Dwellers of Ahwahnee (The Beyond Collection)

by Sheryl Seal

I saw with my heart the conflicts to come,

  and whether it was to be for good or bad,

  what was certain was that there would be change.

  -The Great Spirit

  Epilogue

  In the weeks and months that followed, the Dwellers of Ahwahnee settled into a quiet existence with me as their Queen. I had not heard from my father who had left our world and gone into the World of Man. He had apparently spoken with grandfather before he left and it was said that he was angry with the Gods and would find his way through his grief in his own way. My brother finally came home and spent many hours at the entrance to Bower’s Cave. There, he prayed and searched for ways through mother’s wards. He would not accept the fact that she was gone. It was hard for me also but I had kept myself very busy. We had moved back to the Beyond after a few weeks, when it was decided that it was safe again. This was after all, where the new Dwellers and soon-to-be shapeshifters would seek us out as they turned of age and that is exactly what happened.

  The first beautiful day of summer, I let the wards down at Bridalveil Fall as we all waited expectantly for the arrival of the new Dwellers. Grandfather had well prepared me for what would happen. He had it on good authority that many Dwellers were now being directed to us and would be coming on and off for a while until we were back on schedule again. We had many new lodges set up for the new arrivals and our village now stretched clear through the Ahwahnee. If you stood at the top of Bridalveil Fall or any mountain ridge surrounding the Ahwahnee, we were a massive sight. There were more members of this tribe than I have known in my entire lifetime. Being so sheltered in the Village of Lost Souls, I sometimes felt very overwhelmed to have all of these people looking to me as their leader.

  I still missed mother and father terribly and wondered if grandfather’s ‘good authority’ came from father himself. I did not get much information from grandfather and I could not reach father in the dream state. He was in another world. I also tried many times to walk through my mother’s soul but was unsuccessful.

  I had tried in the past to walk through the dead and it was something that was scary for me. But I often felt that mother’s soul would be more of a comfort if I could just find her. When I could not reach her, grandmother said that maybe she was in indeed taken to another world and for the first time in my life grandmother did not have many words of wisdom. She was quiet for a long moment before she spoke softly with a strain in her voice. “Stay in the world of the living Spirit Walker; this is where your duties as Queen are and you should enjoy the time the Great Spirit has given you in this world. There will be much to do in the future.” These were almost the same words mother had spoken in her journal the last time I read through the pages.

  Grandmother once again got that faraway look she often gets, when I know she is thinking of mother. I knew she wished she could take mother’s place and I was sure she often wondered what she still had left to do in this world. I also knew she would not like me to know, that she was questioning the Great Spirit and his designs. I heard her one day as she was deep in prayer to Mother Earth high up on a mountain top that I had been soaring over. Her words were sad and lonely and I knew she needed guidance as her prayer haunts me daily.

  Mother, sing me a song that will ease my pain; Mend broken bones; bring wholeness again.

  Sing my death song, teach me to mourn

  Show me the medicine of the healing herbs, the value of Spirit, and the way I can serve

  Mother heal my heart, So that I can see the gifts of yours, that lives through me

  Mother had also said something that grandmother now whispered, “Rather than be sad, wouldn’t it be better to face our own death knowing that our life had been lived to the fullest and without regret? Even though we may not want to face death, it is inevitable just as it is for the setting sun each evening.”

  Today I walked away from grandmother feeling more alone than I ever had. A trickle of fear crept into my soul and I shivered. As I walked through the crowded village that was bustling with activities, I felt very alone until Brave Eagle caught my attention. My heart skipped a beat as we had grown very close since my mother’s death. Brave Eagle spent most of his time in the days and weeks that followed keeping my spirits up. He was not only handsome but exciting and funny. Often times we would sit by Oria Falls and he would play the flute that I loved so well. I even let him call me Wildcat now, without flinching. We held hands and kissed by Bridalveil Fall, where I imagined my mother and father had first kissed.

  Riding into the village atop his beautiful horse Snow Fire, Brave Eagle looked fierce as grandmother has described the warriors of ages past. Snow Fire is a pure white mare with what appears to be flames of fire flowing up on all four legs. This awesome image was complete with Brave Eagle bareback and dressed in only his tanned leathers and moccasins. He had the feather of a Golden Eagle in his long flowing raven hair. His bow and quiver of arrows were slung over his shoulder and he waved a spear high in the air as he shouted. His horse was dragging a travois that had a beast of an animal of which I had never seen before. “Tatanka, Tatanka! Matoskah it is the Tatanka! It has come again, Tatanka!”

  Could this be the big beast of days gone by? I have heard of White Bear speak of this big furry beast. After Yosemite pretty much burned, there was a belief that most of the animals were gone. We have many animals that we hunt in the Beyond but buffalo have not been a part of my generation. They were thought to be extinct in all the worlds. Of course we have all grown up hearing the stories of these magnificent beasts. “What are you yelling Brave Eagle? White Bear is at Bridalveil Fall with a new Dweller. Is this a buffalo?”

  Jumping off his horse and going to his kill, he replied with great enthusiasm. “Yes this is the great buffalo and Matoskah says it is called Tatanka in the Hunkpapa tribe. Isn’t it the most glorious animal you have ever seen Wildcat?”

  “Well it was, why would you kill such a sacred animal as this?”

  “Why? For a great feast of course! I do not believe they are as rare as we would have thought. The Great Spirit has provided thousands as far as the eye can see. They are over by Horsetail Falls grazing in the lush meadows.”

  There was a roar from the other Dwellers as suddenly their thoughts were on a new adventure. Of course it was what every warrior dreamed of. The thought of the days past and great hunts with the buffalo were only known to us in legends from the elders. Every warrior wanted a kill.

  “Did I hear something about Tatanka and how these marvellous creatures are now in the Beyond?” White Bear had come up from behind me with his new Dweller.

  Still all excited, Brave Eagle was strutting around the buffalo where others had also gathered to touch its big furry hide. “Yes, this is the buffalo that you have spoken of so often, this is the Tatanka and I have had the first kill!”

  Before White Bear could reply his Dweller trainee spoke up in his own mumbled language and White Bear had to tell him to stop and speak clear where all could hear and understand him. Part of his training was to help him communicate with others normally. Paytah is an ‘odd duck’ as grandmother would say. His name means free, and the tribes all believe he is. Because his mind is free with none of the obligations of normal people, he is believed to be simple. He is a social outcast because he is what they call an Iktomi, which means spider or spider-man in English. Basically he is a trickster and not in a good way like some of the old tales of times past. He is not a trickster with buffoonish behavior and light-hearted jokes we heard while growing up. Paytah behaves inappropriate all the time and many times instead of being funny, his misbehavior is more serious and violent and that is why he was sent to us. Not that anyone believed his behavior could be modified, we are what we are. He was also a shifter and as such, we would be the ones to help him with his abilities, which I was told were far more than that of a shifter.

  “Ween-dih-goh! Ween-dih-goh! You have brought down the curse of the Ween-dih-goh!” Going down on his knees and ranting in anothe
r language which only White Bear could understand, Paytah was clearly upset and looked terrified. He jumped back up and screaming and pointing his finger at Brave Eagle, he would not be silenced. We let him rant as White Bear explained what Paytah believed. “He says, Brave Eagle has cursed the village by killing the grandfather’s beasts. The return of the Tatanka is not for killing and now he has brought the curse of the Windigo down on the entire village.”

  Gasps were heard all around and grandfather walked up to the crowd and stamped his staff on the ground and there was a boom as the earth shook. The Dwellers backed away from the buffalo and quieted as grandfather spoke. “He is crazy and there are no facts to back his childish ranting’s. I have heard nothing from the ancestors about this.”

  White Bear and grandfather spoke silently for a minute and all along, I heard grandfather clicking his tongue in thought. Then he whispered his words to me so as not to alarm the villagers. “White Bear says Paytah often has visions and sometimes they come to pass so this could be a worry. I will seek guidance from the ancestors and we must watch for the signs.”

  This is not anything I was familiar with although I had heard stories about the Windigo from legends. As a new Queen it is my job to calm my Dwellers and lead them into battle against evil that would enter the World of Man. This however, was something that could take the very soul of our village. There are many versions of the Windigo. I grew up listening to many tales from our tribe and that of the Ojibwa, Algonquin, and Chippewa tribes. This is an evil demon who wanders the winter woods in search of humans to eat, much like a werewolf or vampire. If a person was bitten by the Windigo, he is turned into one. This could pass quickly through the entire tribe. The Chippewa believed people who commit sins, especially selfishness, gluttony, or cannibalism could be turned into a Windigo as punishment.

  The appearance of a Windigo can be huge and made of or coated in ice. The human it once was, is still frozen inside the monster where its heart should be and must be killed to defeat it. There have been legends that say a human escaped successfully once from the heart of the Windigo, but usually once a person has been possessed by the Windigo spirit, only death is its escape.

  A chilling wind blew down from the mountains and hit my skin and I knew this as a bad omen to come. I wasn’t sure if I believed this would happen just because Brave Eagle killed a buffalo but there were many who did. This was clear by the glances that Brave Eagle was getting from the villagers.

  The Beyond is such a wondrous place with its many waterfalls, mountains, forests, lush meadows and warm sunny days and evenings. The only time there was bad weather was when Ale was in the area, or the powers of the Ale were used. The wards were up on all the borders to the Ale and I was not using my essence of the Ale. It could not be anything to do with Ale.

  This is why we were all startled when the sun disappeared behind and clouds rolled in swiftly and as I looked into the sky, the first snowflakes lit on my face. I felt grandmother beside me and as she grabbed my hand, we watched as the snow gathered on the buffalo where Paytah now chanted over its body.

  “Grown men can learn from very little children and the Iktomi, for their hearts are pure. The Great Spirit may show to them many things which older people miss.” Grandmother whispered this, but all near us heard her words of prophecy.

  The Indian Ten Commandments

  Treat the Earth and all that dwell therein with respect

  Remain close to the Great Spirit

  Show great respect for your fellow beings

  Work together for the benefit of all Mankind

  Give assistance and kindness wherever needed

  Do what you know to be right

  Look after the well-being of Mind and Body

  Dedicate a share of your efforts to the greater Good

  Be truthful and honest at all times

  Take full responsibility for your actions

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  Cover designs by: Gedi Phillips

  I would like to say thank-you to Gedi Phillips, a wonderful author and cover designer. Working very hard to make covers for my books, she has done a marvelous job in capturing the essence of the stories and designing the perfect cover for each one. You can find her amazing books on amazon.

  Mer: The Captain’s Secret http://amzn.com/B00AVKVPY4 and

  Mer: Falling Kingdom http://amzn.com/B00EZGSNZO

  About the Author

  The author lives in Greeley Hill California, a gateway to the beautiful, Yosemite National Park. This is her third Native paranormal novel in the series Dwellers of Ahwahnee.

  She is currently working on a ghost story trilogy. She collaborates with many other great authors that are known as The Indie Collaboration.

  Tales from Dark Places (The Halloween Collection) and Yuletide Tales a Festive Collective are just the beginning of the short stories these authors are planning. Look for all of these books everywhere on-line.

  She has been married for thirty years. She has six children and seven grandchildren. Life has been full of fairies, dragons, shapeshifters, and a whole world full of magic where there is still hope for a new generation of young readers.

  Find all my books: http://Author.to/sherylseal