About this song
Before your fear of rot, the cycle came. Beledros Witherbloom — ancient Elder Dragon, founder of Witherbloom College — has watched ten thousand seasons bloom and return. Her philosophy: nothing given is ever truly lost. The swamp takes, and the swamp gives back, and what you bleed to wake the roots always comes home a hundredfold.
Lyrics
[Intro] [Verse 1] Before your words for death, this ground had names Before your fear of rot, the cycle came I set my small ones loose into the air They live a breath and then return to care The dark-leaved trees lean in to hear me breathe The sedge grows deep with what the living leave Nothing wasted — the swamp will tell you so Every death is currency, every grief can grow [Pre-Chorus] You came here for the secret You came to learn the trade Life and death are not two forces — They are one blade [Chorus] Give and take — the swamp has always known Every life that blooms returns to feed the stone Pay ten lives to wake the land below Ten lives and all the roots begin to grow My children fall and what they leave behind Becomes the dark that feeds a brighter kind What the rot reclaims was never truly yours — The cycle was the only thing worth tending in these halls [Verse 2] They bring their grief and set it at my feet And ask me: is there something past defeat? I say: the pain is real and it is right But how you hold the dead shows how you hold the light I gave my warmth to wake the roots for years I bled into the swamp and drank it clear The vein and root are partners in this ground You cannot grow if you refuse the wound [Pre-Chorus] You came here for the answer And the answer is the cost Life and death are not a balance — Nothing's ever lost [Chorus] [Bridge] A woman came to me with grief she couldn't name She'd lost the one who made the world worth building I said: the pain can be unbearable, it's true But how we hold the dead is how we hold the living She left and I returned to tend the bog The dark-leaved trees leaned in and the earth breathed slow Nothing asked of me but what I freely gave And what I gave came back a hundredfold [Final Chorus] Give and take — the swamp has always known Every life that blooms returns to feed the stone Pay ten lives to wake the land below Ten lives and all the roots begin to grow My children fall and leave me what remains The root grows rich on everything that drains What the rot reclaims was never truly lost — The college and its dark were worth the cost [Outro] Bloom And rot Give And take Come home
