[Verse]

Beloved of the singer, I, and harper to her song

Yet time to time I sensed in her some strange and silent wrong

Though long our life together, and her songs we played with pride

She kept her secret pain from me until the day she died

[Chorus]

Into the fire lies the path that I must tread

For I swear I'll pull her from the flames or burn there in her stead

Her gentle rest I could have borne, but now the price I know

Into the beast's eternal grip I cannot let her go

[Verse]

The price she paid was shown me as I stood beside the bier

For I bent to give a farewell kiss and grief turned into fear

Two things clutched tightly to her breast that froze me where I stood

A journal bound in leather and a parchment signed in blood

[Chorus]

Into the fire lies the path that I must tread

For I swear I'll pull her from the flames or burn there in her stead

Her gentle rest I could have borne, but now the price I know

Into the beast's eternal grip I cannot let her go

[Verse]

I closed my eyes and laid my torch to the timbers of the pyre

Stood summoning my courage as I faced the blazing fire

With all the force of rage and grief I called Him in my mind

Then felt the flames engulf me and in blood-red strike me blind

[Chorus]

Into the fire lies the path that I must tread

For I swear I'll pull her from the flames or burn there in her stead

Her gentle rest I could have borne, but now the price I know

Into the beast's eternal grip I cannot let her go

[Verse]

There in His court I met His gaze, my blood a pounding drum

No words we spoke, He knew my mind, He knew why I had come

I flexed my aging fingers as I touched them to the strings

I held her face within my mind and then began to sing

[Chorus]

Into the fire lies the path that I must tread

For I swear I'll pull her from the flames or burn there in her stead

Her gentle rest I could have borne, but now the price I know

Into the beast's eternal grip I cannot let her go

[Verse]

A song of love so pure that it could reach through darkest pain

For tears shone on His face as we were freed from His domain

I marveled even through my joy as we left the fiery keep

Waterfalls could run uphill—Lucifer could weep

[Chorus]

Into the fire lies the path that I must tread

For I swear I'll pull her from the flames or burn there in her stead

Her gentle rest I could have borne, but now the price I know

Into the beast's eternal grip I cannot let her go

[Verse]

We said our last farewell and she went through the shining gate

I found myself at home again, the hour growing late

There on her empty pillow lay, and god knows what within

A journal bound in leather fine, as soft as human skin