Fables: The Garden of the Moss Spiders
The spirit of the Riverbend Preserve was inspired by literature and legend. In this series, we’ll share tales woven from the magic of the forest, field, and river. I hope you enjoy this fable of magic, conflict, and peace where the dark hills of the forest meet the meadow.
Check the link at the end to see the place on the Riverbend Preserve that inspired this tale.
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The Garden of the Moss Spiders
The valley between the hills and the river is a place of sanctuary.
Since the time when they drove the goblins from the field, the spirits of this sanctuary had set down their arms forever, and would brook no violence in the light of their valley.
But the giant moss spiders lived in the darkness of the forested hills.
Greedy and cruel, they were as wicked as they were ancient and when they felt the magic slowly draining from the black soil under their feet, they climbed down from the dark forest to challenge the spirits of the valley for theirs.
The spirits met them at the foot of the hills, and would not suffer them to enter the valley.
The spiders sneered and scraped their fangs together, crying out that they should wither and die without the power that was fading from the dark forest in the hills, but the spirits admonished them that until they had embraced peace in their own hearts, they would know nothing but emptiness.
“Release your malice and your fear”, the spirits told them. “Remain here on our borders in peace, and you may slake your thirst on the enchanted waters underground.”
The spiders bristled and slavered, but the words struck home for they had long known only the hollowness of want.
And so they sank their legs, thin and strong as maple roots, far down into the soft earth. They drank deeply, and their hearts became content.
In time they fell into lasting and peaceful slumber, and the moss grew thick and green on their spindly limbs.
This garden where the spirits treated with the spiders has become a place of gathering and celebration, and the spiders stand like towering shadows, here where the darkness of the hills meets the light of the valley.
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*Click here to see the real-life Garden of the Moss Spiders (in 4k, no less) on the Riverbend Preserve.