With a poisoned blade and a list of names I stabbed and slashed and made my fame For gold, I took lives free of blame In the city of Gamotia
My sword was keen, my armor thick No fighter’s thrust or wizard’s trick Or curse from priest, or thieving pick Could pierce my heart of stone
So off one day I rode and rode Into a dungeon’s maw I strode Some beast to worry, bait, and goad Then kill, to claim a bounty
Then down a crooked hallway crept Across a spiked canyon leapt Into a chamber, phantom-swept There sat my newest prey A hissing demon made of bone A rotted tunic, eyes that shone Regal, sat on silver throne A zombie king, I reckoned
It made no difference—I’d been paid A killer’s contract had been made This ghoul’s head, severed, would be laid On my retainer’s table
Then up he sprang and drew a scroll And with a voice dry-dark as coal Began a chant that pierced my soul And froze me where I stood
I wore two rings one carved from jade One of mithril, elvish made The first one cause all magic to fade, the second made me swift
Not swift enough or so it seemed The ghouls eyes sockets yet still gleamed And then drew close as gray mist steamed out of his hingey jaw
“Your contract’s null, yet you will live I’m not the one your death to give That fate awaits—but, like a sieve, Your time is running short.”
He said, “There are worlds above our own We are but fancies, proxies thrown Into a dream—not flesh and bone We are but dice and paper.”
“We’re hero figures for the weak Who aren’t yet confident to speak- To girls, or claim the life they seek,” The ghoul said with a sigh
Back in Gamotia, suddenly (Or had it always bothered me?)- I sensed a subtle falsity- In every face I spied
Their skills and defects, will and wit- Seemed paper-thin and counterfeit- Their fates the same and long pre-writ- Off in some far-off sky
The sky I noticed seemed to be Of crumpled foolscap torn me No longer was I a killer free To kind my own lifes path
I sensed, somewhere outside the land,- A soft and inexperienced hand That knew no steel and claimed no land- Had brought me into being
And so decided, in a flash I’d not be tossed away like trash My sword would rend and gnaw and lash Against a pudgy god