Artemis Anisa

The Tale of Artemis
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Long ago,
Even before Time knew what time was,
There was Artemis.

I.

Long ago,
Artemis traveled from here to there,
To where, and nowhere.
The desert, and jungle,
The forests of Asinere,
Alas, no place quite like the land of Asinanisa.
Shells of the sea washed ashore by a nonexistent ocean,
Darkness and monsters themselves filled the land.
The time of Heroes.

Fire burned, but did not extinguish.
Blood flowed but did not spill.
Water boiled, but did not evaporate,
Rivers flowed, but not of water but of sand.
Wind blowed, but no clouds came, only storms.

Rain strayed towards the north and away,
Artemis went hither along the way,
Foul deep seated war,
A quiet war of words.

Fire scorched the sea,
And the sea became no more.
Blood flowed from the tongues that be bitten off.
Water boiled with children of the men.
Rivers blocked up by sand by a god unknown.
Wind blowed, and brought the warships from the west.

II.

The ships themselves set upon the coast,
The ones no longer knowing anything,
Save for the taste of their fellow man's flesh,
Were not aware of the coming ships.
Artemis himself,
After much traveling,
Even he did not bear the will to enter.

The armies of Asinere issued forth out of the warships,
Pounding of feet and the thumping of spears to shields
Filled the very air.
Hitherto and hither now, is what they called,
Hitherto and hither now,
On and on they shouted the phrase.
The gates of Asinanisa remained open,
And the armies entered and impaled them.

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c) Aaron D. 5/24/13

Still in progress.