**Read "Articles of War" by Ophelia first**




I watch the white banner burn
In a fire that forges my resolve
My dreams of easy conquest dashed

The gauntlet is thrown from your rocky roost
The challenge has been set
My hand is moved toward violence

Your naked insolence boils my blood
This matter far from settled
I gather my aides, initiate battle plans

The order is given for siege engines to be built
Trebuchets of trust hurl rocks at your walls
Knock holes in your emotional enclave

Ballistas of bravery launch bolts into your towers
The shots penetrate your mortar
Your watchtower is weakening

Ladders of lust are lashed together
To bridge the moat of misunderstanding
To scale the walls of willpower

With your heralds sounding the end of day
Our campfires will be lit
Displaying our resolve to stay and fight

With war banners held high
I surround your hideaway
Cut off your emotional reinforcements

This battle must be faced alone
Your cries for aid will fall on unfriendly ears
There will be no dramatic rescue

The call for charge is blown, the assault commences
My infantry of isolation advances
Determined to break through your walls

Shields of determination held high
Spears of sacrifice braced and level
Marching toward your stony sanctum

My army crashes upon your lustful lair
Is showered with pitch of pessimism
Broken by fiery arrows of accusation

A rock is cast from your battlement
A soldier is crushed by the emotional weight
Driven to the ground I had been on, two steps before

I start the climb up your wall
The ladder heavy with wounded men
I am but half way up

An arrow pierces my thigh
I see you staring at me
Fingers on the bowstring

A long list of obscenities flows from my lips
The ladder is kicked from your castle
Ahyieeeeeee!

Though your walls of willpower are cracked
You mount a spirited defense
Surely I am not the first to fall at your gates

Stunned and bloodied
I give the signal for withdrawal
Is your treasure worth all this?

You have shattered my army
Yet, I am still here
Wounded and determined

I climb a grassy knoll
Shout over the din of combat
"I challenge your champion to a duel of desire

Who within your walls has more heart than me?
Are there any with more desire?
Is there one as true as me?

Send forth your paladin
I know I will not fall
For victory dwells within me alone"

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