[Intro][Frame drums enter in a steady march under clean tagelharpa.]

[Verse 1 - Female Lead Valkyrie]
They brought me a rune on a strip of hide,
Black as the well where the old gods bide.
“Carry this mark to the eastern ford,
Lift every man who follows the lord.”
The seal was Odin’s, the thread was red,
A harvest order for the breathing dead.
I held it close to the torchlit wall,
And heard three names beneath it call.

[Pre-Chorus]
One had a daughter, one had a debt,
One had not tasted his first war yet.
The law was written, the wax was dried,
But law can crack where the heart has tried.

[Chorus]
This is the rune I would not carry,
Black on hide and cold as stone.
This is the rune I would not carry,
I will not make his hunger my own.
Let the ravens rage, let the thunder bury,
There are some dead I will not ferry.

[Verse 2 - Female Lead Valkyrie]
I cut the leather against my knee,
Changed the north mark quietly.
Three names slipped from the battle line,
Three homes kept smoke at supper time.
Then hoofbeats struck the outer stair,
An elder rider smelled the air.
She saw the ashes in my palm,
And knew I had broken the battle psalm.

[Pre-Chorus]
One had a daughter, one had a debt,
One had not tasted his first war yet.
The law was written, the wax was dried,
But law can crack where the heart has tried.

[Chorus]
This is the rune I would not carry,
Black on hide and cold as stone.
This is the rune I would not carry,
I will not make his hunger my own.
Let the ravens rage, let the thunder bury,
There are some dead I will not ferry.

[Instrumental Break][Hand drums stop and restart beneath a clipped guitar riff.]

[Male/Female Duet]
She said, “He will find you before the moon is down.”
I said, “Then let him find me with no borrowed crown.”
She said, “The hall will curse you, the riders will divide.”
I said, “A clean command can still be filth inside.”

[Female Lead Response]
We stood with the torn rune burning blue,
And for one breath, she questioned too.

[Breakdown]
Hide to ash.
Seal to smoke.
Oath to blade.
Silence broke.

[Final Chorus]
This is the rune I would not carry,
Black on hide and cold as stone.
This is the rune I would not carry,
I will not make his hunger my own.
Let the ravens rage, let the thunder bury,
There are some dead I will not ferry.

[Female Lead Coda]
Let the old throne shake, let the high gates groan,
I will not make his hunger my own.

[Outro][Tagelharpa repeats the motif faster, unresolved.]
