1. Bow Before The Oligarchy

bow before them
compelled to kneel
avert your eyes

years of crawling
lost halcyon
three years of dusk

a dark arrival
a blade slices then from now
hills filled with the dead

their hissing words are serpent threats
swordpoint genuflection
their homes have all been burned

chained... chained... chained...
to unfinished work
chained... chained... chained...
the fettered ones perish

bow before them
avert your eyes
compelled to kneel

2. Silver Ziggurat

an unheeded altar
rain falls around it
all who enter forget themselves

compelled to go
the voice calls
what is this place?
a fever burns in my mind

the tattoo of one million hammers
an artifact of eons
ageless on a dying world
a jagged shadow is cast by the silver ziggurat

(captives return)
secreted away
far beyond the mountains
a prison for the sun and moon

compelled to go
the voice calls
what is this place?
a fever burns in my mind

the tattoo of one million hammers
an artifact of eons
ageless on a dying world
a jagged shadow is cast by the silver ziggurat

the silver ziggurat

3. Ninety-Nine Raids

brigands from the east
comrades in bloodshed
invade the village
none left alive

town after town
they pour in from beyond
raise the blades
the reavers will have their way

raised in the fury of battle
years bleed together
ninety-nine raids
until he was brought down

finish them all
stride from the smoke
burn the long hall
a path declared by a sword

he writes his legacy in blood
doors hang from hinges
the plague marches on
long killing years

the buildings burn
he does not dream
cries borne on cold winds
his name was lost long ago

raised in the fury of battle
years bleed together
ninety-nine raids
until he was brought down

raised in the fury of battle
years bleed together
ninety-nine raids
until he was brought down

4. Forgotten Minion

the woods are gone
a place where stars shine
he tells the thoughts of others

forgotten
a thankless errand
they abandoned him

the rain has turned cold
lost halcyon
the minion is forgotten
the minion is forgotten

the woods are gone
the stars arranged by his lord
winds carry

forgotten
a thankless errand
they abandoned him

the rain has turned cold
lost halcyon
the minion is forgotten
the minion is forgotten

5. Summon The Stone Throwers

boulders sit in a cave in the west
the sun is obscured by smoke
deep groans of the elders
nine centuries in the dark

repel the attackers
put swords to their necks
crows speed overhead

repel the attackers
put swords to their necks
blow the ancient horn
summon the stone throwers

in the wending hollows
their flat heads rise from the dirt
the beasts of war ready the granite storm
to the castle walls

repel the attackers
put swords to their necks
crows speed overhead

repel the attackers
put swords to their necks
blow the ancient horn

the walls have collapsed
the siege machines roll
blow the ancient horn
summon the stone throwers

the beasts of war ready the granite storm

6. Colossal Glaciers

pale mass
mouths and bellies filled with ice
from the old freeze

the tundra cracks
preserved for judgment
the dormant ones
adrift in the north

colossal glaciers

countless millennia
a shadow on the shore
one billion tons
eyes stare out from within

colossal glaciers

7. The Tarnished Crown

a heavy shadow sits beside the renegade king
the courtyard's deserted

he wears the tarnished crown
he wears the tarnished crown
he wears the tarnished crown
he wears the tarnish

the collapse of an era
bent ones do not raise their heads

he wears the tarnished crown
he wears the tarnished crown
he wears the tarnished crown
he wears the tarnished crown
he wears the tarnished crown
he wears the tarnish