One Man War Band - Besieged to Hel Lyrics

A beaten general flees
And by his hand
The Emperor bleeds
Euphoric on their victory
Siege engines are raised
And thirteen gates are barred from within
Five miles of wall surrounds
One million citizens
Dwell, and hope, and pray
And the Son of Heaven ascends
To an accursed throne
In a city under siege

The white and red tents passed
And now the black tent stands erect
Its shadow looming o'er, the city stands defiant
Catapults and ballistae
Stand proud atop the thousand towers
Beckoning the waiting hordes
To assault their fortress walls

To assault their fortress walls
Is suicide - and Genghis knows
The land is scorched, and supplies stopped
The fortress withers on its own...
...On its own

Outside the walls they thrive
Inside they eat the dead to survive
Disease stalks dilapidated streets
As desperate leaders deny defeat
...Deny defeat...
...Deny defeat!

Delicate white figures adorn the walls and join hands
And drop like petals in the autumn breeze
And crimson splashes end the falls
A broken city, now bereft of its young girls

Despair and sadness
Too much to bear
A tribute of gargantuan value
Is paid, the siege is lifted
And the Son of Heaven pledges fealty
To Genghis Khan

After four long years
The Mongol hordes recede
Laden with the spoils-of-war
From their victory
Desecrated utterly
In a state of despondency
The Son of Heaven defies the Khan
Deserts his post and runs away...
...He runs away

Genghis seethes at hearing that
The young Emperor has fled South
Prescribes annihilation
To the few still left alive

And for a full cycle of the moon
The city burns

And for a full cycle of the moon
The fires rage

And for a full cycle of the moon
The blaze sears

And for a full cycle of the moon
The embers rise

And for a full cycle of the moon
The inferno consumes

The inferno consumes
The inferno consumes
The inferno consumes
The inferno consumes
The inferno consumes
The inferno consumes
The inferno consumes
The inferno consumes
The inferno consumes
The inferno consumes!