"beneath the tides of wisdom
spins the undertow of hate"

- opeth, 'the grand conjuration'//ghost reveries

✵✵✵

"With this next song, we must say goodbye. So, we're making it a good one! You ready?!"

The crowd cheered, a massive roar that filled the stadium. Onstage, Mercy Swiftriver grinned, nodding as she grabbed the mic and pulled it to her black-painted lips again. "This is our cover of—" Jason counted down at the drums "—'The Grand Conjuration' by Opeth!"

Jason beat off the intro, Mercy's fingers picked and cut the tabs, Ryder strummed the explosive first notes, and the crowd erupted – thousands of voices uniting in a hurricane. The force of it purled through her. When Viktor's shreds joined their ranks, a fresh wave of cheers shook the earth and shattered the skies, a new storm contained in Mercy's veins and bones, her muscles and her lungs. The intro slowed. Her voice expanded through the speakers – soft, yet vast. Sultry, yet all-compassing.

"Majesty. Faithful me."

"Pour yourself... into me."

Mercy's fingertips rested while the Ryder lifted the rhythm, her singing joining his tune. The foremost chorus approached; she planted her feet, inhaled, relaxed her throat but tightened her core, and growled, "the eyes of the devil, fixed on his sinners."

So flowed the track, note after note, chord after chord, lyric after lyric until the bridge. Mercy bared her teeth in a proud sneer, her hands turned to Ryder in presenting him to the people as he swept through a complex solo that preceded the bridge. She bent, bracing her left hand on her knee, and swung her head round and round, her long, silvery-white tresses went fanning and spinning. The audience banged their heads, manes flying, hands raised with fingers bearing the devil's horns. Mercy retook her place in front of the microphone as Ryder paced out, and bellowed through the bridging verses, her fingers plucking the bassline.

"His orders in your mouth, a decree for domination!"

Jason shone in the instrumental interlude. Mercy's feet carried her from one end of the stage to another, her hands still working the bass guitar. The interlude slowed; she roared the refrain.

"The grand conjuration!"

Mercy sang the final verse, her husky inflection returning. At the uproarious outro, the crowd went wild, and even wilder when the song ended with Viktor's vibrato ringing and Mercy's final, sustained growl.

As the audience calmed slightly, Mercy brought her mouth to the mic and yelled, "thank you, Stockholm! We're Clans & Covens, until next time!"

Ryder and Viktor chucked their picks into the frontal pit. Jason followed, throwing his drumsticks. The band bowed, waving as they filed to leave the stage, whoops and whistles bidding them farewell.

a/n: track in the media is what mercy swiftriver is singing. check it out for the concert experience!