I blink -- and when I open my eyes,
I see an all-to-familiar place.
                                         I have cleared the space
The darkness is complete,                Around me, and look 
And yet somehow,                         Desparately for the way out
I can see the shadows                    Because I know I've made it out
Which are beginning to                   Before.
Attack.
                                         But no path to freedom is found,
I cannot even draw my weapons            And I grow weary.
Before they are upon me,                 Maybe this time, I'm not
And when I do, I realize                 Supposed to make it out,
That this time could be                  To survive.
The last.
                                         I have fought long and hard,
I swing repeatedly, killing              And proven myself
One here, three there, but               As well as I could, and as oft.
For each of them I kill,                 But the odds are all against
Another two appear                       Me tonite.
To feast.
                                           --The Lone Bard--  9/20/94


The darkness closes in,
Forcing me to struggle for air...
I know my fight is lost,
But I refuse to surrender.

I have survived this long--
I can withstand another
Night.

--The Lone Bard --   9/29/94

"Watching him fight, I was moved.  Even when he collapsed to the ground,
wearied beyond anything he had ever known, he continued to fight.  He did not
want to lose this fight, as if he knew more was at stake than himself.  When
I saw him stop moving, I stepped closer, to see if he was truly dead, or if it
was some form of ruse.  Once again, I wished for the ability to interfere in
mortal affairs, but alas, even I am bound by rules.  As I approached, I heard
him whisper: 'I tried...' and then he was gone, ne'er to be seen on the
material plane again."

--Excerpt from "The Chronicles of the Multiverse" by Raven the Chronicler.