*As Lyle waits for some friends to meet him at the Thunderpeak Crossroads, a gentle stirring on the breeze touches on his heart. Lyle sits down and begins to play a sad song. It's first notes fill the air with mournful notes that match the stirring on the breeze, like the whispers in his soul. In a gentle, almost hushed voice, Lyle begins to sing.*
"Down they went into darkest hole, a journey to depths below.
Into deepest pits of gloom they stole. Oh, why? Oh, why'd they go?
For one would fall and not come out whole, herself no longer know.
With troubl'd 'earts an' sadden'd souls, they ask, "Oh, why'd we go?"
O' raise yer eyes to yonder, lass! An' don' forget yer 'ome!
Re-learn the one in lookin' glass, an' dusty journal's tome!"
*He plays on a few moments more, his eyes filling with tears that glisten in the shadows beneath his wide-brimmed hat.*
"Rememb'r not the pain they gave. Take back the 'ope they stole!
Though darkness shroud about you now, don' let it take yer soul.
Your eyes of fire now burn with tears, in streams beyond control,
Fer you ain' bleedin' anymore, yer no long'r in that 'ole.
O raise yer eyes to yonder, lass! An' don' ferget yer name!
Re-learn the one in lookin' glass, an' leave be'ind that shame!"
*His fingers work and tremble on the strings of his instrument as tears flow from his reddened eyes. Grief and despair permeate the air in waves of
soul-stirring music with each draw of the violin's bow*
"When morning dawns an' sun does shine, upon yer paled face...
Hold on tight to the one ye love, in tender care's embrace,
An' dark will flee before his light, an' be gone wit'out a trace.
'Cause that's the power o' his love fer you, so rest easy in that place.
Yes, that's the power o' his love fer you. Rise up!, reclaim yer grace!"
*Lyle ends the melody with an up-lifting refrain, a hope of victory woven into the chords of darker, sadder tones. Then, with shaking hands, he sets his violin and bow across his lap and continues to sniffle and sob with head bowed beneath his wide-brimmed hat. For a minute of near silence he stirs only to wipe away tears that run down his cheeks in streams.*
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