With those final words, the ancient dragon then took flight

and so he would continue farther north with every night

facing hordes of undead monsters risen from the grave

flooding over all the land like some polluted wave

Caring not to use the fire he’d once been famous for

ice would be the weapon which would lead him through this war

for even in the face of dragon fire they felt no pain

better to freeze everything and crush those that remain

He fought his way through poisoned lands for many sleepless nights

the power of his ice and magic strengthened by his fights

but he was never free of fear of what might lay in store

no army in the world he knew could face them in a war

Imagining the armies he had had led to victory

he knew they wouldn’t stand a chance against this enemy

and even if the continent was prosperous today

a wave of monsters of this kind would wash it all away

His lonely war continued but he fought and never tired

the thought of rest reminded him of when he’d once retired

the guilt of all the battles which he never should have fought

was finally outweighed by what his laziness had wrought

But now he had no time to think to deeply of his choice

he wouldn’t waste his breath where no one else could hear his voice

he’d answer to his actions in the next life if he could

for now his recollections wouldn’t do him any good

This was not the time to revel in his heroic pride

there were none to praise him for his power by his side

he would seek no pleasure in battle waging there

no song of what he did now would be whispered anywhere

This would be his chance to reconcile is troubled fate

protecting the new world he’d found before it was too late

he thought of how he’d love to see the new world once again

but if his sacrifice was needed, he would give it then

For many weeks or maybe months, he fought his way through hell

the living dead his only company, until they fell

he left behind a frozen wasteland full of ice and death

with nothing warm around him but his own uneven breath

The undead came in waves and in their ranks were many foes

he came to understand the nature of the ones he froze

any creature, dead or living, in the poison mist

would be made undead without a moment to resist

Although they had no souls or any thoughts behind their eyes

they moved as one united from the moment they would rise

every sort of thing he’d ever fought, he fought again

he thought he recognized a monster every now and then

Though his strength sufficed he did grow weary of it all

and thanked the stars above that the attacks began to stall

the numbers thinned and then he found the traces of a town

where people may have lived before society broke down

He walked and found that many cities had been laid to waste

signs of struggle everywhere, then all their lives erased

but though the land was quiet there was poison all around

he felt its source a little further north and underground

He didn’t know what he might find, but trusted that to fate

the quest was growing heavier and now he felt its weight

while thinking on the sense of doom his enemies instilled

he carried on to where his fate could finally be fulfilled

~