Caladan Brood
			Echoes Of Battle


1. City Of Azure Fire

The pale blue fire of glittering spires ablazeThe sojourner’s beacon, a wondrous shimmering placeThrough ages forgotten, in many a traveler’s dreamThrough winding cobblestone pathwaysWhere dwell demons, mages, and thievesIn temples and taverns where secrets are whisperedArcane knowledge hides in their hallsShadows gather in midnight processionsAs wraiths and ghosts sing laments in the wallsWritten in blood and sealed in deathBound by the ages, the tome of regretFates will be sealed and swords will be metWith the cold embrace of steel and fleshEldritch beasts converge on the streetsOf this ancient city, so beautiful and wildVeils of night, the tolling of bellsFuneral march to the sound of the knellThe pale blue fire of glittering spires ablazeThe sojourner’s beacon, a wondrous shimmering placeFar beyond moon and sunLong is the path to the endAzure flames light the way


2. Echoes Of Battle

There is a deep pathos hereA monumental sorrowBlood has stained this groundThe very land itself a barrowThe echoes of battle ring cold through the agesThe moon shines on old dunes, awakening ancient hatredsSwords held high to the desert sky at such great a costStandards fly above funeral pyresVictory and lossWe are strong, but when the day is done we are left bereavedMarching on to the battle drumTriumph and defeatBehold the storming flood of ironDestruction wrought there upon the fieldA host of warriors fall, never to returnTheir epitaph a song of steelEmpires built upon the bones of those who stood beside usThe sun has set eternally into the darkAnd we have seen the fields of war steal the lives of sons and brothersThe iron heart of glory beats a hollow dirgeThe gods of battle rise and fall but the thirst for blood lives onThe Wolves of Winter rise and howl for honour’s debtThe sands forever greedily consume the blood of friends and fathersThe gates of Hood will open wide with dreams of deathThere is a deep pathos hereA monumental sorrowBlood has stained this groundThe very land itself a barrow


3. Wild Autumn Wind

Across the plains come drifts of sandFrom graves of water and tombs of manThe hollow weight of historyDesiccated and blowing freeIn the wake, all is dustThe bones of beasts and the bones of kingsBecome dust in the wake of the hymnMighty kingdoms rise, but they all will fallNo more than a breath on the windSpectres and gods adrift in the wild, mournful windVast cycles unfold across the span of æonsColossal keeps consumed and left as burial moundsAnd even stars will fade into empyrean shroudsIn ashen vaults, on parchment scrollsThe echoed verses state soft the tollIn the wake, all is dustVast desolationSilent grave of æonsRevenants watch from cold cosmic towersGlimmering eyes of jade bear final witnessTemples crumble as the great wheel turnsGround to dustMonuments and megaliths unnamedFall the sameEarth and sky enrobed in deathless voidEndless nightWorm of Autumn claims its final throneThe bones of beasts and the bones of kingsBecome dust in the wake of the hymnMighty kingdoms rise, but they all will fallNo more than a breath on the wind


4. To Walk The Ashes Of Dead Empires

The burning fires fill the sky as a golden light enfilades the nightShattered mountains crumble away, their smouldering heaps upon the plainsAshes of gods, a cinereous rainA torrent of death covers the slainBlood has stained the silent stone where armies have fallen before the throneThe burning fires fill the sky as a golden light enfilades the nightShattered mountains crumble away, their smouldering heaps upon the plainsThe mortal cries of perishing thrallsAncient towers topple and fallBeleaguered spirit, dying prideDawn of sorrow, lamenter’s shrineSuch a slaughter, this battle of godsWhat a deluge, these rivers of bloodThe call of T'iam beckons meI have awoken to the rageLost in thought, lost in space, lost in timeLost within this storm we driveUnleashing chaos insideThe endless night sky dims my eyesThe burning fires now subside as a golden dawn dethrones the nightThe aftermath of battle’s toll, mighty silence they beholdLandscapes bathed in colours pale, dressed in blood and broken mailleSplintered spears, shattered swords, unmarked gravesThe cost of warSon of shadows betrays the night, father walks away from lightMother Darkness leaves us to dieKharkanas sounds its final hour, resplendent halls are empty and pallidBrothers forced another wayA breach was sealed but a host was torn, raised this wall only to fallBones ground into sands of the shoreA voice reborn and a voice was shorn, the vice of centuries of lifeMust we make this sacrifice?Empty halls sing a hollow fallDust-strewn cobblestones lead them homeShips now dreaming in their quiet portsRaise your glass to the ones returningIcy barrows and forgotten swordsSnow-capped mountains hold forgotten wordsDeeds heroic and deeds unknownCarved upon the empty throne


5. A Voice Born Of Stone And Dust

From the dust, assembling formLashing out with flint and boneMatted furs, rotting hidesWithered skin, black pits for eyesIn ancient days we stopped the iceWe crushed the Jhag at gruesome priceNow we must heed the First Sword’s callHis wrath is kindled, a doom must fallSevered from deathWe march, we marchBound to the throneWe march, we marchCursed by TellannWe march, we marchWarriors of boneWe marchWe cry to the blood-red sun in a voice born of stone and dustA ritual to bind our raceIn vast undeath, our severed fatesThe sorcery of shamans oldTo ever hunt the lords of coldWe drift within the sands of wrathThe wielders of the fire’s pathAn ancient magicElderbound, bloodbound, earthboundSevered from deathWe march, we marchBound to the throneWe march, we marchCursed by TellannWe march, we marchWarriors of boneWe marchWe cry to the blood-red sun in a voice born of stone and dustSpell of sorrowSpell of mightBreath of fireEndless iceWe cry to the blood-red sun in a voice born of stone and dust


6. Book Of The Fallen

Still we ride, fight, and dieWayward path far beyond the paleWe are lost, marching onHeavy hearts longing for those lands we once called homeEmerald hills, sparking seasFade to distant memoryHorizons blaze in foreign landOchre seas of scorching sandThe fires of Y’Ghatan burn in the nightThe shadows of a fallen godChains against lightFor weeks on end we journey onWeary and worn, the glory is goneAll that’s left are tired soulsAching limbs and dreams of homeThe fires of Y’Ghatan burn in the nightThe shadows of a fallen godChains against lightMarching on as one as the ghosts of brothers singDeep in the night where their faces haunt our dreamsHalfway through the veil we are summoned to Hood’s gateLands rimed in frost, they will damn us to our fatePush on through the din of the slaughterFlight through this perilous landTo where our blades spring forthSoldiers of Empire MalazanWe fight for the seat of the highbornOur fates were never our ownWeathered skin is battered and brokenBloodstained dawn in a land unknownStars reign in the sky of the desertLost in the blistering sandsA host now long forgottenSoldiers of Empire MalazanFar away from the hearths of our fathersWe’re never returning homeWeathered swords are a warrior’s burdenBattles fought but our deeds will go untoldStill we ride, fight, and dieWayward path far beyond the paleWe are lost, marching onHeavy hearts longing for those lands we once called homeDawn has brought its cleansing lightSo we behold a mournful sightThe fading sounds of clashing steelBodies strewn across the fieldThe fires of Y’Ghatan burn in the nightThe shadows of a fallen godChains against lightBuried seeds, scattered bonesBlazing hearts by steel sent homeMortal screams, names unknownShattered dreams by steel sent homeStrap on your shields and raise your bannersHear the call of raging battleBeneath a hail of burning arrowsPush ever forward, never surrenderSiege weapons tolling out like thunderRipping the city walls asunderColumns of flame reach ever skywardHorizons filled with burning pyres