I passed through those dead fields of ash and gray,
To find a tall tree split, sullen and breached.
Figures around it in sulfur stone prayed,
As if words of faith this oak had just preached.
I approached slowly, not sure what I’d find.
My belabored steps sank into the mud,
And as I moved a void was left behind
That shortly after would well up with blood.
Suddenly, I was pierced by a loud voice;
One I knew to be the tree inside me.
“I offer you now, friend, a simple choice;
Leave now, forget, and forever be free.
Stay, and I will bring all things to an end.”
From madness, to this. I braved to ascend.