When the Powder Ran Dry

The Gnar stood black against the ridge,

Like a storm that crossed the sky,

Twosun’s walls were all that held

When the powder ran dry.

Redcoats lined the broken stone,

Smoke still hanging in the air,

Donna raised a borrowed gun,

Said a silent prayer.

We heard the thunder fade away,

No more fire left to give,

Steel and hands would have to hold

If our children meant to live.

When the powder ran dry, we didn’t run,

We held that wall till the day was done,

With blood and grit and a burning cry,

We stood our ground when the powder ran dry.

Then the ridge came down in screams,

Claws and teeth and iron tide,

Every inch was bought with pain,

Every step they died.

Donna stood in the Redcoat line,

Fired till the last shot flew,

Then she swung that empty gun,

Like the brave ones do.

The line broke hard, the wall gave way,

And the dark came pouring through,

But the women stepped beside the men,

And they held it too.

When the powder ran dry, we didn’t run,

We held that wall till the day was done,

With blood and grit and a burning cry,

We stood our ground when the powder ran dry.

They were pulled down one by one,

Still they fought with teeth and hand,

Screaming defiance to the end,

For their home, their land.

At the gate the twins still stood,

Steel against the endless flood,

Holding back the final breach,

Knee-deep in the blood.

Then a sound cut through the war,

Not a gun, not steel, not flame,

But a scream that turned the tide,

And nothing was the same.

The Gnar recoiled, broke and fled,

Like a shadow from the sun,

And no one there could understand

What had just been done.

When the powder ran dry, we didn’t fall,

We gave our lives, we gave it all,

And somewhere far from mortal eye,

The darkness broke when the powder ran dry.

Later we would come to know

How the tide had turned that day…

But on that wall at Twosun’s height,

It just felt like we were saved.