━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ * This song was written for @Gibeligob, for “The Tavern” (#TheTavern) * The project is open to everyone, so if you’d like to contribute a song about a character at the tavern, feel free to comment at Gibe’s page here: https://suno.com/playlist/b078426b-4659-4f35-87f3-66635ebbf7bc ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Lyra... Winter Wraith... They call me "death's negotiator" In the shadows of The Tinkertune—where secrets hide Silver hair catching flame in candlelight "Necromancer" they whisper as I pass by... My Umbra's midnight fur against the wooden floor These hands that froze at death's door Pulled you back when you were gone For what? For me? Or for you? I watch you prowl the tavern now And wonder if I've damned us both. What was the cost of your resurrection? ("was it too high?") Did I save you—or cage your soul? Umbra, my sacrifice My beautiful... unforgivable... crime I'm the Winter Wraith With the power to defy the grave You're my silver fox But your freedom was the price...we...paid The Tinkertune Tavern watches as I wonder Were you better off before I pulled you under? Or did I give you something worth the pain? The second chance neither of us can explain Bartender slides that drink across stained wood Eyes cautious—calculating—all the same "What brings a Winter Wraith to our humble place?" ("as if he doesn't know it's guilt that drives me") Umbra's eyes meet mine across the crowded room Something there I can't...quite...read Did I rescue you? Or sentence you? To walk beside the one who couldn't let you go What was the price of your resurrection? ("was it your soul?") A choice you never got to make Umbra, my burden My most beautiful—most selfish—mistake I'm the Winter Wraith With the power to defy the grave You're my silver fox But your freedom was the price...we...paid The Tinkertune Tavern watches as I wonder Were you better off before I pulled you under? Or did I give you something worth the pain? The second chance neither of us can explain The wind chimes speak a truth I fear to face ("Did I steal your peace?") Your eyes hold answers you can't speak ("Or set you free?") In The Tinkertune's unforgiving light I see the weight of what I've done Not love but NEED drove me to bring you back and now we both must carry that They don't understand what it takes... To reach into the nether— To grip a soul that's slipping away— To FORCE it back into flesh and bone. I had to know if my magic was strong enough... but was my heart?