Pantheon Volume 1

Beautiful Nightmare.. ………….2 Darkness in the Light ………….2 Deathquest................. ………….7 Desertion / Despair ... ………….8 Dreamscape One. 7. Nine. 3….9 The Edge of Forever .. ………...10 Empire........................ ………….11 Enemy ........................ …………12 Erosion ....................... …………13 Fire Fall ...................... …………14 5 Years Grown............ …………15 Forge........................... …………16

BEAUTIFUL NIGHTMARE The shattered edge of an oblivious DARKNESS IN THE LIGHT dream A masterful stroke at a meaningless The battleline draws closer to the castle of my kin hoax Is this the penalty I must pay for committing such a sin Together we can reach the summit My destiny which was foretold so many years ago A new plateau From all those years of luxury what have I got to show Of an attainable achievement It was prophesied long ago that this sin I would commit And that to Hell, my soul I would remit Together For aeons now the sorcerers have been searching for a cure In the room of chequered calm To make my soul, once again, clean and white and pure Feel the pressure of a soothing balm A voice of beauty But now dark clouds are rising up the castle battlements A voice of hope The forces of my enemies lurk within their tents Reaching out to a beautiful dream What vast powers have been released from the fiery pits below Where the ends are frayed The embers of fear within my breast now begin to glow And hatred is bred Beautiful dream Beautiful nightmare Centuries of torment are thrown up in my face Revenge of the sufferers will soon be taking place My soldiers now are frozen, terror strikes them down And I alone have been left, no-one to save my crown The light is growing darker My mind it is a void I try to scream My voice is gone How long can this go on? The agony is over, my soul begins to soar I seem to see my body as it slumps down to the floor The welcome arms of death embrace me as I fall The growing darkness in the light flickers in the hall 2

DARKNESS IN THE LIGHT PART 2 Across the unknown deserts and over the windswept plains Through the densest jungles in the season of the rains Travelled a band of warriors, some of the most brave Seeking the wizards tomb, to raise him from the grave Unholy powers were at work within their beloved homeland The wizard alone could save them from being eternally damned Their king, by evil, had been struck down Close to death they wish to save his crown Death had almost been his prize For ignoring the advice of the wise To save his life is the warriors aim Their leader, son of his father The prince to rule Must at times drive his men cruel Across the wilderness to the wizards domain At the tomb, the wizard they meet One in unarmed combat, he must meet His death is slow to come But soon the wizard the fight has won The price is paid The deal is made To the stricken king, go they must They depart the tomb in a cloud of dust 3

DARKNESS IN THE LIGHT PART 3 THE WARRIORS TALE Struggling on for days and weeks A time to be decisive Not be tame and meek Many dangers are encountered, all were overcome And soon we had almost arrived at our beloved home The prince rode on to be at his fa- thers side While we followed in his wake, strug- gling to match his stride The long dead wizard was riding in our midst We carried on into the night not no- ticing the mist They swooped down on us suddenly from out the darkened hills Taking us by our surprise with their well honed fighting skills We battled long and battled hard far into the night It seemed to all around us that we had lost the fight But then the wizard, who had been gone, came into his own With one swift movement of his hand, the enemy was gone Once more we hurried onwards to- ward the distant town Till I noticed the princes face crease with a frown \"There's something wrong\", I heard him say, \"Although I know not what\". So we camped in the shelter of the mountain side 4 And the prince told us that the next day we would ride

DARKNESS IN THE LIGHT PART 4 THE WARRIORS TALE PART 2 Chanting from within his tent The wizard cast his spell A language both foul and strange We knew not what it meant As dawns grey light crept over the hill We prepared to ride Back into the town which we had left so many months ago A mighty host of warriors The wizard at our side \"Come my men, we must ride into our ancient town To help my stricken father save his rightful crown Whatever evil powers have brought him close to death We must dispel before our king draws his final breath\". A mighty roar drowned the words of our prince As the town before us began to shake and crack From out of the gates rode an array of hellish fiends Their eyes glowing red, shone out from the black This was it at last, the moment we had sought Suddenly I realised, as the army of hell we fought That this, the final battle, was one which must be won For, if not, our unborn children would never see the sun 5

DARKNESS IN THE LIGHT PART 5 THE FINAL BATTLE The armies marched to war across the empty plain Would this be the end of our rulers reign? The fiends from hell grew closer as the morning sun did rise We did not fear for we knew that one day all men must die The hellish army charged at us, their bright red eyes aflame We steeled ourselves for combat, for this was no childish game They flung themselves upon us, their bat- tle cries were deafening A battle we must win, this was the final reckoning The battle raged all through the day and far into the night From the wizards tent came an unearthly light The wizard was the only one who could ensure mankinds salvation For if we lost, our race would rot forever in damnation Throughout the night there echoed a mighty thunderclap As the wizard prepared his eldritch trap A cluster of fireballs blasted through the sky The devils' hordes around us shrivelled up an died The few survivors led by the prince ven- tured into town To see a shattered city with its battle- ments torn down Its people dead, apart from us, it stood without a sound 6 And in the centre of it all stood a king without a crown

DEATHQUEST Searching for the unattainable A quest for the impossible Within the reach of ordinary man But beyond the grasp of the immortal Centuries spent looking For the one thing he cannot have All else is his Death alone is not Alchemists, magicks, wizards, witches Shamen, priests, dosctors and scientists All have tried and all have failed His quest has went on since the beginning of time And will go on until it ends Then beyond Worlds come, worlds go The immortal alone remains He has no weakness Invulnerable Forever living Damned. 7

DESERTION DESPAIR Queen of spades A blinding vision of unfettered Utopia, The illusion fades Anarchic dreaming in a free-fire zone. Pieces of eight We live and die in a moment of passion, A blind mans hate Emotions reign over methodical minds. An inch of fortune Up the sand dunes Order rages in an impotent fury, Look far behind you Rails against an Empire lost. Watch the final few In vain, it hammers against the unassailable, The war is over, the battle lost. Jasmine scent Its' time is spent Love explodes in an orgy of joy, Of moments lost in a history of hate. Move along Centuries' repression blows up in our faces, It seems we're wrong Feelings subdued by the disciples of god. Away before us A spiral of dust The holy preach love and the holy practice hate. Muses on the wall Believe in my god or suffer my rage. Decorate the banqueting hall My god is righteous, your god a devil. I'll go to my heaven, you'll burn in my hell. The scorpion strikes The torture is over, the torment is past. In case we fail False barriers torn down by the hand of the mass. Mark the trail Sunshine beats down on the whole human race, The inner tomb United by love in the face of despair. A mothers womb Sarcophagus rising Barely disguising Spirit of kings Sealed within Pay for our sin Death protects its' own 8

DREAMSCAPE ONE . 7. NINE. 3 I live in the shadows, Escaping my nemesis, Evading my hunters, I leap from the precipice, Into the gaping maw of betrayal. Into the open arms of contempt. A purveyor of confusion, A dedicated seller of lies, A stranger to truth, A stranger to faith, Devouring innocence in a quest for success, Tapping each vein in a hunt for life. The streets are awash with rivers of blood, Piercing screams of death echo from every corner, They call my name and tell me my failings, Mocking my hopes and desires. I rail at the storm, With impotent rage, But it spits back my hate in my face, Another lost dream. 9

THE EDGE OF FOREVER Eternal life Eternal death Blackness, spilling over into nothing Eternal suspension on the thread of life Boiling up, seething Never living, never dying Nothing Forever falling Forever is darkness Oppressive darkness, pressing down Life? A silent rumble Death? Pierces the dark, rising to a shriek Meaningless A sharp pain Contrasting shades of darkness Falling over the edge of forever See nothing, hear nothing The key fits the lock Except the silent scream The door opens Of nothing Step through Falling over the edge of forever No bottom No top The black rushes past at the speed of light Or would do Forever Never Will forever be yesterday It will always be tomorrow And tomorrow never comes Tomorrow, yesterday, time An illusion created To bring scope and perspective Falling over the edge of forever Ten years, a hundred years A thousand years, a million years A drop in the ocean of eternity 10

EMPIRE The Empire crumbles before my eyes, The sky-clad warriors are led to die, In a frenzy of blood and fire, I see the Empire die. Hopes of conquest lie tattered and torn, Strewn across a field of death, The heart of an Empire, Tattered and torn. The corpses of a thousand fathers lie still, Children cry and women wail. People fall on the broken glass. The Empire dies. Wrapped in the memories of glories past, The old men spin their tales of hate. Weaving a myth. Of Empires lies. Trapped in haze of deceit and passions, The children of the vanquished stumble ever on. Dreaming of Empire and glories to come. An Empire born. 11

ENEMY Tow me under, Grab my life and squeeze, Until dry, I won't resist, Why fight for an idea, You almost believe in, When you know it won't come to pass. I'm not paranoid, They are out to get you. You can't see them, You can't touch them, You can't smell them, You can't taste them, You can't hear them, But they are there. Just around the corner, Waiting for you, Pulling you down in the mire of despair, Screwing your mind, With tales of distortion, Twisting you, Turning you, You won't even know, You won't have a memory, Of what it was like, Before your demise. 12

EROSION I watch the sun beat down on a million faces, On tranquil people, Leading tranquil lives. I watch them pour down the streets, In and out of doorways, Ebbing and flowing. I watch them stop and chat about this and that, About who's gone where and who's done what. I watch them melt into shades of grey. I watch them drift on and on, No sense of direction, No futures, no plans, no grand designs, Wasting their minds and wasting my time. I watch them fuck and breed like sex-starved rats, Copulating through habit, Begging to be neutered. I watch them corrupting the very breath of life, Despoiling the land with their bland non-life. I watch them and wonder how long will it be, How long can I wait, Until my volcanic contempt spews forth, Engulfing them in a torrent of bile, Until finally, Both I and they are cleansed. 13

FIRE FALL She came like a vision, Into my arms. A movement so rare and so fine. Tearing apart my fragile defences, Leaving me bereft and alone. She spoke words of friendship, But eased herself from me. Smiling through waves of red hair. We spoke as we walked, It seemed for only a moment, We were alone in a world of our own. She beguiled me with glances, Bewitched me with motions, Enslaved me with flicks of her hair. She smiled as we parted, A promise of nothing. So, I'm cast adrift, With no welcoming future, No promises of better days to come. Only one thing sustains me, Bottle by bottle, Through the lonesome nights. The one thing that lingers, That fights off the pain, Is the memory of her fragile smile. 14

5 YEARS GROWN Don't think of me when the nights seem so long, When there's no-one to turn to for help. Don't call me up when you're feeling so down, That you can't stand to be by yourself. You told me to go when I needed you most, When life was at its lowest ebb. I cried out your name in the darkest of hours, I thought you would rush to my side. But you said we were through, You had someone else, That I was more trouble than I was worth. There was nothing to live for, or so I be- lieved, I tried to end it once and for all. But, as is my story, I failed even then, Though the scars still stand out oN my wrists. I think of you often, of what could have been, If you'd had the patience to carry on. I think of the good times, the bad and the sad times, And I still love you, for all that's gone 15

FORGE War, hostility, malevolence, spite. Resentment, rancour, malice, animosity, enmi- ty. Hatred, abhor, scorn, derision, mockery. Ridicule, sarcasm, irony, humour. Comedy, farce, satire, parody. Imitation, reproduction, duplication, parallel. Alike, akin, similar, analogous. Like, appreciate, cherish, adore, love. Devotion, worship, respect, deference. Courtesy, civility, manners, behaviour. Conduct, escort, date, age. Generation, breeding, gentility, elegance. Beauty, charm, allure, bait, decoy, lure, attract. Captivate, dazzle, amaze, stagger. Reel, lurch, pitch, rock. Stone, gravel, grit, courage. Bravery, heroism, gallantry, chivalry. Nobility, elite, choice, decision. Conclusion, end, finish, complete. Entire, absolute, perfect, flawless. Immaculate, pure, plain, modest, humble. Meek, gentle, kind, sort. Arrange, classify, order, harmony, peace. PANTHEON Words by Fenton Barnes. Music long gone. Long forgotten.