Frontier

December 5th, 1916, the end of an era Jarbridge, Nevada, one dead and four thousand gone A robbery of stagecoach again Off with the treasure, buried forever A promise of freedom couldn't unlock his tongue Never again would a stagecoach be robbed The old ways were dying, the new ways beginning New evidence used to convict The Old West had seen its time, and it would never return Once the mystery is gone A new thing must be explored The West that we knew, dead and gone, territories are states Systems that we create die Nothing that we build will last Modernity becomes ancient Leaves a trail of waste in its path Unforgiving are the sands of time

Three went in, one came out My companions, young, strong, and I faced something unusual It was from another world, and its name is not pronounceable by human tongue But I got the orb Unfortunately, my companions saw it with their own eyes They are gone, there’s nothing left of them But I have it, and I know it is the key to stopping an unimaginable evil I don’t know how to use it, but It must be unlocked There is one who might help me, his knowledge on these matters is vast I must reach the University The Train is leaving All aboard! The Train is leaving All Aboard! From the dig site Orb in hand I’ll finally leave this wretched land! When I try to sleep I see the Orb It tells me secrets From other worlds And I awake with knowledge I shouldn’t have It’s breaking down a barrier I can’t understand I arrive town Pale as a ghost I haven’t slept in days Evading what I fear most But it’s secrets Will soon be solved Once I meet with The distinguished professor I arrive to his door and knock, it opens and I enter It quickly shuts behind me The room is dark, but lit with candles The professor isn’t here But four robed men are I barely feel the first knife enter But I certainly feel the next Blood Pouring from my wounds I struggle But there’s nothing left As the rooms goes dark The stabs never stop But I can see the orb It tells me things I don’t want to know But I accept them And in it’s light I’ll bask For eternity Tormented by unending visions Of other worlds, more brutal and loathsome than one could imagine It’s all that I am now

I walk the road to Atascadero For the sight of an eastern sea A sixgun my only companion When I say goodbye to Tennessee A ridge rises high to my south Just ‘cross the Arkansas line The sun beats hot and heavy on my back And the sweat leaves me blind Rocks skitter down the slope above and behind A shadow casts down and falls ‘cross the road I look and behold a blackness in the sunlight Skin prickles and the wind is ice in an inferno: There is a devil on that yonder ridge A shadow made man He is watching My legs refuse to move I feel for the iron on my hip But it won’t leave its holster I can’t see its face but it’s looking at me A wordless whisper rides the wind The sun turns black as night but still burns There is a song I have not heard before And then the caress of hot breath on my neck