The Muse is called Upon
I call upon the my muse
The muse of the Red Sun
To help me to tell the story
Of what has been done

The Community is Afflicted
In a land far away,
In a village long ago,
A peaceful people lived,
Unsuspecting of a creeping woe

At first it seemed normal,
Just a midsummer cold.
But when the healers potions and rubs failed
Everyone was fearful, even those who had been bold.

The Hero is Called Upon
When it was discovered,
That this was more than a cough.
The elders chose a hero regarded
As the toughest of the tough

She was brave and she was bold
She was an obvious leader to all,
She luckily had not contracted the “cold”
She was nominated to save them all

The elders announced in the village square,
“We have decided who should be sent,
We ask her to please begin to prepare,
Prepare to cross above the ancient sea’s murky depths”

“We have agreed on a girl,” the elders continued,
“Who seems fit the best
To go on such a perilous journey,
To save us from a certain death.”

Everyone was waiting, breaths held
To hear the name of the one
Who would rid them of this plague.
Everyone exhaled as they heard “Avalyn”

To the villagers, healthy and weak,
No one could think of a better candidate
Avalyn knew that with those words,
Form childhood, she was a graduate.

To everyone who knew her
She was the perfect choice.
Everyone, except herself
Her own opinion, she wouldn’t voice.

She knew the village was counting on her.
On HER the village was dependent
She couldn’t let them down
She had to just go with it.

The village inhabitants looked at her
Knowing that she would succeed
She took a deep breath,
And confidently replied “I agree”
Avalyn Embarks on Her Journey
The elders spoke again,
“Avalyn will travel to the land of Tovia,
There she will find a cure for our pain,
But she will have to cross the land made of rain.”

The crowd gasped as one.
No one had ever come back,
No one who had crossed the expansive sea,
Their return was as likely as a dancing tree.

Avalyn put on a brave face as she faced her peers.
“Though I go where no one returns from,”
She yelled through the cheers,
“I hope to prove that I can”

Avalyn turned and headed
Toward the watery grave of so many others.
As the last hope of dear village,
She was determined to survive.

Crossing the Sea of Mortem
She was provided with a small boat,
One that would not be hard for her to sail.
But was powerless to the wind.
She spent her first night perfecting the technique of her bail.

Avalyn spent three days being tossed,
Tossed mercilessly by the wind
All the time wishing for home
But she would then remember why she must be the one to win.

She battled the storm for three days and three nights,
She battled through sea spray and the heat of the sun.
She battled the storm with all her might.
Until, she thought it could go on no more.

Then the light of the fourth day,
That light reached her eyes
To show her the sight,
The sight of land, dry!

Her strength renewed,
Her goal more achievable.
She sailed for the land,
Success was believable.

Avalyn Meets the Natives
She landed her boat, and left her new home
As she touched the sea foam
She heard cries of war.
She was not prepared for creatures of lore.

But what she saw surprised her,
She saw people as alike to her
As a butterfly is to a bird.
She was confused.

Wondering how it could be,
She thought to herself,
That there are people who look like dolls.
They appear to be no more than children.

But as the leader of these creatures came forth,
He spoke a greeting, native to Avalyn’s people.
She answered with a polite response,
More bewildered by the moment.

He then spoke to his troops,
In their strange, native language.
He then turned to Avalyn,
He addressed her as “the Speranta”

She understood through hand motions
That she was to follow
She followed them up through a village,
The sight of a place so like home made her feel hollow.

They left the village and climbed a hill
Toward a palace so grand
She almost froze in awe
At such size compared to people so small.

Avalyn looked almost stopped still when she looked at the wall,
She couldn’t believe what she saw.
For on the wall was a painting
Of her grandfather, long gone from her life.

She stared in disbelief,
Until she was led to the ruler of the natives.
The leader of the troops had a whispered conversation with the ruler.
He explained how they had found her.

When they announced what had happened
To the rest of the court
There were cries of disbelief
One even responded with a snort.

Their queen silenced them with a raise of staff
She called for a translator, who came running
She then asked Avalyn if had to come to save a village.
Avalyn replied with a nod, eyes open wide, how did this queen know?

Sensing her confusion, the queen nodded to the translator
He replied with a thick accent,
“A man appeared on the shore many, many years ago.
The year that the bandits invaded our land.

They have taken over the land
And have held it for years
But the man on the wall
Gave hope to us all.

He told us a girl would come in boat,
A boat with a flag bearing the flower of hope.
We have watched and waited for you,
You will regain our land”

Avalyn listened and found it hard to believe
That she was destined to save two villages
She had the weight of two peoples now on her shoulders,
But she simply nodded.

The queen beckoned her forward
Avalyn obeyed and knelt by the throne,
The queen handed her a key,
She quietly whispered ‘you will know what to do when the time is right”

Avalyn encounters a Ghost
Avalyn was given a bedchamber
Which she readily used,
but the moment she closed her eyes,
She was unsure what to do.

She was standing in a field
All she could see was wheat.
She jumped when she heard a voice,
“You succeed when you find the land of sweet.”

She saw the man from the painting
Her mother’s father
She could not believe what was happening
Though it gave her strength to go farther.

He pointed to his right
And Avalyn could then see the palace,
Bathed in bright light.
Avalyn shaded her eyes and looked back at the specter.

He solemnly pointed back at light
And she saw three figures
As they left the palace headed for the south.
She looked back at her grandfather to see him nod.

She knew now what she was to do.
But she still did not know
How she was to do it,
She didn’t want to just let the wind blow.

When she awoke the next morning,
She was surprised and relived
To have the translator and the general
Seek her out, her dream she now believed.

The translator quietly explained,
“The queen requests that you,
Journey out to the plain
That the bandits overran.

We are ready to accompany you,
But you are the star,
We shall be your compass
Let us prepare, for our destination is far.”

Avalyn rose, and nodded,
Realizing once again,
People were counting on her,
Now she was determined to end the Bandit Reign.

The Party Leaves the Palace
On foot, they set out,
A seemingly odd collection.
A Human, a soldier, and the court translator,
They left without any objection.

They continued to journey for a day and a night
A strong an sturdy group,
Pushed on with all their might,
Waiting to hear a bandit war whoop.

The morning light reached their eyes,
They looked to the east,
They could hardly contain their excitement,
They knew that their journey would soon cease.

The Bandit’s Land
Avalyn could tell by the looks of their faces,
That these men had lost family to these invaders.
Strength again renewed,
She wanted to destroy those raiders.

She looked at the men
Saw the same thoughts in their eyes,
They agreed not to attack, just not yet.
But they knew the Bandits would hear their war cries.

They carefully hiked up to the village,
To see what had been done
To the families that were so like her own,
Even if they were only three foot tall.

She was immediately spotted, quite easily in fact,
It’s quite hard to blend in
When you’re five foot tall
It was the equivalent of dinning.

As a bandit approached her
She kept her head high,
To look at her,
The bandits would have to look to the sky.

The bandit spat out a curse in Avalyn’s dialect,
“Me grandfather taught me about the first giant
Who dared cross our lands,
I won’t allow ya to follow”, he said most defiant.

Avalyn questioned herself yet again,
Why was she expected to be the hero,
But when she looked at the villagers,
Frightened and hurt, her strength was renewed.

Avalyn took a deep breath,
Looked him straight in the eye
“I am Avalyn, hero of Dormir, champion of your queen,
I am here to save those who on me rely.

I am the holder of the ancient key,
The key that that could unlock anything,
From cellars to boxes, no lock is secure,”
She declared with a gleam.

“You know what I can do
With this object of lore?”
The Bandits shuffled around knowing she was right,
They looked at their leader, eyes showing fright.

The leader looked shocked,
And did what he could
To plead to Avalyn,
That their ways would be changed, for the good!

She said, with her voice like daggers,
“I want to leave, leave this land,
Leave forever,
Or I promise, I will destroy your whole band.”

The Bandits ran and ran,
Refusing to halt,
They left so fast,
They wouldn’t face their faults.
The Antidote
Avalyn looked to her companions,
And saw a conversation going on,
Between her translator,
And what seemed to be a healer.

The healer beckoned for Avalyn
To follow him to a field
Where he broke a plant
And let the juice seep.

Her translator explained,
“This is what you are looking for,
This is what will save your people
From any ailment they have.”

She was handed a jar
Full of the mysterious slime,
She accepted some seeds
That were the color of lime.
Avalyn Returns Home
They gave her a ship,
And she once again crossed the sea
To hurry home
To save her friends and family.
The storm was not so strong,
Nor as rough,
Maybe because she now believed
That she was the toughest of the tough.

The Plague is Lifted
She awoke in the morning,
Of her fourth day at sea
Too see a sight
That none could be more welcoming.

In the light of the morning,
Avalyn could see
The shores of her home
And she was as joyful as can be.

She was quickly embraced
And then sent to administer
The wondrous cure
They had been waiting for.

And now, not yet three months later,
The village is cured
The bandits gone away.
Avalyn now believing
That she is the boldest of the brave.