The Silent Sentinels

They stood there in silence for an endless age
Their pact their compulsion, their promise a cage
To stand in attendance, a vigil sublime
Steadfast and unswerving ‘till the end of time

Armour was their raiment, their weapon a sword
On their lips was offered a silent prayer to the lord
Their charge was a secret to protect at all cost
And failure would mean all they held dear would be lost

And so they stood like two statues of stone
No promise of rest, no place for a home
Loyal and steadfast and quiet as the grave
No trifle would distract these Sentinels brave

Then one day it happened, the merrymakers came
Boisterous and happy, their joy without shame
The silence was shattered, but they little cared
When saw them the Sentinels, they stopped dead and stared

They saw two dark figures which stood straight and tall
Next to whom a giant would seem small
Most would have been cowed by these gladiators of old
But not the head merrymaker he shouted, bold

“What’s this here friends? Here’s some new sport
What about that quiet one, he looks a sort!
What about the other one, all silent and glum
Let’s stay here a while, and have us some fun!”

And so it began, distraction was the game
Would the Sentinels flinch or would they stay the same?
The merrymakers searched for some kind of token
That would render the Sentinels’ vigilance broken

Look!  One yells out challenges and invokes his gods!
Look!  One’s mouthing insults – he’s shouting the odds!
Look!  One of them’s laughing to see such a farce!
Look!  One’s dropped his trousers – he’s waving his arse!

The party it threatened to last for all week
Insults and gestures and things thrown in cheek
Yet through all the chaos, the deafening noise
These mighty Sentinels not once lost their poise

Silent as the void, immovable as granite
No force that had ever been born on this planet
Could test the resolve of these warriors true
And soon the merrymakers ran out of mischief to do

But the leader of this party, whose name was Stan
Had altogether a much darker plan
Quietly and deftly, away from the action
He drew his dread weapon, the Sword of Distraction

This weapon was forged in the fires of Hell
Upon it was bestowed the most evil spell
‘Twas there it was cursed as a Sentinel’s bane
That would bring them down screaming and dying in pain

Stealing in quietly he brandished the sword
Uttering oaths to his Satanic Lord
Stan slashed at the guardians, drawing their blood
Aiming to finally finish them for good

And as the Sentinels staggered and collapsed

Before any significant time had elapsed

They heard a sound that would haunt them in the hereafter

The sound of demonic triumphant laughter

Trapped here when still the world was young

Guarded by both of the Sentinels as one

A demon whom Hell called the foulest of all

Was free to bring about humanity’s fall

Stan, who thought he could bargain with the beast

Stared in surprise, the first life to be ceased

The monster swallowed this foolish man whole

Then greedily feasted on his mortal soul

And then the merrymakers’ laughter, like their dreams

Was forgotten in the wake of their agonised screams

Fighting, fleeing, pleading, all no good

And the ground disappeared, awash with their blood

Soon all the land was an orgy of death

As millions lay gutted and drawing their last breath

From the entrails of children it constructed a nest

Its helm was from bone with a skull as its crest

The beast fed on human life to sate its foul hunger

The more people died, the more it grew stronger

‘Till the last human’s flesh was shredded and unfurled

And the demon prepared to devour the world

Yet even as the monster opened its huge jaws

Even as Earth’s future seemed a hopeless cause

The Planet found hope in its hour of strife

For the Sentinels still clung to a slim spark of life

The Sentinels had not perished as Stan had supposed

While they lived, the enemy of life they opposed

And uttering their silent prayer to the Lord

They reached for their scabbards and each drew a sword

The demon had grown to a monstrous size

Feeding not only on life, but on lies

Two weapons could stop it, forged in the world’s youth

The Sentinel’s weapons, the great Swords of Truth

The demon ceased feeding, for something did rankle

A pain and a coldness spreading from its ankle

‘Twas there that the Truth Swords did pierce its skin

And the demon stopped growing, so the shrinking could begin

And then something truly amazing occurred

Voices that in history had never been heard

Rang out to invoke on the demon a curse

The demon’s voice had been fearful, but the Sentinels’ were worse

“Back, demon!  Back to your cold, empty cage!

An end to your mission of evil and rage!

Back to the prison from whence you were sprung!

To stay ‘till the end of the Universe is come!”

With a great howl of anger, then a scream of despair

The demon diminished in a cold rush of air

To be sucked back into its terrible cage

To stay till the cosmos would die of old age

And so for the Earth, the ordeal was over

Its animals had life; its forests were in clover

But no human now lived, to stand, rise or fall

The folly of one man had ended them all

On a world now bereft of man, woman and nation

Stand two Silent Sentinels, guarding all of creation

Advice to passing beings, by all means look at them

But if you value existence don’t go and distract them!