Ten Steps In

We marched from the sunrise with banners held high

To rescue our brothers who bled in the west

The captains rode proud with their sabers held bright

And swore we would put the dark Gnar to rest

The desert wind carried the rhythm of boots

And someone began a chant with a grin

A soldier’s old cadence to keep the line steady

We roared it together — “Just ten steps in!”

Ten steps in and victory’s near

Ten steps in and the road is clear

Ten steps in and the west we’ll win

Ten steps more and the fight begins

We sighted their lines through the shimmer of heat

A crooked black army spread thin in the sand

Our generals laughed at the ragged dark ranks

And ordered the charge with a lift of the hand

Steel rang like thunder as shields locked ahead

Our front drove forward with fury and din

But the sand split open beneath marching feet…

And something below us was dragging us in

We halted a moment while captains aligned

The desert wind whispered low through the din

And somewhere beyond the black line in the sand

A thousand dry voices were chanting again

Not loud like a war cry, not bold like a hymn

But thin as the wind through a hollowed-out skin

They whispered the cadence we'd sung on the march…

Ten steps in…

Ten steps in…

Ten steps in and the sky grew dim

Ten steps in and the sunlight thinned

Ten steps in and the wings rolled in

Ten steps in… where the dark begins

The bats filled the heavens like night falling fast

Their shrieking drowned horn and command

Great shapes were circling high in the storm

While clawed things were rising from under the sand

A shadow flew over — vast wings in the gloom

We never saw more than its terrible span

Then the breath of the dragon came crawling like rain

And the worms of the Gnar started falling on man

Ten steps in and the lines were torn

Ten steps in and the brave were worn

Ten steps in and the sky turned black

Ten steps in… there was no way back

Our screaming turned strange as the worms found their way

Through armor and bone in the choking sand

The fallen were rising with hollow dark eyes

And reaching again for the sword in their hand

The banners lay buried where morning had shone

The desert drank deep of the hope we had been

Ten steps into battle our army was broken…

Ten steps in our living was done.

Ten steps in the daylight grew thin

Ten steps in the sky folded in

Ten steps in the drums fell still

Ten steps in we bent to their will

Ten steps in our lives reached their end

Ten steps in we rose once again

Ten steps in the war we walked in…

Ten steps in — we rose as the Gnar.