“Let’s kick ass.”
Then they were on the stage.A quiet hush had fallen.Ry took a deep breath and scanned the audience.Damn near every seat was full.His mouth dried and his hands shook as he reached for the mic.
The opening song on the set list was “The Heretic and the Broken Man.”The words slipped his mind until Alex hit the first notes on the guitar.Ry blinked his eyes shut, the swell of the music building around him.
Mirrored glass across a beating heart
shattered hour frosting my view
your red eyes find mine, storm intensifies
it batters ribs, tastes of salt and loss
Lon smashed the cymbals and snares, his foot thumping the beat.Alex and Brand balanced the melody and harmonies along with Ry’s vocals.Vibrations blurred up his legs.
Shelter in the chest of a broken man
In cold, dark chambers, we strike a rebel flame
light of the heretic, our only plan
Ry danced over to Alex, the song they’d written together after the horrible storm over a year ago flowing around them, through them.Leather and sweat filled him before the next words.
Wake, the heretic cupped in my palm
Seeds within your eyes faded and lost
you shudder in my arms and cling to life
you wash my shores with blood and rising tide
You are the heretic; I, the broken man
A beacon in the battering storm of night
The wall of music paused, leaving Alex alone in the spotlight, the chords softer for a moment.Sweltering cascades of air washed over him; the lyrics icy in his mouth.
Cold devours the rain, bends the wind,
When your ship calls out, no harbor answers
I struggle to reach you—my wayward route
Navigate by your pull
The chorus swelled again, and Ry danced on the stage, falling to his knees, inviting the crowd to the battle for survival.
Without you I desiccate—I’ll staunch
your salted tears with the steady pulse of me.
Ry gazed out at the audience, their vague shapes undulating to the music.
the dark horizon takes the tongue of night
the broken man slips under blessed heretic’s light.
Ry stopped, opened his arms wide and fell back as Alex caught him in one arm.Ry looked up into those green eyes and grinned.Alex returned his smile.They’d nailed it for the first song.
