Step near, step near, old mouths in stone, I came to be remade

I gave my former shape away and did not ask it back

Past the marked crossings, up the harsh and broken path

By red-black altars, ash pressed deep inside each mark

The highlands took my breath from me and gave me something back

I stayed there, changed, with tooth and blood

Taken by lunar blessing, beneath wing and bone

I held my blade with shaking hands and let the beast come near

The wolves stayed close beside me, old hunger in their eyes

The woods bent open slowly as I left that dead world behind

I felt the first bite changing me, and still I did not run

The lesson in the wolf-blood, answer now

I tried to speak like I was fine, but something else spoke first

The vow beneath my skin, answer now, my own

Before me, I saw the wide and empty reaches

Calling me further into lands no one had touched

I saw the lunar face hang low above the buried earth

Its pale circle bit

I thought of turning back, but my voice would not obey

And the wolf-borne vow closed over me

With hungry mouth and iron nails

I became what I feared

I moved beneath the lunar blessing

Still changed