Elves are by nature the out of doors type. I haven't much patience for this sitting inside a dark manor with all the windows covered. Alveric says I am claustrophic but I believe he is as tired of waiting for the cyclone to pass over Erl as I am. He is, however; more entertained than I as he has all his tech magic for when we are off the grid as he calls it. He tried to distract me with his battery powered television set and his solar powered cell phone chargers but I had no one in the land of Erl to keep in touch with and all the newsmen of Erl were discussing was the wind speed, projected path, and the barometric pressure of my father's cyclone. I did not need this information. I already knew it was a wickedly powerful storm with strong bursts of elfin magic and a cacophony of mystical sounds. All Alveric heard buffeting the covered windows of the manor was a whistling wind, but I heard my father's anguished cry at the loss of his only daughter, and the faint sounds of enchanted songs that blew swiftly across the border of Elfland. Songs that filled me with childhood memories, and elvish melodies. In the battering wind, I heard the little queer sounds of elfin creatures of the magical forest and I caught the cloying scent of miraculous flowers that glowed in the gardens of Elfland.
For the first time since leaving Elfland, I felt homesick. I ran to the western patio of the manor and slipped out the one door Alveric had left unlatched. Strange, I thought. Where is the wind? Where is the rain? The moon was a gentle glow in the dark night sky. The lawn of the manor was completely quiet-- no birds, no men of Erl, no chattering squirrels or round-eyed possums. Was the storm over? Had my father's magic blown itself out? I reached out my arms to the moon out of elvish habit and when I pulled my hands back down to my side, father's rune lay in my left hand. It glowed and sparkled with lingering magic and I could not seem to let it go.
I suppose surprise caused me to be cautious and I ran swiftly to the door I left ajar and did not stop until I stood in front of my dressing table. As I looked at my image in the mirror, the wind picked up with a swiftly increasing roar. I looked strange to myself for the first time. My face was so very pale and my eyes wide with apprehension. This time with Alveric in the Land of Erl was changing me in too many ways. I rubbed the small bump of my stomach and wondered about this child's future. He was neither Elf nor human. He would be expected to rule the Land of Erl for many hundreds of years. I had not considered responsibility as a result of running off with Alveric. I was foolish for not realizing it was inevitable. I felt trapped in this human world by the child. The rune was a potent reminder of the world I had left behind as well as a way to return to Elfland. I stashed it in the music box that Alveric said had belonged to his mother and returned downstairs.
"That was the eye of the storm." Alveric stated with barely contained enthusiasm when I entered the parlor. " I checked all the run-off drains and cleared the ones that were clogged. Then I checked the grounds for damage and only a few trees are down. Wasn't that amazing?"
Corn Moon
Originally uploaded by Meredith_Farmer
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