Nothing Without Cost

False pearl of life, diamond of death
one sweet note drawn at soft command.
Your beauty, my desperation-
they know no way, save hand in hand.

Clutch wildly at a reckless heart
as we cross this battlefield.
Mingling with cruel sorrows left
that have yet to be healed.

Arrows afire give sight to our pain,
twisted and black, they mirror the scene.
Dark whispers tread lightly on winds of this night,
dancing with swords, raped and unclean.

Ash and submission dust tainted soil,
tears slip beneath to the lament within.
Souls thread through the mists, detached and forlorn,
clinging to once-cherished ruins of blackened skin.

Nature and time, in perceived amity,
rapidly advance to ravage virtue's remains.
Swallow redemption as it rises thinly veiled,
the taste of battle wrapped around hollow veins.

Coveted thrill of immortality,
we look upon your shallow semblance.
Souls stripped of passion and robbed of strength,
tempted by fatality's subtle gaze as she enchants.

Bloodstained earth, wrought with emotion,
weeping in the face of senseless valor.
Former vitality all but lost,
moonlight reveals death's signature pallor.

Shiver gently as our hands rejoin,
you are my nature in a barren place.
Grasp my fingers with blind intimacy,
your face betrays emotion that time cannot erase.

Hearts still beating hush as we pass,
promised wings cannot bear our illusion.
The rage of battle hangs thick in the air,
blood spilled, future lost, forgive this intrusion.