The Tale of the Chimera's Bond

Sing, Muse, of gold’s tempting lure, and of trust misplaced,

Of a wizard’s pledge and a creature’s fate.

In a land where mountains pierce the clouds

And rivers run swift with silver streams,

There dwelt a lone smith, no name to his own,

Content in his forge with fire and steel.

One fateful morn, midst the hammer’s song,

The Wizard Calvino, cloaked in smoke,

Did darken the smith’s modest door.

“Hail, Master of Flames,” the wizard spake,

“A boon I seek, and your trust I crave.

For the winds of fate have left me bare,

Goldless, yet brimming with magic untold.”

The smith, with wary eyes of ash and ember,

Paused his hammer mid-swing, suspicious and still.

“What trade do you bring, O Weaver of Spells?

For no loan is offered without surety’s guard.”

From the depths of his robe, Calvino produced

A marvel born of nightmare and dream:

A Chimera Cub, fur of embered bronze,

Eyes that flickered with lightning’s flash,

Three heads—lion, goat, and serpent entwined.

“This I leave in solemn bond,

To reclaim when fortune smiles anew.”

The smith, though cautious, felt his heart stir

At the cub’s soft bleat, its playful snarl.

“So be it,” he said, “Leave your creature with me,

And take what gold your journey requires.

But mark this well, Mage of Shadows:

Your pledge is bound by my forge’s heat.”

Calvino, with a bow as fleeting as smoke,

Took the gold and vanished into the wild.

The cub remained, wary and small,

Its threefold heads tilted in puzzled accord.

The days grew weeks, the weeks to moons,

Yet no sign came of the wizard’s return.

The smith, no longer burdened by doubt,

Embraced the cub as his kin, his charge.

He named it Triad, a bond forged in time,

And taught it the ways of forge and flame.

The lion’s roar stoked the fire’s breath,

The goat’s hooves trampled embers to ash,

The serpent coiled the bellows with care.

Seasons turned, and Triad grew,

A beast of majesty, fierce yet true.

Its roar shook the mountains, its scales gleamed bright,

Yet its hearts were loyal, its spirits light.

The smith, once nameless, now legend made,

For tales spread wide of his fiery beast.

But lo, on a storm-wracked night,

The Wizard Calvino returned in plight.

His robes were tattered, his staff was bent,

His eyes alight with desperate intent.

“Master of Flames, I’ve come for my due,

The Chimera Cub, pledged in gold’s lieu.”

The smith stood firm, his hammer in hand,

And Triad beside him, a fearsome band.

“Your bond was broken, your word forsworn,

Triad is mine, by time and by deed.

You abandoned your pledge, you left him to fate,

And fate has bound us, as forge binds steel.”

Calvino, cowed by the beast’s fierce gaze,

And the smith’s resolve, unyielding as stone,

Turned on his heel, his spells undone,

And vanished into the tempest’s maw.

Now sing, Muse, of the smith and his friend,

Of loyalty forged and trust betrayed.

For in the land of silver streams,

The Chimera and smith live as one.

No gold could measure their bond so true,

A tale for the ages, for me and for you.

Entered by: 0x5798…0ebe