The Night Walkers

By Erin Schliebs

 

The Night Walkers may be quiet of voice

and slight of step

but don’t mistake their vows.

 

They are here to change the world.

 

They are scattered across the world

crouching behind

and stalking amidst

the battle calls

of their

Sun Warrior sisters.

 

Charged by the fire of the sun

the Sun Warrior sisters

raise their swords to the skies

and charge forward.

They take no prisoners

and they leave the wounded to die.

 

The Sun Warrior sisters blaze into battle

collecting scalps for honour and fun,

fuelled by the great power of Durga and Kali Ma.

 

While the Night Walkers wait.

 

They sit with the patience of Artemis,

the precision of Cerridwen

and the wile of Baba Yaga.

 

They build their red tents

so their Sun Warrior sisters,

weary from battle,

may come in and remember who they are.

They may shed their wolf skins

and be the lamb once again.

Even if just for a moment.

 

And when the sun sets

and the battle field falls still

they tread the hoof churned soil

and sow seeds in the moonlight.

 

They whisper their prayers to the fertile earth

and call upon their Mother Moon

to hear them.

 

They tend to the bodies

left to perish in the field,

and they mend them with a potion

that holds a fatal trick.

 

If you survive their medicine

you will remain forever changed.

 

You will be left with the moon water in your veins.

 

Every time you rise to fight again

you will hear the whispers

of the moon

in your heart.

 

We are the Night Walkers,

and we’re here to change the world.

 

Illustration by Steph Elise