In the aftermath of hell
there shone light upon the sea.
As if blessed by God himself
names were burned into the trees.

Every body, every bone
washed away and buried deep.
Seaweed wrapped between the thighs
of the stones He wished to keep.

I have made a pact with death.
And my soul is not my own.
I have sealed my fate and theirs
just to own my rightful throne.

Of the thousands I have watched
slain upon the greedy beach
All my countrymen and friends
I would use the bones of each.

“Gods of wind and gods of earth
I can see it in your eyes!
That you hate the Ocean Lord
As He drinks up all their cries!”

Filled with sympathy and love...
filled with weakness, steeped in hate.
I will rally every god
to meet fate at ocean’s gates.

I have sold myself to plunge
into depths after my death
But if all the earth can fight
I might keep my soul and breath.

So I’ll rally every king,
any source I can exhaust.
I will own the world of men.
I will never pay the cost.

“Gods of fire! Gods of rain!
Worlds will never be the same!
Come and **** the Ocean King!
Taint the water in my name!”

As the roots grow towards the water
and the fire licks the tide
I begin to realize slowly
that mine is the losing side.

As I watch my army crumble
I sink down upon my knees
All the gods I’ve called have fallen
their names written in the trees.

Of the thousands that have fallen
I ask why is it they’ve died?
Will the sea still remain hungry?
Can its King be satisfied?

My dark heart has become empty
I suppose it fits the sea.
Yes, the ocean now is calling
I must let the tide take me.

As I drift into the darkness
I can feel the ocean’s eyes
and then I begin to hear them
every soul...and all their cries.

There is dread inside my body
and my lungs tear from my frame,
but the current pulls me deeper.
This is fear, it is not shame.

I hear thundering and clanging
Like the sky is falling down
And it shakes the ocean floor
It’s a moaning, groaning sound

I can feel my soul attempting
To let go and meet its fate
But I feel a force inside me
With an appetite to sate

I can feel my body breaking,
But the King has blessed my eyes
I can see with perfect clarity
the fate my heart denies.

As the murky water thins
and the wails have met their height
I begin to see the horror
of the ocean’s appetite.

All the flesh and bone colliding,
used as blocks of solid stone,
and the souls of men are crying
mortar knit into a throne.

Living seaweed binds the frames,
hearts and lungs spill from the cracks,
Souls are tearing from their bodies,
spines are poking from their backs.

I can feel my jaw is fixed,
in pure terror as I scream,
I can feel it dislocating.
God, I hope this is a dream.

But the God I know is cruel
though at least He keeps his word.
My soul rips from its dead body
it’s the last sound that I heard.

And a thousand years from then
I have been at last reborn.
And from time to time I visit
the sea where my soul was torn.

They have sent down many divers
Said “A city must have fell”
but they hardly know the truth
that the ocean floor was hell.

And when I go out to listen
I can sense a soul or two
drifting up to meet its maker
as it finally breaks through.

I cannot reveal the horror
but it’s written in the trees.
All the names of those who fell
and my own name among these.