The Wizard's Tale lyrics

They drink to Conan every winter With smoke and laughter stain the beam The bards grow taller with each telling I keep my silence with my dream They praise the sword, they praise the liar They praise the scars that conquered men Yet none have asked the old magician What truly happened, where and when Steel may open gates of stone Yet darker roads are walked alone Ask of Conan, his fame is true But I still hear the tower too Before the crown, before the battles Before the thrones of Aquilonia We climbed where pale stars fear to linger The dreadful tower of the elephant Its walls were white as moonlit ivory Its gates remembered elder years No wind disturbed that haunted summit Only forgotten gods drew near (Steel) Steel may open gates of stone Yet darker roads are walked alone Ask of Conan, his fame is true But I still hear the tower too Yara gathered all his darkness Certain none could shake his throne Every crown conceals its reckoning Every soul must pay its own The tower shuddered, night was sundered Ivory became ash and flame Some won a jewel, some won a kingdom None returned the very same Steel may open gates of stone Yet darker roads are walked alone Ask of Conan, his fame is true But I remember what no bard knew Now I watch the children listening As minstrels sing the Cimmerian's name I lift my cup and never answer The wisest seldom seek for fame If someday you should climb that mountain Where only ghosts remember dawn Listen well The stones still whisper Conan came But not alone