ELIAS AND THE QUEST FOR TREEKINS - An Eleusian Folktale

By: Elynsynos Posted on: September 02, 2004

PART I: THE COMPLAINTS

Once upon a time in fair Eleusis,
The small village was plagued with disturbance,
From the outside world of evil places,
Exterminations and over harvests.

Village folk of Eleusis grieved,
For lives were taken by those hands,
Slaughtered forestalls littered streets,
Vowing revenge, the village rants.

"What have we done to any of you?
Nothing! Nothing! Nothing at all!
Red blood on exterminators' hands,
Shameful! Shameful! Shameful you are!"

The council of Leath'ris was ductile called,
To answer the pleas of villagers and all.
Summoning for quiet the Speaker did do,
So that he could speak with reason that is due.

"Listen to me, my loyal friends,
I have witnessed the hurt you too,
For that they will be enemied,
Are you satisfied now my friends?"

The uproar that followed shook the earth?s crust,
They were not satisfied by mere status,
"We are still not safe!" One villager roared.
"Trees cannot protect us from pk whores!"

The speaker of Eleusis raised a hand,
But the great crowd could not be quieted,
They seek more reassurance of safety,
Then only branded names for enemies.

A young child then stepped forward,
Oh so young a mere novice,
Stood and faced the roaring crowd,
And to Speaker she addressed,

"My mother a druid, father a sylvan,
Both calm forestalls of utter peacefulness,
But one day a Maldaathi came to them,
Smiling, slew them within our own forest walls.

"I've plead and I've prayed,
But the horrors won't go away,
My parents won't come back,
In those dark graves they lay.

"All that I can do,
Is hope and voice for you,
Safe and guarded well,
Eleusis without hell."

The villagers were touched and cried,
For the little girl's loss and frown,
With determined heads they started,
To call for a better home.

"Shallam with their knights,
Cyrene with dragon Blu,
Hashan with Nocturni,
We should have one too!

"To guard our walls from harm,
Our villagers, shops and wealth,
We charge for a guardian to fight,
All that attacks in might.

"He must be strong and brave,
Not weak or cower in bed,
A creature of the nature,
To blend in with the picture.

"Not too tall and not too short,
Not too clumsy and not too bold,
Not too young and not too old,
Not too hot-tempered and not too cold."

The villagers nod to themselves,
Thinking this the perfect answer.
But the Speaker has his doubts,
Of finding this creature at all.

"A perfect thing, you wish to find,
But where, pray thee, would you dare start?
Over mountains you look and seek?
Or in these forests, answer lies?"

The villagers were stumped and all faces fell,
For the great Speaker must be right after all.
What small hope of finding such a creature,
Perfect and flawless - impossible.

But the young girl would not give up this fast,
She asked for help from aspiring Eleusians,
And one brave old man came to call,
Elias, the aspiring gatekeeper, he was called.

"I will help to find a guardian,
But of course, I have a condition.
If I succeed, you will let me be,
An Eleusian doorkeeper at the tree."

The villagers quickly agreed,
To let Elias find the thing,
The guardian of nature within nature itself,
To keep them well from harm, safe and sound.

And so it was that Elias parted,
On a world-wind adventure, but he was not daunted,
The villagers lined the street, wishing him well,
"Goodbye! Farewell! I won't take long!"

Elias walked to the Eleusian base,
He waved one last time before turning away.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

PART II: THE JOURNEY

Elias, the feisty old man,
Tanned by the sun, wrinkled by age,
But do not be fooled by his looks,
For he is quite powerful still.

The journey would be long, he knew,
But with a light heart he set out,
To find for the fellow villagers,
Great guardians and warriors.

Pass the Western Ithmia he did go,
Looking right, left, front, back, up and below.
But nothing in sight could he find,
Only dryads, tengus, and lamassus.

But no, Elias did not give up hope,
For surely somewhere there are creatures galore.
Pass the great highway down to Aureliana,
But he was once again disappointed in flora and fauna.

On and on he traveled,
For a year and more,
All the while back in Eleusis,
More deaths filled the floors.

He passed by the Savannah,
The Pachanacha and Urubamba Rivers,
Down to the Southern Vashnars,
But no creatures to fit Eleusis

And then Elias did sigh,
And he began to doubt,
Is there such a creature?
So perfect and faultless?

But he trudged on when he remembered,
The little girl's pearl drop tears,
Of horrors that passed,
Of horrors yet to come.

Back in Eleusis,
Villagers prayed,
For Elias' safe return,
And their dread to end.

So Elias pushed himself,
To do what was hopeless,
If those villagers have suffered from loss,
Then I could at least go on for them!

And it was on that day,
That Valnurana smiled on him.
She pitied his grievances,
And was overwhelmed by his perseverance.

In a dream, so unlike this world,
Lady Valnurana visited him,
Under the full moon in the sky,
She gently told him this:

"On the distant Island, even pass Ulangi,
An evil spreads in the lands of Pylos,
The evil enchanter named Breiseus,
Holds his subjects with iron fists.

"It is there where they hold,
The thing you seek,
But be warned of that land,
You will not get anything for free.

"So go now with my blessings,
Dear Elias of the forests,
Forever questing,
An Eleusian at heart already."

The vision fades and disappears,
As Elias shakes sleep out of eyes,
A moment of shock filled him,
Before lighting up his face with a smile.

Picking up his pack,
He continued on his way,
Towards Shastaan,
And the ferryman Gareth.

Smiling once again,
Elias filled with hope,
Letting the ferry,
Carry him to Pylos.

"Here we are, sir!
Please disembark quickly!
Here, take your bags,
I dare not linger any longer!"

As the ferryman rides out of view,
Elias shuddered with fear,
For the land was blacker than Sartan,
The plants wilted and Elias let a tear.

Determined and angry,
He set out towards the dark castle,
Without life and so, so gloomy,
He did not notice the trees ruffle.

Up the steep hill he climbed,
His back aching for a rest,
His lungs contorted with pain,
But at last, the giant door was in sight.

Giant oak doors towered over Elias,
He turned around, wanting to flee,
But instead caught sight of - a moving tree,
Bound in chains and wanting to be freed.

Elias' anger heightened,
His fear overcame,
He turned back with determined face,
Knock! Knock! Knock! On the door's surface.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

PART III: THE THREE TASKS

The castle doors opened silently,
A grim shadow in front of the hearth,
It turned around and behold!
Breiseus the evil enchanter!

"My, my, who have they sent now?
An old man on the edge of death?
Come now, my guest, sit!
What brings you here, well met!"

"I am Elias and I come with a plea,
Those trees outside, why do you hold them?"
"They are my eternal slaves, working like bees,
But what is it you want from me?"

"Free those trees! Merciful Logos!"
"And what would you pay for their freedom?
For they have cost me much,
To capture them for my kingdom!"

"Name your price, Breiseus of Pylos!"
"You must perform three tasks for me,
Some say they are impossible to do,
But that is the price for the trees!

"First, find me a drum that never sleeps,
Let it sound all day to scare away,
Any unwanted strangers from my land,
The first task is said."

"Second, bring me a whip that never decays,
To rule my minions with,
And like an immortal I'll be,
Master with the never decaying whip!"

"And third...that, I will keep secret,
Until the drums are at my door,
And the whip in my hands,
Then I will reveal the third task."

Elias was troubled, but not without hope.
He sped back to mainland with an idea,
Grabbing some pelts he began,
Constructing the largest drum ever seen.

He worked day and night,
And finally, the drum was completed,
With thick pelts tied up tight,
But the drumstick is no where in sight!

Elias then hurried to a Sylvan friend's grove,
And with help from her,
A swarm of bees came forth,
Into the drum and sealed forever.

The bees buzzed and flew,
Around in the drum, hitting the walls,
With every hit of the drum wall,
The sound echoed off the wall.

Elias clapped himself on the back,
For he had done well,
But then he tried to think,
A solution for the whip.

He thought and pondered,
But no ideas came to him,
Until he couldn't keep his eyes open,
He fell into a deep, deep sleep.

In his dreams he prayed,
To Valnurana once again,
Begging for the aide,
Of the Goddess yet again.

She came on a wisp of cloud,
Smiling, told Elias of,
Sartan's menacing whip,
Un-decaying and always there.

"But how do I get there?
To Sartan's temple of Evil?
And how, pray thee tell me,
Will I escape unscathed?"

The Goddess smiled and flew him up,
Over rivers, forests and lakes.
Finally to land right before,
Sartan's great black gates.

The lovely goddess lured Lord Sartan to sleep,
And old sly Elias,
Took up the whip and left,
Back to Pylos.

Breiseus was furious at his success,
For he did not want to part,
With the laborious treekins,
They had been costly bought.

Then an idea flared to him,
Just give the old man an impossible task!
And so Breiseus evilly grinned,
Looked down on Elias and intoned:

"You have done well, my dear Elias,
But one last task to do,
Bring to me two female horses,
Together wearing only one saddle."

Elias was shocked, for this was impossible,
As Breiseus played with his new whip,
With utter defeat and embarrassment,
Elias left Pylos with heart ripped.

On to the mainland he went,
And prayed at Demeter's feet,
For a quick ending to his life,
He cannot live with defeat.

Come, my child, and do not cry,
For I have eyes to see,
That your love for Eleusis,
Has brought you to me.

"I have the solution to your riddle,
Come and hear me well.
You will find in a stable in Delos,
A pregnant female horse!"

Elias gasped and wept with joy,
As he bade Lady Demeter goodbye,
And on he went to Delos,
To see the pregnant horse and buy.

Breiseus, seeing the saddled horse,
Laughed out with scorn,
"Where is the second horse,
You're deaf, you old oaf!"

"This is not just a horse,
But a pregnant one at that.
Two horses; one mother, one child,
Is before you, saddled with one saddle."

Breiseus, realizing defeat, unchained the moving trees,
He cursed and swore ads Elias led them home,
To the mainland they go.
The Treekins free at last to go.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

PART IV: RETURN OF THE TREEKINS

"Well, well, my friend, Elias,
We cannot thank you enough,
For the freedom from bondage,
How can we repay you at all?"

"There, there, my fellow treekins,
There is one thing you can do,
Help me protect the fair village Eleusis,
From harm and every goof.

"You're not too strong and not too short,
Not too clumsy and not too bold,
Not too young and not too old,
Not too hot-tempered and not too cold.

"But most of all you're perfect,
Flawless for the village we call home,
Please say you will guard her,
And my wish would be fulfilled."

"Aye, Elias, that we'd do with honour,
To attack those that would harm the forest,
And guard those that care for the forest,
Is our greatest wish."

And on they traveled,
Back to Eleusis,
To the villager's open arms,
"Woot for treekins! We are safe from harms!"

And around the campfire,
Elias told the story,
Of his world adventure,
Detail by detail.

The villagers all listened close,
And hailed Elias as their saviour.
The Speaker then rose and gestured for silence,
With a booming voice, he finally intoned,

"Elias. You have served us well,
And as a reward
Your boon will be granted,
To become Eleusis' new gatekeeper!"

The crowd roared with assent,
And the great treekins smiled,
Elias, Gatekeeper and Saviour,
Would be remembered very well.

And so it goes,
That Eleusis is safe,
For villagers to live,
And children to frolic.

And from that day forth,
No enemies came forth,
Eleusis could live in laughter,
Happily ever after.