Starless Paths

(album: Anno 1696 - 2023)

Cruel is the winter's might
Dreadful the howl of wind
Beyond the pathless treks we roam
Where the church bells never toll

The bloodhounds thrash and moan
A raven takes flight and caws
Shadows glance behind every tree
The forest is watching our way

Through this moonless night
Through these starless paths
We roam
For the hunt has begun

Deeper we march into the unknown
Deeper into the hidden womb of the woods
There is no return

A lonely hut at the edge of a cliff
A lonely hut waits there at the end of the world
A house deserted and cold

Wind-watcher and healer
A woman of might
Keeper of the secrets
Of worlds above and below

I carry the torch here
I bring forth the flame
I ward off the darkness
Cast the shadows away
Cast the shadows, cast the shadows away

Hear how the spirits ride across the night sky

Christ will scour this squalid land
Christ will hunt down the heretics and foes
So they say

Devils lurk among the shadows of the trees
Demons wait outside the fences of Lord's church yard
They wait for our souls

Through this moonless night
Through these starless paths
We roam
For the hunt will go on

Wind-watcher and healer
A woman of might
Keeper of the secrets
Of worlds above and below

I carry the torch here
I bring forth the flame
I ward off the darkness
Cast the shadows away

Enlightenment prevails
Over surmise and hate
Over pastors and zealots
Over gallows and stocks

I draw out the lead
I stitch her wound
Outside in the coldness
I'm gasping for air

I carried the torch here
Brought reason and hope
I'm the herald of new dawn
Harbinger of light

But then there's a scream in the night

And flames they rise
And winds they blow
She's gone
Into the dark