[Verse 1]
I took the black thorn road
With iron in my palm
Her tracks were burnt in shale
By the marsh and the plow
I asked the broken crow
Where the red-scaled one had gone
It pointed east, it bowed
To the smoke above the downs
[Pre-Chorus]
So I sealed my helm
And kissed my blade
I said your reign is finished
By dawn and by grade
I climbed that basalt ridge
Past bones in the grass
And heard one deep breath
Move under the ash
[Chorus]
Dragon, dragon, show your face
I came for the final grace
Steel in my hand
Fire in your throat
One of us falls
One of us goes
Dragon, dragon, meet my steel
Tell me if your wound is real
(Black thorn oath)
(Black thorn oath)
[Verse 2]
I found her in the cave
Gold-dim, half asleep
A crown of broken ribs
And scars on her cheek
She rose like a flood
With ember in her eye
And I swung first, hard
Like a bell split wide
[Pre-Chorus]
She met my shield
With a crack of stone
My arm went numb
But I drove on
Her talons tore my thigh
My blood hit the floor
I laughed through the pain
And begged for more
[Chorus]
Dragon, dragon, show your face
I came for the final grace
Steel in my hand
Fire in your throat
One of us falls
One of us goes
Dragon, dragon, meet my steel
Tell me if your wound is real
(Black thorn oath)
(Black thorn oath)
[Bridge]
We cut and we bit
Till the dark ran red
My helm was split open
Her wing was half-bled
She pinned me down
I found her breath
Hot as a forge
Then cold as death
I saw in her eye
Not fear, not shame
Just a wild old fury
With a worthy name
[Final Chorus]
Dragon, dragon, show your face
I came for the final grace
Steel in my hand
Fire in your throat
One of us falls
One of us goes
Dragon, dragon, meet my steel
Tell me if your wound is real
(Black thorn oath)
(Black thorn oath)
[Outro]
We stood in the cave
On shaking legs
Blood on my boots
And ash on her wings
She lowered her head
I lowered mine
Then we left alive
At the edge of the pine