And so he dies a little when he hears the Death Bell cry.

And now you know the face within hid by the face without

The pain that he must harbor, all the guilt and all the doubt.

The Weaponsmaster has a heart; so grant his stony mask

For you and I aren’t strong enough to bear that kind of task.

ARROW’S FLIGHT

Lyrics: Mercedes Lackey

Music: Paul Espinoza

(Talia: Arrow’s Flight)

Finding your center—not hard for a child—
But I am a woman now, patterned and grown.
Thrown out of balance, my Gift has run wild;
Never have I felt so lost and alone.
Now all the questions that I did not ask
Come back to haunt me by day and by night.
Finding your center—so simple a task—
And one that I fear I shall never set right.

Chorus:
Where has my balance gone, what did I know
That I have forgotten in Time’s ebb and flow?
Wrong or right, dark or light, I cannot see—
For I’ve lost the heart of the creature called “me.”

Doubt shatters certainty, fosters despair;
Guilt harbors weakness and fear makes me Mind—
Fear of the secrets that I dare not share—
Lost in the spiral maze of my own mind.
Knowing the cost to us all if I fail—
Feeling that failure breathe cold at my back—
All I thought strong now revealed as so frail
That I could not weather one spiteful attack.

An arrow in flight must be sent with control—
But all my control was illusion at best.
Instinct alone cannot captain a soul—
Direction must be learned and not merely guessed.
Seeking with purpose, not flailing about—
Trusting in others as they trust in me—
Starting again from the shadows of doubt
Gods, how I fear what I yet know must be!

Chorus 2:
Finding my center, and with it, control;
Disciplined knowledge must now be my goal.
Knowing my limits, but judging what’s right—
Till nothing can hinder the arrow in flight.

FUNDAMENTALS

Lyrics: Mercedes Lackey

Music: Kristoph Klover

(Kris: Arrow’s Flight)

Ground and center; we begin
Feel the shape inside your skin
Feel the earth and feel the air—
Ground and center; “how” and “where.”

Ground and center—don’t just frown,
Find the leaks and lock them down.
Baby-games you never learned
Bring you pain you never earned.

Ground and center; do it, child
If you’d tame that Talent wild—
Girl, you learned it in your youth—
Life’s not fair, and that’s the truth.

Ground and center, once again;
You’re not finished—I’ll say when.
Ground and center in your sleep
Ground and center ’till you weep.

Ground and center; that’s the way—
You might get somewhere, someday.
Yes, I know I’m being cruel
And you’re as stubborn as a mule!

Ground and center, feel the flow
Can you tell which way to go?
Instinct’s not enough, my friend—
Make it reflex in the end.