Whitened by the bones of myriad men
Crenellated ramparts all but laid to waste
The city left ablaze vomits blackest smoke
Weapons of the brave lie scattered in confusion

Demeter's acres reddened with exuberant blood
Babylon has fallen, Leptis Magna followed suit
Under the ever-watchful emerald stars
The harvest of Antioch has yet to be reaped
And robbed...

Indignation blazes forth
In one black flash of venomous rage
Gored by the horns of Fate

To the north encloses the betrayer
To the south the serpent writhes and constricts
To the east the interloper
With our backs against the western sea

Ares riots unchecked in the sky
Hark War God! Grant me your fire
Let me ride with the ancients, die like a king
Wrest our slender hope from death

Arouse me, appease me, entertain me...
Show me your worth!

From the mangled earth
With the spear of vindication
And the armour of contempt
Rise the fallen heroes
Bloodied mouths dripping
With hunger for reprise

In earnest devotion the bulwarks are rebuilt
The battlements refurnished, the palisades erect
In steadfast patience and resolve they wait
For the ghastly pale knives of attrition

As the sky turns black
Fusing ochre thunderclouds with sulphur
Cataphracts stand aghast
And archers peer in awe
At the sight of the manafires

Horizon engulfed with a deluge of incendiary rain
In the saffron light of the tempest
There shines a wall of steadfast bronze

Exalted, the Gods pay heed
Age-old scores to be settled, glory to be won
Wagers to be made, bitter rivals undone
The Pantheon holds their breath

Artemis lends her bow
Athena lends the Aegis
Apollo grants one prayer
And Poseidon heaves the earth

And now the fateful day has at last arrived
And yet that fateful day has turned to amber night
But there still remains one unaccounted God
The God of the brazen bull
The God of the lightning bolt

His schemes remain obscure
His thoughts unsaid
Meanwhile Antioch waits
With no paean left unsung...

~ ~ ~

The battlefield trembles
With the deafening glory of war cries
The vanquished bite the hostile earth
With cadaverous eyes

The firestorm wanes
Land rife with confrontation
Avarice and spite
Meet defiance of a nation

Hoofbeats of Strife echo the realm
While Discord strides in glee
Robe all but rent, she spies...

Choking forth red rivers of blood
The king's dying breath
Eyes rolling skyward, pleading...

Phoebus Apollo, archer of Doom
Grant me one last wish before I must die
Ascend the sulphurous sky
Strike into their raving godless eyes
Leave them all fucking blind!

Antioch, the sky now clears
Great pyres are lit
To send the dead to Elysium

Amidst the smoke still stands unscathed
The ornate pennant of Apollo, born of light
Let their ruptured eyes endure engraved
The God-seared sight
Of the unbroken defender's spirit
Ingrained forever

The dust is settled, the battle is won
The serpentine horde learns capitulation
Hung from olive trees by their splendid bowels
Blood-soaked remains left to nourish hallowed ground

The clouds yield way to a sun-lit rain
A purifying shower to cleanse the caustic taint
Out of the ashes of the maelstrom
The seedlings of rebirth now take hold
In the pools of sweet rejuvenation
For we bear the lifeblood of the gold Ichor divine

Within the pulsing earth it seeps
From the spilled amphora of rancour
The essence of cupidity
While once more conquered in ignominious defeat
The eternal foe is but dormant
To be drawn yet again from the well of vice

Olympus erupts
With the passion and the fury of the game
The lauded conclusion reignites rivalries
As flows angelic Ambrosia

Thus enters Apollo
Weary and bespattered with fresh gore
With quiver spent, yet behind him
With arrowed bolts in hand
Stands magnanimous Zeus