The Serpent's Trail

There's a crack in reality Inside there is a hidden veil I sense my fate waits for me As I descend the serpent's trail The winding path downwards leads me Through twisted trees and stinking bogs I dare not stop to look around me I'll lose myself in thickening fog Into darkness, I am drifting I am losing my direction Someone told me, keep your feet If you are to walk this way A fearless heart with a steady beat Or else you may be led astray What you look for, what you seek Is at the end of this trail You must walk with a steady beat Or else you may be led astray You will drift away I see shapes of men amongst the trees Stuck in a place of frozen glow They're turned to stone by what they've seen A pain and fear they can't let go I spiral down towards the earth's core Where all my terrors seem to dwell Where many who have come before Stumbled, crumbled and they fell Into darkness, I am drifting I am losing my direction Someone told me, keep your feet If you are to walk this way A fearless heart with a steady beat Or else you may be led astray No return, no retreat But you will surely find your way Keep your heart at a steady beat And you will live to fight another day! And there it is, the river Gjoll Flowing cold with tears of grief One cannot swim the river Gjoll One has to cross the golden bridge I reach the depths of Nifelhel Alone, naked, and weak Then appears the Goddess Hel Who the dead and wretched keeps But as I face my deepest fears I open up my heart And so a different path appears My ascension starts