Slechtvalk

leep
I warmed myself at a small fire

Then a deep sleep - overwhelmed me
He tried to fight it, but he failed
And then - our enemies approached
But no one noticed them, for all were asleep
Silently they slit their throats, leaving one alive;
their captain was spared for another day

Suddenly I awaken from my sleep
I call for my men for the morning has come
But when I look around me I see them
All slaughtered but I am still alive

I wander between the corpses of my men
Abhorred by this carnage I ask myself
What has happened to my men?

Slowly I return to where the castle is
of the king, whom I must tell
of my failure, the death of his men
I fear the judgement that awaits me


2. A Plea For The King

My king, hear my plea as I kneel before thee
In the task that was given me, I have failed thee
In the last hour of my watch I have fallen asleep

When Darkness came I did not protect them,
When they were struck with panic
I did not admonish them
And when death came I was too late to save them

Do not hold me accountable for their deaths
Do not forsake me in my darkest
For darkness comes for me, rebellion strides with me
And I feel death following me

"Open your eyes and then you will see,
that their deaths were merely an illusion
you must know of what I speak
and the wrongs you have done
already have been forgiven
although it saddens me to see you like this"

Although my King has shown me mercy
how come I can't forgive myself?
For the crime I have committed,
I should have been punished by death


3. From Behind The Trees

Now I wander in the forest to find my peace
Fighting the haunting memories of the past
Trying to realise the greatness of the forgiveness bestowed
On my heart, which is darkened with sorrow

At last its meaning seems to grasp me
With newfound strength I carry on
Unaware of the danger that lurks from behind the trees
And the certain death that seems to await me

From behind the trees, two arrows were sent
on an intercept course
To weaken the noble warrior for the battle that lies ahead

Dark souls left the shadows to surround me
With eyes full of hate they called to me
Feeling reluctant to leave me without a fight
As if the arrows were not deadly enough

The slow poison of the arrows
Is taking me into death's embrace
I feel a shiver through my stomach
As an axe found its way through the flesh

As I drop on my knees I see my attackers run away
No doubt on another mission of chaos and mayhem

The dragon will only lead them into the black abyss
But I fear they do not know their own destiny

Soon I will die alone, left behind in this cold forest
Yet I am not afraid of death for I know what lies beyond


4. My Last Call

Silence! The screams that haunted me have returned
Crawling. I feel their claws scratching my brain
Destiny. Final Death awaits
Coming. I see Grim Reaper's face

A freezing wind cuts through my wounds
like sharp razors,
The pain it inflicts is making me go insane

Even now moments before my death,
evil tries to lead me astray
Making me false promises in the hope
I fall for his ways

I feel an infection coming in through my wounds;
The end has begun for me
There is little hope for me to survive my great demise
Again I hear the voice, which calls me his son
But then the screams that haunted me returned again

"It is time, to accept what you are,
nothing more than a sinful creature
who is afraid of the night
Salvation of death, it's just a lie you believe in,
to make it easier to face the unknown."

Now in the cold-blooded snow I lie trembling
with fear of my death

Death approaches me with a scythe in his hand
Waiting for the moment to harvest his crop
I sent my falcon away to get some help
But I already knew it would come too late

Things are seldom what they seem,
The end is in fact just a beginning
For my spirit has become immortal
Through the blood of he who was slain before me

The fire in my eyes is extinguished slowly,
my life is at an end, my death is at hand
I have lost all feeling, my wounds stopped bleeding,
my flesh is frozen by the wind,
Memories from times long ago are passing by,
my father, my liege I think I must cry
For my heart is faltering, my spirit is leaving;
with my dying breath I make my last call


5. The Falcon's Flight

[Instrumental]


6. A Call In The Night

Cold sharp hail is blown into my face by a stormy wind
I take shelter in a small wooden church near the black woods
A choir sings some songs of praise and worship for their lord
For a little while it makes me forget the sorrow I am in

"In distress we call to thee, we await thy return
for the forces of evil are closing in upon us,
but with thy help we can live beyond our lives' end,
oh Lord accept our gratitude for thy sacrifice"

I hear a call in the distance, it startles me
For it seems like the call of a dying man, I ascend my horse

As we leave our shelter to challenge the raging storm
I hear the shrieks of a falcon from within the fog ahead of us

Amazed to hear a falcon's shriek in this time of year
I ride towards the branch on which the falcon sits

I feel a cold shiver as I enter the forest in search of this man
With the falcon as my guide, and a bastard sword at my side
A strange feeling that makes me a bit sick tells me I am near
The source of the horrible scream, which I heard a short while ago

The slain body of a warrior is what I find here
It looks a bit familiar but I cannot seem to grasp it

Death takes even the best of us
Away from the world of the living
I wonder what the cause was
For the death of this man

"Dost thou not see the war that plagues the land
our enemies gather before our beloved city"

His face carries a strange expression
He seems to have been content
I wonder if there's more to it
Is there a truth in the books of old?


7. And Thus It Burns

This man, once a warrior of great stature
I cannot leave him behind
So I carefully lay him on the back of my horse

And then I notice the royal emblem

With this knowledge I return, to the small wooden church
So he might be given, the proper burial he deserves

Then my senses pick up the stench of burning flesh
I see a yellow glare ahead
Screams that slowly fade away
A nightmare has unfolded itself

This horror can't be a coincidence

And thus it burns, the church where
I sheltered for the hail, the doors seem locked
The saints, whose songs soothed me,
were killed by the blazing fire


8. Burying The Dead

When the fire finally extinguished in the morning sun
I gathered the remnants from the choir, who were slain

This cowardly slaughter I fail to grasp it all
They could not even defend themselves
What beasts were they, who did this to these saints
The need for them to die, I wonder why

"Dost thou not see the war that plagues the land
The dragon's campaign to conquer this world"

Seven bodies, seven graves I digged for them
"For dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return"
Under the setting sun I buried the last one
"My children now come to me"

In these times of Darkness,
where the Dragon attempts to overthrow the kingdom of light,
in secret the final defeat of the dragon is being prepared


9. War Of The Ancients

The winter sun shines upon the path that lies before me
It leads into the forests of the royal domains

The smouldering ruins of the church, that has burned down
I leave behind as I continue on my journey

Screams that cut through my bones I hear,
coming from the woods nearby
Fear makes my strength disappear;
my feet are frozen to the ground

Hear the forest fall silent once the screams faded away
I wonder what has happened over there

Slowly I overcome my fear and once again I let myself be led
By my curiosity into the forest wondering what I'll find this time

"The dark shadows, the sons of the dragon
who had killed the saints,
were brutally slaughtered by the wild beasts
that inhabit the forests
Their corpses torn by claws and fangs,
a death so horrid as the one they
brought to the king's men two nights before"

A strange feeling of justice enters my mind
As I see the remnants of the dragon's children

The war of the ancients is at its peak

It rages on in all lands, there is no escape from it
A choice must be made for the ones that wander about

Time passes quickly; soon the war will come to its end
The window of opportunity is getting slim
and soon it might be too late


10. The Dragon's Children

What have we done, us children of the ancient dragon
Whose lives ended by the scythe of death

Where are our earned virtue, the endless feasts and women?
We now only meet Darkness in these mists
Why have we fallen for the lies of the dragon
And condemned our souls into this void

Endless torture of our souls
Eternal despair has commenced

Our destiny, the flames around us lit it all
In the distance we once heard faint songs of praise
Coming from the King's court, where they knew no sorrow
But no one could deny the eternal screams of horror

What have we done, us children of the ancient dragon
Misled by the many lies of the beast
Now we dwell, where we did not want to be
Insanity, despair, horror ever ongoing


11. In Paradisum

In Paradisum deducant te Angeli;
in tuo adventu suscipiant te Martyres,
et perducant te in civitatem sanctam Jerusalem
Chorus Angelorum te suscipiat,
et cum Lazaro quondam paupere,
aeternam habeas requiem