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!
