Surprise Attack

[Whispered] The glass opens Fall through Don't look back [Long Instrumental] The other side Is always there Close your eyes [Voice starts doubling, phasing] To see To see To see...

[Verse 1 - low, prowling] Come with nothing Left three halves The math don't add up Walking out heavy Full of something That doesn't exist Future tense blessing Past tense threat [Hook - bigger, female echo underneath] A half and a half More than the whole Three halves Can't fill your cup Spilling over Spilling out Too much to hold Never in doubt [Verse 2] Took a piece Took the whole thing twice Now I'm surplus World of sacrifice Dream gives extra Come up short Living in overflow Having never thought [Hook] [Bridge - slower, spacier] Make sense Doesn't need to Numbers lying Feeling true [Outro - beat rides out] Three halves A half and a half Three halves A half and a half...

[D&B death march instrumental with sparse spoken word] Scene: Sokha sees the gallows in the distance. The Sokh'rai waits. Shadow creatures drag her to be hanged. She dies again.

[Dialogue/Spoken Word] "Took you long enough, little plow." Scene: Sokha wakes on a table in the Celestial Library. Heth'ani appears. Exposition through Q&A.

[Intro: 8 bars drums only, jungle breakbeat, hard] [Verse 1: punk snarl, hostile, barking] Find a story (WHAT) Find a spine (COME ON) Shelves bend outwards Out of time (MOVE) Dust on languages I'll never speak (NAH) Fingers trailing Hide and seek (WHERE) [Frustrated, tossing] Pull and discard (TRASH) Pull and discard (NEXT) Names dissolving Where I look (NOTHING) All these lives In these books (NOT ME) [Screaming, throwing harder] Pull and discard (TRASH) Pull and discard (NEXT) Pull and discard (TRASH) Pull and discard (NEXT) [Spitting, bitter] Cathedral of pages (WHAT) Cathedral of stars (WHERE) [Hook: shouted, demanding, aggressive] What's the sum (WHAT) Some of the whole (HUH) Making up notation Counting souls (COUNT IT) Adding it up Still don't know (NOTHING) Where's the story Where to go (WHERE) [Verse 2: slamming fist on table, caged animal] Nothing where a title should be (BLANK) Leather that breathes (WAIT) [Still hunting, manic] Pull and discard (TRASH) Pull and discard (NEXT) Warm like a wound On a pile of leaves (HOLD UP) Every other spine Has a name to give (NOT THIS) Find one silent It wants to live (THERE) Dark and waiting (YEAH) Patient dust (YEAH) Hands are shaking Pain not trust (COME ON) [Hook] [Bridge: mosh pit preacher, urgent] Sigh as I touch it (NOW) Waiting here (FINALLY) Pages know fingers Smell of fear (OPEN IT) Margins of drawings (WHAT) Crooked hand (WAIT) A million years old Start to understand (OH) [Verse 3: stopped cold, breath knocked out] Braid a knot Face I forget Every door is closed But still unlocked (THERE IT IS) The thing I was afraid of Just a mirror (DAMN) The further I go The nearer [Outro: exhale, stunned quiet] Sum of the parts Some kind of whole Add it up... Just a mirror...

[Emotional, building to transcendent reunion] Scene: Young Sokha trains adult Sokha in Ghol'thu (shadow-walking). They merge — light and shadow, innocence and experience. Young Sokha gives her Thu'kael.

[Reverent, spiritual, building intensity] Scene: Sokha meets the ancestors at the Gathering Ground. They don't trust her. She must prove herself.

[D&B victory explosion, triumph] Scene: The Gauntlet. Sokha fights ALL the ancestors, using Thu'kael and Ghol'thu. Defeats Zhol'mara. Victory celebration.

[Warning, contemplative but urgent] Scene: Zhol'mara warns Sokha: "Victory is just a moment. More is coming. Stay humble."

[Intro - minimal, sub bass pulse, clicks, breathing] [Verse 1 - low, controlled, menacing] In the shadows Eyes adjusted Breath steady Body rusted still They walk past Don't see nothing Don't feel us watching Don't hear us coming Patience ain't weakness Silence ain't fear We've been here for hours We'll be here for years [Hook - coiled, tight] Surprise attack You won't see it coming Surprise attack Already running Too late when you notice Too late when you turn Surprise attack Watch it burn [Verse 2 - building intensity but still restrained] Ancestors told us Wait for the moment Victory's borrowed If you don't own it So we crouch lower Sink into black Every muscle ready For the attack They think they won They celebrate loud We smile in the dark Beneath their cloud [Hook] [Bridge - almost whispered, deadly] Not yet Not yet Hold Hold Steady now Steady Feel the moment coming Let it find you Don't chase it Let it arrive Three Two One... [Final Verse - tension peaked] This is for the fallen This is for the fight Every battle lost Led to tonight Spring from the shadow Strike like the dawn By the time they see us Already gone [Final Hook - explosive but controlled] Surprise attack You won't see it coming Surprise attack Heart stops pumping Too late when you notice Too late to learn Surprise attack Watch it burn [Outro - drops to silence, just heartbeat, breath] In the shadows Waiting Always waiting...

[Meditative, calm before the storm] Scene: Sacred preparation before the desert battle. Each warrior finds their silence.

[Moroccan D&B armageddon, epic final battle] Scene: The Moth'khael. Sokha faces the Sokh'rai alone in the desert. Gets overwhelmed. Melts into shadow, reappears on a dune, calls out — the Khora'im ERUPT from shadows. The Surprise Attack. Victory.