Sepulchral March

#[OPENING HYMN] [male choir • organ • deep drums] Along the road of hollow lanterns None may walk and still return The marsh remembers every footstep The earth remembers every turn Along the road of hollow lanterns Ancient beacons faintly gleam Guiding weary souls from daylight Into landscapes seldom seen #[VERSE I – DEEP GROWLS] There existed an ancient roadway Absent from every surviving chart A route older than kingdoms Older than churches Older than language Its stones emerged only after sunset Stretching across moorland and heath Toward destinations never named #[HYMN REFRAIN] The lanterns burn Yet nothing tends them The lanterns burn Yet nothing remains #[VERSE II] Travellers occasionally reported glimpsing them Small amber lights scattered across the distance Always just beyond reach Always further than expected Many pursued them Certain they had discovered shelter Or companionship Or salvation None arrived where they intended #[GRAND CHORUS] Follow not the hollow lanterns Though they beckon through the mire Though they shimmer beyond the ridges Though they dance like sacred fire Follow not the hollow lanterns Though they know your secret grief For the road was laid by older hands And offers no relief #[ORCHESTRAL PASSAGE] [strings • low brass] Some claimed the lights belonged to pilgrims Others believed them remnants of forgotten rites Yet among the oldest records Another explanation endured The lights were not guiding travellers They were counting them #[VERSE III – ABYSSAL GROWLS] Beneath the moor stood countless chambers Hidden below centuries of peat and sediment Vast halls untouched by daylight Their entrances concealed beneath standing stones And every soul who vanished along the roadway Was said to join the procession below A congregation without beginning A procession without end #[RITUAL HYMN] No bells No scriptures No altars No creed Only the procession Only the road Only the lights #[FINAL CHORUS] Follow not the hollow lanterns Though they call from distant ground Though they sway beyond the hilltops Where no pathway may be found Follow not the hollow lanterns Though they promise long-lost things For beneath the earth they gather For beneath the earth they sing #[CODA] [deep brass drones] Long after the roadway vanished The lights remained Still drifting Across the moor Waiting For another traveller to notice them.