Dwellers of Ahwahnee (The Beyond Collection)

by Sheryl Seal

  Oria had sucked in her breath and gripped my hands tighter as I knew she feared the worst for her mother. She didn’t ask any questions though. She just waited for me to say the words of what had eventually happened with her mother. “The drawings suddenly appeared on the cliff wall. A brilliant red stone also came into view on a shelf shining radiantly. Before I read the drawings, I picked the stone up and thinking it might heal your mother I brought it to her. We were suddenly transported into this world by Black Arrow. He didn’t know that she was hurt and she did not have the strength to restore herself completely with her healing powers. She slept peacefully and remained that way once we came through. She could not heal in this village where there is no magic. The little magic that Black Arrow has is of no help. Once we were here it was too late. There was no way back. Eventually, you were of age and the time was right, but to get you here he had to use another medicine man. This would be your friend Matoskah; he would have to be the one to bring you here.”

  Oria had listened patiently all this time and could not hold her questions back any longer. “I see, and mother, she isn’t dead then, is she, father?”

  “No, my dear child, she is not dead. This world is of the dead though, so your mother has remained as she was when we arrived here. She is still in a deep sleep, unchanged for all these years.”

  “Oh father, this is so tragic. How will I be able to help my mother and these poor souls?”

  “Nothing is here but the endless winter with no other seasons. You my dear daughter are a Golden Queen now, and only you have the power to change the seasons. This village needs for spring to come to the lands. After the sacred ritual is performed then they can go to the El-o’-win, or the distant West where they belong in the happy land.”

  “This is all the old chief requires of me and then we can all go home, together?”

  “That is where the problem lies. The chief has not told how we would be able to get back to our world with him gone. I don’t know that he has that part figured out yet. I tried many times to get him to let me go back and get the help we needed for the ritual, but it could not be done, or so I have been told. It takes many years for him to get back the magic to put the drawings on the wall and bring people through on his own. I think there are certain people needed for the ritual and they are the ones to get us all back home.”

  I watched Oria as she acknowledged the old chief again who had been sitting quietly in the corner with Matoskah. They sat by a magical campfire that Matoskah was trying to get warm by. The chief did not need the warmth though, he was not cold. This was my lodge and the heat was for the people of my lodge, and the warmth of the newly arrived. Then I watched as Oria looked further around the lodge. I knew she would be looking for her mother who lay in the back as silent as the day we arrived. I needed to prepare Oria better for the meeting. “Yes, your mother lies in the back on a cot where she has been in an animated state of suspension since the day we arrived. She looks the same as that day when she fought the Ale. She is still her youthful self, but her wounds remain the same. She is badly burned Oria. The wounds couldn’t restore themselves here in this world. It is as if they just happened. There is one good thing in they do not get worse.”

  Hesitantly she asked, if she could see her mother and I agreed. I held her hand in mine and led her to the back of the lodge where her mother lay peacefully. She tightened her grip on my hand as we drew near Titania. I heard her suck in her breath as she got the first view of her mother. Her first sighting she probably ever could even remember. Oria was only a few months old when we disappeared from her life. She started weeping and let go of my hand, as she reached over and took her mother’s hand and knelt down beside her. “Oh mother, I have missed you my whole life. I am here now and I can help you. I will help us all, this I promise.”

  My heart swelled with pride for this daughter of mine and I had no doubt that she would be able to help everyone in this village.

  Oria

  I sat there holding my mother’s hand and trying to process all the information that I had been given. My mother and father were both alive. It was all so overwhelming. I couldn’t keep the tears from sliding down my cheeks no matter how many times I pushed them aside. Everything was blurry and I just wanted to see my beautiful mother clearly. I willed myself to stop weeping so I could look at her more closely.

  As the tears dried up, I was able to get a better look at the woman who I resembled more than I ever pictured in my mind’s eye. Grandmother was right, we looked very much alike. Except for the burns that were now covering the left side of her face, it also looked as if they continued down that side of her body too. Father had her in a beautiful plain tanned leather dress. Her brilliant auburn hair was combed and laying all to the right side and flowing long and curly down past her hips. It was the same shade as mine and I could tell it was also just as unruly. She probably loathed it as much as I despised mine. This brought a smile to my lips, for it must be one of the many things that we were sure to have in common with each other.

  As I looked her over, I had another deja-vu moment and an image came to me. I suddenly realized that the dream I had where I was laying on a cot badly burned was not me at all. It was my own mother. As I continued my assessment of her, I noticed her skin tone was a shade lighter than mine. She had clearly saved a few more worlds than I had because she had the same eclipse but with a few more stars than I had. She had fought with the Ale too as father had said. She defeated her even though she had been hurt. Mother’s eclipse started at the middle of her jaw line where mine was in the corner of my eye. My mother’s stars began going up and curving in under her eye and then around up to the top of her perfectly arched eyebrow. She had five stars and I had three. I recognized that she has probably had more experience than I had with the Ale. She had beautifully formed lips the shade of pink cotton candy and a nose that fit her face perfectly. I could tell even with the burns covering the left side of her, that she was a beauty.

  I had always considered myself ordinary, I thought, smiling. I must not be so bad after all. We looked very much alike and I thought my mother was stunning. She also didn’t look much older than I was. There were more runes on her arm. There were probably some on the arm that had been burned too but I couldn’t tell what they could be. I could only see a few swirls because her sleeves covered the rest. As I ran my hand up her arm my father spoke up quietly beside me. “She received that one defending me from the Ale. I imagine you probably have one. Hers is the color of a new blade of grass. It is very sleek to look at with the design running up her arm, and coming to rest in the middle of her back. She is the protector of my spirit animal, the dragon. We are intertwined together.”

  I gasped at what he had said; everyone knew one of my spirit animals was a dragon but no one knew that it was now tattooed on me. Of course this was a marking that I had also received battling the Ale. I knew my mother was a Golden Queen, which meant she could shift into whatever spirit animal she wanted. My father having his spirit animal as a dragon was strange to me and I wondered how that had come to be. There’s a story there, I was sure of it. “Everyone can clearly see the eclipse and the stars that are in plain view. I have never told or showed anyone else except my best friend Aponi, the rest of what I had discovered on my body that day. I just wear long sleeves. I needed to show Aponi because I couldn’t see most of it and she had to describe what all was there. My designs look pretty much the same as on mother’s arm. Although my dragon is an iridescent red, and I can’t see it very well, I appear to be holding or protecting something not yet there. I don’t think it’s finished, and Aponi agrees it looks incomplete.”

  “Yes, that is the way with the runes. They will all tell a story in the end. Whether you know it or not Oria, I’m sure your grandmother knows of this. You could have spoken with her about it all. She would have explained this to you.”

  Yes, I knew that, I could talk to grandmother about anything. I just wasn’t ready to know what the unfi
nished part meant. Grandmother had a way of knowing many things. “Sometimes I don’t want to know everything.” I thought I whispered what I was feeling, but father heard me anyway. “Yes, your grandmother always likes to know what is ahead. I also like waiting for all the surprises that life can throw at you.”

  I smiled at him thinking that we were very much alike also, and how I was a combination of both my mother and my father. He smiled back at me, that adoring look a father has for his daughter. I had wished for that look my whole life. Now here he was standing in front of me. I stood up quickly and threw myself in his arms. I hugged him tightly and he returned my hug saying that he would never get enough hugs from me. “We have a lifetime to catch up on.”

  “I know, but what of mother? How do I begin to help her?”

  I looked back over at her and somehow I think I was wishing that she would have recovered already. I had touched her hand and ran my fingers up her arm, but the healing I knew I was gifted with, was not working here in this land. She remained the same with no change in the burns that covered her entire body. I wished so badly that I could heal my mother but it didn’t seem possible here in this world.

  Father knew that I had been hoping for a miracle when I looked back at mother. He turned me gently back around and lifted my chin to look up at him. “Let us go and talk with Black Arrow and Matoskah, they will tell us where to begin. If we act quickly this will all seem just like a bad dream we’re in.”

  Reluctantly I agreed. I didn’t want to leave my mother’s side for a minute. I think I was afraid that she would disappear again. I looked back one more time finding it difficult to put my feet in motion. Once again my father knew my thoughts, and led me away. “She will be fine and right here when you return later. After we talk with Black Arrow you will be able to sit with her again.”

  I knew I felt anger towards Black Arrow, and even though he just wanted to help his people, he was the reason my parents had been lost to me for so many years. This was something I would have to work through, clearly my father had. He of course, has had many years to deal with this, I have not. I had just found out that both of my parents had been alive all my life. It was hard to think about all of the things that we had missed out on together.

  A lifetime of missed moments that we could never retrieve would be difficult to overcome but I had overcome many things in the past year. They were alive and we were now together and the chief brought me here to help. I could not overlook his need for his people. After all, grandmother would say, “Oria, our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.”

  The chief never gave up hope and I couldn’t either, I would make this happen. With my mind made up, I decided to push away my own feelings of anger. I could help these people and make everything right and get us all where we belong.

  White Bear

  Still feeling badly about how I had to bring Oria here, I sat beside Black Arrow trying to warm myself by the odd magical campfire. Gods, this land was cold. We were discussing everything that would have to be done once spring actually arrived here. I could not wait to be warm again... I had just come from the cold though and was still shivering.

  I tried to listen to all that the old chief had to say about the rituals that needed to be performed. This was made very difficult for me because I still resented the fact that he had possessed me. Mostly I was still worried about Oria. How would she handle this news? Her father and mother being alive was one thing. Her mother had been in a coma for Oria’s entire life and trapped in this land of the dead, could be very hard for her to deal with. It does not matter; I will be here for her and help her through it. After all, that is what friends do for each other. We will finish this thing and go home.

  I could see them coming back to the front of the lodge where I sat with Black Arrow. I sat up straighter and tried to smile and I watched her face as she neared us. She appeared a little shaken but had that look on her face that I knew was sheer determination. I had seen it before, right before she healed me when the magic bear tried to kill me. When she took on the Ale she also had that same look. In her quest to find Grey Wolf the determination on her face was awe-inspiring.

  This was just another challenge for her that I knew she would conquer. Even though she hadn’t found Grey Wolf yet, I had absolutely no doubt in my mind that the Great Spirit would bring them together again.

  She wasted no time and got straight to the point and not surprising to me she grabbed the old chief’s hand and patted it firmly. I knew from experience that his hands were ice cold. She never wavered and held it securely in her own. I watched her in wonder because she still finds ways to amaze me with her forgiving heart. “Black Arrow, I am sorry that you and your people have been waiting here for so long. I will do whatever needs to be done to see that you get home to the West. I also want to thank you for bringing me here.” So forgiving, once again I was moved by her heart.

  The old chief nodded his head and graciously removed his hands from hers and pointed to the fire for her to warm her hands. He was very well aware that in a matter of seconds her hands had started to freeze. This was no ordinary fire that was keeping this lodge warm it was a pit of the red stones like the necklace. The stones were like embers and a magical heat emanated from them all around the lodge. It helped keep it warm and bright. She put her hands over the fire and rubbed them together with a smile that touched her shimmering eyes.

  There was a shuffling at the lodge door and a voice of excitement. Fire Cloud answered the voice and an attractive petite woman came slipping through the flap in the lodge. I could not take my eyes off of her, as usual. Her eyes, so bright and silver were always a shock to my soul. She was all bundled up from head to toe but still very small. She looked over at Oria with adoring admiration and smiled beautifully.

  Excitedly she exclaimed that there were already signs that the snow was melting. She wanted us all to come outside and witness what the arrival of the Golden Queen has already accomplished in her short time here. Before we could go outside, Fire Cloud made us select some furs that were among the big pile he had in the back of the lodge. There was plenty of game away from the village where he hunted and over the years he had accumulated many furs. It was too cold to wear what we had on alone and we needed to bundle up warmly.

  As we exited the lodge, there were ghosts of the people scattered all around. They were weeping and giving thanks that the time was near. If the sun kept shining brightly and the snow continued to melt, it would be no time at all before they would all be able to go home. I looked over at Oria, and once again her blue eyes were glittery with tears that sparkled like diamonds and there was a bright smile on her beautiful face. This was her first view of the people.

  I could see she was overwhelmed with emotion and it was hard not to be when you looked around at all these innocent people that were stranded in this ice fortress. They had hope now because of her and had all turned and were now on their knees giving thanks to The Golden Queen of the Ahwahneechees.

  “Your magic is so strong Oria that even in this Village of Lost Souls, it overpowers everything. The spring will be here soon and we can help these lost spirits travel to the land in the distant West. See how fast it is melting? When I first came here the walls were high with snow. Only the trails that your father had created so he could hunt were visible. The snow in the village is melting and you can almost see some of the other lodges.” I picked her up and swung her around laughing wildly.

  Oria

  Giggling with White Bear as he spun me around and put me back on my feet, I couldn’t help myself. His laughter was contagious. “You mean without me doing anything my magic is already working?” White Bear looked at me admiringly and just nodded. Father was the one to answer my question. “Of course, just you being here healthy and in a conscious state, your life force is creating its own magic.”

  I was always stunned at how much power I had over the elements, I also felt as
if I was going blind. The sun shining brightly down on the snow had a glaring effect and I wished I had some sunglasses. I squinted and looking around, I noticed many of the village people had gotten off their knees and were now drifting around like happy souls. They were all carrying their prized possessions to the center of the village.

  I knew enough to know that when it was time for the funeral pyre, these items would be burned with them so that they could have them on the other side. “It all seems so sad to me. Yet they are all so happy.” I thought this out loud to no one in particular, but father spoke up. “The people have been wandering far too long and all they have ever wanted was to go home to the West. Their families and friends are all there. They cannot wait to be reunited with them again. This makes them very happy. That is why they chant and dance.”

  I noticed one person in particular who stood alone from the rest. This was the pretty woman who came to the lodge. She didn’t seem as happy and I didn’t understand. I wondered why but didn’t get a chance to ask because just then there was a thundering across the valley and I heard someone, I think it was White Bear yelling, “Avalanche!”

  Well, I didn’t see that coming. I should have though, with all the snow melting quickly, there were changes that were occurring all around the village. The valley snow was shifting and the ice pack above was melting and moving rapidly. Logically this was bound to happen. I had to do something before it covered the village again and the rest of us were also buried alive and left to wander with the lost souls here.