Dwellers of Ahwahnee (The Beyond Collection)

by Sheryl Seal

  My heart was broken that he was once again gone from my life, along with his final words to me. “I love you, my heart. We will find each other again, I promise you.” (This is for the romantic in you). Yes I know you very well my daughter. However your father’s words had haunted me at the time.

  Before we went in search of the Ale and Fallyn, grandmother told a story of her brother Falling Rock, who was also possessed by Ale. This happened when she was just a girl and until that moment I had never known about him. Here are some interesting facts you may not know.

  There are signs all over the world, some say Falling Rock. This is in hopes that his sanity is intact and he will recognize his name. The signs are mostly on mountain roads and passes. Wherever there could be a danger for Falling Rock. Along the cliff areas by the oceans you will see these signs. Sometimes they simply say, Watch for Falling Rock. Whenever there are rock slides… it is the Ale creating the chaos. These signs are for all Dwellers that are in the World of Man to never forget to search for my grandmother’s brother.

  What we believed is… the Ale that was in possession of Fallyn was in search of the Ale that possessed Falling Rock. The Ale and Falling Rock had grown in unity together since they were both quite young. They created havoc wherever they went. Tsunamis, hurricanes, tornados were all a part of the disasters that happen. They create mayhem and that is why there is so much war around the world. I know you have heard this so just remember the signs in case this should happen again.

  There were fires that surrounded our forest and made their ways across the western states. Most of California was on fire as the Ale possessing Fallyn searched. Before we were on their trail, Nevada was on fire and then Utah. The fires just kept spreading, state to state. With the magic of the Golden Queen and my star flowing through me, I raced around these states trying to stop this fiery inferno that had consumed all the western states. By that time, there were other major disasters happening across the world. The Dwellers split up and went in different directions.

  Red Thunder and Aponi went to Africa, where war and chaos were everywhere. Mother and father went to Europe and Asia where massive Earthquakes and Tsunamis were happening. Thousands of people were dead and dying. Whole countries were being swept into the seas.

  The Ale had left a trail of major destruction across several countries searching for her young. The longer she searched the more disasters she left in her wake. I was going on instinct and kept on a path where I felt my heart, your father was. I stayed in North America.

  Grey Wolf had the young Ale and Fallyn, cornered back in the United States now. Like the speed of light and having great telepathy with Grey Wolf, I knew they were now in New York. I met him there and letting everyone know by using our telepathy, we needed to herd the Ale into Yosemite; we surrounded and began to push the young Ale.

  We made it as close as Wyoming before we made contact. The rest of the world was already in utter chaos. The explosions from fires taking out cities and communities around the globe, was now an epidemic. The skies were dark with smoke and pollutants and the sun was blocked. It became hard to breathe.

  How the Ale covered the entire world causing mayhem isn’t much of a surprise when you consider they are like the wind. There wasn’t one area that wasn’t affected. Storms of every nature were happening where there were no fires. The Ale had every disaster covered, it seemed.

  We were right outside Jackson Hole Wyoming, and the Ale that had possession of Fallyn, blocked our way. She had finally caught up with her child and for a moment it was like being in the eye of a storm. I knew that something even bigger was coming. The air stilled and it was quiet while they communicated.

  Then in an awesome display of power that could only come from the God’s, Grey Wolf managed to speak with not only Fallyn but with the Ale. This is what I heard. “We trade for the lives your offspring and you possess, and let you go home in peace, never to return.” Your father was very smart and knew that we really had no leverage but it was worth a try. It seemed to work.

  In the next moment, Fallyn and Falling Rock slipped from the Ale in an array of blinding colors and booming thunder that shook the earth to its core. The world quaked from the violence of the separations but the young Ale was wounded and weak. This angered the adult and we knew there would be no peace between us. Fallyn had found her power but Falling Rock was weak and confused. We had little time for conversations and sent them back to the border to go home where they could recover and be safe. Falling Rock was drained but without thinking, Fallyn clung to him and in a flash, she took him away to safety.

  The rest of us surrounded the state of Wyoming as we pushed for the border. Mother and Father were in Canada now, so we felt the Ale was cornered. With nothing but destruction in mind, she enveloped her young and slipped through us into Montana, leaving behind the charred landscape in her wake. Then she was in Alberta Canada where mother and father pushed her through to British Columbia and on to Washington. For a moment she hit the ocean and came back into California. We had all closed in around them and they were not getting out of California this time. It was too late for much else when the biggest Tsunami known to man hit the world. Taking out Hawaii and every state from Alaska down to Mexico, it was the most horrific disaster the world had ever seen. The Tsunami’s hit China, Brazil, Europe and came back full circle. The outcome was not good for the world and millions upon millions were now dead. I knew that more would be dying every day after that.

  There was nothing we could do to stop the destruction of the world as we knew it. With all the powers of the Golden Queens and the God’s, we drove the Ale into what was left of Yosemite National Park. Aponi and Red Thunder went into the Beyond after Fallyn and Falling Rock and were leading the tribe to safety. We hoped they had succeeded because we were on our way.

  With the Ale back in our world, I gathered the strength I had left from my star. With the power of all of our stars coursing through our veins, my grandmother, mother and I tried pushing the Ale back into their world and closing the borders. It wasn’t working and mother felt there was only one thing to do and did it. Before we even knew what she was planning, she plunged deep into the adult Ale and they traveled into the world of the Ale. My father was there quickly behind her and as his dragon he dove into the young Ale and followed her through. The border closed in behind them and I could see no way in.

  The air grew heavy and the Beyond shook and the sounds that came from the world were eerie and soul shattering. It was being torn apart and the land started to divide. The rift was so huge that many of us were separated. Aponi and Red Thunder didn’t have time to gather everyone to the safety of the cave.

  There was no way to know what happened with the rest of the tribe. There was no communication and we had lost many friends and family. I had always held out hope that my dear friends found a way into another world. A world where they were safe and thriving, just like we have done. I know you have been told much of this but not the particulars. It is now time and I feel compelled to tell you this way. Maybe there are clues in my words or maybe they are just to be a part of our history.

  I know this is an extraordinary tale for you my daughter, since you have never witnessed such feats in your lifetime. I assure you that it is all true and one day in the near future, you will also encounter evil, tragedy and maybe the loss of loved ones. Be prepared to stand strong and do what a Golden Queen must do to lead her tribe. There are also many great and wondrous events that will happen in your life. These are my events and many happy times began with you and your brother.

  I skipped ahead in mother’s journal since I now knew what had happened to the world. I didn’t feel the need to read the stories of love and romance right now. I didn’t feel the need to read many of the things that mother wrote about as we grew up, just yet anyway.

  We live; we die, and like the grass and trees,

  Renew ourselves from the soft earth of the grave.

  Stones crumble and decay, faiths
grow old and they are forgotten,

  But new beliefs are born.

  The faith of the villages is dust now...

  But it will grow again... like the trees.

  - Chief Joseph, Nez Perce (1840-1904)

  Chapter 6

  This section caught my eye and I re-read it for some unknown reason. Perhaps just to be closer to my mother and know her thoughts. This was comforting to me and entertaining even though mother had warned me not to lose myself in her thoughts. With a Golden Queen this can easily be done when walking through people’s minds.

  A thought struck me as I read and mother’s words magically popped up. She said I was a quick thinker and solved problems even as I read. I smiled because this journal was really quite fun. She wrote further on how much of what I had just read would now be in the past but nevertheless was just as important as what she would now write. “Do not be confused when you feel the pull into the present daughter, relax, for the past is nowhere you want to live. The past is only good for stories.”

  I asked the book to open when the Beyond started growing and once again, I started to read my mother’s words.

  After a few years of living a tranquil existence, I started checking on the Beyond to see what was left. As Golden Queens, we have the power to travel the worlds although they are almost non-existent. Sadly, there wasn’t much. A darkened sky and water below was all that existed. As I watched from the gloom of the sky early one day, I felt a bit of warmth where the world had only been cold and ominous. Looking around, I watched as a glow started very far off in the distance and grew until it was blinding. The sun was here and shining brightly and I spotted a piece of land below me.

  Flying around as the red dragon, I used my magic to help the land heal so it would grow. After many years and some TLC it was habitable again and there were even more borders that opened up into the World of Man. The land wasn’t the only thing that had changed. Morals and values were nowhere in the worlds that I could see. Grey Wolf and I had traveled many worlds. That doesn’t mean there weren’t good people out there; it just means that I hadn’t seen them yet.

  With so much devastation, came many different toxins that were released into the World of Mankind. People also evolved with the world. This wasn’t a good thing. There were many evils that came with the alterations. I have not been out much to see all of the different adaptations that have come with a new world, but some of what I have seen, has led me to know one thing. Mere shapeshifters didn’t stand a chance against some of the new species.

  As the new world grew, I began putting up wards on every new border that came into existence. I didn’t think it was safe to move home yet. I wanted it totally protected for our tribe. With new borders coming into existence everywhere, I couldn’t take the chance. We were all flourishing and happy where we were. The decision was made to stay in The Village of Lost Souls for a while longer.

  Others have found their way into the Beyond so clearly, the wards were not strong enough. My children have already been to the Beyond and I should have known this would happen. All of the children born in the Village of Lost Souls seem to have great magic. This is good, we will need great magic in the times to come and The Great Spirit has made all of our children strong for the days ahead. I just hope it will be enough for you, my daughter.

  I closed the book my mother had written in, her words were just for me to learn what she knew. How the past would help with the future, I had no idea just yet. I relaxed my thoughts and remembered the day my mother found out my brother and I came into the Beyond. Her take on it will be interesting I’m sure.

  Every word and the words of my mother, whisper all around me; I can hear the conversations between us all. I have my own memories and they collide with my mother’s. I feel everything and even the trepidation that creeps into her soul from her thoughts. The magic of a Golden Queen with her recollections, overpowers all other sounds around me. I am separate, yet one with her at this moment in time, as I walk through her mind of what happen that day.

  “What do you mean; you went into the Beyond Spirit Walker? That is forbidden. No one is allowed to go there; you could have been killed, or worse.”

  “Really mother, what could be worse than being killed?” I thought she was being dramatic, mother often overreacts.

  I had giggled at both of our words. But they bring a deja’ vu to her mind and I feel it as a chill runs up my own spine. She remembers using these very words many years ago, in another lifetime. A dear friend who she believes is now gone. White Bear… She had not spoken of him for many years now. The memories bring heartache to her soul. I can feel her anxiety as she tries a different approach with me.

  “There are things in the worlds my daughter, which can never truly be explained. You have grown up; with my telling you many stories of how your father and I found love and all of the triumphs and tragedies that happened in our world. The world we live in today is much different from the world I grew up in. It is also different than the world where your father and I met and are from. The Beyond is a dangerous world because we do not know what is there yet. Some of the other worlds only have savages that dwell there. We are not sure yet what kinds of people have found and crossed into all of the hidden worlds. There are those that move quickly into new worlds and they are not all good people, Spirit Walker. Believe me when I say to you, THERE ARE WORSE THINGS THAN DEATH!” Her thoughts of things worse than death slammed shut to my mind, but not before I felt the evil that she had indeed witnessed.

  I pleaded my case and shook off both our bad omens. “There was a young man that was about my age mother, he didn’t look very dangerous.” I felt her heart beat erratically and I instantly felt nauseous. She was thinking if I had been followed and we were discovered, our tribe would be in grave danger.

  “Did he see you Spirit Walker?” Her words were anxious and she was starting to scare me.

  “No mother, I watched him from behind a Giant Sequoia Tree. He was quite awesome mother. He went into the grand waterfall that flows from the tallest of mountain tops. He was very handsome too.” I whispered, but mothers’ hearing is sharp. She grabbed my arm and forced me to look in her crystal blue eyes, where the silver stars danced wildly. Forgetting about the man for a minute her mind moved rapidly through what she remembered seeing the last time she was in the Beyond. There were no waterfalls or mountains or even Giant Sequoias. She seemed confused. “There is a waterfall coming from a mountain? That cannot be possible Spirit Walker. The last time I was there, only small hills were still growing. There were no people in the land. There were no mountains and no Giant Sequoias. We search it tirelessly every year.”

  “Well, they are all there now. It is a beautiful place, and it has the brightest of colors. There are flowers growing all over in these luscious meadows, mountains that are all around and the trees are huge. It’s as if they have been growing for hundreds of years. The waterfalls are magnificent. Just like the stories you have told us.” I thought if I could change tactics she would forget that I had disobeyed her. She released her hold on me and paced the room.

  “You are avoiding the issue. You are not allowed to go to the Beyond. What would make you do such a thing as this anyway?”

  “It was the music, it haunts me mother.” It really does and I have been hearing it for a while now, just like it was meant for me.

  “What music Spirit Walker?” She questioned rather sharply.

  “It is the sorrowful music of a flute that I keep hearing. It is in my dreams and sometimes I hear it on the wind. It called me to the border into the world of the Beyond.”

  “Are you sure it is not just the music of the grandfather that you hear? You know he often sits and plays on the flute for many hours of each day. That could be all you are hearing.”

  “No mother, it isn’t the grandfather’s music. It is the music that comes from the Beyond. I went through the border and saw the big waterfall. Sitting there beside the water was a young man playing the flute
. Then he stopped playing and went into the water. He didn’t see me.” I had wished I hadn’t brought him up again. She often read my thoughts, so there was no use in trying to hide anything from mother. She seemed truly worried that he had seen me so I wanted to assure her that he hadn’t.

  “Regardless of the fact that you have been told numerous times, the border to the Beyond is off limits? There will be a punishment for this Spirit Walker. You will go immediately to the lodge and stay there. You also will go nowhere near that border again. You could have endangered the whole tribe. Your fanciful ideas of romance are reckless, this man could be very dangerous, altered somehow that you are not aware of. He could have killed you Spirit Walker, it was careless of you.”

  “Yes mother, but it was not romance that I was in search of.” I spoke low as I turned to leave but heard her words for my brother.

  “Please find your brother for me; I will speak with him now.”

  I remember finding Fire Walker and following him back to the lodge. As he quickly changed his shirt from the bloodstained one he had been wearing, I had begged him to forgive me for the trouble I had brought on him with mother. “She knows we have been to the Beyond brother, I am sorry.”

  “Take care of the Elk while I go take care of this situation you have again created with mother, Spirit Walker. Why do you have to be such a Wild Cat which causes trouble all the time?” He was angry with me and I couldn’t blame him. He did not wait for a reply. I was storing the meat when I felt the pull from mothers mind and was drawn back into the warrior lodge, where she waited impatiently for Fire Walker.