Book 1 [5] The Signal Stayed Black

⚜️Suno & Dragons: Quest for Salvation Book 1 ° The Northern Border ⚜️The story continues: All Parts here: https://suno.com/playlist/f59aa7f2-e96f-4f6a-aee2-2c86502332d9 ​⚜️ Character Backstory: Gideon „Geist“ Vane ​"The wasteland spits you out when you're too tough for hell." ​⚜️ The Concept: The Living Phantom ​A massive silhouette of meat and bone, Gideon is a cynical, hardened exile hiding in a rotting shack that tastes of decay and night. He spends his days scraping hides, drinking cheap rye to stop his hands from shaking, and moving like a shadow through the ancient rafters. He speaks in a freezing, mechanical tone and wants nothing to do with a world he views as a dying lie. People call him a traitor and a ghost, but underneath his cold, leathered skin lies the crushing weight of a man consumed by his own fatal failure. ​⚜️ The Fall: The Black Signal ​Gideon wasn’t overwhelmed by an unstoppable army; he was blinded by a sweet illusion. While holding the watch for his squad on a freezing night, a deceptive comfort lured him in—the scent of warm, baked bread, a burning hearthfire, and a warm dress. Forgetting his duty, he closed his eyes right before the storm hit. Because he was blind, the warning signal stayed black, the iron stayed cold, and his entire squad was slaughtered in the mud to the sound of a cruel siren. Branded a traitor, he fled into the wasteland, crawling in the dirt and tasting raw meat to wake the predator inside just to survive. ​⚜️ Current State & Motivation: ​Now a ghost who doesn't beg to appear, he hides at the northern border, waiting for his cue while the rain washes the dirt from his window frame. His isolation shatters when Valeska tracks him down, but before any words can be exchanged, Finn crashes through his door in a blind panic. Mistaking his massive silhouette for an attacking monster, the girl hyperventilates. Gideon misunderstands her sign, and before he can react, her screaming wild magic ignites the air into a wretched inferno. ​⚜️ This signature item defines his journey: ​The Blade Kept From Sight: His old weapon, now hidden away. It is a silent, bitter testament to his survival; a reminder that while his squad died in the mud, the blade in the dark spared him, leaving him to live with the ghost of his guilt. -------------Lyrics------------- [Heavy thudding drum hit] The cold creeps through the rotting wood, on the wall dies what was good. Six men in the valley, blades drawn tight, I held the watch, staring into the night. [Sudden dynamic drop: Fragile, eerie whisper, ghostly echo] Then came a scent of warm, baked bread, a hum that quieted the rising dread, A hearthfire burning in the freezing wind… I forgot my duty... [Music stops completely - silence] ...I was blind. [Heavy thudding drum hit] A sweet poison, a dress so warm… I closed my eyes right before the storm. And the signal stayed black! The iron stayed cold! I only saw the light when the death toll was told! The squad in the mud, the siren’s cruel cry, I’ll burn the vision from my mind till I die! Let the beasts come, I feel no part, The wasteland devoured my human heart! No captain anymore, no uniform of pride, just years in the wasteland where I had to hide. Crawling in the dirt, tasted raw meat, woke the predator inside to never face defeat. They call me a traitor, they call me a ghost... [Dark deep growling chuckle] Because the blade in the dark didn't take what I loved most. I don't need a bed, I don't trust a word, Happiness is a lie, a dying world. And the signal stayed black! The iron stayed cold! I only saw the light when the death toll was told! The squad in the mud, the siren’s cruel cry, I’ll burn the vision from my mind till I die! Let the beasts come, I feel no part, The wasteland devoured my human heart! [Eerie hushed growl, cold and close to the mic] Now I sit here, where the world forgets my name, Where the rain washes the dirt from the window frame. A shadow on the edge, the blade kept from sight, In a shack that tastes of rot and night. [Spoken, freezing mechanical tone] They drive me away, they don't want me near – But a ghost doesn't beg to appear. I move like a shadow through the rafters so old, My skin turned to leather, my eyes dull and cold. Scraping the hides, drinking the cheap rye, Till the shaking of my fingers slowly passes by. [Deep cavernous death-growl] He who is dead just waits for his cue, Till fate shows a purpose that is grim and true. [Tired spoken-word, fading into a growl] The wasteland spits you out when you're too tough for hell... The Ghost... waits in the dark. [Solo] ​[Spoken Outro - Music stops completely, dead silence, heavy panting, voice shaking with raw shock] ​And there it stood... Barely a child... Panic in her eyes... She thinks I’m the monster... She stumbles back... Misunderstood my sign... A shattering scream... The air ignites... An inferno of pure, wretched energy... ​[Sudden cut, breathless desperate shout] Goddammit!! [Sudden silence] [end]