In Cazenovia’s wooded glade, A settler’s son did dwell, With restless dreams and questions deep, No voice could ever quell. His father spoke of lands unknown, Of spirits old and wise, Young Eli searched to find the streams Where silver waters rise. One eve beneath the waning moon, He stole beyond the trees, Where whispered winds and sighing pines Sang secrets on the breeze. Through tangled fern and shadowed glen, He wandered far and wide, Till, by a stream of shining light, He saw her at its side. A maiden fair as morning mist, Her eyes like water deep, She gazed at Eli, still and calm, As one of storied sleep. “O child who walks the path of men, Yet longs for what is more, You bear a beast within your heart— A shadow at your core.” Her voice was soft as autumn rain, Yet heavy in its truth, And Eli felt his spirit quake As fears that rose from youth. “For in the dark, a serpent waits, Not flesh, nor fang, nor scale, But doubt and fear that grip the soul And tell a hollow tale.” With that, she faded like the foam, The stream was bare once more, Yet Eli knew his fate was cast— A trial lay in store. He wandered to the forest’s heart, Where strangling branches grew, And in the hush of tangled night, A breath of darkness blew. It coiled around him, cold and vast, And whispered in his ear, “You are too weak to walk this road; I am your rightful fear.” It filled his mind with shadowed doubt, His limbs began to fail, And sinking down upon the earth, He felt the darkness pale. The beast had won, and in its grip, He closed his weary eyes, Yet from the stream a voice arose— A whisper, soft and wise. “Rise up, young heart, and know your worth, Though fear may cloud the way, The serpent lives where courage sleeps, But falls to those who stay.” And so he stood with trembling hands, His will a flickering light, Yet step by step, he faced the dark, And challenged it to fight. It hissed and writhed and filled the air With every whispered lie, As Eli’s heart grew bold and bright, He met it eye for eye. “I am no slave to doubt or fear!” He cried into the night, “For though you live within my soul, I hold the greater light!” The serpent shrank, its darkness broke, Its voice became but wind, And in the hush of victory, The night grew soft again. Then by the stream, Ondina stood, Her smile as bright as day, “You’ve fought the war within your soul, And cast the dark away.” The forest sang, the waters danced, The stars shone fierce above, For Eli walked a freer path, His heart a flame of love. And so they tell, in woodland halls, Of Eli’s trial deep, Of beasts that dwell within the mind, And courage waking sleep.
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