(Verse 1)
The sun bleeds on the eastern ridge, a wound across the gray.
The last of the fires gutters out to greet another day.
The beast is slain, the town is safe, the prophecy is met.
Another tide of darkness that I am forced to turn and set
Right again. I clean the gore from my gauntlet and my sword.
Just another bloody chapter, just another written word in their book.
(Verse 2)
They’ll sing the songs, they’ll write the tales, they’ll call my name in praise.
But their cheers are just a ringing in my ears, a distant, hollow haze.
They see the symbol on the shield, the legend and the myth.
The savior they can pray to, the hero they are with.
They don't see the man who's shaking, in the silent, cold dawn air,
Whose only real companion is a deep and old despair.
(Verse 3)
There is no quiet farm for me, no lover's gentle hand.
No child to carry on my name in this forsaken land.
My only love's the open road, my only friend's this ache.
Every person that I save is another bond I cannot make.
To be a shield for all the world means you are made of steel,
And steel can break and bend and rust, but it can never feel.
(Verse 4)
So I quench the coals, I pack the gear, I check the road ahead.
My heart is full of ghosts and all the eulogies I've said.
The map is worn, the path is clear, another tyrant’s dread
Waits for me in some new town, to fill my dreams with red.
There is no end. There is no peace. There is no final prize.
Just the weary, endless journey reflected in my eyes.