Shackles Through Sand

They came over sea
Not far from our homes
Some claimed to have heard
Their voices in the night

I wait near the gate
One hand holds my sword
Beginning to regret
Leaving father's at home

Never fought for so much
Nor have I feared death
Fight or die with honor
The deity's request

Together we'll fight
Together we'll fall
My thoughts interrupted
By the sound of the call - A call to arms

Eerie silence 'mid the leafy shroud
Songbirds since departed
Soaring high 'neath thick clouds
Vultures know, bloodshed to come
And wait

A distance away stands tall
The enemy
Bellows their savage call

We collide at running speed
My shield locks with another
Both refuse to give way

My blade unable to free
Until my foe attempts to ground me
I see my chance

So close I can see his breath
I look into his eyes
And lunge forward

My blade penetrates his ribs
And reappears at the neck
He slides off my blade
Face contorted in pain

Rush over the corpse
Stab a man at my left
I meet my next fight
In the form of an axe

My blade locks in
Then knocks me back
I'm pushed over the corpse
And I fall to my knees

I breathe deeply
While I raise my shield
To block his strikes
And regain a foothold

As I raise my body
Under continuous blows
The axe splits my shield
And I fall face down, onto the ground

Laid upon the Earth
I intend to fight

Or take him with me unto death

My vision blurred
Yet around I see

A sight that befalls me
My dead and dying brethren

Those alive, are tied at the wrists
I release my sword, speaks its final word
As it hits the ground, then I too, am bound

Aching in the afternoon sun
Waiting long arduous hours

For a sign of hope
Nothing comes
We are grouped like

Cattle, made to walk the coast
Dragging our shackles

Through the sand

As we walk
A forest of standing spears
Their roots deep
Within the corpses

I find - the ideal long lived amongst my people
Escapes me
Though I should not, still I live a prisoner (Dragging my shackles through the sand)
Why I live, I do not know (As I drag my shackles through the sand)