I’ve seen monsters of myth,

Minotaurs, hydras, Chimaeras stalking in the night,

The savage brutality of beasts from legend,

But the gentleness of others.

I’ve seen the deep pit at the summit of a volcano,

A dragon rising from its depths,

Angered that it was awoken from its slumber,

Thirsting for something, or someone, to satisfy its hunger.

I’ve seen clans of giants,

Stomping their way across valleys,

Demolishing towns, ransacking cities,

Snatching full-grown bulls from the ground like chickens,

To use for supper that night.

I’ve seen dwarves in their smitheries,

Forging the weapons that all should fear,

The crash of a hammer on steel, the hiss as it is plunged in oil

The red glow as it is pulled from the fire to be forged by a dwarf into a weapon.

I’ve seen elves in their woods,

With their bows and their spears held ready,

In their woodland garb and standing watch over the Forests,

Sentinels in the night, protecting the lands and their creatures.

Guardians of the Great of Forests, purging all that is vile.

I’ve seen mages casting their spells,

Raining down lightning as if they were Zeus himself,

Sending forth cascading waves of fire, burning all in its wake.

Bringing hulking giants of rock and rubble to life,

Golems thudding across the ground to the enemy.

I’ve seen necromancers hungering for power over others,

Raising legions of skeletal warriors to fight in their place,

Casting their dark magic, turning the dead into their slaves,

Forcing all to bow down, or face something even worse than death itself.

I’ve seen Demons brought forth from the abyss to wreak havoc,

Worshipping cultists bowing down before the sons and daughters of Hell,

Asking for power in turn for their unending loyalty,

Only to die by the wretched hand that they summoned.

Princes of Hell causing such chaos that a raging dragon is but an angry puppy.

I’ve seen warrior angels, sent down from the Heavens,

Shining brighter than the sun itself,

Fighting the Great Demons, purging them from this world.

Casting them back to the abyss that is their home,

Ridding the world of the horrors man had summoned.