“Then what are you? Their kin?” He asked desperately, and Habben just laughed out loud, an old prankster enjoying a great joke, although Connelly wasn’t telling any.
“Isn’t it obvious, boy?” He asked incredulously, flittering his wings a little bit, but Connelly just stared.
“I am one of the Fae. The land near where I lived as Christopher Stevens, is my land.” He paused for a fraction of a moment.
“All of it. I am the lord of the White River country your kind call Enumclaw, Buckley, and Bonney Lake.” He clarified with a light bow of acquaintances being met.
“You’re a king?” Connelly asked hesitantly, and again Habben laughed, grin spreading so wide afterwards it was almost frightening. His vibrant eyes were disturbing above that grin. He almost looked demonic.
“Yes, I suppose, in my own right.” He responded. “But I am nothing like the one in your Dunesil Message.”
“Dunesil Llaerth is a real king, with real power, Ben. The end is coming, if he says it is so.” The look he wore was heavy and certain to match his suddenly dreadful tone.
“The end?” Connelly asked dumbly, before realizing what the Faeri meant.
“The Dunesil Message was real?!” He was left gasping again.
“Aye, boy. It is more than real. All of mankind will cease to exist very soon now.” The faeri creature sighed. “But, I fear, that all that remains of my kin will also pass and fade. For not even we can withstand the tide I see coming.”
“What is going to happen?” Connelly started, but followed a different path, scrambling to gather in all that he could, that he might come to grips with the shock.
“Wait, your kin? There’s more like you?!” Connelly couldn’t ask his questions fast enough. “Why can’t you all band together and stop them? And what has this to do with Shannon Hunter?”
“Slow down, boy.” Habben chided him.
“There is still time to tell you much before we die.” He smiled sadly, forcing Agent Connelly to relinquish his urgency. He suddenly felt futile in the wake of this Fae’s words, and a discovery he’d never imagined he’d ever come to find in the whole of his many experiences.
“Firstly, Shannon Hunter is unknown to me, but for what you’ve told. If you said she was taken away by the one I presume she was taken by, then she is either dead right now, or she has some greater part to play in what Is going to happen.” He smiled sadly.
“Secondly, yes. There are many like me, but alas, even for our unique powers, there is nothing we could do to fight the Black Leaves.” He leveled with Connelly, prompting a question.
“Black leaves? What are the black leaves?” He was confused, as much of anyone would be when confronted with such information.
“The Black Leaves are those kin to he who took Shannon Hunter away from you. They are tools wrought by the great tree of life.” Habben revealed.
“They have power enough, even as few as they are, to utterly annihilate mankind and leave not a single trace of your existence.” He sighed quite sadly.
“Though that is not the reason my kin and I are unable to do anything about this. Rather, it is that our meager powers, as great as they may seem to you and your kind, are nothing in face of the twenty one dark kinder who can level entire countries in one breath.” He arched his brows and nodded his head aside as if to suggest that what he said was simple and factual.
“Can you even imagine, Ben, turning an entire continent to sand? Can you visualize the futility of your kind’s most powerful weapons, and see how small the glow of a thousand suns truly is by comparison to a single sweep of their mighty swords?”
Of course, Agent Connelly truly couldn’t visualize the possibility of it. Nuclear weapons were minuscule by comparison to these black leaves? He couldn’t believe it, but then, his mind caught on to a part of Habben’s questioning. Had he said swords?
“Did you say swords?!” Connelly asked, suddenly recalling the figure who had been in Shannon’s hospital room. Habben merely nodded lightly.
“Among other weapons.” He confirmed it.
“The one who took Shannon Hunter had held a sword!” Connelly gasped, disbelieving.
“Then, it is confirmed, Ben. Shannon Hunter is either dead, or important.” The Faeri Lord nodded lightly, leaning on his staff as if it was all that kept him upright. “But even for the power of the Black Leaves, Ben, my kin are powerless to stop the end of man in wake of what I fear will come to pass. We are all powerless in the face of the real Powers -Black Leaves and Faer alike.”
“Real powers?” Connelly wanted to ask it, but didn’t get the chance. His tongue refused to move swift enough to his will, and the question merely showed on his face.
“Yes, boy, powers the likes of which not even the greatness of the Black Leaves will be able to withstand. That is why I am telling you all of this. Because, I’m going to leave now. This game we played has been fun. I haven’t had a game like this in a long time amidst your kind. But I will return to my home now, and I will dwell there and remember all the good ages that passed there beneath me since the Elvine abandoned us.” Habben sighed, and looked as though that little walking stick would never be able to support his weight. He looked direly heavy and exhausted, but not in his features. His face was illuminated with energy that belied his appearances.
“I will be there until I die at the hands of the Reclaimers. It is pointless to resist them. I would stay and play our game a bit longer if I did not know our time on earth is now very short. I will go, and you will let me, as if you could stop me if you tried. My friends and I will revel in what little is left of the glory of nature, to experience every last drop of it once more, before it is over. I would suggest you do the same, for life is shorter for your kind than for most, and every moment spent not doing so, is rightly wasted.” Habben Yudajer then turned to his two hounds, reaching out to pat one and gesture them forth and away.
“Come boys, let us go home.” He smiled, but Connelly wasn’t done.
“I can’t let you just leave, Ste…” He suddenly stopped. How was he going to stop the man who wasn’t even a man. Could he be stopped? Habben merely smiled further upon him.
“Sure you can, lad. It doesn’t matter now, even if I was the criminal you wanted. Even if I had taken that shot, holding me in prison for a matter of days or weeks until the end is pointless when we’re all going to die. Freedom isn’t anymore, just as imprisonment isn’t any more valid. It is over, Ben. I’ve told you.” He sighed heavily anew, shaking his head and drawing close, coming to rest a gentle, gnarled old hand upon Ben’s strong shoulder.
“I am sorry, Benjamin Connelly. I truly am.” He looked sad, but still smiled nonetheless, as if upon a son.
“I’m going now. You will not likely see me again. Even if you survive the cataclysm your kind has wrought, it is not likely I shall also live on. But it is okay, I have lived an eternity too long. My life has been full despite my abandonment by my greater kin. But, even if I had the ability to go back and change it, I wouldn’t. I loved your kind, like all the world has loved them, and I am grateful for the time I’ve been given to spend amongst them.” He started to shuffle onward, but paused as he passed out of the cell, leaving Ben Connelly slumped in stance, staring helpless and hopelessly upon an empty cell.
“I’m sorry, but my part in this story is over. And so is yours, Ben. It has been fun, and I wish to tell you that you are a good man before I go.” Once more that sad smile came over him, but Ben wouldn’t see. He just stared into space, looking on an empty cell as Habben moved away, leaving him as he followed his dutiful hounds to freedom.
Connelly was left alone, burly jaw slack, eyes numb and without a clue as to what he was supposed to do. Apparently, there was nothing he could do. There was nothing anyone could do. His entire life was utterly spent working for something he didn’t even know anymore, and it was all for naught. It was wasted.
He now knew it. He never should have spent so much time working, not even as it wa
s for a good cause. He should have spent time doing things for himself, things he enjoyed, simple things for happy times. He should have relaxed more, and gone hiking and fishing and taken trips to the Bahamas. He should have been free. But instead, he’d whiled away his entire life, just like everyone else had done, as a slave -working their noses and backs and fingers to the grindstone in an effort to accomplish something before they died. But most of the time, even with their goals in sight, none really knew what they were working so hard for, until now.
Ben Connelly now knew. They’d all been tricked by the very system they worked within, tricked into wasting their precious lives when every moment and experience was supposed to be lived freely, lived to its fullest, lived to enjoyments and peace. He could only wonder if anyone else had learned this lesson in wake of what had become of their world and in fear of what was to come.
It had taken Habben Yudajer, a Faeri thing, allegedly unreal by all of mankind’s standards, to so much as come close to breaking the system’s hold on him. But now at last, Ben Connelly just let go.
Chapter 17
The Black Leaf, bearing Firea’csweise, rather unceremoniously arrived at their unrecognizable destination within the Veil of the Leaf’s edge. Having talked and walked long together, though Shannon could have sworn it was brief by comparison to the truth of both time and space, she now knew that a short walk was both a long time and a great distance. But still within the Veil she couldn’t believe how far they’d journeyed if she wasn’t shown.
Hand-in-hand with Deh Leccend, she suddenly found herself within the fringe of the Veil of the Leaf’s Edge. Deh descended to the fringe within a single stride, bearing her along for the ride, leaving her in awe as the unending forest and enveloping twilight simply disintegrated like steam in a breeze, pulling back like the curtain of a dream to show her the human side of the world.
They stood now just within the grounds of the White House in Washington D.C. having apparently walked right through the fencing as if it was of no consequence, for indeed it wasn’t within the Veil. Deh led her across the lawn, amidst helicopters stationed in preparation for the president’s defense. The choppers were surrounded by soldiers who barely moved, going about their businesses in a dream of crawling momentum.
“What day is it, Deh?” She asked softly.
“The dawn of the seventh. Their final.” He answered solidly. Shannon cringed. If the leaders hadn’t heeded Dunesil’s emissaries, then at nightfall, mankind would begin to cease to exist. The thought almost made her wish to walk separated from Deh Leccend, for she knew the Black Leaf would be one of the twenty-one to exterminate mankind. She was yet unawares to all that the other Black Leaves had already wrought of mankind’s many creature comforts, and as such, she could not bring herself to leave his side -as if her presence could stay his hand.
It didn’t matter what she knew or what she saw as necessary in the end of man. It still made her cringe. To bear witness to the change. To be the last one alive in the end. To see the furious unleashing of the Black Leaves’ assault after several millennia of being stifled by the Veil and left to watching emotionlessly -bottled up and waiting for their inevitable return.
A shiver ran down her exposed back, trailing away in the low of her spine. She was afraid. However, she could not let go of Deh Leccend’s sure arm, following as he opened the White House’s front door and stepped into the main hall, closing it quickly behind himself. Not one human within sight would even be aware of the door opening and closing at his touch, for in their state of time, it came and went within a blink of thought and without a sound. He led her to someplace that looked cozy, and sat her down within a soft sofa as she began to wonder again about the flow of time within the Veil.
Deh Leccend had said time had stretched and space had shrunk, but when they walked the Veil’s fringe, everything trickled by, as if they were moving at lightning speeds. She knew he knew what he was talking about, and yet it was a confusing matter. She assumed that if time stretched, then things inherently should have taken longer to perform, instead of happening swift by comparison to the norm. She dwelled on time itself for a time, resting comfortably but nervous, for Deh Leccend refused to sit.
He just stood over her like a protector, dark eyes constantly shifting from here to there and other places she couldn’t possibly imagine. They were alone, and beyond the fringe of the Veil of the Leaf’s Edge. There was no one who could see them, and there was therefore nothing to fear. But, nevertheless, Deh Leccend stood at attention and ready to protect, or so it seemed.
“Why don’t you sit, Deh?” She asked lightly, reaching up to take his hand.
“You can tell me about time and how it works.” She offered, knowing that would get his attention. He looked down at her for a moment, then sat stiffly without answering her question for a long moment.
“Time flows ever-present, milady Firea’csweise.” He began. “The flow you see before you, from within the fringe of the Veil is slow due to the stretching of time, as I already told you. I presume you are confused that stretched time should imply that it would take you longer to perform any given task, but it is opposite in truth.
Stretched time implies that each second is longer, not the tasks that you can perform within any given allotted time. It allows you to perform more within a given span, for your actions still take the same amount of movement, and therefore the same duration. However, if the flow around you is stretched, the movement is not affected the same. Thus, it is as if the space has dwindled.
When fully beyond the Veil of the Leaf’s Edge on either side, it is not noticeable, but when in the fringe, you can witness both your frame of stretched time, and that of the real-time with your eyes, which is what causes your confusion. You perceive that which cannot be physically possible, and yet, is happening nonetheless. It is an illusion, for you appear to be within the third dimension and yet you are caught within the Veil’s laws.” He glanced to her.
“Do you wish for more?” He asked, for what he’d said pretty much encompassed all of her confusion.
“There’s more?” She asked after a thoughtful pondering.
“Yes, but not about the Veil or the illusion you suffer.” He said.
“Oh.” Shannon managed, thinking. “No, thank you, Deh. That will suffice.” She smiled nervously on him, exposing her fears of the future once again.
“Do not fear, milady Firea’csweise. You are safe, and you will continue to be so, even after all is past.” His words were intended to quell her human emotions, but obviously, they fell well short of their mark. She let her eyes fall out a nearby window to the yard and choppers beyond, taking note of the slow blur of rotary blades that she’d not initially noticed moving. The men were now coming into the White House, leaving their choppers behind and carting in several military-looking crates. Even for the dream they strode, they looked to be rushing.
“Why are they in a rush, Deh?” She asked, standing and moving to the window. The Black Leaf was on her heels, dutifully following and looking where she did. The men slowly gained the massive foyer, carrying three long chests of dark army-green coloration as Deh Leccend stared upon them. His gaze was narrow and sharp when Shannon found his features.
“Deh?” She asked again, worried, for the look on his face was taxed by knowing.
“I see danger coming.” He said. “The humans bring tools of sight.”
“What does that mean?” She asked, leaving the curtained windows behind.
“They have discovered of the Qual again.” He informed.
“What is the Qual?” Shannon didn’t like the sound of it. It was a beautiful word on his tongue, but the way he said it made it sound foreboding.
“The Qual is the flaw within the Veil.” He answered, pausing in his study out the window for a moment longer, until she gripped his arm, urging him to speak.
“The flaw created when Dunesil withheld against the onslaught of Traemin and Gane. The alteration of time and space I told you
about was caused by the flaws inherent within the marred perfection of the Veil. It is called the Qual, and for all its insignificance, it is due to this wrinkle that allows things beyond the Veil to see into the fringe of the Leaf’s Edge. With the aid of glass and its refraction of light, one can see into the fringe.”
“They’re bringing tools to see into the Veil?!” She clarified.
“The fringe, yes. Someone has told them of it, and I think I know who.” He spoke certainly.
“Who, Deh?” She was once again frightened. “No one knows of the Veil.”
“Exactly. It was someone from beyond the Veil.” He laid his eyes upon her, and offered his hand. “Come, Firea’csweise. It is no longer safe here for you. I will take you back into the Veil.”
“No!” She denied. “I must be here to see this all. The Addl’laen insisted. You will tell me who has betrayed the Veil.” It was her turn to be insistent, to stand firmly rooted in her spot.
“It has to have been Athaem.” He eventually answered, flat toned and certain, a deduction wrought of swift reason.
E.L.F. - White Leaves Page 23