1. Prologue (The Land Of The Beast)

"As darkness falls,
the glowing eyes appear.
When you hear twigs crack,
don't make a noise
and hide your fear."

2. A Plague Upon The Land

(The Writer)
Our darkest times
In secluded neighborhoods
Born out of a nightmarish world
It stalks the marshes and woods
A spectacular creature gone wild?
Attacking our livelihoods

Fear has stalled the daily works
Trembling for what in the shadow lurks

A trace of blood in its cruel path
A pain inflicted by God's wrath?

Fear and death, while consternations spread
Every other bloodshed, for the King a fatal threat

(The Preacher)
"In the dark there are mysteries,
and dangers lurk within the trees.
These haunting eyes, they behold,
and await, with death foretold."

(The Writer)
Too many children and women are slain
The attacks all done as if with human disdain

It eats the liver, the heart and the head
The rest it leaves behind all turned ash red

All the witnesses confirm:
"It only bears a slight resemblance to the lupine form!"

"There's no sign of a lupine form."

Long, low, brownish color with
a black stripe down its back
Long tail, very big claws, as tall as a year old calf
While its eyes seem to sparkle of fire, pitch black
They say it listens to the devil's laughter

The shepherds, fearful and alerted
They only go out in groups
The fairs and markets are deserted
Misery and fear rule the troops

"Her tracks were said to be different
from those of wolves
A general fear for dangerous beasts
Howling into the night
This ferocious beast that ravages the world
Howling into the night"

"There's no sign of a lupine form!"

3. The Hysterical Hunt

(The Hunter)
"Gather around and listen my good people
For I bring news of utmost dire
Not for those with a stomach feeble
Amass pitchfork and torch afire
There is a soulless creature roaming the land
A terrible beast of which little is known
Feasting on the flesh of animal and man
Leaving naught but gut and bone
Unknown is its origin
Elusive shadow, an enemy within?"

(The Lover)
This long and silent night
Why did I invite this man at candlelight?

Trapped between these walls when the evening falls
Tired of the halls with their royal protocols

(The Writer)
"By then, rumors began to spread at court
That people spoke of a demon,
of witchcraft, and of a werewolf lord.
His Highness, our God blessed king declared
That the slayer of this monster would be
gifted with royal award!"

(The Hunter)
"Order all the townspeople and peasants
to obey their councils
and punish those who disobey without good reason!
Together we will defeat this beast!"

(The Writer)
A bliss to the eye this vanguard of wolf hunters
Untouched by fear and eager for adventures
For fame and glory and royal granted gold
Before my eye unfolds a story never been told

Chained behind bars, a prisoner's strife
Unsettling wars, I didn't want this life

(The Hunter)
Today you are a witness of this horrible crime
This girl devoured, her head split in two
Tomorrow you yourselves may be a spectacle too
So help me to prevent that unfortunate time
It has tasted the blood of woman and child
Nothing else it wants to stalk and kill
Most of you have joined me out of free will
Now let's beat the bushes of this land so wild

(The Lover)
I still see his eyes all blue
These eyes made my fear all true

I still see her eyes in tears
When the light in my head disappears

(The Lover)
This long and silent night
Why did I invite this man at candlelight?

(The Writer)
A hunt the largest I have ever seen
To scour the woods, the caves and the hills
Led by the guidance of shepherd's routine
Drawn to a tale that honor fulfills

A story of heroes and heartbreak alike
Some seek revenge in tactics so disputed
But magic seems to consume the arms that strike
Avoiding those who hunt it,
surprising those who elude it

(The Hunter)
The weather and the constant demands placed upon my men
Have begun to take a dangerous toll
It leaves me with a feeling of desperation again
Not quite the mission these people hoped to enroll

"We are dealing with a witch, or the devil
in person. If only I could believe it!"

(The Writer)
The people of these cursed lands began
to murmur their frustration
For the Hunter it meant his final degradation
Reassigned after the arrival of
a famous hunter from the north
With royal sign came these words:
"This man leads the hunts henceforth!"

This man from the north brought
dogs of monstrous size
They tracked a wolf so large it's
tracks were hand palm wide
When finally shot everyone took
a look of this famous prize
Could this be lastly a comfort for
a land so tried

4. Between Man And Wolf

(The Hunter)
Here, midst the tents, cages locked
Beasts look down
Behold, my dear friends, for they have shot
The famous Hound
Here for you all to see

(The Scholar)
I guess its stains, are born from the pains
In the African plains
Drawn, in the dawn, exotic carnaval,
Just to entertain
Not meant to be free!

A predator's loose in these barren lands
Chasing prey it never chased before
Luxurious pet in the wrong hands
It will not stop and it will hunt for more

(The Writer)
Ah, all these deaths, slumbering dreads
Slowing down to insanity
I still do see, decapitated heads
Their mutilated souls, bereft of humanity

(The Scholar)
Rich people's wealth brought them health
And an usher for a special treat
But, a human bought beast
I share the hope at least
That we will never meet!

(The Lover)
Oh so faint this memory of you
Longing for a love that never came

Held in isolation, nothing that I could do
Waiting for a dream that never came

(The Writer)
All of us then joined the feast
Sure we had finally killed the beast
A wolf, the biggest I've ever seen
Stuffed and portrayed on a canvas clean
Cheers were heard from house to house
Never have I witnessed a crowd so aroused
But at the end of the day
A prize much higher we had to pay

"When night set in two more girls were devoured alive
Their pale blue skin bore the marks of a deadly strife!
Has this demonic beast eluded us again?
The king now sent a marksman, the bravest of his men."

(The Scholar)
Why did they think a simple wolf was the one to blame?
The way it attacks is not how a canine predator would do
They say I'm just searching for money and for fame
But I guess a lion or hyena is my only clue

(The Writer)
Our land set aflame
With blood so dramatically spilled
But still the authorities claim
That the famous Hound has been killed
I talked to the autopsy surgeon
No trace of human flesh he found
He thinks with all hysterical action
The actual killer still roams around

(The Scholar)
The sleep of reason produces monsters and beasts
A narrow superstition invoked by doomsday priests
It's still an animal captured or escaped from African shores
That's causing these troublesome uproars

But it is not a wolf!

5. As Darkness Falls

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6. Of Winter And Hell

(The Preacher)
I still have nightmares of that unearthly shape
Watching me in the darkness, with my mouth agape
Demonic fragrance overtook the air
That ghostly silhouette left me in despair

Sent down to rain His wrath
on those so led astray
I am a man of God,
the sinners must be its prey
You should run and hide
As evil is in my sight

I have a mission to inform them of their faults
So that repentance will stop these cruel assaults
You should run and hide
Pray He'll be your guide

"I've ordered public prayers to
cleanse them of their sins
So they might be prepared when
the apocalyptic hunt begins"

(The Farmer)
A monstrous beast prowls my lands
In broad daylight it attacks my herd
Our safety now in official hands
But I'll arm myself for I don't
trust their word

I have seen this monstrosity
Common weapons will have no effect
They don't see the reach of this enormity
A simple wolf is what they expect

(The Preacher)
You should repent and hope
As the devil let you astray
You should redeem and pray
Cling to your prayer rope

You should run and hide
Pray he'll be your guide

Fear may strike your sinner's heart
The choice is yours: heaven or hell
Creatures that in nightmares dwell
Will refresh you with a pardoned start

(The Farmer)
God may give the strength to withstand
Virgin Mary, bliss upon my name
The signs will tell that dark times are at hand
But I swear this time He will reclaim

(The Preacher)
"The troubles man brings on himself
Lead to damnation in eternity
However our good Lord dearly wishes
To help us avoid such sufferings,
He sends scourges to force us back on the right path
And to humble submission to His divine will!"

You should run and hide
Pray he'll be your guide
Fear His holy vengeance
You should redeem and hope
Cling to your prayer rope
Fear His holy vengeance
Now...

You should run and hide
Redeem and hope
He has left your side
Now...

7. A Secret Life

(The Lover)
My love for the outdoors
A burden in my father's life
As I walk through the wild moors
Not just a housewife
In the woods I met a man
All mysterious charm around
Here the story of my life began
I listened to his voice spellbound

This girl with a wild heart there all alone
A beauty like finest art that even Venus outshone

(The Lover)
He talked of his bloodline
With traces of royalty
Far cousin to the King Divine
Bound to an oath of fealty
Yet hard was his life he said
But more he didn't dare to tell
I felt a sense of hidden dread
Like living under a spell

This girl with a wild heart there all alone
I took a vow if our ways might part, carved in a stone
This secret life of mine, haunts me from childhood age
With such a cruel design, both a physical and mental cage

(The Hunter)
Even principles of war couldn't
stop this man eating beast
I tried and failed, it presented
so powerful a trial
This hunter from the north,
still living in denial
For after he killed the wolf,
the death toll even increased

(The Wrtier)
Now a part in rural culture and
to folklore it belongs
From stories in faraway countries
to children's bedtime songs

(The Hunter)
After digesting my defeat I spent
some time in an inn
Drinking local brews
There I met this newspaper writer
and my life took a fateful spin
He told me the latest news

(The Writer)
Of winter and hell, the only thing
he found out there
Snow and a cruel wind, the worst
of weather he had to bear
The steep and forested slopes with
treacherous moors and rocky ravines
This man from the north now knows
what wild in the south really means

The prize on the head of this monster
attracted more people from all over the land
Their horses trampled the fields,
and more plunderers we had to withstand
The hunter of the north had all but control
A contagion of lawlessness
Returning empty-handed on every patrol
And Versailles now also noticed his
failure to impress

It crosses eight leagues in an hour he said
This lethal enemy in our midst
But at the start of July and another girl dead
The message came that he was soon
to be dismissed

Left behind with all this mess
Thus were the signs of his latest recess
Killing that wolf, regaining his success?

"Deep into that darkness peering
Long I stood there wondering, hearing, doubting,
Dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before.
But the silence was unbroken,
and the darkness gave no token
And the only word there spoken
was the whispered word Lenore..."

Nights with darkest dreams, madness for all it seems
Release me
Captured every time I fled, afraid of the terror spread
Unleach me

The delirium of a madman, cursed or bound by spells
Restricted in everything I can, the worst of earthly hells

But at last that night I found a breach
Ignoring their ambiguous warnings
Run away!

Fleeing and running as far as I could reach
Leaving all these sufferings
Run away!

Days passed by and leagues I crossed
Avoiding public places
Run away!

'Til I reached the lands covered with frost
Hiding all my fraces
Run away!

8. Deceptive Hibernation

(The Preacher
Although this beast frustrated these hunters
They did not want to see the punishment of God
Degraded by a series of blunders
They put their trust in the words of a fraud

Hear my sweetest children,
For did not God in Leviticus say:
"I will send against you the savage beasts
Who will devour you and your flocks"

(The Farmer)
When I met this wandering priest
I explained my own views of the nature of the beast
A witch, a demon or a werewolf lord
Untouched by prayer, impenetrable by sword

(The Preacher)
Begone you demon, princes of the blood
Silver ammunition, blessed under Christian hood
This land of priests that Virgin Mary adored
No hellish beasts can defeat the heaven's horde

(The Farmer)
Deceptive hibernation
This demon smothered a nation
What I've seen with my own eyes
The devil in disguise

I searched for a god sent man
To bless my musket gun
Three bullets with silver enriched can free this land bewitched

(The Farmer)
It has a yearning for the wildest of lands
Where witching trees grow
and a weeping stone stands
In holy water my arms were blessed
And committed crimes I have confessed

One night we met these two men
One with hunting knife the other with a pen
They told us that official word
Spread the lie that this scourge was conquered

(The Preacher)
Begone you demon, princes of the blood
Silver ammunition, blessed under Christian hood
This land of priests that Virgin Mary adored
No hellish beasts can defeat the heaven's horde

For the heaven's horde!

Begone you demon, princes of the blood
Silver ammunition, blessed under Christian hood
This land of priests that Virgin Mary adored
No hellish beasts can defeat the heaven's horde

(The Writer)
As mad as they seemed a speck of truth I could find
A plan very smartly schemed, playing with our mind
Why bring together these people of different kind
There's only one truth behind.

9. An Elusive Monster

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10. Endgame (The Impending Truth)

(The Preacher)
The true targets of His justice
Were not the youngsters who
suffered from its claws
But rather their parents who had
failed them so miserably
By their disorderly cause

It's only with Scripture that we ourselves can arm
For swords or bullets will do it no harm

(The Lover)
I remember the day he said
They may come and make threats are your doors
When you find yourself in dread
Leave this land and head for British shores

(The Lover)
I remember the day he said
They may come and make threats at your doors
When you find yourself in dread
Leave this land and head for British shores

Whatever happens I will always be yours
Yet foreboding times are lying ahead
You'll have to wait however hard our love deplores
One day our life together may come instead

(The Hunter)
Could it be just a wolf that struck our nation
Or was more at hand that caused this aggression?

(The Farmer)
It crossed a river erect on its hind paws
It looked like witchery, defying nature's laws
Its screams were heard from forest edge to caverns deep
Its eyes peered through the dark as if never sleep

(The Scholar)
I used to blame it on our appetite for exotica
Or on a remnant of prehistoric times
But after I met these people,
an ever growing enigma
Could there exist such supernatural crimes?

(The Farmer)
I prepared my hunt with blessings of a priest
These three silver bullets, I say Beast
"You will eat no more!"?"No More!"

(The Hunter)
We shot the beast, blood everywhere
We followed the trace
There lies a man
Could it be its first male victim?
Royal troops surround us
Pushing us away

(Last diary entry by F. Morenas)
"I've heard that where we shot that man,
a strange stone was found,
carved with unreadable markings.
Grass won't grow there anymore.
Instead it grew reddish,
and no animal wants to eat it.
People say that a dark figure haunts this place,
Restless, hidden in the shadows.
Some nights a sad moan can be heard.
As if waiting for something, or someone."

(Letter written by A. Lavoisier to Governeur Ballainvilliers)
I condemn the way I was treated by your men
This man Antoine, the royal gun-bearer
made false claims of shooting a large wolf
But we saw a man, killed or deadly wounded
I've learned this wolf was embalmed
and shipped with haste to the king's court

(Letter written by G.F. de Choiseul-Beaupr? to Abb? P. Pourcher)
I gave my children their last chance
I looked death in the eyes
This demon is real, there will be no absolution
May the Lord forgive their secret substitution

(Last diary entry by J.B. Duhamel)
We retreated to my home
Tired and baffled
Followed by men
Bearing royal marks
Following our steps
Eyes are watchiing
What dark secrets did we unveil?

11. Epilogue (Before The Dawn)

(The Writer)
"In the Mystic Arts, they speak of the Ossyrian Race,
of which a man or woman were doomed;
doomed to spend a certain number of years in wolf's form.
Only after seven years they might return home and resume their former shape.
It is to say, if they were still alive!"

(The Lover)
"Will I ever see you again? I don't know.
And how many years will I have to spend alone?
But you stole my heart away, so I will wait.
And every day, before the dawn,
I will await your secret footsteps on my porch,
like all these times before.
Like all these nights before."

12. A Dream That Never Came

(The Lover)
Once long ago in a dream I believed
To hold what I loved with a heart never grieved
They said:
"Behave you girl and a wealthy future waits
Be strong, abide, think of our family fortune weights."

Once I believed in a true love's first kiss
Never thought to find it in an exiled man's bliss
They said:
"Forget this man and marry a simple lord
Don't act as if you are a young fortuitous queen adored"

But I, I can't deny my heart
Longing for a love that never came
My soul was stolen from the start
Waiting for a dream that never came

Now on these strange shores my soul is confined
This likeness of him is the only thing left behind
The sound of his voice a jewel gently caressed
In hope of our reunion that he always professed

So I cling to my pledge to live this life withdrawn
I pray for his return and lie awake until the break of dawn

For I, I can't deny my heart
Longing for a love that never came
My soul was stolen from the start
Waiting for a dream that never came