Destined Bower (Part I): Darkness' Coming

Hear me now, child, for my limbs grow so cold,
Decades of struggle have withered me old.
I can no longer protect you, They know this too well,
And I detect Their assault beginning to swell.

Silently, child, so They do not hear,
Tread softly forth, completely sans fear.
These that hunt you are creatures of the Dark,
They will sense any vestige of terror's foul mark.

Be ever crafty and recall what I've taught:
They despise your Light if They must be fought.
Make all haste toward the enshadowed wood;
Aye, that one by which you would e'er dreaming brood.

(I know you have yearned for its master's song
But in my envy I ne'er allowed you linger long.
I could not stand to lose you to its depths before,
Alas now comes a danger I cannot ignore.)

Nighttime has placed upon those trees shadow,
But true Dark's hold there is eternally shallow.
Within them dwells an ancient power
Sanctifying them and making them bower.

Tell Him I send you as gift and devotion
The last of His kind not fled over ocean.
From Him you'll learn the ways of your race,
And all the Lore a mortal could not embrace.

But now you must flee for I am deathly strained,
And my apprentice wards are perilously drained.
A privilege it was to be your true paladin,
Yet do not sorrow for you go to your Twin.

The Darkness comes now, wings droning in fury,
And while one day your Light shall venge me
Flee now for the wood, child, flee for His bower
For none but He can ignite your soul’s power.