[Intro]
[Nine measured drumbeats repeat while hammered metal marks the final pulse.]

[Verse 1]
The first fire rose where Asgard shone,
And gold ran soft from roof and throne.
The second climbed through Vanaheim,
And orchards blackened out of time.
The third burned deep in Alfheim’s air,
White wings fell smoking everywhere.
We counted three above the plain,
Then six more answered through the rain.

[Chorus]
Nine fires on the horizon, nine wounds in the sky,
Nine realms giving answer as their oldest colors die.
Count them from the frost-line; count them climbing higher.
No road leads beyond the ring of nine horizon fires.

[Verse 2]
In Jötunheim the ice cliffs cracked;
Blue flame ran through each frozen back.
In Nidavellir, hammers ceased;
The forge-mouth swallowed smith and priest.
In Midgard, barns and temples burned;
The sea rose black, the coastline turned.
Our mothers watched the red lights run
Where wolves had eaten moon and sun.

[Chorus]
Nine fires on the horizon, nine wounds in the sky,
Nine realms giving answer as their oldest colors die.
Count them from the frost-line; count them climbing higher.
No road leads beyond the ring of nine horizon fires.

[Verse 3]
In Muspelheim the fire had form—
A sword, a king, a walking storm.
In misted Niflheim, cold withdrew;
The ancient dark began to stew.
At last below, the halls of Hel
Reflected flame on frost-bound wells.
Nine pillars leaned across the night;
Nine realms were burning into one light.

[Instrumental Break]
[Nine short exchanges pass between guitars, drums, brass and bowed strings before converging.]

[Bridge]
Who will we save when the sky has no side?
Where will we flee when all roads coincide?
The gods have no country beyond what they made;
The dead have no darkness untouched by the blade.
The tree holds the worlds, but its roots are on fire.
Every branch feeds the same funeral pyre.

[Build-up]
One for the high hall.
One for the deep.
One for the living.
One for the sleep.
One for the giant.
One for the light.
One for the forge.
One for the white.
One for the kingdom
Where cold shadows keep—
Nine fires rising,
And nowhere is deep.

[Final Chorus]
Nine fires on the horizon, nine wounds in the sky,
Nine realms folding inward as their borders burn and die.
Count them from the frost-line; watch them join the pyre.
No god stands beyond the ring of nine horizon fires.
Nine roads become ashes, nine heavens expire—
All creation enters through the nine horizon fires.

[Outro]
We stopped our count when the ninth flame grew.
There was no tenth world to travel to.
The horizon closed like an iron ring,
And fire became the only thing.