Long after the garden had been destroyed,
Its inhabitants fleeing into the wilderness,
The charred remains of the great tree,
Was all that remained of this lost paradise.
The words carved into the tree by the knife of the fallen champion,
They glowed red in the amber ash,
Yet , still visible to the keen eye,
They read, “ I kissed the treasure and failed.”
Words written in tears but visible from an iron will.
They lay smoldering in the sunlight upon the dead wood of the tree.
The serpent coiled itself, its tongue darting into the still air.
The snake’s burning eyes fixed upon the hard bark,
The bare boned bark of the fallen tree.
The tree that was once so great with its precious fruit.
Now just a smoldering pile of rubble in stance.
The serpent sneered, its tongue darting out into the stale air.
A cruel smile upon its fangs,
It had taken down the armored knight,
He and his maiden princess who he loved so dearly.
They were banished and made to flee in the wilderness.
With a violent hiss he called forth his brood of snakes and vermin.
They arose from the depths of the charred earth.
A family of dark creatures now controlled the fallen paradise.
Off in the distance on an oasis of sacred ground was an owl.
He was a master sage that lived in this secret realm.
He had watched the carnage and the defeat of the knight.
He never interfered with what fate had planned.
This time, his courage would not allow him to turn away from this tragedy. He flew from his perch to face the snake who was the leader of this horde of venomous creatures. The snake coiled and in mockery of this fallen paradise stopped his hissing when the owl sage flew into the middle of them. A circle was made and the owl and snake faced each other.
The snake hissed, “How dare you, a mere owl come to face me. I will kill you quickly and spare the agony that your body will bear from my sting.”
The Owl sage replied. “I am guardian of all that is good. You have desiccated a sacred ground. You and your clan of filth will feel my wrath…for there is no forgiveness for what you have done.”
The snake coiled tightly and let its neck stretch full and high. It said, “feel my poison in your heart as you lay in agony upon the ground.”
It reared its head back ready to strike when the owl in a lightning move hurled its razor sharp beak upon the snake’s throat and bit in two. The snake’s head went flying into the air and landed looking up on the ground. The look of agony in its blood filled eyes. The body of the snake lay twisting and turning on the ground. The owl grabbed it by its severed neck and began to swallow it whole. The body undulating, the tail like a whip snapping and curling as it disappeared into the owl’s belly. After a long moment of silence the owl opened its mouth and a trail of black smoke came out of his beak as it made its way to disappear in the clouds above.
A giant dark spider, its hairy legs flaying in the Sun’s glare, spoke with vengeance in its voice. “ Hear me oh venom of the deep earth. I command you to sting this Pious Owl . Sting him till his body explodes from your venom and we shall watch it as he burns in the Sun’s glare .”
The serpents, spiders, and scorpions of the deep raised their fangs ready to strike. The Owl Sage raised his body up from the ground. The feathers on the tips of his wings grew razor sharp knife blades. He went into a swirling motion and cut every one of the vermin into little pieces. They lay in heaps trembling on the scorched earth. Only one little scorpion survived. It lay huddled by an opening in the ground. One that led to the underworld. The Owl approached it.
“Please don’t eat me…I beg you let me live. I am sorry for what my kin have done. Please forgive me.”
The owl sage, the rage in it had past. It looked at the little scorpion and said…”Crawl back to your dark world and tell those down there what you saw. Tell them the light will not be dimmed to those who will fight for what is right”
The scorpion slid into the hole and went back to the dark world to tell of this battle with the light.
Its body still shaking from fright.
The owl sage took to the air and flew into the great desert that lay ahead . He found pieces of armor on the ground as he flew. Steel boots, Breast plate, plumed helmet and chainmail gloves . He then found the shining battle sword The one the knight wore in his last lost battle. He scooped it up with all the other pieces as he flew to the water hole near by.
The knight lay there naked and exhausted. By him was the princess in her shear sweat stained gown. When the owl dropped the armor at his bare feet …the knight rose up and put it on. He looked at the owl and said, “I carried the princess all the way and shed my armor to bear her weight. I am well now and can fight for our freedom.”
He reached down and picked up the sleeping princess in his arms. She opened her eyes and said, “No need to carry me…my own strength will take us on the journey we must travel.
The Owl sage spoke…”You may go back to paradise. Rebuild it again. Let your children flourish upon the land. You have been given again what you lost…as in the meaning to this tale…”true love will find a way to survive.”
The Owl Sage flew to his perch at the oasis…and for the first time in centuries of stoic watch…he smiled…and whispered to himself the Latin phrase: “Omnia Vincit Amor”…the phrase flew from his mouth in a single breath…it carried itself into the desert as it translated the whispered words into English…”Love Conquers All” drifted silently in the breeze, and then was gone, into the haunting winds of time….
Comments