Battle Of Arderyth

It was the year a.d. five hundred and seventy-seven,
And thunderbolts streaked like dragons breath across the heavens,
An omen to Rydderych the Bountiful, King of Strathclyde,
As he marched his army to Arderyth for the coming fight.

I was a soldier in the army of Aeddam the perfidious,
He was King of Kintyre and our master, but so hideous,
He reneged on every deal he ever made, breaking the rules of chivalry,
That's why I found myself here to face Rydderych's army.

We too saw the lightning bolts, flash across the skies like fire,
But the omen for us was blackened by the realities of war.
I sat with Merlin in the great Caledonian forest on the eve of battle,
He cried in a trance and I heard him utter the death rattle.

And I knew then that disaster would befall my brave comrades,
And that our pride and our principles would follow us to the grave,
As the dawn rose the following morning, Merlin chanted a spell,
Dowsing us in his magic to ward off demons from beneath the earth.

Then to a fanfare of horns we prepared for battle to the death,
To the victor the spoils, taken from the souls of the dead,
The battle began to the sound of crashing thunder in the skies,
And we charged at one another to the sound of our battle cries.

With a clash of steel we met head on in a powerful attack,
Slashing and stabbing and slaying, with sword, spear and axe,
Spilling the blood of the bravest warriors on the ground.
The bodies of the fallen, dead and dying, piled up all around.

It was not so long before the battle turned to meaningless slaughter,
One sided in its outcome, it soon became a meaningless massacre,
I seen Gwendolan fall to the mighty blow from a giant warrior,
And saw Merlin disappear into the great forest of Caledonia.

I felt the blow as it struck my gut, with agonizing pain,
My battle was over, it was time to make good my escape,
I escaped the field of battle, my life hanging by a thread,
I will never forget the slaughter at the battle of Arderyth.