Page 93 of Song of the Heart Scale
I reached for another fig, savoring its sweetness on my tongue, when the music shifted. A hush fell over the room, and then the soft, haunting sound of a voice wove through the air like thread through cloth.
Oh gather ‘round,ye weary folk, and hear a tale of fire,
Of dragons born with hearts of gold and wings that never tire.
Two brothers rose from embers bright, twin scales of sky and storm,
But one grew dark with envy’s flame, and broke the ancient norm.
I paused.This was a new song. One I’d never heard before.
He stolehis brother’s heart-scale red, the one that guards the soul,
A sacred gem from dragon's breast, a shield that made him whole.
And with that theft he claimed a crown, with greed that burned the land,
He took the throne, the phoenix bride, and ruled with iron hand.
Oh,heart-scale bright, oh heart-scale torn,
The dragon weeps, the fields go worn.
The phoenix cries where love once lay,
And famine sweeps the land each day.
Rise up, ye folk, and break his chain,
Restore the flame, undo the pain.
The song hitme like a blade to the gut.
It started with sorrow, a lilting lament, then built to a tale of betrayal and ruin. Of twin flames torn apart, of a stolen heart scale and a stolen throne. Of a dragon prince betrayed by blood, his lover ripped away, and an empire cursed by the Immortals themselves.
The woman bornof mortal flesh, she loved the younger one,
The gentle prince with flame of gold who warmed her like the sun.
But cursed by twin-flame severed deep, she dreams in ash and rain,
While he—alone, unguarded now—knows naught but loss and pain.
The tyrant holdstwo heart-scales now, and boasts his stolen might,
But those who cheat the sacred bond shall face eternal plight.
The Immortals have turned, the skies run dry, the crops refuse to grow,
The rivers rot, the winds blow cold, the moon weeps silver woe.
Oh,heart-scale bright, oh heart-scale torn,
The dragon weeps, the fields go worn.
The phoenix cries where love once lay,
And famine sweeps the land each day.
