| Board : | |
| Author : | |
| Subject : | |
| Date : | |
|
Cernunnos, I have known you from a distance my entire life. Long before I learned the ways of the bow, before my feet could follow the hidden trails of deer through the mountain pines, your presence lingered in every forest hollow and mist-veiled valley. You stood beside me when I wrestled the wild beast in the damp woods near the sunken tree, where roots twisted from the earth like the fingers of ancient spirits. In the pounding of my heart and the strength in my arms, I felt your gaze upon me. Not as a judge, but as a witness to the trials that shape a hunter. I sensed your breath upon the wind as I carved my first wilderness pit trap from cedar and ginko, and again when I fashioned my first quiver of sleep arrows by firelight. The forests of our kingdom have always spoken your language. It is heard in the rustle of leaves before dawn, in the cry of distant cranes crossing the mountains, and in the tracks left behind by creatures moving unseen beneath the moon. Through every lesson learned from bark, feather, and hoofprint, you guided my hands toward patience and restraint, teaching me that mastery of the hunt begins with reverence for the wild. For there is a sacred bond between the hunter and the hunted. The prey grants purpose to the hunter, while the hunter ensures the balance of the forest endures. Neither exists without the other. I have watched stag and tiger, boar and hare, each fulfilling their place beneath the heavens. So now I pledge my devotion to you, Lord of Forest and Beast. Castiel | |