Answer:
Used left or right, I get to travel over cobblestone or gravel. Used up, I vie for sweet success, used down, I cause men great duress.
The eight of us move forth and back. To protect our king from the foes attack.
As I walked along the path I saw something with four fingers and one thumb, but it was not flesh, fish, bone or fowl.
My first is in wield, sever bones and marrow. My second is in blade, forged in cold steel. My third is an arbalest, and also in arrows. My fourth is in power, plunged through a shield. My fifth is in honor, and also in vows. My last will put an end to it all.
Three little letters, a paradox to some. The worse that it is, the better it becomes.
According to the music industry, you can count on a midnight train and the devil to turn up here.