Dagorlad The End of the Dark Ages 1. Intro Somewhere in time, somewhere in space, For many, many centuries The equilibrium between good and bad has reigned over the lands Supervised by Alean, the planet Goddess. Till one day, when demons managed to concentrate the bad side On the top of the Hill Vorneas, Now known as the Hill of Agony, And gave birth to two entities, The mighty and evil emperor Zul'Dahr And Mogrod, the Rotting One... This is where Mallek's crusade against evil will begin... 2. Zul Dahr They are all in black, Protected by armours and shields Made of the Black Metal With the fierce two-headed purple eagle. They ride majestic black horses, On their saddles, rotting human heads At their side, furious giantic wolves Out for the blood of the innocent They come from a barren land Dominated by a huge stronghold On the Hill of Agony, Black by the dried up blood Of thousands and thousand of slaves Who suffered and died, Already long time ago Building up this Fortress of Doom. They ride majestic black horses, On their saddles, rotting human heads At their side, furious gigantic wolves Out for the flesh of the innocent. They come to steal all food and goods To kill.. The young helpless children, The weak, the elder To take the women away As pleasure slaves And burning down the village Only blood, ashes and death remain. They are all the children of Zul'Dahr For so many years Zul'Dahr has brought terror and death Further and further away Around the Hill of Agony By his loyal relatives, His own blood, mingled with that of women, Victim of his cruel lust. He is the instrument of the demons, For their morbid pleasure And finally to rule this world. Mallek was a tall and strong man, Living in the extensive wood of Bordearon. He lived in complete harmony With the plants and the animals of the forest Isolated from other people for so many Years. Nature was his company and his ally. The cruelty and evil brought by Zul'Dahr and his relatives Was an attack on the integrity of Alean, the planet Goddess. Since Zul'Dahr was under control of the demons, Alean couldn't affect him in a direct way. So, in order to try to stop Zul'Dahr's reign of terror She needed a human being, Loyal and strong enough to accomplish His task, to kill the emperor, helped by Her powers. 3. The Revelation To Mallek Deep into the dark forest of Bordearon, There is a strong man: Mallek from the Woods Who found in nature His only trustful partner. He was able to understand the tongue of All living creatures of the woods The whisperings of the trees The screaming of wild animals. As one day, dark clouds covered the forest Thunder broke causing fear and distress Even the fearless Mallek took fright Feeling the power of the upcoming storm Then suddenly, smelling the ozone in the air As a spooky blue light surrounded him, He got struck by the lightening Broken through the protecting crowns of the trees... [Alean] "I am Alean, I am the soil you are standing on, I am the air you breathe, I am the water you drink, I am all the living creatures, Which are surrounding you. I've chosen you, The one who knows from all humans The best who I am, How I think, How I enjoy, How I suffer, To be my ally in my attempt To undo the evil brought by The Demons of this world. And so to destroy their messenger Zul'Dahr For this, I will assist you By the power of the four elements, The powers of Earth, Fire, Water and Life Given to you by the lightening. So go my son and do not fear, Together we can bring back Peace and life in and around The lands of Vorneas. Life there was before, Before evil, cruelty and death arose at this place The man from the wood Woke up by the strong smell Of burned wood and flesh. Everything around black scorched, Still smoldering except for him. By miracle he survived. Very vague, he could remember The bright white light, A woman's face in the emptiness, A voice... The sky almost cleared out Living creatures turning back to life. Only the black spot in the forest remained With in the middle, on this knees A confused man. Mallek did not understand what happened That day in the forest. But after this, he continued living like he used to. Often he has been thinking, Trying to find an explanation About what happened that day. But very soon he would understand When evil will appear in front of him And forcing him to defy his destiny. At the very same moment Mallek got hit by the lightening, In his stronghold, Zul'Dahr could feel a threat. 4. The Cauldron Of Death On the Hill of Agony, Sitting on his throne, Zul'Dahr could feel a force Which make him shake. For a moment fear tried to overtake him. Willing to know the cause of this He decided to visit Mogrod, his brother, The Rotting One. The keeper of the Cauldron of Death, The gate to the underworld Reigned by Demons. The Cauldron of Death! Living in the deepest caves Surviving of blood and flesh Of human bodies Lengthy tortured till death, Giving the special flavor Of fear and pain. As the emperor opened the door, With behind, the stairs leading to the deepest cave, A strong and disgusting smell of rotting flesh Embraced him, as to welcome him. After just a moment of doubt He walked down, on the moist and slippery stairs By blood dripping from walls and ceiling, To meet his rotting brother sitting In the middle of half dispatched carcasses. [Zul'Dahr] "O rotting brother of mine, I come to you, I felt a threat and I'm wondering Look in your Cauldron and brighten my mind" [Mogrod] "There is a man, In the forest of Bordearon, Who can, somehow, Mean the end Of your reign of terror. Mallek is his name." After this gloomy omen, An imperial horde left for Bordearon. Terrifying warriors, leaded by Albator, The Invincible One In order to destroy the threat. 5. The Bulls Of Itaros He saw and heard the signs. First the howling of the wolves Far away, who could smell the presence Of the distant danger coming. Then the small animals Running and hiding, Even the flowers, closing, As if darkness came. Coming home His attention got caught by the metal glittering Of of his huge double ax Then he knew, it was time to take the weapons To face the unknown enemy. And they came, twelve men, All clothed in majestic black Bearing the malefic purple Two-headed eagle. At that moment All became clear, His mission charged by Alean. No way to escape, As the warriors slowly locked him in. Suddenly, a trembling noise, Like thunder, the ground trembling. They came from depths of the forest, The legendary Bulls of Itaros. Thousands of tons of violent flesh. Destroying everything on their way, Mallek, himself remained untouched, Could feel the power of nature Suddenly, a trembling noise, Like thunder, the ground trembling. They came from depths of the forest, The legendary Bulls of Itaros. When they were gone, The bodies of the enemy Trampled down, In a sea of blood. Mallek started his journey, Heading to the Hill of Agony To face the enemy... Having seen the defeat of his troops In the Cauldron of Death, Zul'Dahr understood, big powers protected the man from the forest. He immediately ordered Mogrod to invoke The demon Neflit, by use of the mighty powers of the Hades, Coming from the Cauldron. The emperor was now pretty sure to be able To eliminate the threat. 6. Neflit, Demon From The Depths [Zul'Dahr] "O great Demon, Prince of Darkness, Bringer of Evil, Come to us. Leave the depths of eternal suffering, Take the gate, The Cauldron of Death, To join us in our world On the journey against the enemy, To bring pain and misery, Turning this place of beauty In an empire of agony..." A strange ominous fog, The smell of sulphur, of rotting flesh, Coming out of the Cauldron of Death Suddenly he appeared! The demon Neflit, Demon from the Depths, Bringer of sorrow, Bringer of eminent death. The demon Neflit, Demon from the Depths. Turning this place of beauty In an empire of agony. A strong hideous creature, Half human, half dragon. Black horns on his head, Burning eyes and a greenish skin. Membranous wings, Enormous sharp claws. A strong, hideous creature. Heading to Bordearon He took away Every scrap of hope. Absorbing the essence of life Making him stronger More and more evil. As the demon met Mallek, A fierce struggle began. Huge claws against double ax. As he hit the beast, Green, stinking blood squirted out, But the wounds healed very fast And the monster remained undamaged While the demon wacked the ax away, Mallek remembered the words, Use the Power of Fire. Forming between his hands A hot red blinding ball And threw it, with all his force To the dark eminent monster. A sharp deafening howl, An acid smell in the air, A vanishing burning image, Neflit returned to hell Once again, With the powers of the nature at his side, The man from the wood Won this battle Against the evil Zul'Dahr. After the fight with Neflit, Mallek continued his journey to the Hill of agony. Soon he arrived at the beginning of the plains of Vorneas, With at the horizon, the castle on the hill. Zul'Dahr in the meanwhile mobilized His whole army around the hill, In order to crush the attacking enemy at the gates of his palace... Mallek, seeing how big this army was, Began to doubt. 7. The Warriors Of The Ancient Battle Of Zuljinn There he was, The man from the wood At the border of the plain of Vorneas, In front, over a distance, the Hill of Agony, With around, the legions of death, The sons of Zul'Dahr and the monsters Coming from the depths of earth. In this barren land The nature was not at his side. As they were so many, He needed an immense, fearless army. Alean spoke to him, A voice in his head, In the Valley of Zuljin, Use the Power of Water, Use the Power of Earth. Ancient chronicles Long time ago Thousands of soldiers died, Faithful to their lords, In a senseless battle The Battle of Zuljin. On the top of the hill Invocation of powers Dark clouds packed over his head. Soon, rain and thunder came, The ground in the valley, Turned very fast into mud. It was a frightening view, When by the Power of Earth, The soldiers, buried by dust Got back to life. Got back to life. Skeletons, thousands of them, Holding half corroded weapons, Rider, on riding-animals of bone, Rose up from the mud. All of them, given a second chance To fight, and die again, This time in a significant battle So afterwards, they could rest In peace, for eternity. They knew their mission, And headed to the Hill of Agony, And passing by, saluted by nodding Their new lord, Mallek, The man from the wood, Instrument of their mother, Alean, the planet goddess. The strong man, the ax in his hands, Feeling the powers so strong Joined them, and leaded his army To gain the final victory. And the rain, the thunder Didn't stop Till the end... 8. The March Of The Dead [Instrumental] 9. The Holy Battle Of Vorneas It was a glorious day An army of dead men walking Thousands of them Wearing helmets And coats of mail Holding weapons, Swords, axes, Clubs, bow and arrow. Heading to the Hill of Agony To destroy the center of evil. And all those, protecting it, On the plane of Vorneas. Facing eachother The sons and the monsters of Zul'Dahr Against a horde of skeletons. Fragile silhouettes of bone Determined to go on till the end. The black warriors with the purple eagle Heavy, by their armor and weapons Were slowed down by the mud. It was raining, heavily, Like it had never did before. Stuck in the mud, they were an easy prey For the light-weighting skeletons Which were fast and agile. In the middle of the battlefield, A lot of spoiled blood. And the smell, of burned out flesh Of the men stroke by the lightning Guided by the hand Of the tall man from the wood. The ground was shaking, The nature let feel her anger, The planet-goddess was determined To erase this stronghold Source of sorrow, From the surface of the planet. The castle is collapsing! For the first time The Black Warriors With fear in their eyes Tried to escape from this place. They got outnumbered, Their end was close. The last survivor of this carnage. The evil Emperor, full of anger, Full of hate.. Facing Mallek, the man of the wood. Resolved to put an end To the reign of tyranny. They were watching each other. Waiting, for the first one to attack. The mighty sword, Versus the huge double ax. At the same moment Both launched the attack, The sword running through The heart of Mallek, The double ax, Through his cuirass of Zul'Dahr, Ripping this trunk In two halves. And they fell both dead, Next to each other. At this moment The magic was over. It ceased raining The earth calmed down. The remaining skeletons turned to ashes, Blown away, by a gentle breeze. 10. Epilogue Not long later, In the plane of Vorneas, Life took back it's place. Flowers, trees, bushes grew, Animals came, Making disappear The last traces of the battle. The plane, fertile, Attracted people, Who built their houses there And lived in harmony with nature. From Zul'Dahr's empire of evil, By the sacrifice of Mallek, No trace remained. The past, covered by the dense forest of Vorneas.