I'll be back.... After my vacation

It's official. My vacation begins today. 9 days to chill with my beautiful wife. Starting it out pretty good with a morning rugby match. Aside from having to be the cabbie for all my inlaws, this is gonna be a great morning. I'll keep you posted by posting more posts in the days ahead. Yay!!!  I believe I will use fhis time to start reading through my Conan books again, in light of the news that Arnold Schwarzenegger is reprising his role as Robert E. Howard's hyborian hero. Oh and if you read this, I hope you have a great weekend, Moneypenny.

Here's something different

So this is pretty long and I'm not sure about some of the grammatical errors. But I just want to get some feedback on my style and if you would even want to read more of this. I don't actually have a title but it's the first part of a bigger story I have been working on for awhile. Enjoy.



From the lip of his perch atop the Great Spire he gazed intently across the land eastward. From his vantage point the man saw much that he once knew, now lost to him through war and isolation. The forest of the fells stretched out beneath and all around him, swirling and breaking with the wind like an emerald ocean, rustling with quiet life. The occasional bird breached the surface to fly or dive silently back amongst the leaves.

His eyes fixed on a point beyond the edge of that forest, amidst the hazy dark crags of the eastern mountain wall formerly known as the Warrens, now known only as death to all who travel there. He sees not through space but time, gazing into the portal of his memory to the world he knew that now lay spoiled and corrupt. He recalls the great walls and battlements of the fortress city that had once been his home and his pride. Hewn from the face of the great mountains themselves, she was meant to withstand time and break armies with the simple magnificence of her form. She was Arzafell, the shining jewel of the Warrens.

                                                                              1

"Flames Garreth, I've been looking everywhere for you!" A familiar booming voice exclaimed as he heard the trap door to the stairs clap shut behind him.
Garreth turned at the voice. "You had to know I'd be up here, Father. I need to survey the ranks as thoroughly as possible."

His father walked to his side and looked across the shining ranks of soldiers assembled in the courtyard below. The glittering steel armor of the Arzafell standing army had made them known throughout the other provinces of Trelaine as “The Glistening Dawn” as they always seemed to appear with the first rays of the sun and wash over any opposition that stood before them in one fluid silver mass. They were the strength of Arzafell and had been for close to 500 years.

"Sometimes I think you do my job better than I do. But then I suppose that's my fault for teaching you so damn well." Garreth’s father said. He was Torin, Commander of the army and second only to the great King Auden. He was a short and stocky man standing only 5’3 in his boots, for his grandfather had been Dwarfkin, but what he lacked in height he made up for in force of will and an inborn grandiosity. His thick brown hair was long and braided in a wide tail and he wore a well-manicured mustache on his stern face. A thin scar ran the full length of his face from his hairline to his jaw, a newly won trophy from the last campaign he has led against the mountain ogres on the eastern slopes of the warrens not three years before. His armor, massive and emblazoned across the chest with the great blue dragon, outshined all the others in the army and was adorned with a long cape as a nod to his ostentatious nature.

He turned then looking fully at Garreth, but his son kept his gaze on the lines, searching for any gaps in formation. He had only been promoted to second command 4 months ago and with this major battle looming on the horizon he was determined as always to outshine all that came before him, including his father.

"The king wants to discuss troop placement this afternoon. He has cooked up some new strategy he believes will help secure our northern lines." Torin said pushing himself away from the parapet that circled the tower and throwing his cape back over his shoulder.

"He requests that you join us. He knows you have a head for strategy. More importantly I believe he wants to see how you stand up under pressure." This stab at Garreth’s character angered the boy, but he turned and gave a slight smirk.

"Very well. Lead the way, Commander."

Together they descended the winding tower staircase into the castle proper. The sun was setting and the light seemed to bleed, orange and red, through the windows as they walked down the massive corridor towards the throne room and the courtyard beyond.

"For all you have learned and accomplished, there was always one thing that you never seemed to grasp, boy." Garreth looked at his father, seething.

"And what might that be, Commander? By your own admission I surpass you in almost all your duties and I am considerably farther along in study than you were in your twenty third year." He smiled to himself.

"Humility." His father said with a scowl. "You see everyone as beneath your notice. The men don't take to you because to you they are tools. You even put yourself on a pedestal for routine inspection and count them like nails on a cobblers table. These men, YOUR men, they need to feel your one of them. They may respect your rank, but they do not respect you. You need to realize that without them your nothing."

Garreth was stunned. He had always shied away from the company of others. He did not understand the way of people’s minds or their often irrational actions and therefore had no use for them. He was proud of what he had accomplished and believed that was enough to earn others respect.

He had never had issue with gaining friends or attracting the opposite sex, as he was a handsome, rugged looking youth with short cut, studious brown hair and intense, slate grey eyes that seemed to shine with brooding and deep intelligence. Garreth was much taller than his father and not as powerfully built and if not for the hard cut of the jawline and eerily similar voice, you might never have known they were related in any way. He was also more practical than his father and much more serious. His dry sense of humor and standoffish manner often assured that the friends he did make didn’t stay friendly for long.

His father continued. “I see you are puzzled. This has never occurred to you. I thought as much. I don't expect you to understand, but i do expect you to keep it in mind and learn the lesson of it. You are my second now and I will see my men treated as they deserve."

They walked silently into the throne room. It was hung with all the banners and regalia of any great court. The shields of all the past kings of Arzafell hung on the walls and the massive throne stood at the back of the room, carved into the stone itself. Above it was the high seal, emblazoned on an immense silver standard, of a deep blue dragon spewing flames. Servants were lowering the chandeliers to light the candles as evening closed in and the smell of roasting meats was wafting into the room from the kitchens.

"The king is in the courtyard with Thrane." The kings steward, a gaunt and hawk faced man named Salis, informed them as they walked towards the courtyard doors. Garreth had already guessed that the king would be there. Once word had reached him of the coming attack, the king had often taken to standing in the courtyard for many hours alone or sometimes with his favorite pet. The pair turned and walked through the great wooden doors that lead outside and there, in the center of the flagstone yard by a large table stood King Aueden. He had ruled on the high seat of Arzafell for thirty years and his people considered him the best king in collective memory. He was standing alone and staring out towards the setting sun in the west. His great armor fashioned of blue steel scales, each lined with silver, seemed to ripple with lightning as the failing light moved across it. At the sound of the great doors closing, he turned and saw the pair standing in the doorway.

"Ah, you've arrived. I apologize. I was absorbed in thought." The king said stepping forward to grasp their arms in greeting. "Hello Garreth. It has been some time since we last spoke. How have you taken to your duties as second command?"

"Greetings, my Lord." Garreth responded with a slight bow "It is a change but I have come to understand my duties well."

"True. Though he still has much to learn, whether he believes it or not." His father chuckled, clapping him on the back as he did so. Garreth looked at his father with a half-smile, obviously forced.

King Auden’s face grew solemn again as he looked at Garreth and he said “It is good to hear, though I fear you may find those final lessons thrust upon you very soon.” With that the king turned and the three men walked out to where the table stood, now ringed with standing torches, and looked at a great map spread out upon it.

The sun sank behind horizon as the commander began. "The bastard moves fast. I don't know how but he's covered twice the distance in a day that our mounted armies could cover in two." He drew a black line from the port city of Nal to the eastern edge of the forest of the fells. "None of our scouts can confirm the size of his army, since none have returned and to make matters worse there’s that damned black cloud. It's so big it could mask any amount of troops."

The king looked up from the map but said nothing. He simply stared east again and lightly drummed his fingers on the map. Garreth began to wonder what he may be thinking. King Aueden had never been, in Garreth's experience, prone to fits of spontaneous introspection. But now, as war quickly moved closer to the gates, the king himself seemed farther away than ever.

His thought was cut short when the torches began to sputter with a buffeting of strong wind. The king was roused. "That will be Thrane."

They all looked up and saw it, coming down slowly out of the darkness. The huge griffon was the mount and beloved pet of King Aueden. He landed softly on his great cats’ feet, kicking up the dust with the last few flaps of his great wings. He tucked them at his side and lay down to rest his great beak on his crossed fore paws. King Aueden walked over to the beast and stroked its white feathered head and it caused the creature to chirp lightly and begin to purr deep inside its huge chest.

As the king slowly stroked the animal, he seemed to gain a kind of resolve. He turned his head to look at them and said softly "I have been your king for many years and have faced many great enemies. I have protected my people as I should and I will continue to do so. But this is an enemy no man can understand. This is a threat that I believe cannot truly be accounted for. But we must do all in our power to keep our kingdom safe from any threat, no matter how daunting a task it may seem. I have faith in both of you and in our men and in our home. Arzafell will stand."

He looked back at his great purring beast for a moment and then he turned fully, seeming to gather himself.
"Let us prepare."

”There is just never enough Dong.....

....said the Vietnamese businessman”

So, I'm aware that my last post was a bit.... whiney. But I'm back on form I think.

I had an excellent night tonight with my family. Made up for the horrendous week. Oh and I got possibly the most disturbingly amazing gift today. I'll post a picture because it's too horrifying to actually explain.

Well I don't really have any world shaking insights or super cool  thoughts today. I'll try and post some more poems or something tomorrow. Or maybe I'll just spout out more crazy crap.

Oh and by the way, I'm new to this so anyone who wants to follow or be followed, let me know. I'm easy.

And now, my horrifying awesome gift!

When life gives you lemons....

.... Choke the hell out of them until they submit and become lemonade. Then dump it out and drink a damn Coke, just to show life you don't need it's crappy lemons.

I have been working at my current job for almost a year and a half and although it has yet to lose enough of it's perks to cause me to rin out screaming, it is getting more and more difficult to justify gettin up for it everyday. Responsibility is a curse that kills you slowly from the inside. But on the plus side, it does allow you to do some entertaining things while you die.

bye bye

Digging up old words...

 Okay here's something I wrote awhile ago. Not my best work but hey, who cares.

               "Hope"

Upon a beach of shifting sand,
I stand and gaze across the sea
To find within the gray expanse,
An island from my memory.

 My mind and heart recall the place,
A land of beauty, shaped by man
With bravery and sacrifice,
Compasion and a steady hand.

 Built amidst the violent wash
Of waves that breed uncertainty,
It grew upon foundations moored
In Freedom, Strength, and Liberty.

 Then as I awake from this,
My dream of vivid memory,
I see across the growing swells
The object of my revery.

It stands alone, still firmly bound,
Majestic on it's sturdy throne
But weathered, beaten, scarred by woe,
And threatened by a coming storm.

 I turn my eyes away from this,
Spilling tears upon the shore
And in so doing, happen on
Something unknown to me before.

Along the strand a crowd had formed
Of ever growing number,
And in the faces of the throng
I saw their raging hunger.

They looked out on the island,
As I had done before
Steadily they raised their voices,
Challenging the growing storm.

And I looked again to sea,
My heart was swole with pride.
A ray of light had broke the storm
And touched upon the isle.

Kneel before Blog!

Well here I go. I imagine a large number of my posts will be nonsensical and most of the time you won't want to read it, but you won't have a choice. If you've read this far I'm already in you're brain.

I'll put up poems and stories on occasion and the rest of the time I'll just surprise you. And probably me.