the ancients turned south,
And soon, they came upon an opening,
Of the land and ventured into the gulf,
And came upon a deep gorge,
Two high peaks on both sides,
And in the middle, the narrow water was still,
And the flag flew east,
And the east was the gorge,
And the ancients discussed,
And the aviary ancient, Crardoe,
He talked to the birds and learnt more.
Of the people of darkness,
Slipped through the narrow pass,
And disappeared in the hills,
And Crardoe told the people,
And they shuddered once more,
And prepared once more,
And cautiously they sailed their ships into the pass,
They called the Shuddering Pass,
And shuddered no more,
On the other side,
Lay an expanse of sea,
But the beach of the sides,
They held forest of virgins.
And as they slowly admired the new land,
The heedless of the last few boats reappeared,
That escaped the creatures of the sea,
And attacked the Groxians,
And boarded their ships,
And let a-flailed weapons of hell,
And the Groxians were surprised,
And lost some men,
But they reacted quickly,
And gave a fight,
Their love for their soul-less brothers gone,
And they fought while the ships sailed aimlessly,
And the day ended and the second day ended as well.
And at last, the ships ran into the northern beach,
And where the river Pockrew, the soul-less, met the sea,
The fighting turned inland,
And the heedless lost,
And by virtue of Crisgard,
Which the archery ancient, Crowdew let fly,
The symbolic arrow of archery,
A descended artifact,
And Crisgard hit Gricklock's gem-eye,
And split in two,
And Gricklock screamed and fled to the north,
Bleeding and dying,
And the rest of the Groxians chased,
Though they were not far behind,
The heedless fled and disappeared.
And finding no trace of them,
The Groxians found a forest of oaks,
Just like their former home,
And quickly returned to their ships,
And burrying the dead and the soul-less,
The Groxians brought their own dead,
And they destroyed the ships,
Filled with blood of darkness,
And went into the interior,
And the sage, Noitrocks,
He named the day of the full moon,
As the first day of year-one.
It was Bawmil, the ancient tracker,
Who first saw the oaken haven,
And so became the name,
Of the forest that the Groxians lived,
And it was filled with fruits and berries,
And was scurrying with game,
And Plockard took to task,
Crossock, his teacher, being stabbed and yellowed,
He brought out plans of Crossock,
And directed the building of clan-houses,
And directed the building of village-halls,
And the Groxians were happy at last,
The borned began to grow quickly,
The wounded began to heal quickly,
And the sadness that was the past.
And the Groxians thanked the sun,
And thanked the moon,
And everything that helped them,
And rejoiced in their new home,
And when the year-two came,
The clan-houses were ready,
And the village halls were ready,
And every Groxian went to the bonfire,
And under the roof of Bawmil,
The peaks of white to the north,
And the Groxians sang,
Haarohe's song of the Grox and the sun.
Grox, Grox, Grox, cried the sun,
Join hands and Grox,
Set away frays and Grox,
Say aye and Grox,
For I am the sun and you are my children.
O mighty sun, cried the Grox,
Giver of hope,
Saviour of Grox,
We heed you, Aye,
For you are the sun and we are the children.
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