[Intro: The sound of wind blowing through ancient ruins. A single, mournful nyckelharpa plays a haunting melody. A deep, slow war drum begins a heartbeat rhythm.] [Verse 1] My veins run cold, a river deep and old A secret that the silenced stories told Erased from every map and every stone The kings of iron took the blood and throne They feared the few, the six-point-six percent Whose life-force could be given, could be lent We were The Givers, an echo in the past A legacy designed too pure to last [Pre-Chorus] But the dust remembers what the crown forgot A whisper in the marrow, in the rot I feel the ghosts of every ancestor Screaming through the veins of their successor [Chorus: MUSIC EXPLODES. Distorted guitars, full orchestra, and a massive male choir join the lead vocal.] WE ARE THE BLOOD OF ECHOES, A UNIVERSAL SOUL! A SACRIFICE TO MAKE A BROKEN KINGDOM WHOLE! THEY TOOK OUR NAMES BUT COULDN'T TAKE THE FLOW! WE ARE THE DEBT THE POWER-HUNGRY OWE! THE FINAL SPARK THAT MAKES THE DYING GROW! [Verse 2] I saw the champion fall upon the field His banner broken, shattered was his shield The life was fading from his iron gaze Lost within a final, bloody haze They brought the priests, the prayers and myrrh But only silence was the thing to stir I knelt beside him, drew a silver knife And offered him a drop of my own life [Pre-Chorus] I felt the thunder of my lineage rise Reflected in his now-reviving eyes He saw the ghosts of every ancestor And bowed before his silent benefactor [Chorus: Even bigger, more triumphant, and dripping with righteous fury.] WE ARE THE BLOOD OF ECHOES, A UNIVERSAL SOUL! A SACRIFICE TO MAKE A BROKEN KINGDOM WHOLE! THEY TOOK OUR NAMES BUT COULDN'T TAKE THE FLOW! WE ARE THE DEBT THE POWER-HUNGRY OWE! THE FINAL SPARK THAT MAKES THE DYING GROW! [Bridge: Music strips back to the pounding drums and a deep cello drone. Vocals are a raw, pained snarl.] This power is no crown, this is no throne It is the right to die and die alone To pour your soul into a stranger's heart To be the end so they can have a start... This is not a gift. It is a... COST! [Outro / Climax: The music crashes back in with cataclysmic force. The ancestral choir takes over, chanting a war cry as the lead vocalist belts his final lines.] (Choir: SANGUINEM! MEMORIA! VITA!) I AM THE GIVER! (Choir: SANGUINEM! MEMORIA! VITA!) I AM THE DEBT! (Choir: SANGUINEM! MEMORIA! VITA!) AND I... HAVE COME... TO COLLECT! [The music cuts to the sound of a final, single heartbeat drum, which slowly fades into the whistling wind from the intro. Silence.]
