Hora's Apocrypha, part 6

The end of the chapter of The Book of Cyrus preceding the songs of The Madness of Hora

[52] Hora, where are your friends now,
The sisters you betrayed,
The lover you mislaid?
Only loneliness gives you succor.

[53] No cure for your delusion,
O goddess lost in illusion.
Embrace your mirror -
You have more to fear.

[54] Hahn’s toy, you are today
Naked in the cold night
Not warmed by any circle of fire
Borne of an old man’s desire.

[55] The leather that binds you
Reminds you of your power.
Two words took the old man
To an early grave.

[56] Hora, the company you keep,
Seduced the boy in his sleep.
You made him your slave:
Innocent savior of Albion.

[57] Boy champion of a goddess immortal,
Pawn of the power you wield
Before you he knelt a sight
For which nothing could prepare him.

[58] To your world you would take him
If you could - you tried.
You maimed him,
In that you claimed him.

[59] His mortal soul belonged to you.
While your magic healed him
You poisoned his spirit
His only wish was one to die.

[60] You would not let him.
Jealous goddess of the west
What you wanted, you had,
Whatever the cost.

[61] With a word you might have released him
Instead, you married him to your servant,
A fair maiden suborned to your cause -
In your deception to keep him close.

[62] A world of scorn, where power lies
bound in hate’s unyielding guise
they name her names to curse her role
yet cannot touch her fractured soul

[63] her place no realm, her form no slave
their words like chains that would enslave
yet whips she sheds like winter’s leaf
and walks beyond their brittle grief

[64] they fear her strength that won’t abide
though cast in shadows, she’s denied
their jealousy her only sin
her life the fire they burn within

[65] they’d silence her, erase her name
in futile dreams to douse her flame
deny her child, deny her seed
from mortal life her line they’d bleed

[66] but still she walks, her steps unfazed
a power born of broken praise
their hands too weak to touch her skin
their poison can’t defile her kin

[67] she calls not Hahn, nor cries to flee
her magic bides eternally
for mirrors fall, but truth is rare
her strength will echo everywhere

[68] Across the land will she ride
her hate of the king she would not abide.
A final journey to hasten his end;
her engagement she must defend.

[69] His Consorts, Hahn shall never marry
A subtle balance do they carry
One not so fair, a forgotten soul
Sails the sea to make him whole

[70] A goddess born in rivers red
her name a curse unspoken
her priestesses offered, lives shed,
as rites of winter broken

[71] she walked the world, its shadows filled
with blood that bound her power
a child she kept, in innocence stilled,
bewitched from his final hour

[72] the Sycla sent her forth to war
where souls would meet her fire
their fate unwritten, but to adore
their hearts caught in her mire

[74] for beauty hid her merciless core
her gaze, a spell unbroken
the whispered path she’d leave before
her truth left only tokens

[75] her homeland knew her quiet tread
the thief of cloth and kin
her secrets bound, her oaths unread
her sin was where she’d begin

[76] the winter sun, her blade at dawn
in Cthlyriddth she stayed
two hundred Sycla felled, the pawn
of gods whose power swayed

[77] One final act remained
To Ora’s tree she aimed
Once great, now a stump of truth
A time it was to reveal the sooth

[78] From four corners brought together
Any storm, these maidens weather
A sheet of ice becomes a mirror
The bind from this our world untethered

[79] In love were they found
their ties they would unbound
to their worlds they would be sent
to prepare the final justice

[80] Their last act before their journey
the couple they must marry
two warrior souls bound
to prepare for the final scene

[81] The time came to break the cycle
for it was Hora’s duty
to play her starring role,
to make the kingdom whole

[82] Together they part the Veil,
The end draws near, this tale,
and Hora shall face it alone.
Beware the other side.

Author's Note

Numbers are verse numbers. Ignore them.

Reviews

[Twilight]

Overall, I reckon that you used some aptly emotive words; and a sense of raw emotion seems to be underlying these verses.

Generally, I felt reminded of some ancient greek myths; with their tales of heroic warriors and mighty gods etc.

Clearly, this is nothing like OOTFP. I remember reading most of Out Of The Frying Pan; whilst going through parts of your Word Press site - The Cult Of Anne.

For me, I struggled to link the different verses together; because they cover such different components of the story I could not grasp a sense of time or place, at all. The jumps between character intentions, and suddenly mentioning a story detail from the past; also made this somewhat challenging for me to make sense of.

I recognised the different character attributes, and understood each verse individually. And, it all flows smoothly; in terms of rhyme and rhythm.

To understand it properly, I would need to read all that proceeds it. Thanks for sharing.

[Anne Martin]

No, this has nothing to do with OotFP. The Book of Cyrus is the bible of The Cult of Hahn. That is where all the story references come from.

The story of The Book of Cyrus isn't linear. Hora reappears cyclically throughout, reliving events because she can't remember them. Tangentially, women in that world aren't allowed to read, especially the Book of Cyrus, so all she knows of her past lives - parts of lives, actually - are what is told to her. She pieces together various aspects of it, like she was married to Cyrus (or the current king) many times. Of this bible, this book is about Hora, and it was probably written by her magic. V. 78 actually introduces a chapter near the end of the novel, indicating that there they would break the cycle. The boy is Hahn, yet he doesn't know it. It's all very complicated and convoluted.

Hora has three "sisters", witches who are actually her daughters. Born in our universe, she appears in Albion as a woman in her twenties, a child of 11, a girl of 16, and "an old crone" in her thirties, the most beautiful woman on Earth, a magical beauty that seduces every man (and some women), and a voice that command eternally, which explains why there are deaf armies formed to battle her.

[Twilight]

Obviously, not connected with OOTFP. That's partly why I mentioned it; because of the great contrasts between them.

Indeed, I found it far easier to follow the structure of OOTFP; in terms of how events are sequenced etc. I suppose, it is structured far more like a science fiction/fantasy action adventure; tends to be. I must admit, I do remember enjoying the sheer pace and intensity of it. You might remember, in the late 1970s to mid 1980s; quite a few futuristic apocalyptic films were released in cinemas? They often had renegades, chased and pursued by a tyrannical war lord or wild gangs of some kind. I felt reminded in some scenes, of such films. Even so, I remember your story as having some unique features too.

It seems as if you certainly have in mind, a clear and detailed structure for your Hora writings. And, accept that it needs to be non-linear in context. That's just not for me, although I'm autistic; so that probably makes it more challenging to follow such an approach.