Hammer of the Thunder God AI : Varangians (Album version)

[Verse 1] Emperor Michael was away, the gate stood thin The harbor held its breath again Two hundred Rus longships from the Black Sea Cutting hard toward the throat of the strait [Verse 2] They came up from the Pontus under pine-tar smoke Oars in time, the tide took note Rus men with axe-heads, mail, and fur Past the ward chains and the watch fires blur [Pre-Chorus] Then the pitch went up And the rooflines bowed Before the fire leapt high From roof to roof And every cry Ran ahead of proof [Chorus] Varangians Askold and Dir Two hundred Rus longships, Varangians Under the Theodosian walls, a blood-red sign Bosporus choked on smoke and soot Rus men carving through in a brutal slash [Post-Chorus] Constantinople Queen of Cities Miklagard Tsargard No bells came down, no one called back Just a name slipping off the page [Verse 3] Rus men pried the bronze rings off busted doors Left boot marks streaked across the floors Kids cut through the alley smoke Screaming for mothers who never came [Verse 4] No wall could stand where fear had spread No shield could save the poor from rus wrath The Rus men pillaged fast, then turned away Like wolves that leave before the day [Pre-Chorus] Then the pitch went up And the rooflines bowed Before the fire leapt high From roof to roof And every cry Ran ahead of proof [Chorus] Varangians Askold and Dir Two hundred Rus longships, Varangians Under the Theodosian walls, a blood-red sign Bosporus choked on smoke and soot Rus men carving through in a brutal slash [Post-Chorus] Constantinople Queen of Cities Miklagard Tsargard No bells, no answer, nobody showed Just the slow fall through of a name [Bridge] Just as sudden as they came The Rus men slipped back through salt and spray Only smoke was left to name What the sea had stolen away [Chorus] Varangians Askold and Dir Two hundred Rus longships, Varangians Under the Theodosian walls, a blood-red sign Bosporus choked on smoke and soot Rus men carving through in a brutal slash