After listening through Lyra Vesperi’s entire track listing of Singles/EPs on my music subscription service, I was happy to see a recent addition when I left work. Not only that, but it’s a pretty freaking great requiem.
The bandits poisoned every cup and slit my party's throats
Now I am drinking in the dark wearing my armor coats
I pour a tankard on the wood to bait the angry dead
The shadows gather in the room demanding to be fed
I don't need water from the shrine to wash your curses out
I only need the tavern ale and a familiar shout
I speak the jokes we used to tell before the bloody night
And drag your screaming twisted souls into the holy light
The iron binds the dwarven bone
I will not let you walk alone
So raise your glasses to the sky!
I came to watch my brothers die!
I break the chains that hold you here
I wash your phantom in the beer
Go find the halls of shining stone
I'll finish up
This keg alone
I take a sip and close my eyes to hear your roaring laugh
An axe swings right behind my neck to cut my spine in half
I duck the blade and kick the chair, I know your heavy swing
I punch the ghost of my best friend and hear his armor ring
You always dropped your shielding arm when charging for the kill
I strike your spirit in the chest to break your evil will
You curse my name with rotting jaws and bare your phantom teeth
But I will send you to the forge and let you rest beneath
The iron binds the dwarven bone
I will not let you walk alone
So raise your glasses to the sky!
I came to watch my brothers die!
I break the chains that hold you here
I wash your phantom in the beer
Go find the halls of shining stone
I'll finish up
This keg alone
The magic fades, the tavern clears, the shadows start to crack
I feel the tears upon my beard, but I won't pull you back
The Maker calls your weary names to sit beside the fire
I did the duty of the priest, I built the tavern pyre
My hammer aches, my knuckles bleed, my spirit starts to bend
But you are walking in the light, my brother and my friend
The silence hurts more than the blade, the victory is cold
But you are free to drink the mead from mugs of solid gold!
The iron binds the dwarven bone
I will not let you walk alone!
So raise your glasses to the sky!
I came to watch my brothers die!
I break the chains that hold you here!
I wash your phantom in the beer!
Go find the halls of shining stone
I'll finish up
This keg alone