The Hatchling

[Intro: close electronic heartbeat, acid synth, no orchestra] Under the basalt, something breathes. It is not the mountain. It is me. [Early full electronic instrumental drop: synth hook, programmed drums and sub-bass, distorted electric guitar replies] [Verse 1: dry breakbeat and muted guitar] A wet wing sticks against the stone. My claws find nothing they can hold. Beyond the nest, two yellow eyes Come nearer when the wind turns cold. The jackal noses through the ash. His teeth are longer than my hand. I cannot lift my heavy head. I cannot make him understand. [Build: electronic kick and rising sub-bass] But there is something under fear, A coal that will not disappear. [Chorus: synth-led electronic drop, guitar replies] I will live Past the teeth at the doorway. I will live Past the cold of this stone. There is heat in my body, Though my body is shaking. There is heat in my body, And the heat is my own. [Instrumental drop: acid synth hook, broken electronic drums and sub] [Verse 2] I shove a shell shard down the slope. He turns to chase its silver flash. I drag myself behind a rock. His hungry muzzle splits the ash. I strike the stone. I miss his eye. He lunges close enough to bite. My breath comes out a thread of gold. His whiskers catch. He flees the light. [Bridge: beat falls away, one close voice] No crowd has heard. No flag has flown. I pull my torn wing Under stone. My little chest Goes up and down. The dark has not Put out the sound. [Final chorus: larger electronic drop, guitar counterline] I will live Past the teeth at the doorway. I will live Past the cold of this stone. There is heat in my body, Though my body is shaking. There is heat in my body, And the heat is my own. [Short pizzicato chamber coda, clear final vocal and resolved ending] The night is not empty. I am here.