(And Death Became My Friend)

One by one we’re falling down
Sworn by oath to defend the crown
Against all odds, holding the tide
The knowledge of truth is on our side.

Wait until dawn
For the horses to come
Slaughter from the rear
This day will be won.

A duty and an honour (wholly fulfilled)
Sheath my sword (as is to be willed)
Find my long way back home
Only to find there a broken throne.

My kin and my neighbours
Strung up or for the dogs
(Dead before my feet)
The village that I loved
Scarred beyond belief.

Burning with revenge
My only solace so:
I will kill the beasts that did this
I will watch their last breath go.

In battle I am ruthless
Like a demon released from hell
My enemies will remember me and fear me
For them I will ring death’s bell.

Hunting those cowards without rest
Putting my body to the test
Forsaken all thought (and fear of steel)
Only the pain of my family do I feel.

I whisper to my wife
I tell them I’m coming home
I feel the breeze of their passing
I see the skin on their bones.

A preparation, slow and calm
I ready myself for the grave
But first to inflict mortal harm
(A legend I shall pave).



A fire burning in the valley
I come to say goodbye
With destruction and great slaughter
These men wake up to die.

My sword did draw from shameful men
Bright blood on that cold day
I watched them plead their lives
As I cast their souls away.

(With victory came defeat
My lifeblood leaving me.)

For once in my whole life
I’d found peace in a world of war
(And as I lay dying)
I saw my wife pass from the shore.