The Industrial Elf Ch. 08

He just shook his head and smiled, "No, it's just a little ahead of time. Aksun. That's all."

It wasn't much of a tense time crossing the border when they did. Things were looking to be moving along a little slowly, so Elohan had the time to note the dark line of the approaching storm and as soon as he saw the first flicker in the clouds, he had his idea and watched with a bit of interest as they were processed. He was pleased that Aksun was a lot smoother with her speech and seemed friendly to anyone who spoke to her.

They were halfway through the questions when the power went out. A few seconds later, the power utility switchgear attempted to re-close. It was successful on the third try and everyone got back to matters at hand. None of it had anything to do with Elohan, but he looked out through the window at the incoming supply transformer.

It fed a larger unit on the ground and Elohan thought about that for a moment.

There was a visible flicker from the pole as he forced a surge which he knew would be too much for the insulation in the larger unit and even in the building, he could hear the sound as it growled and sizzled. What came to him was that this was an oil-cooled unit and that oil was rapidly breaking down the longer that this went on.

The next flash lit up the place really well, but that was because the transformer on the concrete pad out there exploded, though the metal casing contained the blast as it had been designed to do.

It plunged everything into a much longer-lasting darkness.

There was emergency lighting and some back-up power available, they were told, but just then, and again - it had nothing to do with the elf, but he was pleased when the hail began.

Whether because of the transformer or the hail, they didn't know, but they were processed quickly after that and after a jog through the hail, they were off.

"This looks the same as what we left," Aksun said that night and she asked why and shouldn't it look different at all if this was another place.

Elohan lifted his head from between her legs and asked her if she really wanted the answer right then.

She smirked and pressed his head down again, "Later."

The pair had their 'wedding' the next week in a moonlit clearing in a forest. The only thing that bothered Aksun were the mosquitoes, but she told him that it was well worth it to her anyway.

At some point, they had to park the camper and the trailer and they went on using only the motorcycle, and after a time, they finally did have to walk. But as they came to a majestic-looking valley with a large lake and a lot of woods around it, Elohan stopped and stood still.

"What is it?" Aksun asked, looking up and he shrugged, "We are here. For the first time in almost all of my life, my heart tells me that I stand in the right place."

It took a day for them to be noticed and as they ate their evening meal, Elohan looked up across the campfire and smiled. His call brought a pair of young elves out of the thickets, wondering about the greeting that they'd heard in their tongue.

'Jack' and 'Aggie' pretty much ceased to exist after that. The travelers were welcomed by the band of moon elves and after a lot of talk and careful looks, they were told of the king who had been chosen to take Elohan's place. He was pleased and said so and it just seemed that they were accepted after that point.

After the initial surprise and curiosity, Aksun was happy to find that she was accepted as well. It had been a worry for her the whole way. But she learned that the elves - those who were left - were even less interested in humans than Elohan and she soon found that she had friends.

The pair settled down in a large tree near the entrance to a small cave and began to live free. When the winter winds settled into the valley, they were in the cave and lay together dreaming.

A little more often than not, Elohan asked to see more of what Aksun had left behind, and by the spring, they could converse in another language between themselves, and by the next summer, Aksun was filling out as her guessed-upon delivery date drew nearer.