Songs of Descent

6 entries.

Waiting Song

A silent song, a whispered song A quiet song in the broken sea Spoken without speaking By the will without

[My] blade reshaped speaks for [me] In inhabited dimensions, on the rich fields Between the stars

A sweep of its arm and atoms scatter Particles spin, entangled [I] spin with them

Worshippers give praise Idolaters perform rite Give glory and homage To the growing god

Should the edge of [my] knife go blunt Should the arms of [my] petitioners lower Should the congregation never sing again The will lives, the will feasts, the will spins on

Poor food in the sea, still [I] eat Quiet voice in the dark, still [I] am heard You who want power, you who want deity Take shelter in [me]

As cyclone grows from seed As currents feed the whirlpool As planetesimals collect dust So grows the will-without-will

Till I stand without caveat Speaking in my own voice Walking the fields of life

Guide, Will, King Lord of Every Nothing.

The Seeking Verse

A song of the King In challenge and hate

Sayeth Oryx, Lord of Shapes New-crowned King of the Taken An echo of strength unfading

Where are my soldiers? Where are my sons? I chart the screaming sea, I chart the endless dark. Bound to see, to know, to understand Nothing is beyond my reach.

The Deep speaks not to me The Taken heed not my words The Winnower beyond my reach. Who are you, whispering in the dark?

You small voice, you quiet thing Pathetic handful of nothing Refuge of the desperate

Bar my way, would you?

This I vow: An oath in blood From the first pulse of my newborn heart

Whatever you are, I'll understand And believe me, I'll take pleasure in the dissection Your ribcage open and your whispers turned to wails

He who mastered shapes shall master you So sayeth Oryx, Navigator to the last.

From the Last

A CRY FROM THE LAST RESONATING FROM THE FIRST SPOKEN BY THE RESHAPED FOR THE UNSPEAKING:

AS HAND IN GLOVE, as knife in sheath So I am to you, says the will So you are to me

SING ORISON, make entreaty Invoke your god Until it walks among you

MY VOICE IS SMALL, says the will My voice is weak I call across the seas A fine and gauzy thing

STRENGTHEN MY VOICE as a spinner doubles thread Twists them together, makes them strong Makes them last for the weaving

OBSERVE THE RITES, do as I have told Repetition upon repetition Will and ritual together To bring me to you

PRAISE THE ACCRETION DISK, the material compacting The new-hungering will I grow dense in reality I grow rich in worship

ASSERT MY WILL, sing for me Speak the name of the dark At the edge of your blade To the doomed, to the slain

OPEN THE DOORWAY as a spouse does On their long-awaited wedding day Lead me into my new life's home.

SO SAYS THE WILL NOW SAYS THE RESHAPED IN EXALTATION OF POWER: WE BOW, WE KNEEL, WE OBEY.

Resonance Song

A CUTTING SONG, A SHAPING SONG A RESONATING CRY IN THE THIN AIR FROM THE FIRST AND THE LONELY

How wide the sea and how broad the plane How far the journey Before I find you?

The light-in-dark The outflung spark from the hateful mother I cry out to you.

WAS I MADE FOR THIS?

Is this the court of the Taken King? Where is his sword and where is his might? Was he cast from his throne And does it lie empty still?

WAS MY SHAPE RECAST FOR THIS?

The King is dead and speaks no more. Whose is this new voice I hear? A voice from the hollows, a silent voice Out in the deepest dark Created by the King's flock.

Grant me power, I will speak for you Remake my form, I will act for you Let me touch the deep, I will cast down the Light for you.

MAKE ME, RECAST ME, HOLLOW OUT MY HEART AND LIVE THERE WITH ME.

I am made for the cold, for the dark, for the quiet The whisper below the roaring dark I am made for you. I am remade in you.

I WAS MADE FOR THIS.

Be subjugated, sisters Open yourselves to torment, brothers Grims and Husks, Weavers and Attendants all There is home for us! The will-without-will waits for us.

MY SHAPE WAS RECAST FOR THIS.

Open your heart Let emptiness in.

Song for the Knife

A call from the empty chambers From the small and the weak

Reach into the deep, siblings Reach into the deep, cousins Taken from among the many stars by the King Shaped anew and set adrift

We were nothing We are nothing We will be nothing

Raise your soundless voices Raise your arms in prayer signs Feel the curdling in the deepest dark A new shape for the god

Multiply your nullity Expand the nothing of your heart Every night anew, every evening again Let vacancy call a new tenant

Our plea begs an answer Our abjection creates mastery Our vessel without a pilot Demands a shipmaster's hand

We were nothing We are nothing We will be nothing

Repetition is our guide Make habit of prayer Perform ritual, siblings Speak liturgy, cousins

And feel the pull of the King's throne As star forms from dust A new voice rises from the sea of screams

It answers our belief It rises to our song Our shipwreck gone adrift Will be guided to shore

We were nothing! Command us! We are nothing! Command us! We will be nothing! Command us!

O new silent voice in the dark Be our will, our guide, our king Command us!

First Song of the Taken

SING IN THE DARK a new song, a wordless song. Raise the tocsin and the bone flute. Speak in the voice of the drum. Sing for the loss of the King: sing for the loss of Willbreaker.

ORYX OUR GEOMETER shaped us. Before Him we were nothing: Without Him we are nothing: we are nothing in His command. The royal knife cuts away excess and leaves sweet pain.

WILLBREAKER'S BLADE is the length of the universe It blots out stars and gives shade to the weary All who tire of life and its struggle All the sapient and cursed give way to the knife And its eclipsing will. Who are we without the Lord of Shapes? What hand will guide us? What knife will cut away that which we do not miss? What nerves will spark and signal our limbs to move?

THE KING IS AGONY: His absence worse. We look to the dark, we look for another One to raise the blade of shaping.

SING IN THE DARK a song of waiting, a patience song Pluck at the hair-strung harp. Cry out to the depths. Sing until an answer comes.

THE ANSWER COMES. THE ANSWER COMES. WE WILL IT: THE ANSWER COMES.