1

Once you witness your golden sunset

your deeds will be undone before the thirteenth step

and upon wings of fear you will approach the tower.

Then, in the middle of none, there was one

and you will die.

2

When the accounting passes you by

you will make dust of the ram's horns

but the people in the windows will greet you with terror.

At last you give yourself up to the pyres

and you will hear the whispers beyond.

3

If you ignore the rope in the trees

you will be bold when it is needed most

for the gloom will deny that it knows you.

Again, you turn the wheel and move the stone

and you will forget yourself.

4

When the seventh gifts despair

your journey will never begin

but fear the shadow cast by no man.

Hence, the dried lands are watered with the blood of sinners

and you will kiss the crown.

5

After the quiet of a thousand nights falls upon your ears

you will wait when you should act

and the sullen stars align for you.

Then, the ravens bless your children

and you cleave the sky in vain.

6

As upon your back you carry the brightest star into the shadows

an idea will betray you

but welcome the song of frozen winter.

At last, you will sacrifice her on the altars of desperation

and you will leave a twig to hold the sand.

7

Once you rise from the ashes

you will be the uninvited

as the gathering mocks your gift.

You will hold the myth of life in your hands

and she will turn from you, forever.

8

When your shadow is cast upon the wall

you will find the answer you cannot speak

for the coldest court will bow to their king.

He tightens the strings and tugs at the rivets

and the arches will crumble.

9

After the echoes of your laughter die

the melody will be lost within the gutters

and the moon shines upon the forest but not your path.

The games you play are more deadly than she wishes

and he will be paid his price.

10

If you beware oblivion’s hand

your shame will be as beaten as the hooves

and beware the red letter.

The other place beckons with the voice of oblivion

and you take the last step.

11

When you run when you should walk

the cauldron-spawn will crawl to your birth

but the fear of tomorrow will be drowned in the sorrow of yesterday.

Watch them as they fall one by one to the ground

and it dreams of you.

12

As you walk backwards through the knife

you will be the grape that sours the wine

and not but ashes upon your tongue.

The shards you pass through leave a bloody trail

and she is part gore and part kin.

13

If you choose to see no evil in the chiming of the hour

you will return with the balm for all ills

for you will know that a long life is a hundred curses.

Time is an illusion of the fading light and the feast counts twice

and the motion stutters and shudders.

14

When you sup upon your pride and dance with cadavers

you will invite him in

and she knows.

The circle will bind as well as the grave

and he will watch you drink the venom.

15

When the gears turn upon the story best forgotten

the wondering hour will settle on your hearth

but your misfortune will not be your own.

The grave spirit will call to you on a spring song

and you cannot remove the red.

16

Once your silver thread spends like golden promises

she will sit alone amongst your misery

as the witless man fears the child.

The end will find him in the garden

and it will herald the sinister revolution.

17

If you refuse the hero’s call

you will refuse the call

for the hunter shall lay down to sleep upon the lilies.

Pale faced the innocent will drown in bile

and she will mourn you all of her days.

18

After the branch snaps beneath your sorrow

an exception will corrupt the rule

and the forgotten shall be recalled.

It is, and it grows

and the torch will sputter into darkness.

19

When you wake from the dream of ancestors

your dance will draw the sleeping eye

but his smile shall never fade.

Step through the looking glass and into the fable

and he will call the Bastille into the break.

20

As your hands of flesh touch feet of steel

the mud flows like a river into the sky

as the jester dances where he will.

The dogs in the vineyard bellow for you to hunt

and you will thrice damn him.

21

When you’ve traded away your beloved

he will know you not by your rage, but by your temperance

for your secrets are not yours alone.

And it is only the penitent who shall tread the path

and it cackles from the locket.

22

Once your strangers travel in three

she must lurk within your joyless paradise

and the page turned is empty of promises.

The empty mind will know the lie from the judgment

and she bears the fruit of your absolution.

23

When you open the dead man’s eyes

the gloom will know you as a brother

but heed the cripple who speaks for the coin.

The reflection in the water shows the truth

and the leaf will sink as the stone floats.

24

After you have seen the forever

your eyes will be open unto the Abyss

as the dead rise by your fist.

The end’s a miracle that you dare to dream

and he is to you as the hermit is to the forest.

25

Once you cross the bloody threshold

you will fall from grace

for you will be reborn in soot and flame.

Search for the lion of the valley

and you will drive the chariot of winter.

26

If justice finds you guilty of the only crime

he will trust your falsehoods

but you know this has all happened before.

Lunatics fear where you will stalk

and it is the Emperor who will bring the gift.

27

As you walk the lonely road

she strikes with daggers battered from your shield

and the lost will drag you into the depths.

Worlds of marble turn flesh again

and she will kiss the hanged man’s lips.

28

Once the first has been the last and the last has been the first

you will not be deceived by the ghosts of the tower

for you must dredge the waters till the just give up the dead.

Denying the battle will win the war

and you will call upon the crow.

29

When you accept your fates on the river

the sleeper dreams not of tomorrow, but of you

and the wolf will howl at the door.

The mask donned for peace will blind you to bloodshed

and the end will come to all.

30

If you open the gates of wonder in the wall of lies

you will be reborn of flesh and redemption

but your loss will be what you would discard.

The song will end beyond the thrice knocked wall

and you will be maimed.

31

As you are unmourned by the father

you will refuse to open the tome

as you begin, so shall you end.

The chime of your blunder will ring through the village

and the mage’s knee bends before your river.

32

After what is dead has died

you will not heed the mentor

for your borrowing is also your lending.

Only in death will the pilgrim be free

and the noose will snap like thunder.

33

Once your stains have been bound within

an open door will let him into the red chapel

and time waits for no man but you.

The sands of waters will make you clean

and with a whisper you will sunder the walls.

34

If you open the box best left closed

your relic will rust and gleam

but love was left behind.

Poison will be the cure

and the penny paid is thrice earned.

35

When at last you look upon your beating heart

the sting of a single wasp will light the agony

as the cloud drifts upon your rest.

The blind woman must lead the seeker

and you will burn the oldest page.

36

As the hunter watches you swallow the maggots

she will sicken to the blessed touch

for not all treasures glimmer in the light.

The blood stained cheeks will weave the grasses

and the crime that you hide will destroy you.

37

If you allow the hands to pull you down

an anvil of the horde will ring with war

and the reaper walks the path alongside you.

Frozen hearths crawl along the stone

and you are a breeze unto the leaves.

38

After you bleed the coal from the bones

your chime of warning will be drowned in voices

but as destiny grows weary of your follies.

The leaves will whisper your name and shout your exodus

and you will let your blood run cold.

39

As you strain to see through the high noon veil

the August will leave melancholy in everything after

as wonders surround your waking echoes.

All of the screams will lead you home

and you seek the sound of your last breath.

40

When your death rattles at the door

you will shatter the stone

for the stars illuminate your path.

The mute man must cry out for the wolf

and you stumble upon the line of life and death.

41

As the crimson writhes upon the belly of the fallen

you will lead the children through the valley

and you will be repaid thrice for the sins you have sold.

Spirits run sour in your veins

and obliteration’s touch will be gentle.

42

If the autumn bridge shakes in your bellows

he will shade your tired eyes, and wet your thirsty lips

but there are dragons here.

She drinks only blood

and your iron wishes to bleed.

43

When your power begets your heresy

she is unknown to your divine

as the living wither from your grasp.

Love knows not the heart but the bosom

and yours is only yours.

44

Once the nemesis has become the mother

the dusk of a new sun will light your steps into the cave

for new enemies are made from old allies.

Escape is impossible, freedom is inevitable

and you will splinter the white door.

45

As the watcher awaits your cry of vengeance

the peer of a thousand faces will weep

and you will pan the gutter’s glitter.

The red woman will light the path

and you will fall.

46

When you are a stranger to yourself

you will be asked three times, and deny each

but the balance will teeter but not tumble.

The reflection in the water shows the truth

and the ordeal will be your own.

47

After the reaper has come for innocence

you will take up the sword of your father

as your steed takes you into the jousts of war.

An abyss opens beneath your cradle

and you will unshackle the prisoner.

48

Once your vendetta is nigh upon the mountains

you will refuse deserved love

for the silence brings inspiration at the door.

They sing for laughter, tears, and tomorrow

and the willful earns his due.

49

When you choose between the quill or the blade

he chooses not you, but the downfall

and you will find the other lands on the day she dies.

The deaf man must hear the owl’s warning

and you will deal with the devil.

50

After you don the crimson silks

an empty grave will fill with melody

but leave your mark in many woes.

The water falls like envy, the river runs like rage

and you will murder the deserving.

51

If you know the dimming of the lanterns

your ruination will hound your desperate exodus

as you remember the mirror and shatter the stream.

The grave did not hold her

and it shoulders aside the guardian.

52

As the bell tolls for judgment

the last man will speak the lies of your glory

and the witches will wait for you at the crossroads.

The halo slips around your throat like the noose

and the eyes in the darkness change you.

53

When hope drowns in but three tears

she will fear your iron, but not your thread

but you are safe beneath the ice.

The sisters will show the way

and the Empress will know the traitor.

54

Once your soul has been stained by silence

your every breath will be as your last

and your blood will run black.

You will carry the seed of a thousand-fold damnations

and you will be unmade.