By: Kiusha Posted on: June 29, 2007
A falcon is the most loyal companion of any knight. This small but strong flyer
will give its all for the Paladin, Runewarden of Infernal that calls him or
herself its master. That is why the following poem, a sonnet redouble, is
dedicated to the falcon. A sonnet redouble is a set of 15 sonnets, where the
lines of the first sonnet are repeated in the first and last lines of the other
sonnets in turn, with the last sonnet starting with the last line of the first
and ending with the first line of the first.
Falcon Flight
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I.
She rose away from loving hands in glove
To soar into the sparkling Ero sky
Until she flew on wayward winds above,
Upon the chilly heights where eagles fly.
The lands spread out before her sharpened sight,
The falcon soon could see her distant goal.
In Vashnar Mounts she waved her wings in flight
To take her cargo to a starving soul.
Within the deepest depths of Darkenwood,
She set her burden on the shadowed earth.
The stranger's face was hidden in her hood.
Her sigh was all that showed the manna's worth.
The falcon's heart beat fast in feathered breast
Until in Sanctuary she found rest.
II.
She rose away from loving hands in glove.
Above the soothing Garden of the Arts,
The falcon circled twice and then took off.
Most loyal to the mistress of her heart,
With care she bore a bowl of porcelain.
No drop would spill wherever she would fly.
A Paladin's soft smile her only gain,
It always was enough to make her try.
The falcon's spirit bonded to her knight,
They are as one, look through each other's eyes.
Together they will face each blight and fight
To shelter their beloved from demise.
And thus the falcon called her shrill goodbye
To soar into the sparkling Ero sky.
III.
To soar into the sparkling Ero sky,
The falcon climbed above her home, Cyrene,
In hopes to reach the heights where she could spy
The splendour of the city, so serene.
Cyrenians were closer to her heart
Than any other mortals in the lands.
The thing, for her, that most set them apart:
Spite'd never kill a falcon with their hands.
A quiet bustle on the city streets
Rose up as if to tell her sweet goodbye.
Cyrene was always full of loving treats:
A home to which she'd always happ'ly fly.
She rose up from her city, home and love,
Until she flew on wayward winds above.
IV.
Until she flew on wayward winds above,
The treetops and the buildings blocked her view.
She quickly climbed to reach the peak thereof,
And everything was lower than she flew.
She spied the city's features from her height:
From the Lyceum to the beach of Muurn.
Such beauty she found sparkling in her sight,
She paused a moment, watching, then she turned
Away, to climb again on summer's breath;
She'd fly where weather could not stir her wings,
And while she rose she gently circled left
To watch the city, home where Baltas sings.
She climbed until she glided through the sky
Upon the chilly heights where eagles fly.
V.
Upon the chilly heights where eagles fly,
The Vashnar mounts stretched out beneath her gaze.
Their peaks, they reached so far up to the sky,
But she still blocked them from Mithraea's rays.
The air this high was hard to breathe, so thin,
But she was used to living life up high.
She felt at home here flying lost within
The clouds above her homeland's summer sky.
The falcon found the mountains to beguile.
She freely breathed the air although it'd thinned.
If she'd had lips she'd beamed a pearly smile,
And she climbed higher still on pleasant winds
To where, above the peaks of snowy white,
The lands spread out before her sharpened sight,
VI.
The lands spread out before her sharpened sight,
She surveyed all the edges of the world;
The wine dark Eastern sea, distant delight,
The rivers, soothing streams that blith'ly curled
Between the tiny trees and mountain peaks;
Most everything seemed small from such a height.
Within the sky of blue with cloudy streaks
The falcon found great pleasure in her flight.
A name resounded through the falcon's mind,
Belonging to a woman, middleaged.
She scanned the lands in hopes that she would find
The soul whose helpless hunger she'd assuage.
As Sapience revealed itself, the whole,
The falcon soon could see her distant goal.
VII.
The falcon soon could see her distant goal
Within the darkened forests to the north.
Remote, the place to which she'd bring her bowl;
Determined as she was, she still set forth.
She realised that speed would tire soon,
And so she fell into a moderate pace.
Mithraea's disc informed her it was noon.
She hoped it'd still be early when she'd place
Her bowl down at the waiting woman's feet.
If she would take too long it'd be too late;
Her helpless charge would go away to meet
The Lady Maya in her Halls of fate.
And thus, with hope and fear within her sight,
In Vashnar Mounts she waved her wings in flight.
VIII.
In Vashnar Mounts she waved her wings in flight
To reach across Mhojave's seething sands,
Where Things of Chaos rule by bringing fright
And loneliness pervades the endless lands.
A circling hawk let out a piercing shriek.
Although it sent a shiver up her spine,
The falcon never ceased her flying streak,
From which she'd fin'lly land beneath a pine.
The desert left behind, she tread the sky
Above Savannah's grasses, proud and tall,
Where one'd be easily lost unless he'd fly,
But from these heights they still seemed very small.
She flew across the Ithmia, the whole.
To take her cargo to a starving soul.
IX.
To take her cargo to a starving soul
The falcon flew across Dardanic grass
Still careful in her clutching of the bowl
Of porcelain more frail than any glass.
Her journey's end awaited past the plains,
And she began to dive towards the ground.
The skies were now predicting coming rains
As clouds cluttered together all around.
She payed no heed to weather's distant call,
But glided down upon a soothing breeze,
Then, when she reached the end of her free fall,
She guided her slim body to the trees,
To where she knew the waiting woman stood:
Within the deepest depths of Darkenwood.
X.
Within the deepest depths of Darkenwood,
She made her way through coverings of green.
Though it was dark she still could see quite good;
The bird of prey's black eyes were very keen.
She flew above thick boughs and ducked below,
Passed trees to both the left and to the right,
Avoided branches, sweeping to and fro
Within the breezy wind, to her delight.
It was a challenge, sailing past the trees,
Especially with manna at her feet,
But years of practice gave her expertise,
and she truly belonged to the elite.
She landed from her journey, warm with worth.
She set her burden on the shadowed earth.
XI.
She set her burden on the shadowed earth
And pecked away the bindings with her beak
The falcon felt a bubbling sense of mirth
For she had caused no single drop to leak.
The manna sat inviting on the moss;
its bowl reflecting dark light's purple sheen.
But hungry as the young receiver was,
It still appeared as if she had not seen
The holy nectar underneath the trees:
She lay so still, it seemed as if she'd died.
Although the falcon thought she'd moved her knees,
She curiously cocked her head aside
To glance to where the woman fin'lly stood.
The stranger's face was hidden in her hood.
XII.
The stranger's face was hidden in her hood.
And shadows cast a veil upon her form.
Her cloak settled around her when she stood;
Though it was thick she did not seem too warm.
She glided 'cross the soggy forest floor
With all the grace the Tsol'aa could produce,
But only walked a step or two before
She had to lean against a sturdy spruce.
But finally she found the strength to cross
The distance to her blessing from above.
She kneeled before the falcon on the moss.
In ecstacy she drained the contents of
The bowl she'd lifted gently from the earth.
Her sigh was all that showed the manna's worth.
XIII.
Her sigh was all that showed the manna's worth,
But no one could accept the woman's thanks.
The falcon had already left the earth.
She soared away from Bitterflow's bare banks
Where branches would not keep her from the sky,
In which, she saw, the clouds were gaining grey.
Because she knew a raging storm was nigh
She spread her wings and quickly went away.
Alas, her muscles started to feel sore.
Although she worked her wings without a pause,
She could not climb the way she had before.
Her speed and strength had failed her, as she was
Exhausted and in dire need of rest.
The falcon's heart beat fast in feathered breast.
XIV.
The falcon's heart beat fast in feathered breast;
She fought so hard against the restless gale
To fly above the clouds and fin'lly rest,
But weariness had made her slow and frail.
The storm soon deepened, rumbled in the sky,
And drops of rain began to tumble down,
First gently, then with vim to blith'ly fly
And paint the falcon's wings a deeper brown.
Her climb was stiff and slowed with every stroke
Of wings that'd carried her across the world,
and that she now wished folded like a cloak.
They hurt, each breath of wind as she was hurled,
But still she flew with vigour and with zest
Until in Sanctuary she found rest.
XV.
Until in Sanctuary she found rest
The falcon flew upon tempestuous winds;
A summer storm still put her to the test
With rain she hoped Lord Vastar would rescind.
Her wings grown heavy, water drew her down,
But still she kept her head high, carried on,
Flew higher till she reached the stormcloud's crown
Where thankfully the drenching rain was gone.
A sparkle in her eyes revealed the place
Where hundreds other falcons could be found.
She landed with an undiminished grace.
Her duty done, contentment was profound.
For these and for the pride she felt thereof,
She rose away from loving hands in glove.