The sun stands high above the ground,
Today will be the day of no return.
There is no second chance for those who made it through.
Facing the demons from across the waters that defend our native land.
There is no telling what the enemy might do.

The foes are all too many; outnumbered by the Hun.
Never was so much at stake since this battle has begun.
What will we see before us now, will Ol' Blighty burn?
I take my wings up to the clouds and hope to return.

We stand together to heed the nation's call,
This is our finest hour, will we stand or fall?
The few owed by many like on Saint Crispin's day,
We shall not live forever, let come what may.

I write back home that all is well, but
Deep inside I'm feeling not so sure.
At night my wary nightmares make me scream aloud.
As the morning breaks a chilling sweat,
I reckon it could be my very last.
Yet I hold my chin up, I fake a smile and stand up proud.

We sit around awaiting the sirens eerie scream.
Another day - another raid, so pointless it all seems.
So many that took to the sky just never did return,
With their hopes and dreams gone up in smoke
As they crash and burn.

Oh can it be, my eyes deceiving me, what have I become?
Aeons of time have passed since I once left my native home.
Now that the years have made me older I begin to see:
At every journey's start, a sudden end will always be.

What if I never reach the summit?
My life's still "destination unknown".
Can it be there's no end to my journeyman's days?
Will it be all worthwhile in the end?

I never found my peace in settling down on solid ground,
I had to see what lies beyond that fading light of day.
Every morning came with wondering where my steps should lead.
Undecided thoughts brought foreign ground underneath my feet.

Have I seen every shining reflection?
Did I smell every scent in the air?
Did I hear all the sounds that my head did surround?
Have I felt every touch that came by?

I have seen the world in glory and in misery.
Tried to leave an ample footprint of my history.

Now that it's time for my last journey I look back and see,
That every choice I made had always pointed back at me.
What I've become and where I'm standing now was to my own device.
Leading my life this way has rendered me conscious, old and wise.

After seeing much of England fall,
The Danes are standing at the door.
They have been paid to stay away,
But they're asking ever more.
Time for us to all rise up,
Where others failed I will succeed.
We will show them Wessex' might
And all of England shall be freed.

Fate has put me on the throne,
Though a priest I was to become.
I'm torn twixt bloodshed and my faith;
A strife to which I'll not succumb.
For my Saxons need their king,
And to my duty I am bound.
With the blessing of Rome behind me,
As King Alfred I am crowned.

The Ancient ones will show me the way.
We will show them Saxons' Law!
When they will fall we'll retake the kingdom,
I am the one to rule them all!

At Ethandun they felt our wrath,
A bloody slaughter had begun.
The pagan hordes will bow to our god,
I'll have them starving one by one.
I shall build a score of boroughs to keep invaders safely out.
We have a fleet that grows in might,
While we see the Vikings route.

Through the wisdom of the scroll,
I know to defeat the pagan swine.
And with approval from above,
I'll be reclaiming what is mine.
Through knowledge we'll regain our freedom,
Power through virtue and wisdom's reign.
We shall unite in learning and faith,
One Anglo-Saxon realm remains.

Running 'cross the fields,
And the mountain road in front of me.
The trail ahead is but a long and dreadful way.
No path around that leads me to my destination,
Have to prepare myself to carry on.

Guide me through the darkest forests,
Shield me from sight.
In my charge I keep the Royal Secret,
I'm the Messenger Of Kings.
Running from my true besiegers,
Behind me and ahead.
They can not acquire what I carry,
I'm the Messenger Of Kings.

The summit lies ahead,
I hear them creeping up behind me.
Have to be fast and walk this narrow ledge.
Hot on my trail, the mercenaries of my mission.
Can I evade the blade that cuts me down this day?

I'm the Messenger of Kings.
And I must run,
Run,
Run!

Once I have passed my message on,
All is said and done.
My fears will all be gone,
At peace I can pass on.

Let me tell you of a place nearby,
Where folks willingly come to die.
They hope to clad themselves in gold,
Rich from the parts of them they have sold.
They value appearance above all,
Cherish not the true muses call.
But I am here to tell you of their mistake,
And keep you for your own sake.

They cling to a box they hope holds their dreams,
It only holds their greediness' gleam.
An instant amusement and a jester's play,
The drab satisfied, the artists pay.
A flavour soon passed, a shine soon faded,
Leaving their fans all bland and jaded.
The evil machine that never relents,
Producing vile copies without end.

Hear all ye people, and gather around!
There's a market in the old town square,
Selling themselves cheap by the pound,
In this great Laissez Fair.

This journey to the bank leads to Hell,
With their souls serving as fare.
All bound and shackled to forever dwell,
In this great Laissez Fair.

The worst of it is that we abide,
And behind blind apathy we hide.
Is your taste made by who throws the dough?
Or who puts on the best show?
Yet a cure is afoot, we must make a choice,
Let us say no, refuse and rejoice.
Let music be art, not an item be,
Or true talent we will never see.

Good day innkeeper, pour me a drink,
I'm thirsty and I'd like to rest.
Got weary of travelling, sick of the road,
I long for a place to call home.
I have been so many a place,
And I've seen many things.
But nothing can bring a jump to my heart,
Numb as I am today.

Master innkeeper, kindhearted sir,
You know not the burden I bear.
It's chased me 'cross mountains, it's chased me through dales,
But I cannot run from it still.
I can remember that bloody black day,
As if it were minutes ago.
Sunlit it was, yet night it still felt,
A shroud that I cannot shed

The shell of a man, in a prison-like state
Far beyond asking where and why
To live with a burden unable to share
Is reason enough to die

Can you, my friend, comprehend,
The malice that I have wrought?
The dear only knows my intentions were good,
Still my hands stained with blood.
Well my eyes were so full of greed and of lust,
I couldn't see what was done.
Now will you, Innkeeper, feed the one soul,
That could not a many have fed?

What has been done cannot be undone,
It leaves a scar as you go.
What has been seen cannot be unseen,
Another thing that you know.

When I close my eyes I see them grieve,
Thousands and thousands of them.
I've fallen from grace, from riches to rags,
Yet pity I do not deserve.
Well innkeeper, sir, would you ever forgive,
if it were up to you?
And could you please give me a meal,
And a bed to rest my head?

We left our homes when the leaves were green,
The tide was high, the sun shone bright.
Spirits were up for the trip ahead,
If only we had known...
The seas were too rough and the skies turned dark,
Foul weather violently beat our ship.
The promise of gold without an end,
Made us carry on.

Nine men gathered 'round one fateful day,
A scheme of brilliance they had had.
To control the Eastern sea-trade routes,
Their foes to ruin condemned.
A bottle of wine, an adventure was planned,
For this group of merchants nine.
And so here we are in this casket of oak,
Lured in by riches' gleam.

We leave together but who will return?
This folly of trade, when will we learn?
We strive for our riches and die in it's name,
But the masters get richer and we starve all the same.

Our holds are filled up to the brim,
With spices that will make us rich.
The folks at home will never ask,
Just how these were begot
Brave men have died on this pursuit,
But sly men may survive the cut.
This game is not for the faint of heart,
Let the scrupulous take care!

A child of five I was when I saw my father die.
Killed before my eyes, no apparent reason why.
The time will finally come for I can't let it go,
I'll claim my place in time for all the world to know.

Vengeance will be mine!

In my heart it burns, the pain that makes me blind,
Images of blood carved forever in my mind.
The time must finally come so I can let it go,
I claim my place in time for all the world to know.

Vengeance will be mine!

Like my father did before,
To that I must comply.
His will I shall take on,
And kill before I die.

Many years gone by, I have my fate to meet,
I am my father's son, my vengeance is complete!
The time has finally come, now I can let it go,
I've claimed my place in time for all the world to know.

Vengeance will be mine!

In this vast and endless landscape,
Underneath a bloodred sun,
Where my tribesmen lived for ages,
A new day has begun.

It was many years ago now,
We are fleeing to this day,
From what drove us into exile,
Sent us on our way.

Once more we packed up our lives,
It's time to leave this place behind and get moving again.
To see what lies ahead is our lives' destiny.
There is no other option left is the way we will turn,
And keep our hopes alive.

Sometimes we seemed to have found,
A place we should have called home where it's safe to retreat.
Until they chased us off to the mountains again,
Burning the homes that we made of the things that we found, left Empty-handed.

I'm a witness to the dawn of the morning,
Witness to the coming of night.
Moving to a safer horizon,
Knowing it will all be alright.

Once more we packed up our lives,
It's time to leave this place behind and get moving again.
Find out was lies beyond of the mountains this time
Burning our homes that we made of the things that we found, leave Empty-handed.

He just stares at the sea and the waves rolling in
from the docks near his family stay.
As the young boy he is it's engulfing his world,
In his dreams he is sailing away.
But for now he is bound to his poverty's chains,
And he lives just to stay alive.
He's to stay where is to provide for his kin,
If he only could find his way out.

There are ships coming in from a world far away,
Bringing treasures from whence they came.
He is hearing the tales from the wandering crew,
Telling stories of fortune and fame.
And he promised himself that whatever it takes,
He would join in and follow his dreams.
If there only was one thing he did with his life,
It would be that for once he'd succeed.

As the years passed him by and his hair turning grey,
He would tell himself time and again.
That one day he would drop the tools of the trade,
And join in with the seafaring men.
But as night became day and the day became night,
he passed opportunity's call.
Having nothing to say than that, if he had gone,
His whole world would just crumble and fall.

On a stool near the bar where he orders his beer,
He now sits, and that's all that he craves.
As no longer his dreams are what keep him alive,
Not the travels or thoughts of the waves.
With his family lost to the passing of time,
And a shadow remains of his friends.
Now the tale of his life as a warning is told,
To a young boy that listens intense.