Ah, back again, little ones? Come close to the fire. Last night we spoke of water and the knife. Tonight, listen for the turning of pages... And the footsteps between worlds. The Rift-Walker... The Rift-Walker... Before our oldest stones were laid, He carved his roads through starless shade. Seventy thousand winters gone, And still his searching carried on. A dragon vast as mountain stone, Through distant realms he roamed alone. A book beside his shoulder flew, Its quill wrote down what none yet knew. The pages turn... One hearth recalls the paths he made, Through broken skies and starless shade. The next keeps one chair empty there, And whispers warnings in its prayer. SING LOW, SING LOW OF THE RIFT-WALKER! THE STAR-BOUND SAGE, THE SILENT WATCHER! HE FOLDS THE SKY! HE BENDS THE STONE! AND READS THE SECRETS IN OUR BONES! SING LOW, SING LOW OF THE RIFT-WALKER! A GUIDING HAND, A RESTLESS SEEKER! ONE HEARTH SINGS BLESSINGS BY THE FLAME, THE NEXT FALLS SILENT AT HIS NAME! A king once knelt with gifts of gold, And hailed the dragon, wise and old. The scholar weighed his fleeting breath, And traced the fragile edge of death. Some crossed the rifts and found their way, Some vanished with the dying day. His floating journal kept them all: The answered prayers, unanswered calls. "The king called him guardian. The dragon recorded his heartbeat." A blessing... a curse... SING LOW, SING LOW OF THE RIFT-WALKER! THE STAR-BOUND SAGE, THE SILENT WATCHER! HE FOLDS THE SKY! HE BENDS THE STONE! AND READS THE SECRETS IN OUR BONES! SING LOW, SING LOW OF THE RIFT-WALKER! A GUIDING HAND, A RESTLESS SEEKER! ONE HEARTH SINGS BLESSINGS BY THE FLAME, THE NEXT FALLS SILENT AT HIS NAME! One tale still chills the winter air: The Lady of Wrath beneath his snare. He tested how her will might bend, And marked each moment, start to end. The Lord of Fear tore through the spell; His quill recorded what befell. "Even the Lady of Wrath?" "Even her, little one." RIFT BY RIFT, THE HEAVENS TEAR! A THOUSAND DOORS IN EMPTY AIR! THE EARTH GROWS HEAVY! BLADES RETURN! HE WATCHES CLOSELY, EAGER TO LEARN! The pages turn... SING LOW, SING LOW OF THE RIFT-WALKER! THE STAR-BOUND SAGE, THE SILENT WATCHER! HE FOLDS THE SKY! HE BENDS THE STONE! AND READS THE SECRETS IN OUR BONES! SING LOW, SING LOW OF THE RIFT-WALKER! A GUIDING HAND, A RESTLESS SEEKER! ONE HEARTH SINGS BLESSINGS BY THE FLAME, THE NEXT FALLS SILENT AT HIS NAME! "Grandfather... did he ever learn to care?" "Ah, child... There are questions even seventy thousand years cannot answer. And once, the Rift-Walker found one written nowhere in his book." "What was it?" "That is tomorrow's tale."
