7. Time Takes Its Toll
Lyrics and music by Tom Ott. Arranged by EMPERDIA
On beast’s back she came riding, to our sacred Nazareth
With pounding hooves and horns on each of its seven heads
Our sabres were rattling, our fists were clenched in fear
When she began to speak softly whilst the wind blew through her hair
She came from afar, the grand city’s domain
Our lips were sewn shut as she uttered its name
“I come in peace, so I beg you to sheathe your swords
Use your magic wisely and burn your sermons in the forge”
“Hush, foul creature! We know of thy kind
Armed are we with wisdom from our holy rhymes
Thou shalt not tempt us, so be gone and take thy beast
And return to the abyss from which thou wast unleashed”
The priest glared at the being, she met his stare with spite:
“Say, good people, who is it that is more wise?
A scholar of ancient tongues or an arbiter of nature’s law
A nomad of land and sea or one that is caged by temple walls?
A scarlet gleam caused the twilight throughout your early years
Redemption tears the shadows you’ve cast, now in humanity’s eve”
Reminiscing the past, disturbed and questioning all they know
The people thought to have done the impossible and alter time’s eternal flow
“Clouds shall descend, bearing the fruits of time
Marauding, ravaging as your bells begin to chime
Gloom in the distance, corrupting mind, body and soul
Seething uncertainty, until time takes its toll
You banished all evil and coloured the altar red
Blackened the aether, slain newborns in their bed
Now the friendly morning dew shall vanish in the nightly mist
And you’ll finally see with tears that fate does not forgive”
Proudly spoke the woman to the priest and to the folk
“Atlantis sank and Sodom drowned in flames in tales of old
Sail to a new life, aboard my waiting ships
‘Cause what good are leaders if they brought you all to this?”
“We live in great prosperity and are well-fed
Crossed through fiery hazes and storms that did not abate
Thou forcest to desert the earth, turn all to ruins and dirt
False believe and superstition will destroy this world!”
The woman frowned and left “you are not the first to die.”
Later, I spoke to the priest ’bout why she would arrive
He said “I do not believe in tests of faith and otherworldly epiphanies
But what place could be worthier than ours of our esteem?”
The looming shadows broke the sunlight in the early dawn
Murmurs about prophecies as I walked beneath the coming crows
Greyish colours plague the earth and whisper with the wind
Just the water still stood azure blue, and thus a new cycle begins
Clouds are descending, bearing the fruits of time
Marauding, ravaging as our bells begin to chime
Gloom in the distance, corrupting mind, body and soul
Seething uncertainty, until time takes its toll
We banished all evil and coloured the altar red
Blackened the aether, slain newborns in their bed
Now the friendly morning dew vanished in the nightly mist
And we finally saw with tears that fate does not forgive