Lenore slipped away when he wasn’t looking.
She slipped into one of the shadows that her father he conjured and was gone in and instant. Then she slipped out of the shadows and darkness in front of her trees, the forest she had created.
She waited only a moment before he arrived, his own dark slice in the darkness. Edgar came out of the shadows like she had, materializing as if out of nothing. Lenore watched the spot he materialized from with wonder. It was as if ink were drawing on the sky in front of her, lines and splotches of it flowing into blobs and rivers and then a shape. As the ink formed her brothers form, she heard the flutter of birds wings. And Edgar stood before her.
Lenore was silent for a moment, but the words came. “Edgar. It’s been a long time.”
He nodded in greeting. “Lenore.”
More silence broken only by the sounds of those still alive made it out of the building, the rustle of the trees as if struck my wind. Then she spoke again. “Please, let them go. We can stand against him. Together we are stronger. We can end this.”
He studied her for a moment, a flash in his eyes, she wasn’t sure what. Was it understanding or a challenge? She was taken aback when he smiled at her. “It’s good to see you, Lenore.”
“What’s happened to us Edgar? Where did we go?”
Now she could tell that he was the one who was taken aback. “What do you mean? We’re who we are, we can’t fight against what we are either.”
“Can’t we? Do we have to kill? He raised us being who he was, and we lived within his shadow. That doesn’t mean we have to become like him.”
“We can’t change what has happened.”
“No, we can’t. We can’t give back the lives we took, but do we have to take more? Killing isn’t bringing joy. It’s taking it. Aren’t you tired, Edgar? Don’t you want stop? I know I do.”
Edgar shook his head. “He’s too strong. He brought us back from the grave, Lenore. He put us there too. It’s a never ending circle, we can’t escape.”
“We’re not strong enough on our own, but we can be strong together.” Lenore said.
“We all will.”
Lenore looked up and saw a bright white light. When it dimmed, her mother was sitting in the branches. She looked like a human shaped moon. “Mother? You’re supposed to hide in the forest, so he can’t find you. You have to hide.”
“I’m not going to hide anymore. We must aid these mortals, Lenore, and you must help Edgar. Otherwise, Oliver can call on all of us at any time, again and again. Do you want that?”
Edgar was silent for a moment but then nodded. “I’m so tired, Lenore. Mother. There’s been so much blood, so much blood.”
Lenore walked towards him, put a hand on his arm. “There doesn’t have to be.”
Edgar looked back at her and then their mother. He nodded again and Lenore turned to Mary. “Tell us what we have to do.”
Their mother’s form grew brighter still until it was almost blinding. In her ears, Lenore heard her mother one final time. “You know what to do. You both do. Make me proud.”
She lifted up her arms and grew brighter still. Within the brightness, the sound of wind chimes could be heard. Then the light blew apart into a million shards of light that filled the sky above the trees, stars shinning down upon them, giving the forest a soft glow.
When their mother was gone, Lenore turned to her brother and took his other hand. “Are you ready, Brother?”
He looked at her deeply and all she saw was peace. “I am.”
A wind blew with the sound of wind chimes, like sweet hesitant music and Lenore let the change come. She watched her brother’s form break apart and become a flock of ravens. They sailed upwards and settled themselves on the branches. Their eyes were like black onyx in the moonlight.
Her own change was far less swift and a little painful, but soon there was a flock of crows, Lenore’s eyes and mind in each of them. They flew into the air and settled next to the ravens, awaiting what would come.
69B 