[Intro]
I laid down the sword, but the sword knew my name
I ran from the fire, but carried the flame

[Verse]
He knelt by a chapel of root and black stone
Where ghosts of his brothers stood silent as bone
Their shields bore the sun he had failed to defend
Their eyes asked a question no lie could amend

[Pre-Chorus]
I swore I would stand when the last banners fell
But fear rang louder than courage’s bell
Now every old prayer has returned for its due

[Chorus]
This is the paladin’s broken vow
A crown of shame on a lowered brow
But broken steel can be forged again
And fallen hearts can rise from pain
I will not run, I will not bow
I stand inside my broken vow

[Verse]
The bard put no jest on the weight of his grief
The dwarf gave a nod of unspoken belief
The mage held a star to the cracks in his blade
The thief said, We all owe the dark what we paid

[Pre-Chorus]
He lifted the sword with a hand full of scars
The chapel roof opened to impossible stars
And light like a sunrise came pouring through

[Chorus]
This is the paladin’s broken vow
A crown of shame on a lowered brow
But broken steel can be forged again
And fallen hearts can rise from pain
I will not run, I will not bow
I stand inside my broken vow

[Bridge]
No oath is clean if it never was tried
No saint is made without fire inside
If mercy can live where the guilty have knelt
Then honor is more than the shame I have felt

[Build-up]
By shield
By flame
By tears
By name
By all I lost
By all I owe
I rise

[Chorus]
This is the paladin’s broken vow
A crown of shame on a lowered brow
But broken steel can be forged again
And fallen hearts can rise from pain
I will not run, I will not bow
I stand inside my broken vow

[Outro]
I laid down the sword, but the sword knew my name
Now I walk through the dark with a newly lit flame