Waning Kings

  61 Azarius escapes the snare of men

  Through strangling vines and stalking hunter beasts,

  Under cover of the Vallis darkness,

  Finding Raptors who will give Him shelter.

  61-1 The prophet tells the Nephilim their fate:

  ‘Soon, The Waning brings the burning fires,’

  ‘And nothing on the surface will survive.’

  ‘Fording void to Ed? is salvation.’

  61-2 ‘The dragon Gronde will soon fall into sleep.’

  ‘This will be the signal of the ending.’

  ‘Each Nezulim will follow after Gronde.’

  ‘Ye then shall make nine ready for the path.’

  61-3 With this knowledge, Raptors tend the dragons,

  For they must bear them past the Ed? gate.

  Nezulim are weakened by the bitter,

  And Ed? is a realm of wind and ice.

  61-4 Many kings have parlayed with the Raptors,

  To find their ventures crumbled in a heap.

  Wise men never place their trust in reptiles,

  For they will only serve the dragon beast.

  62 On the apex of the day on Vallis,

  The blackening of Sol shall be relieved,

  The sun shall radiate its ancient light,

  Gronde, the Nezulim shall then fall silent.

  63 One by one, the Nezulim are muted,

  Within a gold sarcophagus they’re laid.

  Weakened, they shall stay asleep for eons,

  Until their destinations have been warmed.

  63-1 Hewn and carved from trees felled by the Raptors,

  And plated in the gold mined from the veins.

  Measuring each eighteen by six cubits,

  The nine sarcophagi entomb the beasts.

  64 When the Nezulim are in their slumber,

  Me?’s Children quarrel over futures:

  Shall a slave obey a sleeping master,

  If his freedom lies just past a doorway?

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  65 The men shall cleave to factions once again:

  One shall favor flight from cruel masters,

  One still loyal to their benefactors,

  And men will take up arms against themselves.

  66 The wary King of Men seeks compromise,

  For Azarius gave him forewarning:

  ‘Dragons watch our ways within their dreaming,’

  ‘And Nezulim have ancient memories.’

  67 The final generation ages on.

  With no offspring to replace their labor,

  Their impatience manifests in protest…

  Imploring King of Men to exodus.

  67-1 ‘Future will not bloom for men on Vallis,’

  ‘Our children soon will grow into adults.’

  ‘You be king and yet we be forsaken!’

  ‘Why do we remain the slave of devils?’

  67-2 Aeon’s ears will hear their lamentations.

  He councils Kethu in his cavern keep.

  ‘Go and find Azarius the prophet,’

  ‘And ask him when he’ll light the shaded path.’

  67-3 Kethu finds the prophet in the wild—

  Alone, enveloped by the garden claw.

  ‘Why are ye unguarded by the Raptors?’

  ‘If ye be slain, then who would bring the light?’

  67-4 ‘Fear not the end of old Azarius,’

  ‘Many times I’ve walked the jungle pathways.’

  ‘All the Raptors left to tend their dragons,’

  ‘And peril lurks within the serpents’ caves.’

  67-5 ‘We must ready for the trek to Ed?.’

  ‘The moment of the exodus has come.’

  ‘I will lead King Aeon to the passage,’

  ‘But Sons of Mosul stand athwart the way.’

  68 The priests of Mosul’s cult tend to the beasts

  Within the dragon labyrinths of Vê.

  And too, they shield the third heir of King Vyn,

  Sparing it from Aeon’s inquisitions.

  69 Aeon comes at last to his decision,

  Resigning mankind unto curs-ed paths.

  The slaves shall take their flight from master dragons—

  King of Men decrees no wyrm will follow.

  70 Bafomet’s disciples are enraged,

  But era of their archon has not come.

  They prepare the King of Men’s assassins,

  Shielded by the aura of the dragon.

  Third Heir of King Vyn: Bafomet, child of Meeda and essence of King Vyn.