[Intro — footsteps, first light, the door] We went through at dawn The Cook made food first Hot Good The last thing any of us ate that tasted like home
Then we went through
[Verse 1 — inside, the dark, the beginning] The darkness inside was not darkness It was pressure Like being inside something that was aware of you The walls were stone but they breathed The stairs went up further than the outside suggested The Witch said — “Something here is very old” And then she stopped talking Which was worse
The Farmer stayed close on my left The Banker was counting steps out loud Four, five, six — I told him to stop He stopped at twelve
Then they came
[Pre-Chorus 1] I do not know what they were I know what they were not They were not men They were not dead They were what the north sends through the door When it wants to say: you are not welcome here
[Chorus] THE TOWER The dark is alive and it knows our names THE TOWER We did not come this far to die on the stairs THE TOWER Every name I know — hold the line HOLD THE LINE We are going up
[Verse 2 — the battle, the costs] Maren took the left corridor Corvus took the right Kael locked the bottom door Which would not hold for long
The Herder’s wolves went first — fast and low I did not see them again after the third landing
The Farmer swung wide and it helped More than anyone expected from a farmer
The Banker was faster than anything that size has a right to be I watched him move through the dark like he was counting his way out of it
The Witch did something at the seventh landing I do not know what it was I only know the stairs went quiet after And she was not behind me when I looked
[Pre-Chorus 2] I did not stop You do not stop You look forward You go up You do not count the names behind you Not yet Not here
[Chorus 2] THE TOWER The dark is alive and it knows our names THE TOWER We did not come this far to die on the stairs THE TOWER Every name I know — hold the line HOLD THE LINE We are going up
[Bridge — the top, almost there, the last push] Kael said — “How many left?” I said — “Enough.” Which was not true He said — “Good.” Which meant he knew
Maren was bleeding but still moving Corvus had something in his eyes that was not fear I had my blade in both hands
The Cook Of all things The Cook — who did nothing — Stepped in front of something on the last landing And it bought us three seconds Three seconds was enough
[Outro — sudden silence, the top of the Tower] And then we were at the top
All the sound stopped at once Like stepping out of a river The pressure was gone The breathing walls were gone The dark was gone
Just a room Stone Quiet Light from somewhere I could not find the source of
I was breathing hard I lowered my blade
And then
From somewhere in that room
A voice
Soft Not afraid Not surprised
Said —
“Hello?”
[Hard stop. No fade. No resolution. Just the voice. Album ends.]