Dwellers of Ahwahnee (The Beyond Collection)

by Sheryl Seal

  “It will be difficult to hear the things that need to be said to you my little Golden Queen, but you are strong. You are stronger than any other Golden Queen there has ever been. Come to your grandmother and I will brush out your hair and tell you a story.”

  Anxiety washed over me as I reached for the brush and hair ties and passed them over to my grandmother. I knew my dreams would be a part of her story; grandmother had that look in her eyes that she gets, whenever she has been in my mind and knows that I am confused.

  We sat by the fire while my mother and father slept in the back of the lodge peacefully. As grandmother started brushing my hair, she took a deep breath and releasing it, she started her story with my dream. “All dreams have meaning Oria, and you should not fear your vision of the dragon. The Ale sleeping in your mother is also dreaming. The Ale dreams of a red dragon that it hopes to defeat. This dear granddaughter gives you the power. You are the red dragon and you were not harmed in your vision, and that means you hold the control. If you want the power to conquer your enemy, then do not fear him. Remember you are never alone or helpless. The force that guides the stars, guides you too.

  “Yes grandmother, I am not afraid to fight this enemy. I am strong and have great faith; The Great Spirit will guide me, but…”

  “I know granddaughter, you are worried about your mother, and this will be very dangerous indeed. You will have to release the Ale from your mother and then keep the Ale from escaping into the world of man.”

  Grandmother finished my hair and turning me around to face her, she looked deep into my eyes. Her bright blue eyes sparkled with unshed tears and I could tell it was hard for her to take the chance and let me do this. If I failed, all would be lost. “Do not always believe what your eyes will tell you. All they show is limitation. Look with your understanding, there, you will find out what you already know and you’ll see the way to fly.”

  “I cannot tell where this all takes place. This is what worries me. I cannot see it clearly in my vision. I only heard the sound of thundering water.”

  Grandmother was shaking her head in agreement, and said she also could not get a clear picture from my vision. I was focused on the panther and she could not see further than that. “You were looking with your eyes not understanding what you were seeing.”

  When you find yourself cocooned in isolation and cannot find your way out of the darkness, remember that this is similar to where caterpillars go to grow their wings.”

  I knew from experience that this was one of those sayings that I would have to think on, before it came to me of how this pertained to me specifically.

  “You may go with your young man who is approaching now, and strengthen the wards at the borders. I will relieve your father from watching your mother, so he can have breakfast. I will see you later today after all the wards are in place.”

  “I would like to thank-you grandmother for everything and for allowing me to handle this, I only pray that we get my mother out of this safely.” I reached over and gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek. Then she tugged on my braid and squeezed my hand, before I turned and met Grey Wolf at the door.

  I gasped and held up my hands against his powerful bare chest, as I turned and ran into him. I looked up into his brilliant smile and then his glittering silver eyes as he smirked. I know he felt me trembling.

  Well, I could also grin at him because my hands were in the perfect spot over his heart. I kept my hands there long enough to know that it was beating rapidly. The whole room felt suddenly suffocating and I think we both wanted an escape, since grandmother had just cleared her throat or something, I wasn’t quite sure.

  Mumbling good-bye to grandmother, we made our exit out of the lodge, where I could hear her cackling for several feet.

  Feeling embarrassed, I walked through the village with Grey Wolf, commenting here and there on some of the activities that were going on. Basically I was trying to cover the awkwardness, until I heard him chuckle. “Do not feel embarrassed of the love that we feel for each other my heart. I guarantee your grandmother has felt young love in her lifetime also.”

  “Grandmother hasn’t… umm, I guess I hadn’t considered that, but of course it makes sense. There is my mother who is the proof of this. That is just too weird to think about Grey Wolf.”

  We both laughed and he squeezed my hand that he held proudly for all to witness, and then brought it up to place a kiss on it. I smiled at him brightly. I was so happy that he wanted the world to know that we were in love.

  When we got to the path that leads to the edge of the village, Grey Wolf shifted into his spirit animal and I shifted as a wolf also. We headed for the ridge of the mountain. This was where Yori, the Ale, had once kept some of the Dwellers, including Grey Wolf. I wasn’t sure if there was ever a doorway here to the Ale world, but I always put a new ward up just in case.

  We shifted back and I walked over to the face of the mountain. Waving my hands in front of it, I concentrated on placing the ward that would protect the village from outside evil entering into our world. I also had to make sure that it was strong enough that the evil already here, in my mother, could not escape.

  I could see what most others could not and I watched as the wall shimmered with the magic ward and it took hold and held the protection in place. Smiling at the magic I could feel coursing through my veins, I spun around giggling and smacked into Grey Wolf, again. This time however, he held me in his arms and wasn’t about to let me go. I could see this in his playful smile, which lit up his entire face. “I dreamed of you last night my heart, and if the only place I could see you, was in my dreams, I would sleep forever. I have missed you my little Golden Queen, and my lips hunger for a small sample of your lips of honey.”

  A gasp escaped me as his words sent chills up and down my spine. I tried to steady my voice, as I asked what I always wondered about. “Are you always going to speak like this to me Grey Wolf? I mean, I love it and it’s just that… Well, you’re so poetic and romantic. You always have all the pretty words to say. All I really have is that… Well… I just know that I love you so very much that my soul cries whenever we’re apart.”

  He drew me to him and our lips met and he kissed me tenderly. My stomach did somersaults and my knees felt weak. He was holding me up and I don’t know how he found the will to pull away. But he did and it was a good thing, because someone needed to be strong in this relationship.

  His eyes were a deep amber color, so I guessed that this was not so easy for him either. Then he gave me one of those sizzling winks that set my heart afire, and just when I thought I would get one more kiss before we continued on, I heard the clapping from up on the hill.

  I already knew there were Dwellers guarding this area, but I had actually forgotten all about them for the moment. White Bear, Sapata and a few other Dwellers were sitting high up above us, still clapping and now I heard whistling too. I felt my face grow hot and turned back to Grey Wolf and said, “Let’s go on to Oria Falls. It is the closest.”

  We shifted into the gray wolves and headed off, and I could still hear White Bear and the others laughing and clapping. But I was not really embarrassed. I wanted the whole world to know we were in love.

  We were at the meadow with the never ending flowers blooming, and shifting back we strolled through the blossoms and as usual, the fragrance was overpowering. We were holding hands and talking about being home and I asked how Sapata was adjusting here. “Has she gotten all of her powers back?”

  “I believe that she has, but with the children of Gods, it is always hard to say.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “Well, only that sometimes until you try certain things, you never know what you are capable of. I have White Bear testing her on most things that I know of, and then we shall see. She is a hard worker and learning quickly, and I believe that Fallyn is also. Jim and Tim, Fallyn and Kierra have become quite inseparable.”

  “You seem so very happy now, you have your famil
y back and I have my family back…” I had trailed off thinking of my mother.

  “Do not worry, my little Queen, we will find a way to rid your mother of the Ale.”

  We were at Oria Falls and I found it hard to tell him, all the things grandmother and I had discussed earlier, or about my vision.

  I knew he was not happy, that I would have to be the one to do what needed to be done. He also knew that this is why I exist. Although he thought it was more to be his heart and soul.

  We talked as we went through the falls and I secured the border here where the cave is and the world to the Village of Lost Souls. This, without doubt was a doorway, and it wouldn’t be such a bad idea if the Ale was trapped there again. But I couldn’t be sure there wasn’t another entrance into the world of man, beyond that village. We never did explore the land, and it probably was just that, the land of the dead. But there was always a chance; there was a way in and out to the world of man. Taking no chances, I finished the wards on the cave. There were several Dwellers here and a couple of new faces. We introduced ourselves quickly and moved back outside.

  I put more wards on the water at the foot of the falls, and we moved out of the water. Jim and Kierra were also here and they had been sitting on the bank with their legs and feet dangling in the water. They both giggled and Kierra said she could feel the magic at their feet. “All I could feel before were the little fish tickling me, but this is powerful magic Oria.”

  I smiled at them both and told them they were perfectly safe, more so now, and Kierra put her feet back in the water. She had taken them out immediately when she had felt the magic strengthen, from what it had been. The wards were already there but now they were stronger.

  For some reason or other, I felt stronger and more powerful as I went along from border to border. I asked Jim where his brother Tim was, and he said that he and Fallyn were up at Horsetail Falls. Apparently, straws were drawn and that was the border they were watching. Aponi and Red Thunder were at Ribbon Falls and that’s where we were headed next.

  Red Thunder and Aponi were entangled in each other’s arms when we arrived. I couldn’t resist a little teasing. “Alright you two break it up, you’re supposed to be watching the falls.” I snickered at them because I knew Grey Wolf and I would be doing the same thing, given half the chance. There were many other Dwellers here on the ridge, and they were in practice while they waited and watched.

  After the wards were in place, I felt comfortable that they would be safe, even if they weren’t paying attention to their surroundings. It would be quite secure now, but they still needed to stay alert. We chatted a little, said good-bye, and Aponi flipped out on us both. She didn’t believe in good-byes, they were bad omens. She said, “You know the rules Oria, see ya later!”

  Together Grey Wolf and I shifted again and we headed out. Horsetail falls was the last border that needed a ward. We ran through the forest and chased each other back and forth all the way there. We were having so much fun, yet still getting the wards in place and I was enjoying the time that Grey Wolf and I were spending together, even if it was as his spirit animal.

  I suddenly got a foreboding and stopped and sniffed the air. Shifting back, and looking up at the sky, I noticed that there were thunder bumper clouds moving in over the mountains. The weather is always perfect here unless there is trouble brewing, so I knew immediately that once again, my instincts were accurate.

  Grey Wolf had also shifted and I heard him say something about, Aponi and her omens. “I think we have run out of time my heart, something has happened with your mother.”

  “I know, but I’m not sure what I should do… I still have one more ward to put up.”

  Just then, grandfather entered my mind and I could see that my mother was awake, which of course meant so was the Ale. Along with my father and grandmother, they were trying to keep my mother in control of her own mind and soul. Grandfather said just to be safe, Grey Wolf and I needed to finish the wards so that the Ale could not escape. The wind was picking up now and the clouds were turning darker and moving in quicker. I heard Grey Wolf in my mind. “We had better hurry my heart; I don’t believe they can handle her much longer.”

  Shifting again, we hurried off to Horsetail Falls, where we knew Grey Wolf’s sister Fallyn and Tim were guarding the gate into the world of man, along with a few other Dwellers. The rain had started as we dashed and was now coming down in a torrent. Thunder cracked loudly and then lightning flared across the sky in blinding colors. Anxiety was creeping in all over my body as we neared Horsetail Falls, and in the next second, I knew why.

  Grandfather was yelling in my mind that the Ale, which was still using my mother’s body and soul, was headed in our direction. I already knew this because I felt the air shifting, and now as she approached, the wind all around us had made several sister tornados. Hail and rain accompanied the wind and the twisters.

  There was no time to put the wards up and Grey Wolf headed straight for his sister and Tim. He sounded in my mind again.

  “Know that I will always love you my heart, and just listen to grandfather, he will lead you to where your true inner being is.” Just as fast, he was gone and my soul was left alone.

  I found that I was frozen in place, listening and waiting. I suddenly heard grandfather’s voice shattering my thoughts, that were confused and overwhelming me. “Oria, listen to me, you have to focus, and clear your mind of all but this.”

  “I am listening grandfather.”

  “There will be a few times in your life when all your instincts will tell you to do something, something that defies all logic, upsets your plans, and may seem crazy to others. When this happens, listen to your instincts and ignore everything else. Ignore logic, ignore the odds, ignore the complications, and just go for it. Do you understand Oria?”

  Then my mind was calmed, although this was the Ale, it was also my mother. I knew what I had to do.

  “Yes grandfather, I understand completely.”

  Titania

  I woke in a lodge that I didn’t remember and looking around; the first person I laid my eyes on was my loving husband, Fire Cloud. His eyes widened in surprised, as he called out to my mother that I was awake. He looks terrified of me, but looking into his eyes and scanning his mind quickly, I understand why he feels this way. I remember very little about the fateful day that has kept me in silence for all these years. I learned it all surprisingly fast, as I moved through Fire Cloud’s mind.

  My daughter, a beautiful woman now, is the Golden Queen and I am her great threat. The Ale is in me and entered my body and soul many years ago, where we have slept until now. My loving husband blames himself, but I know that it is not his fault. The fault lies with no one except for the Ale, who cares very little of anything but feeding off all the worlds.

  The Ale is in more control of my mind then I am. I can see the hurt in my husband’s eyes and the eyes of my mother. They are both holding my hands. Mother is in prayer to The Great Spirit.

  Knowing that time is short and I can feel my strength wanning, we have to act fast and stop this evil before it is in total control.

  I look at my mother for support and relay to her, to do what is necessary for the safety of all concerned. I hope that she will do what needs to be done. I am not so sure about my husband though. He thinks only of his love for me and wants only to save my soul. This is not possible though, and strangely, I am unafraid, at what I know has to be done. “Mother, please do not wait any longer. It must end here and now. The Ale grows stronger and I cannot contain her much longer. This world is in danger and then the world of man. She will destroy them all. You know this. That is why the Ale is here.”

  “I know my daughter, but I believe that Oria can help you and save the worlds. She is more powerful than all of the Golden Queens that have come before her. She is even more powerful then you were, my dear child. You must hang on a little longer Titania; I do not want to lose you… this time forever. Fight her, fight for your life, y
ou can do this! YOU MUST!”

  I shake my head back and forth trying to hold off what is coming. Everything is starting to blur. “I am very weak mother, and the Ale is taking over. We are both struggling for control, but I don’t know how long I can fight her. You must end this, for everyone’s sake. I’m begging you mother…PLEASE!”

  My mother’s tears are flowing freely down her face and Fire Cloud is also fighting, against the tears that gather in his eyes. He is squeezing my hands so hard, as if he can transmit his power to me. I grasp it back like the lifeline, I know it to be.

  Unexpectedly, I hear another voice from behind me. I try a smile for the old man that has always been in my life. I have always loved this old man like a father. His voice croaks with emotion as I hear him start to pray. I know he loves me like the daughter, he never had. He is praying to The Great Spirit and asking that my soul be saved from the evil, called the Ale. He prays that I find the strength I will need to fight for my soul, and that the worlds will be saved from this malevolence. He is praying for salvation.

  Time is slipping away and I feel myself descending further, as the Ale takes even more control. “Grandfather please, you have to take charge here. Fire Cloud and mother cannot do it. They love me too much and cannot make the decision that needs to be made. Time is running out and I can’t hold the Ale much longer.”

  Grandfather has been doing that annoying thing he does with his tongue and it is rattling my nerves. I feel there is no time for his way of thinking, and I hang on tighter to Fire Cloud’s hand. I squeeze my eyes shut tightly. Then I snap them open quickly, as grandfather speaks. “I have seen in any great undertaking, that it is not enough for a man to simply depend on himself. We must trust in your daughter, that she can help you my dear. You have to stay conscious when the Ale takes over and fight her when the time is right. Oria will save your soul Titania; you have to have faith in your daughter.”