The Blackening Tide

Dawn we’ve been awaiting The hour is soon at hand So gather round my dying fire And all heed my command Now gather up your weapons And strap your armour down We’ll march to kill my brother And restore my iron crown We shall fight for glory And to reclaim our homes And we shall fight to put a king Back on his rightful throne Gather up your sword and shield Let your voices be unbound We’ll dethrone the betrayer And restore the iron crown So gather up your axe and spear No mercy shall be found We’ll dethrone the usurper And restore the iron crown Guard the man that stands beside you Eviscerate your prey Unleash the fires that burn inside you We shall win the day With banners high and battle nigh we shall a bastard king defy We shall arise to end his lies, and we shall make the bastard die! With voices high our battle cry shall soon a bastard king deny He shall atone for his stolen throne before we make the bastard die! Do not let fear claim you, it will eat you from inside. Think only of our victory and the friends you fight beside Fear can be our weapon we unleash upon the horde Its instrument your battle cry, deliverer your sword The usurpers host stands in our path, his existence taunting me Until his ghost has known my wrath, his spirit naught but haunting me Now fight for me my warriors and justice shall be done When our foes are laid to ruin and victory has been won But this day will not be easy, your survival is in doubt But if you feel your courage falter, seek my banner out.

Submitted by MetalElf — Apr 26, 2025

A king shall rise a king shall fall. Raise the banners, sound the call. Upon this day, and on this field, let no man live, and no man yield. For in this moment, on this dawn, where battle lines have long been drawn. With the Wolfborn at my side, to victory or death we now shall ride Part the armour, part the skin Find the beating heart within Take your blades and push them in A price in blood is paid for their false king And at a word of my command, forward horse and soldier ran Killed all before them, every one. Each husband and each mothers son. Sword and spear on armour rang, as iron whirled and axes sang The tithe of death will soon be paid by he who hath his kin betrayed. Our swords cut through his ranks of men Brought down and down and down again And almost reached his standard then In our unending rage But there upon a hilltop stood A man untouched by sword or blood Armed with just a staff of wood My brother’s battle mage [Solo: Jensen] Then with his staff held to the sky There issued forth a dreadful cry And he looked me in the eye And tore the air apart My soldiers could no further ride For every horse lay down and died The very sun would be denied And down and down we fell There, up from all around us rose, An eerie and corrupted glow And we had nowhere left to go But down and down to hell Part the land and part the sky Cast my army down to die To bind and cut and crucify The price in blood we paid was just too high

Submitted by Lake of Tears — Apr 26, 2025

I awoke to find myself alone, knew not from whence I’d come And I lay beneath a crimson sky, without a crimson sun The air was cold and frozen, though all the land was burned And I wept now for forgiveness as my memories returned I lay upon a cursed earth, in a frozen hell As from beneath a blood red sky, a rain of embers fell We were so close to victory upon that bloodstained heath As a thousand grasping demon claws did drag us down beneath To this wretched underworld sheathed in ice and flame Where nothing grew, and nothing lived, and embers fell as rain Wandered for what seemed forever as the hours turned to days My resolve began to harden from the depths of my malaise Something there on the horizon would fill my heart with pain As I drew close enough to see what lay beneath the ember rain. I walked upon a cursed earth, in a frozen hell As from beneath a blood red sky, a rain of embers fell There stretched out before me was an avenue of trees With burned and twisted branches, stretched as far as I could see And hung from every blackened limb, with spikes through feet and hands Were the bodies of each loyal man once sworn to my command When a man meets his end on the battlefield With honour, has he died He deserves his reward in the afterlife His fallen brothers at his side But this victory was won with sorcery And my soldiers’ spirits burned And a thousandfold, this atrocity I swore would be returned [Solo: Marco Mastrobuono] I stood upon a cursed earth, in a frozen hell As from beneath a blood red sky, a rain of embers fell All their eyes stared down at me, with life behind them still And their mouths moved on in silent screams their breath could not fulfil But I vowed to avenge them by the gods both new and old I’d find a way I would escape this realm of embers, cold

Submitted by Pestilence — Apr 26, 2025

For what seemed like time unending did I wander all alone No sun to mark the night or day, no stars to point to home But as if out of nowhere, a maid before me stood In blackened cloak and blackened furs,beneath a blackened hood Help a broken man Tell me where I am I’m the lady of the Shade But I do not know my name I’ve been here a thousand years, But I still look the same Like lightening she flew down on me with a pair of flashing blades And ‘neath her hood both pride and anger set her eyes ablaze I had then to defend myself with all my years of skill And though her knife was at my throat she did not intend to kill O fearless battle queen Tell of all you’ve seen I was once the finest thief that all the world had known I always worked in darkness, I always worked alone And at this time a warlock king, whose thirst for power grew Gathered all his weapon smiths and bid them what to do “Stoke the fires and heat the iron, bring your hammers down And forge for me a blade of power, worthy of my crown” Beneath a frozen mountain, this evil sword was forged And upon lives and upon souls and upon blood it gorged With an edge suffused with magic it could slice between the realms And each one did this warlock king soon seek to overwhelm [Solo: G.R.] But the sword was stolen from him, by the girl you stand before And in revenge he cast me down upon that ember shore Now all the victims of that blade, their souls are trapped within And they are bound to fight beside a man who shall be king And if the man who holds this weapon, is of a royal line He can open up the pathways, no longer here confined [Solo: G.R.] I’m the lady of the Shade But I do not know my name I’ve been here a thousand years, But I still look the same

Submitted by Grave666 — Apr 26, 2025

The sword can be found on an island Out in a shallow black sea But first you must reckon a price with the ferryman He does not sail for free I have killed, I have died and forsaken All those who stood by my side Over the waves a dark sword shall awaken And to glory or death I ride The sailor was tall and seemed made out of driftwood Bleached white as weather-worn bone Though both of his arms began at his shoulders One long fingered hand hung alone ‘A lord of the trolls wove a crown from my fingers That has no right to rest on his brow. That is the price if you’ll cross this black ocean For without me all men are dragged down’ Though I’d not seen a town or a house or a dwelling In this most accursed of lands There were still a folk who lived under the surface To whom I must make my demands Down I climbed to the bowels of the underworld And met with a lord of the fey Give me the crown with its five wooden fingers So that I might be on my way The lord was short and most grim to behold With arms like the trunks of a tree His skin was like bark, his eyes small and dark And with these words gave answer to me “You may not have my crown with its long wooden fingers For too well it rests on my brow But you are quite welcome to come here and take it” And just such a thing did I vow I have killed, I have died and forsaken All those who stood by my side Over the waves a dark sword shall awaken And to glory or death I ride

Submitted by Warbringer — Apr 26, 2025

Here we stand on black waters' edge Dark seas that endlessly stretch Here we stand, my dark lady and I A formless shadow we must defy Ferryman: "Dangerous paths lie ahead Through waters black and cold Domain of ancient beasts And vast horrors untold" As we cast off and left safety behind The fiery skies turned dark We felt the cold embrace of evil Heavy on our hearts Obsidian rocks from the water rose Black pillars of death moving as though alive Forge on! Through death's jaws we ride Sail on! Borne on a blackening tide Ferryman: "You have not yet seen the worst Brace yourselves for attack From a host of the accursed Now there is no turning back" And as if out of nowhere Deformed creatures attacked Evil fiends of the underworld Grasping at our very throats And so we sailed on through that deadly tide Once more in the mortal world we shall ride The crew of this ancient vessel Fought hard to stave off assault Many were they pulled overboard Unwillingly sacrificed to the depths But the deadly creatures withdrew The darkened skies opened up In one last attempt to thwart our journey As lightning all around us struck My lady unwavering at the bow Strong in her determination An island in the distance rose We were at our journey's end [Solo: Jensen] Forge on! Through death's jaws we ride Sail on! Borne on a blackening tide

Submitted by MetalElf — Apr 26, 2025

So much danger left behind And more still yet to come I felt the islands gaze upon me And so it had begun But the isle would oppose me From rock to earth to bough to leaf "I stand here on the threshold A sword shall be reclaimed I scream defiance to the heavens Beneath skies of burning flame" Malevolence looked down on me And met my steely gaze And branches sought to claim me In a thousand different ways The lady danced through light and shade As evil on the darkness preyed [Solo: Jensen] Dark rents in the earth did open wide And black water rose in a sickening tide Creatures arose, that once had died But all these things I swept aside At last we reached the summit of this poisoned land I fell down on my knees and dug into the sand And there I found an ancient blade that sang within my veins And with the very deftest touch it cut the air in twain

Submitted by Dahmers Fridge — Apr 26, 2025

Faced dangers manifold Stories will be told About the king, so far he fell And his journey through hell I am the voyager between the worlds The chosen of the gods I have conquered the frozen plains Slain the titans of the north I have stared giants in the eye I have travelled a thousand miles To hell's depths I'd fallen But I've come through the dark Feasted with mighty wolves Fought with them side by side Against the evils of this world Seems like an age ago now I battled hosts of the undead Saw my brothers' blood shed Many lives I have taken My dreams I have forsaken [Solo: Jensen] Too many long nights Spent under the stars No place to call home Gazing into the unknown I've been in desperation's grasp More times than I know Yet I shall see this to the end I shall have my final revenge Hear now, this I swear This time I will end him His life belongs to me His blood shall flow free Here still we stand tall Yet time takes us all But that time is not now We shall never bow I battled under ember skies My brothers strung up to die But my lady stood by my side As we sailed on this hellish tide

Submitted by VladTheImpaler666 — Apr 26, 2025