The Caves Of Aklabadd Poem by David Lewis Paget

In a land where there is no country,
Where the people are driven mad,
The world once chose to forget them there
By the Caves of Aklabadd,
They're ringed around by a mountain chain
You can never get in, nor out,
For the Vampire Bats will drive you back
As they swarm from their great redoubt.

They've bitten so many people,
Corrupted the peasants' blood,
With evil eyes, like the bats, they fly
When the Moon is in full flood.
While the uncorrupted peasants lie
With their doors and shutters barred,
The Vampyres feed on the blood they need
In the village of Beauregarde.

And deep in the Caves of Aklabadd
There are beasts who slave all night,
Making the coffins the Vampyres need
When the sun gives out first light,
While down in the valley the Silver Mines
Are worked for a single need,
For silver bullets to cull the young
Before they can start to breed!

The Vampyres come when the sun goes down,
The peasants work in the day,
And venture into the icy caves
To destroy them, come what may,
But a single bite or a scratch, just might
Infect with the spore from Hell,
And it only takes a day and a night
To pass on the blood-lust spell.

Jamaal was Chief of the Slayers there,
Had taken his father's place,
Had stalked the Elder when he became
One of the hated race,
He'd begged forgiveness and wept as he
Had staked with a silver spike,
The man he'd loved in his earthly state
When he'd cornered him, one night.

His heart was bitter and vengeful then
As he nursed his hate for the spore,
He sought revenge for the stream of men
Who'd been lost to their hearths before,
He ventured deeper into the caves
Than those who said he was mad,
Searching the caves for the breeding grounds
In the caves of Aklabadd.

He'd tear the lid from each coffin found,
Destroy with a single shot,
The silver bullets were small and round
Would kill, more often than not,
But he came to a coffin, wrapped in lace
And carefully raised the lid,
To find a vision of holiness
That from earthly eyes was hid.

A woman, slumbered on silken sheets
With lips that were crimson red,
The hair that fell on her shoulders, seemed
Not fit for the gross undead,
The eyes that flickered were green with lights
Of amber, glowed in the gloom,
Jamaal fell back, and his heart was full
Disarmed in that cave-like room.

‘I can't believe that you're one of them,
They're evil, and you are fair, '
She stretched herself and arose just then,
Ran her fingers deep in her hair,
‘Have you come to spare me, sweet Jamaal,
It was said that you'd come my way,
They need to breed from a sweeter blood
To save them from Judgement Day.'

‘Do you say that you haven't got the spore,
That your blood is as clean as mine? '
‘They spared me that when they brought me here
My blood is like fine red wine.
They're old and tired, and their blood's on fire
Their sin has brought them to care,
To breed a race with a gentle face,
To escape from their own despair.'

She said that her name was Lilith then,
He took firm hold of her hand,
‘I'm going to take you out of this place
And back to your former land.'
They sped through caverns, gloomy and dark
As the night flew on, a tad,
The sun came up as they bounded out
From the Caves of Aklabadd.

They slept on an ancient chesterfield
With the heat of their passion spent,
Jamaal awoke, and he looked around
To see where the woman went,
His blood was trickling over his shirt
From the puncture holes in his throat,
And he cried aloud for the coming shroud
As he picked up Lilith's note.

‘My love, I'm sorry I lied to you
But the fault was always mine,
Once you return as one of us
You may drink my blood like wine.
Our child shall live with a fairer face
For your blood was good, it's sad,
But she'll never fear for the morning rays
By the Caves of Aklabadd.'

20 March 2013