The Lament of the Forgotten Forest

The Lament of the Forgotten Forest

Canto I: The Arrival

In days of yore when time was young,

A forest stood where legends sprung,

Whispering Pines, its name well known,

With secrets carved in bark and stone.

A maiden fair, with eyes so bright,

Named Elara, arrived one night,

Drawn by tales of ancient lore,

Of spirits lost and paths of yore.

She left behind the city's din,

To find the peace that dwelt within,

The forest deep, where silence reigns,

And echoing winds sung soft refrains.

Beneath the boughs of ancient trees,

She felt the cool and calming breeze,

Yet shadows lurked in every nook,

And every branch, a fingered crook.

She found a cabin, old and worn,

Its timbers weathered, paint forlorn,

Yet in its age, it held a charm,

A place, she thought, to shield from harm.

Canto II: The Discovery

Days turned to weeks, Elara stayed,

In whispering woods, she worked and played,

She cleaned the cabin, made it bright,

And sat by fire's warming light.

One morn she walked a path unknown,

Where sunlight through the branches shone,

She found a stone with carvings strange,

Symbols that did time derange.

With curious heart, she traced the lines,

That spiraled through the whispering pines,

A key she found beneath the stone,

Of metal cold, and strangely shone.

She pocketed the ancient key,

And wondered what its use might be,

She wandered back, her mind a storm,

Of questions deep and secrets warm.

Canto III: The Whispering

That night she lay in cabin's bed,

But restless thoughts filled up her head,

She heard the whispers soft and low,

Of spirits lost, and grief and woe.

"Elara, come," the voices sighed,

"We need your help, we need your guide,"

She rose and lit a candle's flame,

To find the source from whence it came.

The whispers led her to the floor,

Where once she’d cleaned the cabin's core,

She moved the rug and found a door,

A trapdoor to the basement’s core.

With trembling hands, she turned the key,

The door creaked open, silently,

She stepped into the dark below,

Where secrets hid, and cold winds blow.

Canto IV: The Revelation

The basement held a dusty chest,

With leather bound, and ancient crest,

She opened it with cautious hand,

And found the journals, tightly spanned.

Her great-aunt's words in faded ink,

Told tales that made Elara think,

Of portals, spirits, realms unseen,

Of forest dark, and twilight's sheen.

The journal spoke of fateful day,

When Margaret in the woods did stray,

She found the stone, the key, the door,

And vanished through the forest floor.

Elara read with growing dread,

Of spirits lost, of countless dead,

Of guardian dark, and portal wide,

That swallowed all who dared inside.

Canto V: The Encounter

Determined now, Elara knew,

The task she faced, the path she’d pursue,

She gathered tools and holy charms,

To ward away the forest’s harms.

She ventured to the stone once more,

Where carvings lay on forest floor,

She placed the key in ancient lock,

And felt the ground beneath her rock.

The stone slid back, a passage shown,

A path beneath the earth and stone,

She stepped into the darkened way,

Where shadows deep in silence lay.

Her flashlight cast a feeble glow,

On walls that seemed to breathe and flow,

And in the depths a figure stood,

With eyes that burned like ember wood.

The guardian of the portal’s gate,

A being wrought of twisted fate,

It reached for her with fingers long,

And sang a haunting, mournful song.

Canto VI: The Battle

Elara stood her ground and fought,

With charms and words her aunt had taught,

She cast the holy water clear,

That sizzled on the guardian near.

The creature shrieked in pain and rage,

As ancient magic met the mage,

Its form began to shift and wane,

Yet still it fought through burning pain.

With final strength, Elara cast,

A spell she’d found in journal vast,

The guardian, with a howling cry,

Dissolved into the air nearby.

The portal closed, the whispers ceased,

The forest seemed at last released,

Elara stood in silence deep,

Where once the spirits used to weep.

Canto VII: The Return

She left the forest, dark and still,

With heart resolved and iron will,

To tell the world of what she’d seen,

Of Whispering Pines and twilight’s sheen.

Back in the city, tales she told,

Of ancient woods and guardians old,

Of spirits freed and battles won,

Beneath the pines, away from sun.

But some nights when the moon was high,

And stars were scattered ‘cross the sky,

She’d hear the whispers soft and clear,

Of spirits lost, but always near.

Elara knew she’d done her part,

To free the woods and heal its heart,

But in her soul, a bond remained,

With Whispering Pines, forever chained.