[Intro – Low Pulse, Distant Chime] The crown was never heavy. It was the pull. [Verse 1 – Restrained, Cinematic] I raised a city out of silence Stacked the walls with breath and bone Taught the night to hold its shape And called it home Hung quiet light along the towers Bent the dark away from her Every stone knew my true name Before it learned hers [Pre-Chorus – Tension Rising] Every empire needs a heart I gave it mine [Chorus 1 – Expansive, Hypnotic Pulse] I was the hand behind the flame Wrote the sky in her name Bled my pulse into the ground So nothing would fall down Now the banners still remain But they don’t whisper what I gave And I stand beyond the sound Of the gates closing [Verse 2 – Colder, Sharper] The halls still echo with my steps Though I no longer walk them Laughter spills beneath my roof Like I never built it When she lifts her silver hand They gather without pause Loyalty is always drawn To whoever stands in the light [Pre-Chorus – Controlled Lift] History favors those who stay Not those who burned to shape it [Chorus 2 – Stronger, Composed Power] I was the hand behind the flame Held the storm, absorbed the blame Turned collapse into design Fed the walls my spine Now the skyline cuts the dark Without a shadow cast from mine And I watch it from afar Uncrowned… not unmade [Bridge – Intimate Baritone, Minimal Instrumentation] There’s a pull beneath my ribs Between the heart and hunger A quiet gravity Not fury. Not mercy. Something turning Toward the night. [Final Section – War March Undercurrent] The kingdom keeps its perfect shape Lights steady in the night They think the sun still rises there Because they have never seen it fall They never asked What holds the sky in place [Break – Bass Alone] I do. [Final Chorus – Ritualistic, Dominant] I was the hand behind the flame Now I am the dark untamed If devotion built these walls Watch what shadow reclaims Let them feast beneath my beams Let them praise the borrowed gleam Every empire breathes because I allowed it to [guitar solo] [Final Section - Swelling, Controlled Menace] Mercy was my only weakness Love was my restraint The sun was never theirs to keep It answered to my name They mistook my quiet for surrender They mistook my absence for defeat [Final Line – Stripped, Deep Baritone] The Night Lord riseth. [Outro – Minimal, Ominous] And light… Must answer.

The Night Lord Riseth