[The lyrics are penned in a fine Elven script, in both the Elven and Common tongues.]
~ The Fall of the Valsharess ~
Before the knight and I our ways parted,
There was a promise he had sworn to fulfil,
Together upon this quest we had started,
Now was the time to overcome this evil.
Below the earth did we both return,
Knowing the danger, trembling in fear,
And sure enough, we soon did learn,
Edralve, drow vampiress, was near.
A mocking laugh within my mind,
Despite this taunt, onward we pressed,
We had gone the vampiress to find,
In double darkness were snatched by the Valsharess.
In darkness we walked, carried muted light,
But in this place of shadow, it burnt so bright,
Slavers were slain (who began the fight),
One fell in our battle, others to a blight...
Through the shadows above it strode,
A creature whose shadow all light did hide,
And driven by a lust for blood,
Drowned slaves in their own crimson tide.
At last, we reached places that were known,
The altar, the webbing, the candles aflame,
A ritual prepared, Valsharess with her own,
A young child shaking, her life to be claimed.
After a battle of words and wills,
The child into our arms was sent,
We kept the ritual from being fulfilled,
Edralve, Valsharess, refused to relent.
The flames flickered blue, and the portal did swirl,
Eldritch chants left Edralve's lips,
We both gasped in fear, and the poor little girl,
Wept as I tried to soothe her, she held to my hips.
And from that same portal, a demon strode,
A being aflame, reaving blade in large hand,
In rage and alarm did the Valsharess explode--
This was not the one who'd fulfil her dark plan.
Battle was joined, Edralve's second fell,
Our ballad, for a moment, must be a dirge,
For overwhelmed by the denizen of the hells,
The little girl died to the demon's scourge.
All hope was lost, and soon, all sight,
For the knight and I lost the fight,
The Valsharess, wounded, swiftly took flight,
But then, came a subtle shift in the light...
My sight was dim, but my ears were filled,
With the demon's bloody, eldritch cry,
The portal, of this being, took hold,
And itself and the being from existence did pry.
The portal destroyed, I dragged myself from the floor,
Stared down, eyes limpid, at the girl and the knight,
With enchanted orb, I the knight restored,
And wept for the little girl and her plight.
We gathered ourselves, looked up to the stairs,
That behind the altar, web-like, wove,
For the final battle we both prepared,
And together through the portal we strove.
Scuttling, scratching, echoed about the walls,
As spiders, in the hundreds, descended-- we fought,
And carving a path through these Dhaerow emblems,
To the side of Edralve's resting place we were brought.
She rose, and though weakened, was still much too strong,
Still mending, she ran, her magics stinging our eyes,
Driven only by the desire to put end to this wrong,
At last by the knight, Edralve was prized.
The Valsharess struggled in our shaking grip,
As we pushed her, exhausted, to edge of the ledge,
Which fell away into darkness, unending abyss,
The knight and I then fulfilled his pledge.
The Elven blade met its unbeating Drow mark,
The Valsharess screamed, shrieking in Xanalress,
As with joint force we pushed her into the dark,
As she fell, melting into the pitch black abyss.
We sank to our knees, and I closed my eyes,
waited for the voice to fill my troubled mind,
The mocking laugh, and how I was her prize,
But I, the Dove, had my head regained.
Together, down Mt. Baratak we came,
Weary and bloodied, whipped by the snows,
Until the lake, Zarovich in name,
Its familiar, foreboding waters showed.
It was then that we parted, Dove and Knight,
The promise fulfilled, Valsharess put to sword.
I pray Sehanine's grace for him this night,
He who with bravery stayed true to his word.