Ukdena

 

Ukdena

CW: Period typical slurs against Native Americans, as well as against individuals with intellectual disabilities (what we now know today to be Down syndrome.) Mention of blood and serious injuries.

Notes:

Ukdena: Cherokee/Tsalagi for “dragon.”

Tsalagi: Traditional title for the Cherokee people

Alannah: Gaelic for “child”

Also “Kentucke” is the 18^th-century spelling for “Kentucky”

At the end is the 66^th and final stanza of the Voluspa, the Norse creation poem.

 

“Lissa, bring your father here right now. Ryder is sad…” 

“Ma…” it seemed like we were doing this more and more every day. Ever since…

“Ma, don’t you remember? Da’s dead. He’s not coming back, Ma.” I hated having to constantly have to do this. I hated to have to keep reminding her…and reminding myself, as well.

Ma was sitting up in her rocking chair, her eyes staring right through me, like I wasn’t there. The chill autumn wind blew through the cracks of our rough cabin. I needed to build up the fire, but first I needed to bring Ma to her senses…if only temporarily.

“Nonsense your father’s dead, Lissa. He’s out hunting with Dennis. He’ll be back soon. Now, Ryder is crying…”

I sighed. I couldn’t do it anymore. Ma was slipping away, and had been for three years now, ever since Da had been found dead in the woods.

“Turn them wagons around! Kentucke ain’t worth it!”

But my bullheaded father refused to turn back. If only he had listened…if only.

“Ma, Da is dead.”

“Ma, Ryder’s not crying. He’s not a baby. He’s a big lad. He’s happy. He’s always happy.”

Speaking of Ryder…where was he? “Oh bloody hell,” I muttered. I knew that he was probably out with his beloved Shadow – that pony was his favorite thing on Earth. It always made him so happy when Dennis or I gave him permission to feed or groom her – under our watchful eyes, of course. Usually when I couldn’t find him, that’s where he had taken off to. But still…

I couldn’t bear the thought of losing Ryder. After Da…and Ma as good as…and Dennis becoming more and more distant, even more than he had always been. Back in Virginia, my silent, studious brother Dennis never put down a book. Now here in Kentucke, he would spend most of his time in the dark woods with nothing but his flintlock…

Well, I needed to build up the fire anyway. It was going out, and our cabin was getting cold and dark. Winter tended to come early to the hills of Kentucke, this wild land. Grabbing my knife and hatchet, I pulled my shawl around me, and stepped into the chilly dusk. I needed to bring in more firewood, of course, but before that, I needed to go to the barn, and be sure that my baby brother was safe with Shadow. My fourteen year old brother who always had a smile on his strange baby face…or just about always.

Everyone else back in Virginia? They looked at him as he was as savage as an Injun. No, worse than an Injun. We were always told that he was an idiot, put him away and forget about him. Honestly…I’ve wondered if Ryder was one of the reasons that Ma and Da wanted to come down the Wilderness Road, into the wilds of Kentucke. So we’d be away from tons of people…and we wouldn’t be judged as much.

But idiot or not, I personally adored the lad…and there were plenty of times where I would have taken the flintlock to anyone who would try to hurt Ryder. There’s a reason why I’m a crack shot. Even Da and Dennis both admitted to me, before Da died, that myself, a girl, could out shoot them both just about any day. “You could almost outshoot Daniel…but don’t say that to the man himself,” Da whispered to me once. Da and Mr. Boone had been fairly close acquaintances, and I knew that Dennis hero-worshipped the quiet, yet incredibly smart man who had made our way to Kentucke possible. Quite similar in personalities they were honestly, my brother and Daniel – rarely talking much, disappearing for days on end into the woods with nothing but their guns – but all in all two of the most intelligent people that I had ever met. Dennis and Ryder, my two brothers, were as different as night and day. Why did dear Ryder have to be an imbecile when Dennis was so bright? It didn’t seem fair.

I entered the barn, feeling the warmth of the animals, a contrast against the cold early-winter air. “Ryder?” I called.

And my brother’s strange, smiling baby face popped up over Shadow’s stall door. “Here I am!” he beamed, his voice slurring as it often did. He patted the big black pony on her neck, and she whinnied softly. Shadow was so gentle with Ryder. If only humans could be more like horses. Shadow didn’t judge.

“Ryder, lad!” I exclaimed, glad that he was safe. “It’s getting cold out. You should come inside.”

“Aw. I’m okay. Shadow keeps me warm,” Ryder retorted.

“Please, Ryder. For Ma. She’s worried about you. She wants to see you. You know how she’s been sad,” I told him, wondering if he could really comprehend what really all what went on.

He hesitated, but finally he unlatched the stall door. “I don’t want Ma to be sad,” he told me. As we made our way out of the barn, he hopped down in his strange stiff-legged, yet normal for him way, as if he didn’t have a care in the world.

“Hey Ryder!” I told him. “Can you help me bring in more firewood? The fire was getting low.” We made our way over to the woodpile where Ryder, beaming, scooped up a huge pile of firewood. His mind may not have been strong, but his back and arms sure were. I gathered up my own armful, noticing how the pile was definitely dwindling. Dennis would have to chop more soon…

But speaking of Dennis, as we entered the cabin again, I noticed that he was nowhere to be seen. “Ma? Here’s Ryder. We’ve got more firewood…”

Ryder hopped over to Ma and threw his arms around her while I built the fire back up. “I helped Lissa bring in the wood!” he beamed. My spirits though, sank, when I heard her response. “All right, Alec. Did you bring us back a deer?”

Sigh…Alec was Da. Ma wasn’t getting any better. Da’s death had driven her into madness. And to think that she once was as brilliant as Dennis. I knew that deep down inside, she had wanted to come to Kentucke just as bad as Da.

And where was Dennis? He should have been back by now. As normal as this was getting for Dennis…now I was somewhat alarmed. It was mostly dark by now, the wind was picking up…Dennis couldn’t be out alone in the woods like this for much longer could he? He had to be on his way home. Maybe he had indeed shot something for supper…I knew that Ryder had to be hungry. I sure was. Ma, if I could get her to eat…something shook me out of my thoughts. Did the cabin just shake? Damn. I knew it, a storm was coming.

Or…was it a storm. That didn’t feel…ordinary. Then again, what was ordinary? Was this wild land of Kentucke ordinary? Was my life ordinary?

“Ma. Ryder. Did you feel that?” I asked.

And, much to my surprise, Ma turned to me in a surprising display of lucidity. “Feel what, dear?” she asked.

“That shake,” I told her. She hadn’t felt it? I had mixed feelings about that, but I turned my attention to Ryder. He, on the other hand, was standing on the threshold of the door, poking his head out, looking in some sort of amazement and wonder. I shivered as another blast of the chill early-winter evening air flooded the cabin.

“Ryder! Close the door, love…” I started to scold him, but I stopped when he turned to me. The look on my fourteen year old brother’s strange baby face was a mix of fear and awe… “Ryder?” I asked.

But he didn’t answer. Instead, my little brother turned away from me…and bolted into the now mostly black evening. Oh, seriously! Of all the bloody times…!

“RYDER!” I yelled. I didn’t follow the Bible, unlike my parents (and neither did Dennis) but for that split second I thanked God for my brother’s unusually short legs and waddling gait. He couldn’t possibly go far. He was probably going back out to the barn to see Shadow. What could have caused him to take off like that though? He didn’t scare easily. No, that was an understatement. He had always been the most fearless of us all back on the Wilderness Road, and hadn’t changed a bit now that we were settled in Kentucke. I grabbed again my knife and hatchet, tucking them into my dress, and made my way out into the night after him. “Ryder? Ryder, come back here,” I called.

But I didn’t hear anything. “Ryder? Ryder,” I called. Still nothing. My heart pounded. Where could he have gone? Please let him be in the barn with Shadow, please…I thought. So I jogged over to the barn. Why hadn’t I brought the lantern? He’s got to be in there…I thought. Clouds covered the moon. There was hardly any light. Damn it.

And where was Dennis? He couldn’t be out in the woods on a night like this. Are ya bloody stupid, Dennis McWilliams? There are bears…there are Injuns! Ugh. I don’t care how despondent he was over Da’s death. I would bloody kill him when he got back. As I said, I’m a crack shot. And with my knife? With my hatchet? I’m even more skilled with those.

“Ryder!” I yelled. “Ryder McWilliams!” Then I shut up. What if my yelling alerted Injuns…??? My hand flew to my hatchet and knife, tucked in my dress. There they were. I shivered against the chill, pulling my shawl tighter around me. I listened, hoping that I’d hear my brother’s carefree giggle, or strange slurred speech against the chill wind. But there was nothing. He had to be with Shadow. If he wasn’t with Shadow…

I rushed toward the barn, thanking Providence that the clouds had parted the moon, giving me light. I unlatched the door and made my way inside to Shadow and Clover, our cow, who stared at me balefully. “Go back to sleep, girl.” I chided.

I heard Shadow’s soft nicker. “Ryder! Are you there?” I asked. But no…nothing. I raced to Shadow’s stall, hoping to see something in the moonlight. I saw the big black pony…but no Ryder. Shadow whinnied softly.

“Where is he, Shadow?” I was starting to panic. If he wasn’t with Shadow…no…no. I was starting to panic. I truly was. Shadow was picking up on my anxiety. She whinnied, the whites of her eyes showing. Injuns…no! They couldn’t have gotten him…they couldn’t.

Dennis had disappeared…Ryder had run off…Da was dead…Ma was insane. No…no!

Suddenly Shadow reared in her stall and whinnied frantically. Clover bawled loud enough to wake the dead. A second later, I realized why. There it was…the tremble again!

I threw myself on the barn floor and cussed. I didn’t care if Ma would have chided me had she still been sane. Da would have praised me, had he been alive. But as soon as it happened, it was over. Shakingly, I rose up from the floor, trying to gather my wits. I knew what I had to do.

I grabbed Shadow’s bridle. We had to go look for Ryder and Dennis. Luckily, the sky was clearing up. Hopefully the moon wouldn’t cloud over again. I knew that…Lissa McWilliams, are you bloody insane? I was asking myself. There are bears, wildcats…and Injuns!

But I couldn’t lose…not after I had lost Da, and I had as good as lost Ma. I couldn’t lose my brothers as well. Had Ryder tried to run off to find Dennis? I wondered. I knew that I should have kept a better eye on him…oh Ryder, you’re such a great kid, but why did you have to be born an idiot?

Shadow looked quizzically at me as I tacked her up, but I looked back at her apologetically. “Help me, girl. We’ve got to find Ryder and Dennis.” I swung myself up on her back and urged her on. I looked up at the sky, still clear enough. But the clouds were building up again. I had to find them before it clouded over again, and we were plunged back into darkness.

A gust of chill wind hit us, and Shadow danced nervously. “Easy, girl” I soothed her. “Let’s go find your friend.” I clapped my legs against her sides, and she broke into a canter. Off we went into the wild, dark woods, where there were wild animals…and worse.

“Lissa McWilliams, you are seriously insane” I chided myself over and over again. Suddenly Shadow shied underneath me. “Whoa, girl. Up girl. We’ve got to find your friend!” I told her. I patted her neck, but it did little to calm her. “What is with you, you crazy pony?” I asked her.

But suddenly…there it came again. The tremble. What was it??? That was it. Shadow reared, and I felt myself hit the ground. Stunned, I lay on the ground, and then I gathered my senses. I hadn’t fallen hard, at least I didn’t think so…

“No, Shadow!” I called. But I knew that she had already bolted. No…no…The night was now pitch black, with only the faint outline of the moon through the clouds. How was I supposed to find a black pony in the dead of the night? What had I done??? I was alone in the dark woods where there were wild animals…and worse, Injuns. My insane mother was alone in the cabin…what would become of her?

Suddenly I felt a pain in my arm. It was getting worse. Did I hurt myself after all? And I felt a wet stickiness there…blood. Oh no. I did get hurt when I fell. And Da always told me, the scent of blood…bears could smell it. And I was sure that Injuns could too. I frantically felt for my weapons. They were still there. At least I had some protection.

But that wasn’t all. The pain was beginning to sear more. Feeling my arm, I felt the wet stickiness that I knew had to be blood…and something else. Something hard.

And just then, the moon broke through the clouds. It stayed uncovered long enough for me to look at my arm, and see something white poking out, my dark red blood pooling around me. Bone.

I was going to die out here, I knew. That was the last thing that I thought, and then I knew no more.

Interlude:

What time was it? I hadn’t managed to stay out here for this long, did I? Whoa…it’s gotten dark. And there it was again…there it was.

“You’re not real,” I told it over and over again. “Whatever you are that keeps coming to me…you’re a figment of my imagination.” But…why? It was the reason that I kept coming out here to the deep, dark woods. To this deepest part, where I had seen no one else…where not even the Injuns dared to venture, so I had been told. Sure enough, I had nary seen another human out here, and certainly not even an Injun. I had nothing but Da’s old flintlock. Da…would he be proud of me? If I killed an Injun to avenge him, would he be proud? Certainly the bounty would be enough to provide through the winter. For my feeble Ma, my even more feeble brother, and of course my sister, who didn’t know what was good for her. I felt the flintlock in my hands. There were times that I considered putting it to my head and pulling the trigger. It would be quick and painless enough…at least I hoped so. But *it* always stopped me. It is not your time to go, *it* would always tell me.

Nothing else was out here? At least not physically. *It* was here. It spoke to me. I knew that it was speaking a language more ancient than time…but for some reason, I could understand it.

They call me Ukdena, it had told me.

You’re not real, I kept saying. I’m going insane, like Ma. You damn savage Cherokees. You’re only good dead. You killed my Da…you turned my Ma into…what she is now.

As for Lissa, she seemed strong enough, but she was just a young woman. Ryder…he was a lost cause. He was a simple idiot. He could never contribute anything to the world. Ma and Da should have just put him away back in Virginia. Coming out to Kentucke wasn’t worth it. And now because of those savages, Da was gone forever.

I am not gone, Dennis.

What…Da?

I am not gone.

Da? It can’t be?

The clouds moved away suddenly, and the moon came into view. I could see red on the moon. Red…blood.

“And the moon will turn to blood, at the end of times.” I didn’t believe in the Bible, the way that Da and Ma did, and I knew that Lissa didn’t either, but I still remembered the verse, and shivered.

Dennis. Listen to her. Listen to the Ukdena. Forgive those that took my life, as have I. I am at peace. Follow the Ukdena. Dennis. Listen to me. You must follow the Ukdena.

“Da! What do you mean…!?” But the voices were now silent.

Ow…where was I? I was dead…I knew it. I couldn’t be alive. First off, I couldn’t feel my arm…my arm that had-

Easy! Easy little one! A voice…what???! Lie still! Said the voice.

Blinking, I slowly opened my eyes. It was still dark, but I knew that I couldn’t still be in the forest where I had…

You are not dead, young one! The voice said again.

And as my eyes started to adjust, I became more aware of my surroundings. I was in a room that was dark, yet bathed in a soft reddish glow. I was lying on something soft, much softer than my straw tick back in our cabin.

“Where am I?” I heard myself asking. And then…it came into view.

A beast, like one that I had seen once in my grandda’s old medieval bestiary book, as well as the warnings that I had heard where scribbled onto old maps...here be dragons!

It. Couldn’t. Be. They didn’t exist!

The scales of the great lizard shone in the reddish light – although it was still hard to see, my brain registered that they were a rose-gold color. Growing from its head were antlers that resembled sticks.

“Who are you?”

Hush! All in good time. You must lie still for now. You are still healing! And with that I felt a relaxation come over me, as well as a warmth spreading through my arm that I had supposedly injured. My last thought was Ryder! I’ve got to get out of here and find him! But darkness overtook me once again…

Interlude:

Dennis…Dennis…

“Da?” I looked back up at the sky, the orange moon once again showing through the clouds.

No. Not your father. What was that? Was the orange moon turning larger…and redder? I heard a rumble, and the earth trembled. What was going on? I shouldered the flintlock, ready to shoot at…whatever. But my eyes became transfixed in awe at…whatever was going on in the heavens. The world around me turned a soft red, with splashes of pink and shimmers of gold.

“What is going on?” I roared at the sky. It’s all in my head…it had to be!

An image materialized, a huge lizard, the color of rose gold. A dragon. It couldn’t be. I was hallucinating. I was going as insane as Ma.

Quiet, young one! The voice sounded in my head. Hush and listen. I am the Ukdena, the spirit of these deep woods.

I fell on the forest floor, the flintlock lying next to me, trying to shield my eyes.

Dennis…young one…listen closely to me.

I am the Ukdena. Normally I would only come to the Tsalagi, the ones that still have a strong belief in me, but you, young one, have proven yourself worthy of my attention. Believe. I am not here to hurt you. Follow me…follow…follow…

I grabbed the flintlock and scrambled after the apparition as it began to fade out of site. “Where are you going? What do you mean, follow you?”

Follow…follow…follow…

The rose-gold light and the moon were my only guides…

FOLLOW! FOLLOW! FOLLOW!

What were those…hoofbeats? And a familiar whinny? Shadow? What would she be doing out of her stall so late? Unless…oh no.

My arm throbbed, my arm that I knew was shattered. I was drifting in and out of consciousness, but it wasn’t a bad feeling. I felt the wet, sticky blood that I knew was pooling around me. I reached over, and for some reason I didn’t feel the hard bone sticking out anymore. It was an illusion, I knew. I was dying, and I accepted…no! No I didn’t! Ryder! I tried to get up, but the voice of the strange creature boomed in my ears.

Keep fighting, little one! You are still healing! And I saw a golden-red glow again, but no longer felt any pain.

But…what were those hoofbeats? They sounded familiar…as did the whinny that followed. But not so much as the terrified yell. “Lissa!”

Shadow…and…Dennis! I tried to call to them, but I was fading fast…

 

 

 

Interlude…

I tried to stop It, before it got to them. Alas, it still caused the pony to spook, and the girl to be seriously hurt…I did what I could to heal her.

At least the Gifted one, I had seen to it that he had made it safe back to his dwelling. He was safe. And the one man-grown, and the pony, they were shaken up, but un-injured.

The girl…

 

I knew something was very wrong, when Shadow stepped, whinnying frantically, into the strange golden-red light, tacked up but no one on her back. No…no.! Lissa? Ma…? Ryder…?

Shadow danced about, but allowed me to mount her. “Shh, girl,” I told her. I swung up on her back and the light gathered into a ball in front of us, and instantly started moving away. I urged Shadow after it. After about half a mile, the light stopped and I pulled on Shadow’s reins. “Whoa!” I looked down, and my heart jumped into my throat. There she was, lying bleeding on the forest floor…my sister, Lissa!

 

“Lissa!” the anguished yell came. I knew that it was Dennis. The last thing that I had heard was “It is coming!” But what was “It?”

The ground rumbled again and I heard Dennis yell. “No, Shadow!” But I heard a frantic whinny and hoofbeats, and knew that she had bolted again.

I groaned. I was somewhat between life and death, I knew. But something was shaking me. “Lissa!” came the voice of my older brother. “Lissa, can you hear me?”

“Yes,” I whispered softly. “Dennis…it hurts.”

“I know,” he said softly. “Lissa…I’m sorry. I’ve failed you, I failed Ma, I’ve failed Ryder.”

“Don’t talk like that” I murmured softly. “I’m glad you’re my brother.”

The tremble came again, and Dennis was knocked off his feet. He rolled on top of me – I knew that he was trying to shelter me. As good as a shot as I was, and as skilled as I was with a knife and an axe, I was in no condition to help him hold…whatever it was, off. I just hoped that he still had the flintlock with him, but something told me that there’s no way that the old musket would hold up to…whatever it was.

Then the red-gold glow bathed us again. We both shielded our eyes. And, the voice sounded again. Fear not, young ones!   

And it materialized, the Dragon…the great spirit of the woods. Dennis held me, but neither of us were scared of it.

It will not hurt you.

And the tremble came again, and the clouds parted to reveal…something. A gaping black abyss, ripping apart the nighttime sky. As Dennis and I watched in awe, the dragon gave a roar and shot to the skies. We were transfixed, mesmerized by the scene, laying on the ground, holding on to each other. What was it…It? The colors of red and gold swirled frantically around us.

“Lissa…Dennis…”

I knew that voice. Da…? But there was no mistaking it. If it was even more possible for us to become even more amazed, it happened right there and then. Da, our father, Alexander McWilliams, materialized in front of us, surrounded by a golden aura.

“Lissa, Dennis, hold on,” he intoned. “You are my fighters. Take care of your mother, and take care of Ryder. He is more than what the world has led you to believe…hold on…it will be okay. Follow the Ukdena.”

And just like that, it was gone. Everything was over. The world became dark and silent again. What happened…? “Dennis?” I asked.

My brother, my solemn brother caressed my cheek. “Listen to Da, Lissa. It’s all right. It’s over.”

I sat up and looked at my arm, feeling that I could no longer feel pain. It was healed.

Dennis and I embraced, sitting on the cold forest floor. Suddenly, we realized that the sky was beginning to brighten. A rosy light shone in the east. Was the dragon back…? No. It was morning already. We had been out here all night!

My eyes met Dennis’s. “Don’t ever do that again,” I told him. “Please come back to us. Please come home.”

He smiled at me. “I’m coming home, sis, to you, Ma and Ryder…” he trailed off. Ryder! We scrambled to our feet. He could be anywhere…anything could have happened to him!

We looked around frantically, hoping that we’d see some trace – any trace – of Ryder.  

“Ryder? Ryder!” we called frantically. “Ryder?” He could be anywhere…

But then we heard hoofbeats…familiar hoofbeats. Shadow! We spun around and there she was. And there he was, lying across her back, his eyes closed…!

My heart went into my throat – I looked over at Dennis and saw that his suntanned face had gone pale. “Ryder!” we both cried. But our panic was short lived…when he groggily lifted his head from the pony’s neck and opened his eyes. Slowly his face broke into his normal, radiant smile.

“Lissa! Dennis!” he cried. “Shadow took care of me, see?” I wanted to scold him and I knew that Dennis did too. He had never ridden her before without someone walking alongside holding the reins! How did he get up on her in the dark, with him being so unusually short for his age and her being a big pony? And for him to fall asleep in the saddle…he could have fallen off! But somehow, I knew that Shadow…she had some sort of magical touch with Ryder. She was a strange pony…but in a good way.

I smiled at my wonderful brothers, and of course, our wonderful pony. But again, that was short lived. Ma! We left her alone! What if she had burned the cabin down…what if she had wandered out? And I knew that Dennis was feeling the same way…

“Let’s go!” I cried. “Ryder, let me come up there with you…” but Ryder and Shadow didn’t wait. With the slightest nudge from Ryder’s short legs, Shadow threw up her head and trotted off. Frantically, Dennis and I hurried off after them. After nearly a mile, we finally saw the cabin on the horizon. We could hear Clover bawling in the barn – of course, she needed to be milked!

“Ma! Ma!” Dennis and I yelled as we reached the cabin. She had been alone all night…Please let her be okay!

We needn’t have worried. Much to our surprise, our mother appeared in the doorway…looking almost like her old self.

“Lissa. Dennis. Ryder. There you all are,” she said, smiling. “I didn’t know that you knew how to ride like that, Ryder, alannah!”

And Ryder gave an incredibly clever response to that I would think would think would be way beyond his comprehension: “My name is Ryder, so I know how to ride,” sounding almost like a normal fourteen year old, despite his strangely slurred speech. Then he went back to his old self. “I love Shadow,” he said, smiling in his carefree way, leaning forward and hugging the pony around her neck. Then he straightened up in the saddle and laughing, I lifted him down. I looked over and even Ma was laughing – first time since Da had died!

But Dennis wasn’t. “Get behind me!” he hissed, as he quickly lifted the flintlock. And I immediately saw why. I gasped. Coming out of the woods, there they were. Cherokee! I grabbed my hatchet and knife, ready to run Ma and Ryder into the cabin, and then come back and cover Dennis with my own weapons if need be…

But little by little, I felt calmer. As I got a good look, I realized that they both were raising their hands…a gesture of peace among the Injuns, I had been told? As I looked closer, I saw that it was a young man and a slightly younger woman…brother and sister? Wow. They could almost have been Dennis and I. Dennis kept the flintlock pointed, but I lowered my hatchet and, stepping over to Dennis, slowly pointed the muzzle of the gun down. They mean no harm. They are my children, I heard a familiar voice say…the voice of the dragon. Ukdena.

I looked over. The young woman waved to us. The young man followed suit. We waved back. I looked over at Ryder and saw his brilliant smile.

I felt a breeze, almost warm for early winter, blow over us. Da. I know that you’re watching over us.

As is the spirit of this wild land…Ukdena.

EPILOGUE:

Mother McWilliams grew steadily better after that day. She never totally reverted back to her old self, the way that she was before her husband died, but she became better and better at carrying on normal conversations, and even began cooking and working around the cabin and garden again.

Lissa and Dennis both eventually befriended some of their Cherokee neighbors. They lost their fear of the “Savage Injuns” and even went on hunting and tracking trips with them. Lissa become especially close to an elderly matriarch…who told her all about the Ukdena, and assured her that it was not all in her head.

Sadly, Ryder died of pneumonia a year later at the age of fifteen. A few weeks later, Shadow died in her stall of colic…or so it seemed to be. As long as they lived, Lissa and Dennis both swore that she simply wanted to join her best friend Ryder. And as long as they lived, the two of them swore that they could feel not only their father, but Ryder and his beloved pony, watching over them.

Lissa never married, but enjoyed a fulfilling life. After their mother died, both she and Dennis moved on to Indiana, where they had a large horse farm with Dennis’ wife and his two sons. Lissa lived to be nearly one hundred, and her great and great-great nieces and nephews were always enthralled by her stories.

What about her great-great nieces and nephews? Well, their story will have to be for another time…

 

From beyond the dragon, the dark comes forth

Nidhogg flying from Nithafjoll

The bodies of men on her wings she bears

Again Dark-Striker; but now I must retire.