Long Road Up

Every kid growing up wants to be the hero,
Few are ever taught how.
We're handed visions of battle and change
And are told that we just have to show up.
No one ever tells you how you'll get your faced shoved in the dirt,
That the princess doesn't always want to be saved, that she will choose the dragon.
So where do you go from there, retreat and lock yourself in your castle?
If so, then soon the fog will spread, leaving you alone in it,
With only echoes and shadows left among the ruins.

This should not be your end.

So be strong and loyal and hold fast
Whether you must dig a grave or simply walk away.
You must rise, grit your teeth and hate yourself if you have to, but you must.
You will at times be bloodied and battered, lost and alone.
You will at times be burned and bruised, scarred and abandoned.
Still your steel, inlay it upon your bones and bind it around your knuckles.
Raise your fists and laugh when you stand;
This life looks to kill you kid, let it know you mean to endure.