The Writing on the Wall

Leaf reads the message from her father, but will it be too late for her?

14.

The Writing on the Wall

 

 

 

Aeflynsh, Oreanil, and my dear daughter, Llaiannileaf - I write this knowing that only the three of you remain unaffected.    I constructed this barrow from the ruins of an old building where vehicles were parked.   It seems sturdy, but tarry not here for long.    

Something is happening to all the worlds and universes.   They are disappearing and I believe it is the Creator God, taking each one away.    When I entered this world, the flow of time was different and I was unable to escape back to home, nor go backwards in time past the point in which I entered in.     Never had this happened before.    

I moved forward in time as far as I could, but I came to a point where nothing more existed, and I almost fell into the void.   It took all my power to pull myself away.     I was pulled backwards to a time in this world where it had been ruined by powerful weapons.    The humans were now primitive and savage in their ways.      The escape from the void drained me of most of my power and I found that it was growing more difficult to move backwards in time, though I could still move forward, as the void seemed to draw me toward it.

In my movements around this world, I found where some of our family had come into this Chronal flow, searching for me, but they went too far forward into the void and are gone.   I do not know where or to what fate.

If one of the three of you, dear ones, is reading this, then take heed!    The void begins at a point in time after this world’s society begins to recover from the time of destruction.    It will be a primitive society with swords and kingdoms, but it will end suddenly.

The closer you are in time to this void, the more difficult it is to escape it.   I constructed this Barrow as a large hill which hopefully you will recognize, as it is the entry point into this world.

You will not be able to move backwards in time past the point you came in, and each time you move backwards through time, your power will diminish until you are nearly helpless.

The others are lost; I found their Anamcharas left in small burial mounds around this hill in various time periods.     I shall add my own precious Anamchara, of my dear Violbrai, on a small plot to the east of this hill, as I intend to go through the void and join my wife and the others.   Without an Anamchara, the void will pull you to it, unless you retreat to the In-Between space.    But there you will stay, trapped for all time.

If you choose to remain in the time that you have entered, I would suggest that you try to live with the humans and keep your identity a secret.   Many of them are noble and kind.

Do not weep for me, for everything must end, and I believe that the Creator God will be fair to all of us Lesser Sidhe.     Know of my love for you and we shall certainly meet again.

 

                       Malestan

 

 

***

 

Leaf just hung her head, too emotionally spent to even cry.   Once again, Christopher instinctively went to her and hugged her tightly.    She trembled, but did not say a word as he held her there for a long time.     Cracking sounds from somewhere above brought an end to the moment of grief.

“Leaf, I think we really need to get out of here.”  He whispered to her.    She nodded, an almost purposeless look in her blue eyes.

“Listen to me, Lady Leaf,”   He said as they began weaving through the make-shift pillars and piles of rubble, “I don’t want you to give up all hope.”

“What hope do I have?”   She asked as her head cleared and she took the lead, pulling him hurriedly through the maze of pillars.

“You are alive and you have worked good in this world, Leaf.    You have saved my life and helped get rid of evil, selfish men.   You are a kind person.”

“What does that really matter?   My family is all gone.”

“As is mine, Leaf.     I have no family in this world.”

“But you are a human in a human world.   I am not.”

Another loud cracking sound from above them echoed down to them, causing them to speed up their movement.

“Are we really so different, Leaf?    You said that you live forever, but in most other ways, are we not the same?”

“You wouldn’t understand, Chris.”   She glanced back at him for an instant, smiling gently, “I appreciate you for trying, but it is different for the Sidhe.”

“Yet if we are all about to go into ‘the void’ as your father’s message indicated, neither you nor I really know how long we have.”

Although she didn’t actually respond to his words, he sensed that they had sunk into her.  

“Couldn’t you have some sort of happy life here?” He asked her.

She shrugged, “I don’t know, Chris.   Let’s just get out of this hole first, and then we’ll have time for talk.”

 

Pieces of debris fell from the ceiling now, crashing down at random spots in the cavernous room.   The popping and cracking sounds from above seemed to be growing more frequent and the pair moved as quickly as they could through the room.    Neither dared speaking, for they both sensed that a collapse of the roof was growing more and more probable. 

The debris was falling like hailstones by the time they found the glowing blue portal.  

“Quickly!”   Leaf ordered, rushing toward the glowing doorway.

Suddenly it all gave way.    There was a loud snapping sound and tons of rock, metal and all the stuff on top of the hillside caved in with a thunderous roar.

Leaf felt Chris shove her hard through the glowing doorway.   She was sent headfirst into the Oak tree on the other side and for a moment she lost consciousness.    It was only for a few moments, but in those moments she went into the In-Between space.

As soon as her wits returned she faded back into the world, to find the whole hillside had collapsed.

“Chris!” She screamed, and in her panic, at first began digging at the huge pile of debris.   Then she thought of her powers and she faded out slightly, racing through the rock.   He was not far away, but was buried under tons of rusty metal and stone.    There was no way she would be able to pull him free and though he was still alive, thanks to two stones falling against each other at just enough of an angle to prevent him from being crushed, he was still badly injured and near death.

How could she save him?   In her wild hysteria, she did not think of merely moving backwards in time to just before they had entered into the hillside.  But even if she had tried this, she would have been surprised to find that this would not have worked, for she, nor any Sidhe could move in time and encounter herself staring back at her own image at that moment in time.   

Yet Llaiannileaf did not know this, and had little time to think of any options.    She only knew that the young monk lay trapped and dying beneath an enormous weight.    Leaf entered into the pocket of space that the two stones had formed when they had fallen and materialized enough to touch his hand.   

A moment later she had shifted in and out of the In-Between space and had moved them back to the edge of debris.   It was a vast pile of ruin and already she heard the calls and shouts of the monks.   The monastery, thankfully, had avoided being destroyed in the destruction, but now they and the whole countryside were awake and rushing to the sound of destruction.

But Leaf did not care at that moment, for Christopher the monk was her concern.   His chest cavity had been partially crushed, and blood was pooling there and bubbling from his lips.    She knew that her healing chant would take too long to heal him.     He did not even have minutes of life remaining.    What could she do?   If he had been a Sidhe, she could have transferred healing to him through her touch, but he was not like her.

Then it came to her:  her Anamchara!    Perhaps if she sang the chant while he wore her Anamchara, it would transfer the healing by touch.    Never had a human worn an Anamchara and she had no idea if it would work, but in her desperation, she had no time to debate it.

Quickly she slipped her ring off her finger.    Immediately she felt a pulling, though it wasn’t in any physical direction.    She suspected it was the void of which her father’s message had warned.    

Ignoring the powerful pull, she slipped to her knees and placed her ring on Chris’ pinky finger.     The magic ring changed in size to fit his finger after an activation word by the Sidhe girl.

She had no time to think of the repercussions of her act, for as soon as the ring went on his finger, she began the healing chant, willing for healing to pass from her into him.

To her surprise, it occurred immediately and before her eyes a blue glow covered his body for an instant.   When it faded, his body was whole again.

She could hear voices coming closer from nearby, but she knelt and called Chris’ name.

His eyes opened with a dreamy look in them for an instant.

“Leaf.” He said weakly.

“You’ll be alright.”   She assured him.    The transfer of healing had done something to her.    The pulling force of the void now seemed far stronger than before.   Too strong to resist.   She felt herself being pulled toward it like a twig in a whirlpool.  Despair and panic filled her.

Chris’ eyes cleared as the effect of her ring brought her innermost thoughts to him, “Leaf!   Wait!   The In-Between place!   Go there!”

“Too late.”  She responded as she began to fade.

“No it’s not!   I can retrieve you!   Please!   I have your ring!   Don’t leave me like this!”   He clawed at her, trying to grab her, but she faded away.

“Goodbye.”   Her voice drifted down on the breeze like dispersing smoke.

Reviews

[Elina]

"...but tarry not here long." It may sound better if you had "for" after "here."
"...he still was badly injured..." You will want to switch "still" and "was."
"...now they and the whole countryside was awake..." "was" ought to be "were."
"...her father’s message had warned." Perhaps "...her father's message had warned of."

[Eddie Davis]

Thanks, Elina.