The Fire I Refuse to Feed

Above the roads where cold stars burn, The oldest wings still wait their turn. Stone keeps the truth that snow conceals: A wound may close, yet never heal. Before your kings had carved their names, I bowed beneath a crown of flames. Alduin spoke; the heavens shook, And I became the path he took. I knew the joy of fear below, Of shattered shields and crimson snow. Then mortal eyes looked through the smoke, And something in the tyrant broke. I gave their breath a blade of sound, And heard new thunder shake the ground. Yet victory could not make me whole- The harder war was in my soul. I feed the silence, not the flame, Though fire still answers to my name. Each dawn I choose what I refuse; No blood can make that choice for you. Let thunder sleep inside my bones, Let mercy be the strength I own. The fiercest war no eye can see: The dragon fighting to be free. Upon the Throat of the World I wait, Where wind wears mountains down to faith. The Greybeards breathe; the echoes fade- A wiser Voice is not a blade. The Thu'um can tear the clouds apart, Or turn the speaker toward his heart. An age may pass; desire remains. The snow is clean. I bear the stains. Dovahkiin, hear the thin, cold air: Power is proved by what you spare. Fate gives the fire, not the aim; The will decides what feeds the flame. I feed the silence, not the flame, Though fire still answers to my name. Each dawn I choose what I refuse; No blood can make that choice for you. Let thunder sleep inside my bones, Let mercy be the strength I own. The fiercest war no eye can see: The dragon fighting to be free. Do not call repentance clean; The dead still gather in my dreams. No winter can absolve the claw; No prayer can make the broken whole. I will not beg the blade to turn, Nor claim one choice absolves the burn. The past is stone; it will not bend, But choice is made until the end. Paarthurnax... A name born out of hunger. Paarthurnax... A will that must grow stronger. Breathe in the fire. Breathe out control. The beast is never gone, But it need not rule the soul. I feed the silence, not the flame, Though fire still answers to my name. I am not cleansed, I am not new- I am the choice I still renew. Let thunder wake, but not command; Let wisdom guide the stronger hand. The fiercest war no eye can see: The dragon choosing what to be. Each dawn I choose. Each dawn I choose. Not what I was- But what I do. Above the world, beneath the stars, I guard the peace against my heart. Paarthurnax... Not free of fire- Free to choose.