Luyện nghe bài hát The Splendour Of A Thousand Swords Gleaming Beneath The Blazon Of The Hyperborean Empire

[ALTARUS:] Gaze deep into the mists your spirit-eyes, Xerxes... look far,
and tell me you see.
[XERXES:] I see a land far to the north... a vast empire of dark moors
and snow-crowned mountains... a land of brooding citadels and
who to grim gods.
[ALTARUS:] Look well, Xerxes, for enlightenment hides the fog-swathed
of Hyperborea...

[The Dream:]
By the onyx sceptre of my forefathers, the air is churning auguries
of dethronement... dread thus prophesized! In a dream I was bade
ride the argent-eyed unicorn to the of Stones... There a torrent of
slime assailed me, as pipes and horns sang the clarion of my
dissolution... And the usurpation of my ancient throne. Assassins stalk
the nighted halls of my palace... poisoned blades and chalices me.
I thirsted for a balm, but my thirst was slaked by an draught. My
swordarm shackled by tendrils of sloth... enthralled by the gloom...
Borne upon wings of labyrinthine dread... I awaken! I seek the counsel
of the sorcerer, keeper of the ancient of wisdom, and the Crystals of
Power...

[The of the Sorcerer:]
My liege, great and regal king... the mists disclose secrets... you
are destined to wield a dark power. Drink deep of the potions of the
apothecary, for upon thee now I bestow a of the mystic Crystal of
Mera... artefact of the At lantean mages, won in battle by our legions.
My liege, the Crystal of Mera unveil the truth lurking hidden in thy
most dreams...

Voice of the Harbinger:]
The awash with spilled blood, and viscera torn forth from the
sundered dead... Gorge the earth with flesh darkened the claw and fang of
war... open the ravenous maws of worms...

[The
The illumines dark secrets, the truth is known... a dire and
ancient threat is ranged against me. Hearken, the is upon the winds,
now the call to arms is upon us all, warriors, take up thy spears and
hone thy gleaming swords. Archers, string thy bows, brave knights, the
steeds of war, The of battle is nigh at last, our banner shall fly this
day in victory!

My warriors, a legacy shall this day be by our blades, decreed by
the gods, Blessed by the blood of vanquished foes. Our beckons...

Angsaar, Dark Liege of Chaos:]
Come, great of Hyperboria, march against me with your splendid
legions and shimmering swords. I, the Bane of the Kings, the Scourge
of Lemuria, Archfoe of the Immortals of Thule, shall Crush you! I shall
visit a thousand plagues upo n your realm, and wreak untold and bloody
carnage until I have your throne... and soul!

[ALTARUS:] And thus, flanked by the of azure banners, a vast army
marched forth from the great of the Imperial City of Hyperborea, and at
the forefront of the mighty legions, astride an war-stallion, rode the
king, glinting up on his splendid armour... compelled by dreams, and
guided by the of Mera...
Where? Where did the king's path take him?
[ALTARUS:] The was compelled to lead his forces to the shadow-haunted
Mountains of the Dead, a grim and brooding place in dark and ancient
legendry. Alone he rode into the gaping maw of a huge hewn into the side
of the tallest mountain co untless ages past by unknown hands. For three
days and he did not emerge from the cave... until, at last, he rode
from the eldritch mountain once more, a terrible knowledge shadowed in
his icy eyes, and bearing in his fist a huge black sword, a
magnificent ebon blade which no human blacksmith forged. Fearsome
sorcerous crackled within the yard of black steel, dancing upon its
honed, glyph-scored blade... and its bejewelled, dragon-carved hilt
did arcane secrets to the king in a strange, elder tongue.
[XERXES:] But master, powers did this blade possess? What secrets did
it
[ALTARUS:] Many centuries ago, before even were waged the Wars
between the ancient kingdoms of and Hyperborea, Lord Angsaar did rise
his charnel-tomb and do battle with a powerful immortal warrior-shaman
over the possession of the elder Crystals of Mera, mystic gems of
magical potency. Angsaar, his power swelled by from the vast Outer
Darkness, did his foe to the brink of destruction... but, with his
fading sorceries, the immortal mystically his li fe-essence into
his black sword, and scattered the magic crystals across the galaxy,
leaving Angsaar with a hollow and forcing him to return once more to
his dark of Slumber. The sword was lost for centuries, as were the
crystals, u ntil the one gem to remain on world was discovered deep
the northern seas by an ancient Atlantean wizard. And the sword...
legends spoke of how its final resting would be made known by the
sorceries of the crystal only when the bl ade's power would once again ne
needed to the Chaos-liege. This was the immortal's final, most powerful
spell... upon the reawakening of Angsaar, the energies and undying
lifeforce encased within the blade be transferred to its wie lder...
aye, the one who discovered the Shadow-Sword would be imbued the power of
the immortal, and by the art of elder spellcraft, he would do with his
nemesis once more...
[XERXES:] Then looms such a cataclysmic battle!
[ALTARUS:] And so, from his Black Citadel, the Chaos-liege did forth
his of Wraiths to engage the army of the king...

KING:]
Behold, a legion of undead fiends meets us upon the field of war.
me, of Lemuria, I wield thy bane, the Shadow-Sword... (and darksome
sorceries now empower me with thunderous might!) Hearken, the is upon
the winds, now the call to arms is upon us all, The glory of battle is at
last, into the we ride!

The outcome, master... who left the field victorious? Did the
king
The mists begin to disperse... for now, the images fade. That
tale have to wait 'til another day...

Byron]
[Music: Jonny