The Dragon Always Picks Nine

From The Black Bond

Aurora Lyra’s own world — track 5 of the three.

The first of the three *Black Bond* originals. A martial-gallop chant — a tenth-rider liturgy three centuries old, sung over taiko hits and frame drum. Listeners hear it as a tribute to the dragon-rider lane (Yarros adjacent); BB readers hear the witness, the loft, the resonance-spiral, and Vyrak's choice. Hidden in verse one and verse two: *the tenth is yours* — three repetitions in the chant role. The phrase is the plant for the album's meta-passphrase, landing on track 15. Cracking the cipher reveals which three tracks are Aurora Lyra's own *Skarn Reach* world.

Read The Black Bond →

Lyrics

The Dragon Always Picks Nine

[Verse 1]
nine they take to the parapet, nine they call the year
nine to the sky and nine to the bond they've sworn
the witness on the tenth-rank line is hungry without fear
the witness at the tenth-rank line was born

[Pre-Chorus]
(martial gallop building)
the dragon will not bond, the dragon will not name
the tenth-rank rider learns to count the days
a black resonance-spiral up the inside of the wrist — the same
the tenth-rank rider learns the only ways

[Chorus]
the dragon always picks nine
the tenth always dies
the tenth always rides
the tenth is yours
the dragon always picks nine
the wing comes down
the bond comes round
the tenth is yours

[Verse 2]
nine they take to the loft, the loft has nine made beds
nine the year survives, the year that does not break
the witness at the tenth-rank line has counted all the dead
the witness at the tenth-rank line will wake

[Pre-Chorus]
(thicker, taiko entering)
the dragon will not bond, the dragon will not name
his name was Vyrak — and the white scale flicked the black
a black resonance-spiral up the inside of the wrist — the same
the tenth-rank rider learns to never look back

[Chorus]
the dragon always picks nine
the tenth always dies
the tenth always rides
the tenth is yours
the dragon always picks nine
the wing comes down
the bond comes round
the tenth is yours

[Bridge]
(stripped low, ritual-quiet)
Even the dragon knew the answer when the witness took the line
the tenth came down with witness in her name
the tenth came down with bond the tenth had not been born to find
the tenth came down a year before they came

[Final Chorus]
(full chassis, taiko + frame drum at peak)
the dragon always picks nine
the tenth always dies
the tenth always rides
the tenth is yours
the dragon always picks nine
the wing comes down
the bond comes round —
the tenth is yours, the tenth is yours, the tenth is yours

[Outro]
(taiko + frame drum tail)
nine they take to the parapet
(the dragon always picks nine)
nine they take to the parapet
(the witness on the tenth-rank line)

Cipher

This track contributes the letter E.

The cipher rule across all fifteen tracks: the first letter of the first line of the bridge.

“Even the dragon knew the answer when the witness took the line”

Solved the full passphrase? Enter it on the quiz page →