Capture

By Cliff Lake

 

Capture

 

Crossing the field,

The etched urn bounces softly at his back,

The arcane symbols picked out by the sun.

He watches the thicket to the left,

Tree trunks shimmering,

Vanishing,

Reemerging,

There his quarry rests,

And with the inhabitants locked away,

Hungry.

Above him morning sun rises, and below it,

The comet rides.

The seers said the mists arrived with it,

And in a year’s time,

May leave when the sky-sign fades.

Over his arm, his cloak:

Thrice blessed,

One invocation each from the Three Cults,

Said to become stronger with each use.

Drawing abreast of the infected grove,

He slings the container from his back and assumes the crouch.

Long practice and many encounters keep him loose, ready…

From his periphery he watches the slow approach,

One does not look direct to these things,

The mind curdles…

Too many brothers lost that way,

He no longer finds friends among his peers,

The heart and spirit can only take so much.

The thing makes the slow approach,

Soon it will attempt the rush –

It springs!

He is ready.

The cloak flung wide, it envelopes.

In it the fog struggles with the strength of a boar.

But the guardsman is long practiced,

Even as a tendril seeps across his forearm,

Wiping away flesh to cause his teeth to grit,

He bears down, fingers fumbling to the drawstring and

He has it.

Dragging the leather across the ground, stronger yet!

He shoves all into the urn and seals it.

Quick work today.

He will leave the vessel here in the field,

Too disturbing for gentle folk,

And makes his way back to the waystation.

Soon there will be celebration,

And rest and revel,

Perhaps there will be a woman,

Then sleep,

And tomorrow,

The long ride back to the Enclave with its priests,

And the shattered urns,

And he will retrieve his cloak,

And told where next to go.

His horse whickers softly at his approach,

Faithful friend.

He raises a hand to knock,

The injury burns but will soon be bound.

At his back, the comet hangs in the sky.

 

Cliff Lake 6/30/2024

Copyright © Clifford Lake 2024

Location: Wichita, KS, USA

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