When he was young, before the war He knew a girl beneath the oak They chased the summer through the fields And swore their hearts would never change She'd laugh whenever he would speak Of dragons, swords, and distant kings And when the village lights grew dim She'd promise she would wait for him "Come home," she said, "when battles end" "Come home, my childhood friend" He carried those words into war And dreamed of hearing them once more The years went by, the young knight rode Through frozen lands and fields of blood He fought the beasts of ancient tales And watched his brothers fall in war His armor scarred, his heart grown cold He finally crossed the village road But there was silence where she lived No laughter underneath the oak The villagers spoke Of a shadow at night A lord from the mountains Who came without light He took what he wanted Then vanished away And hers was the name They whispered that day They told him she had died alone Taken by something in the dark But something deep within him knew The tale they told could not be true For carved upon her childhood door He found three words beneath the dust: "I waited still." And then he swore beneath the moon— "He will answer for her."
