Of Trees and Orbs

We entered with such lofty hopes,
Our blades sharpened,
Our minds light and content.
Little did we suspect,
That you lay within our midst as yet unnoticed.
A blight upon success.

At first, we seemed unfettered!
If the strain was slight,
So too the victory was sweeter.
And if, whilst minor challenges fell before us,
Any noticed our weakness, and felt a pang of foreboding,
None chose to comment.

So when the paltry vermin were put to sword and fire,
And we set our sights upon the beast so strong and filled with ire.
"Now, we thought, now comes the real test!"
Soon, we knew, all would see, we were the very best.

Through battlefields burnt and bloodied, we struggled.
Though the challenge was great, and the losses grave,
Our minds quickly rose to the challenge.
Our reflexes swift,
Our might unmatched -
save for yours.

The weak link in our chain,
The cog in our machine,
That bounces from the sprocket,
and leads all to ruin.

And so it came to be that on the second field,
The shadowed glade, the tainted creature.
Orbs were summoned, orbs of dark taint.
We laughed - a paltry trick, one that we'll defeat!
But you could not.

And so we failed, and yet we tried again.
And failed again.
And tried again, and failed - not to your fault, but to ours.
But over time it became apparent that we were no longer making mistakes,
We were all perfect in form and execution and could not be faulted -
save for you.

And yet we tried again.

"Give me this!" I swore, "Give me this and nothing more!"
But the crackling of the darkened orb bore you swiftly to the floor,
Our hopes no more.

Finally, beaten, bloodied, we gave up in disgust,
And departed from that glade, your failure obvious to us.
And the twilight beast still stands and laughs in dark and frenzied glee.
"Too bad, you tried and failed - next time, don't bring the tree!"