The Warlord and the King

I have heard it said
That there were two rival Princedoms.
The one dwelt by the waters
Was a lush kingdom,
Where the peoples,
With skill, had tilled the soil
And learned how to grow good crops.
Yet, the other land,
Being much more fertile,
Was ruled by a Warlord.

The King who ruled over the first kingdom
Was benevolent, and gave His subjects
Freedom to think, believe and behave
In any manner they so chose.
He did not oppress them
And He gave them their hearts' desire.
Knowing that their work
Produced the crops
And their crops produced the harvest
They must have toiled for the harvest
To be fed, and the King saw this was good.
For the land was dryer than the other land.

Yet, the Warlord presode over the lusher land
Where there were rumors of crops
Growing far more frequently.
It was rumored to have three growing cycles
And the fruits were supposedly decadent.
So, it came to be that many of the subjects
Of the First King's kingdom wandered over
Into the Warlord's lands.
And having wandered over to the land,
They were immediately subdued by his laws.
Yet, being fed, they lingered there
For the toil was not so great.

Yet, the Warlord had designs
To kill all of his subjects,
And thereby he was a foolish Prince
And caused great dearth in his land.
He oppressed his peoples
And killed many of them for no reason
Save his delusions that humanity was a curse.

It soon came to be, that the King
Saw His subjects were fleeing His kingdom
And He sought the reason why.
It was because the lands to the North
Were more fertile than the lands He had governed.
So, He mourned, knowing that the freedoms He had given
Were far more precious than the sustenance of sin.
It soon came by envoi that the King had learned
The designs of the Warlord. That the Warlord
Sought to slaughter all of the people
From the child to the elderly woman and even man.
It grieved the King greatly
So He had made a pact with the Warlord.
"Spare all the peoples, even those who came from your lands
"And those who come from your lands into my lands
"They shall be safe. Yet, those who stay in your land
"They shall suffer whatever you wish.
"Only spare the ones who leave and come into my domain.
"If Thou dost this, I shall be greatly pleased
"And even willing to hand over my own life for theirs."

So, the Warlord greedily took up the offer.
He paraded the King naked through the streets
And caused all of the subjects to loathe Him.
The Warlord then beat Him, whipped Him,
Caused all that were many to even spit on their Savior.
For, they did not know. 
It soon came to be, that the Warlord pierced His hands and feet
And nailed the King on a tree, at the border of the two kingdoms.
So, there, all could see the King were dead.
Yet, messengers came swiftly into the Warlord's domain
Telling all to hasten and run away
Into the King's domain where they would be safe.
For, the Warlord had thought to kill all the men who stayed.
Yet, very few listened. And many decided not to flee.
Yet, numerous were those who fled the Warlord,
And they found paradise in the Kingdom.

Yet, the Warlord was wroth that his subjects were fleeing,
So, before killing them, he roused their hearts against the neighboring lands
And raised an army greater than the sands of the seas.
He had amounted them, and convinced them that 
The land before them would be theirs
If they so chose to enter into it through his force.
Yet, it was deceitful, but the Warlord saw
That there was yet no King able to defend it.
Yet, while the army was upon its march
The King who was slain stood upon the hill
Between the two kingdoms.
The Warlord had said, 
"You are not dead? Yet I watched you die?
"Our contract is now nullified, since you now live."
And it soon came that one hundred forty-four thousand
Stood upon the crest of the hill with the King,
Faced against numbers greater than the sands.
The battle was fierce,
Yet not one of the one hundred forty-four thousand knights fell in battle.
The Host of the Warlord's, however,
Was slaughtered to the sum,
So that only the Warlord remained.
This man, the King threw into a dungeon
And burned his kingdom with fire.
The King's kingdom, however, through the knowledge of the land and its lay
Created a far more fertile land than even the Warlord's.
So, the peoples who escaped the Warlord's "utopia"
Were then given back their freedoms,
And prospered for eternity.


This is an Adaptation of a story I heard in Church. The Preacher had recited it, and I gave a shorter version of the story, filling in the gaps of what he preached. His version, the King's Father, the Emperor, came and fought the Warlord, and I felt that since the King is Christ, there would have to be mention of the resurrection. There'd be no victory over sin without the resurrection. Not that his version was lacking. It was just mine needed to be written as an addendum, to glorify Christ.