Here - or Other-where

[circa 21st Century ~]

At the very same time that Calvin had set foot on the 804 to leave, Francesco stepped down into the red specked dirt with his desert-dust sandalled feet. He had been travelling miles across the country to find his beloved companion, Anon - a Weimaraner who was taken to wander.

The journey out from the Middle Ages had been relatively short - not at all the long period of history you would expect, compact with centuries and time spent in between - for Francis had rested between his lifetimes, and returned into the earthly realm quite fortified throughout.

Unlike other Elvish men, Francesco did not come and go as he pleased from the worldly realm into the other-realm and then back again whilst on Earth.

For the best part of his days he was bound to live as any mortal might do - with the exception of his elvish talents, his superior perception, and blessed comprehension.

He could also recall all of the days in the world that had gone before - even the ones he had had no part in. It was as though the history of the world lived within him.

He was intimate with this world, and she loved him in return, giving him those akashic imprints that embossed her girdle and glitteringly reflected in her crown.

He understood what it was to be human, and empathetically felt everything that was around him - alongside the hopes and disappointments construed by the spiritual worlds and its entourage of beings besides.

Rarely was he self aware however. He did not sense or comprehend just how different he was to practically everyone else, here - or other-where.

- Gabriel Brunsdon, AZLANDER: NEVER ENDINGS: Second Chances

Sequestered Reliquary

Something happened while Francesco was picking the flies from the hive’s sticky exterior (some which were still alive and buzzing tenuously) … he had a vision.

This, in itself, was not unusual, as Francis had many visions frequently. But this episode was very different to the usual strand of images that would flit in and around his head parading their stories - this one was sombre and unrecognisable.

With his mind's eye he saw a line of army trucks following each other through his cathedral of trees ... on a road that was not yet grooved.

He had no reference to what a truck with wheels was - let alone a line of them. He heard in the ethers of this future event, the dreadful rumble and thunder as they followed one another through the forest - six, perhaps seven, each alike and quite obviously machines that carried men - who he could see were riding upon their shaking frames.

A chill went through him on that bright wintery day - for Francesco always gave visions their due weight, realising that insights hold a place somewhere in time, however implausible these presentations might appear in the present.

There was a sickening feeling that pervaded this sighting - an ominous sadness - as he knew there and then, that sometime in the centuries to follow, these men with the iron helmets would come to this quiet glade and search for his remains, later to transport them into a darkened tomb of sequestered reliquary.

-Gabriel Brunsdon, AZLANDER: NEVER ENDINGS: Second Chances

The Hives

Hans Thoma

Francesco suspected that the hives were being tapped in the night, for their sticky glittery residue now coated the trees beneath - and come the morning, chunks of their wax had been sucked dry - littering the ground beneath in a tatter of white.”

At first he thought it was the lesser Elves, who had a partiality to all things sweet. For if something was there for the taking, they usually considered it theirs for the taking.

Yet it was not common for Elves to leave a telltale mess behind, as this was done, night after night.

He then considered that perhaps it was the smaller animals, whose winter fare had encouraged them to sample foods outside their normal fare.

But these hives were intact from the outside, and paws and claws would make scars and scores. No, he thought, it could not be them.

It was not Hannah-Mary, he considered - for he delivered her more than enough staples every day, which included the honey as she required.


-Gabriel Brunsdon, AZLANDER: NEVER ENDINGS: Second Chances

Elementals

Just as visible Nature is populated by an infinite number of living creatures, so, according to Paracelsus, the invisible, spiritual counterpart of visible Nature (composed of the tenuous principles of the visible elements) is inhabited by a host of peculiar beings, to whom he has given the name elementals, and which have later been termed the Nature spirits. Paracelsus divided these people of the elements into four distinct groups, which he called gnomes, undines, sylphs, and salamanders. He taught that they were really living entities, many resembling human beings in shape, and inhabiting worlds of their own, unknown to man because his undeveloped senses were incapable of functioning beyond the limitations of the grosser elements.

The civilizations of Greece, Rome, Egypt, China, and India believed implicitly in satyrs, sprites, and goblins. They peopled the sea with mermaids, the rivers and fountains with nymphs, the air with fairies, the fire with Lares and Penates, and the earth with fauns, dryads, and hamadryads. These Nature spirits were held in the highest esteem, and propitiatory offerings were made to them. Occasionally, as the result of atmospheric conditions or the peculiar sensitiveness of the devotee, they became visible. Many authors wrote concerning them in terms which signify that they had actually beheld these inhabitants of Nature's finer realms. A number of authorities are of the opinion that many of the gods worshiped by the pagans were elementals, for some of these invisibles were believed to be of commanding stature and magnificent deportment....

Literature has also perpetuated the concept of Nature spirits. The mischievous Puck of Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream; the elementals of Alexander Pope's Rosicrucian poem, The Rape of the Lock, the mysterious creatures of Lord Lytton's Zanoni; James Barrie's immortal Tinker Bell; and the famous bowlers that Rip Van Winkle encountered in the Catskill Mountains, are well-known characters to students of literature. The folklore and mythology of all peoples abound in legends concerning these mysterious little figures who haunt old castles, guard treasures in the depths of the earth, and build their homes under the spreading protection of toadstools.

Fairies are the delight of childhood, and most children give them up with reluctance. Not so very long ago the greatest minds of the world believed in the existence of fairies, and it is still an open question as to whether Plato, Socrates, and Iamblichus were wrong when they avowed their reality.

-Manly P. Hall

Shaken from his Fantasies

[c. 21st Century ~]

Crouching beneath the bottom-most branch, with its brazen fingers drawing lines on his back, he held his breath, he felt tense, panting as slow and long as he could - daring not to move more than he had to.

He sensed that in this moment he should remain extremely quiet - it was all about sense right now. His instincts felt enlivened, enlightened. He was present, he was living this moment - he was transfixed.

Watching the young woman water the saplings with a tear dropper, he could smell her undergarments beneath her dress. He divined her floral perfume, and the light residue of a kiwi spritz hairspray. He was infatuated.

"Chips, come out from there you bad boy" she called playfully.

Shaken from his fantasies he remembered yet again, that he was a dog.

"Chips, get out of there NOW!" This time the voice was unkind and commanding, and he complied, with his head down, the old Weimarner slunk out from under the bush. The siren had called, and he defeatedly obliged.

- Gabriel Brunsdon, AZLANDER: NEVER ENDINGS, Second Chances

Bless & Mend

His Elvish heritage had bestowed many powers of grace, and one especially was to "bless and mend" as he liked to call it.

Torn claws, fractured wings, foot rot and painful mouths; rheumatism, kennel cough, weeping eye, seeping wounds - all of these he could cure, in the name of the Father of the All.

A feast was then laid out afterwards - mainly consisting of nuts and grains. A soft rain drizzled, beading their furs and scales. Mary was well sheltered by the arms of her tree, which was now worked smooth at its base by her leaning.

- Gabriel Brunsdon, AZLANDER: NEVER ENDINGS: Second Chances

His Diverse Congregation

As he looked around his diverse congregation, Francis could perceive the strife that had afflicted each one sorely.

Every animal present there had known both grief and trial - experiencing loss and hunger, pain and fear.

Some were now separated from their families, a few had old and fresh wounds, many were desperately afraid of the night. The life of the wild was not as easy as the mortals might have thought, and so often the seasons were unkind to the creatures also.

Such sorrows bourgeoned when the hunters and farmers would take their liberties upon these gentle beasts.

And so, persecuted by both the elements and the carelessness of men, these down-hearted souls were drawn to the one who loved them as he did.

A donkey wandered into the huddle and took his place beside a balding ram. Some black hens shuffled over to make room.

Francesco made a point of greeting each one individually and took time in doing so. It had become a solemn practice that often involved some healing as well.

-Gabriel Brunsdon, AZLANDER: NEVER ENDINGS: Second Chances