A Myth With Which to Contend

He was told that in the middle of a glen, secluded by shining birches, gleaming white in the sun so that one's eyes had of necessity to strain, there lie a steel contraption in the shape of a circle.  Laden on the tangent of the circle, this skeletal monstrosity held spikes and blades of many shapes: some in rectangles, some in oblong waves and half-circles.  It was made of the sharpest metal so that the slightest touch pricked the finger with an unstoppable blood-letting resulting in the demise of its investigator, no matter how curious.  One, slight touch meant death.  High mountains lie in the back of it far in the distance with jagged spires covered in shimmering ice that outshined the thin trunks of the birch groves, which stood around the contraption like sentinels, protecting it from anyone who approached with the malice of destructive will.

From the opposite direction of the mountains, a cool, blue stream flowed from an unknown distance.  Directly underneath this ancient, skeletal orb, it flowed.  The chaotic globe rested upon nothing, but floated perfectly still exactly one foot above the ground.  It neither moved, nor quivered, nor undulated from side to side, but lay stationary, with all its purpose of planting ever so tiny seeds of horror, as it dripped a musky concoction into the stream below, carrying tiny droplets that both dissolved in the water and grew into tiny globules, floating down steam into a swift moving river beyond the invisible Cavern many miles, many days travel, and many moons to the Great Damn near the Cavern.  From this, the world beyond did not know, came all the discord and woe that enslaves the land of men.

Upon seeing this globe, made of steel and formed as a sphere of razors, he was told that he must, in his nakedness, destroy it.  Dripped with poison, the razors of the massive metal construction gleamed with a pale-green luster, as a single, droplet dripped every 60 seconds over this malevolent sphere.  The poison dripped from a dropper to which was attached an organic vein made of the stuff of the earth, and yet emitted the perception that it was made of living tissue.  The vein came directly out of the earth.  At the base of the vein was a circular patch of earth, dark, grey, and dotted with pale, lifeless flowers. 

"You must find this contraption," his elder told the boy.  "You have been called to this task, and you must destroy it."
"You are mad," said the boy.  "There is no such contraption.  I'm going to tell my mother and father what you've said.  You've brought trouble on me by saying these things."
"Oh?  Ask your parents, then.  They'll tell you." 
He looked at him.  His face neither grimaced nor frowned.  He lay in limbo between utter disbelief and total despair.