[VERSE 1]
The fires had thinned to glowing coals,
Soft light on tired, hardened souls.
Stories faded, voices low,
One last hour… then the blow.
Donna stood apart in ash and smoke,
Hearing the laughter, the words they spoke.
Not broken—no, not even close—
But holding something she almost lost.
[VERSE 2 (Stories by the Fire)]
A voice rang out near the dying flame,
“I stood with Andrew—I speak his name.
When the line bent thin and the dark rushed through,
He held it fast like iron true.”
Another laughed, rough and worn,
“I saw Amanda the night was torn—
Rose-colored sight and a steady hand,
She never missed—made her stand.”
A third leaned back with a crooked grin,
“Jumping Zack dropped right in—
Out of the dark where no man should be,
And turned their charge back into sea.”
[VERSE 3 (Sky and Stormbreaker)]
Then from the edge, a quieter claim,
“I served on Stormbreaker… I know that name.
Mark Strongcastle at the wheel—
Three ships left, but all were steel.”
“They came at us with wing and flame,
Thought we’d break, thought we’d be claimed—
But we held the sky though it split apart,
Because that man’s got a stubborn heart.”
“They’ll sing of them,” someone said low,
“Stormcastle blood in fire and snow.
And we were there—we stood beside,
When the world was breaking… we did not hide.”
[CHORUS]
Hold the line—through ash and flame,
We stand as one, we speak their names.
Hold the line—no step, no run,
We are what we’ve become.
Hold the line—though the end may call,
We stood with them—we stood through all.
[VERSE 4 (Donna’s Realization)]
Soft murmurs fell, the fire burned thin,
But something stronger lived within.
Not just loss and not just pain—
Something earned and something gained.
She saw it then, clear and true—
Not just what they’d all been through…
But what they’d become in fire and cost—
Not just survivors… not just lost.
[BRIDGE (The Hour Ends)]
Then silence came.
The fires dimmed.
The hour ended.
The world went still…
[FINAL VERSE (Donna Steps In)]
And Donna stepped back into the line.
“I am Donna Smallwater,” steady and strong,
“Daughter of Strongcastle—I know what’s wrong.
We don’t go back—we don’t bow low—
Not to the fear we used to know.”
Her musket rose. Her breath came slow.
She met the dark she already knew.
And all around, the Bluecoats stood—
Not as they were… but as they should.
[FINAL CHORUS]
Hold the line—no turning back,
The sky above turned red to black.
Hold the line—no fear, no sound,
We are the last who still hold ground.
Hold the line—through death and flame,
We are the fire, we are the name.
[OUTRO]
Hold the line—until the end…
And then the sky began to bend.
ElCeviche
