Centeva the Wizard Lady Part 2

Hi dear friends and followers. First I apologise for being one day late in presenting to you part 2 of this short story. So here we are on Thursday. Today I would like to present to you part 2 of this wonderful story. So take five, relax , and have a pleasant read. Hope you enjoy it.
Centeva persuaded him to lie in the thick foliage. There she compressed his wounded arm with her two hands. A green glow appeared around her hands and Renalde's wound began to heal.

She scoured the local forest for food and gathered the fruits and nuts that grew locally as Renalde's arm completed it's two-day healing cycle. That was enough time for him to once again wield a sword she thought.

Never before had she seen such plant growth as that place had. Trees and other plants were much taller than she had ever seen anywhere. It felt to her that she had assumed insect size in a world world made for giants. She had half expected to run into one of these beings at any moment.

But none came forth, and for that matter, there were not many animals bigger then an Earth-sized rabbit, if one could call what she had seen, rabbits. they were more like a cross between a kangaroo and. jack rabbit.

They were in a beautiful, green world, with a crystal-clear blue sky in which one could actually observe the stars, even at high noon. There were two suns, one lavender and one yellow, the lavender being much smaller. No moon, but an orbital asteroid belt formed a ring around this world. 

The light reflected from the sunward side of this asteroid belt lit up the skies at night even brighter than a full moon back on earth. It covered the landscape with a multi-hued luminous patchwork, like an artist having a wonderful time with glowing paint.

The sounds at night were new and entirely unlike Earth, but pleasant never the less, possessing their own unique tones and melodies.

Centeva worked diligently to create the spark that started the little fire that glowed near where Renalde lie resting on a thick carpet of grass-like plants. Over the last two days his arm had healed well enough so that all that remained of a deep gash was a pinkish streak of healed scar tissue .

When the next great daylight occurred they were ready to break camp and move on, but to where? Neither had any ideas. A sleight-of-hand magician and a palace guard, alive in the wilds of who-knows-where to do who-knows-what. She did not even know where or what this place was.

She knew that the knowledge was stored somewhere in her subconscious mind, from whence the dream gave her the knowledge to manifest the magic to open the hole in the floor. But would she ever be able to find her way back again? And back there she needed to go to intervene and face the queen again to prevent the tragedy that was about to befall the Odion people.

The next great light came in lavender, the lavender sun being the first to rise over the eastern horizon. After a quick breakfast of what tasted like grapes on this world, Centeva busied herself weaving a bag of grass fibers in which to carry their few belongings while Renalde exercised his injured arm with sword in hand.

His healing was accomplished, though not quite finished as he winced at the pain sent by some sensitive, not quite yet healed, nerve endings. He set the sword point down on the ground, took several deep breaths, and lifted the sword over his head once more. Centeva smiled as she turned to hoist the bag over her shoulder. What she would have given for a good horse at this time.

Renalde sheathed his sword and followed Centeva towards a clearing in the distance. Not far had they gone they encountered more strange beasts about the size of fully grown turkeys.

The clearing opened into a large open field, but it was a field unlike any ever seen by either of them.

What looked like tall grass of many colors appeared to undulate of its own energy, like living tendrils of energetic light. 

At the center of the field was a very large tree, the top of which faded into the misty clouds above. There were stairways carved into the the tree's outer bark, where crowds of tiny people moved up and down the great trunk, like ants.

This was their first meeting with any beings that showed a higher intelligence than the creatures of the wild they had encountered thus far; a much higher intelligence at that.

Renalde stooped to follow the stairs carver into the tree.

He was getting close to ground level when he withdrew suddenly and fell backwards to the ground. "Something in there tried to kill me!" he shouted. "It tried to stab me in the eye!"

Centeva was not surprised by this discovery of the tiny people, for she had a dream of them the night before. She knew that upon waking up she had to come here if she wished to return. "Well, what do you expect, Renalde? After all we are intruding upon them."

The little people had no fear of Renalde or Centeva because they knew that they were strangers in a foreign land and rather much powerless. They read that situation correctly and were bold enough to send an emissary out to tell their visitors just what was their decision.

It is uncanny how beings of like symmetry can establish a path of communications between them. Renalde and Centeva stood stock-still and said nothing, The people's representative did the same, at a distance of about two meters; close enough to feel them but far enough from any hands or weapons.

It felt like an eternity but it was really about two minutes before the emissary's hands began to move in a sort of choreography, a dance, if you will. Sometimes the simplest of expressions can be the most complex-looking of gestures, but it seemed that intelligence was exchanging information.

Both parties to this confab agreed that there were no hostile intentions in any heart, and that one of the parties was just plain lost! The other indicated understanding of the condition, "lost," and motioned "follow me."

They were led around the back side of the tree to a place where the land dropped off, exposing the lower chambers at the base of the tree and chambers of a size more suitable for beings like them. It was obvious that there had been visitors here before of similar body size.

The leader of the people came out to meet them. He (at least it seemed like a "he") was dressed in colorful robes with a long feathered collar. He looked at Centeva and Renalde then took his seat in a heavily-ornamented wooden chair in the center of the room.

Tapping his staff on the floor three times, he silenced the room. In his left hand he held a blue ball of energy, much the same as she had conjured up back at the dungeon. He spoke to her as he motioned with his right-hand for her to approach him: "Be not afraid; approach my lady." When she was very close to him he bade her, "Look into the energy ball," as he held it up for her in his long, slender fingers, for her to look into.

Within the ball she saw herself and Renalde, falling through a hole in the sky and landing where they had been the night they had in this land. That image blurred and was replaced by another, much more disturbing one. The queen and her army marching into the villages of the Odions, pillaging and burning everything in sight.

Centeva stepped back a step, put her right hand over her mouth, then dropped her hand to her side and said, "Dear Honorable Master of Wizards, please tell me how we can keep this from happening."

The wizard made some circular motions with his hands and the blue ball of energy grew until it filled the center of the room. Everywhere one looked within the ball was seen countryside, with its gentle sloping hills and thick forests lining the edges of the Odions' farm land. It was a peaceful scene with smoke curling from the chimneys of the small one-story dwellings that resembled very much the English cottages as she had seen in the many places where she had traveled.

Down every road and trail they came, heavily armed horsemen in armor, with lances held high they came. Down into the valley they swarmed; like a wave of locusts they entered, pillaged, and set fire to the Odions' homes, shops, and barns.

Centeva need to see no more as she turned her head and shed some silent tears. "Look again, my lady, if you wish to learn how to keep this from coming to pass."

A short time later the little people of the tree showed Centeva and Renalde back through the forest to the spot from which they had come. The wizened old wizard came forward, took his wide brimmed hat off and held it over his white beard, and bowed slightly, then said: "I send with you the power and wisdom of my people and lineage, my lady.

Raising both his hands over his head he made another circular motion and a glowing haze formed over him then drifted lazily toward her. She looked down and saw that her entire body glowed a translucent green that soon faded.

The wizard spoke once more and informed her that the power she needed was not gone; that it was only hiding inside and she could call it up at any time that she need it's help. "Remember the ruins, that is where you must lead them. That will be where your power will work the greatest," he reminded her. He bowed down slightly again then replaced his hat on his head and pronounced a blessing over both of them.

Following this benediction he conjured a blue ball of energy, raised it above his head, and threw it hard upon the ground. There appeared a large, glowing blue hole that spiraled downward. At its bottom they could see the inside of the dungeon from whence they had come.

The wizard spoke: "Do not worry about being caught. To them you will be no more than a draft blowing through the cell. Your elemental energy should keep you both invisible until you are well out of view.

Centeva and Renalde held hands at the edge of the blue hole, closed their eyes, and jumped through, landing hard on the stone floor of the cell. They rebounded back up on their feet almost instantaneously, Renalde stood, sword in hand, ready for battle.

Nothing stirred. There was only silence. As they walked lightly through the many corridors and stone stairs leading to above ground, they encountered many guards who just stood transfixed, seeing nothing at all.

Composed by Cynthia©

Thank you again for dropping by to read my short story and hope you have enjoyed the read. I would appreciate knowing what your thoughts are on this topic. Thank you and have a wonderful rest of the weekend.

✿ڰۣ❤In Loving Light from the Fairy Lady❤ڰۣ✿

Shawnee Mythology

Hi dear friends and followers

If you look at a map of the eastern United Stated from 1860 and compare it to one from today you would see one major difference: a new state called West Virginia. This state was created in 1863 when a number of counties in the northwestern area of the Commonwealth of Virginia voted to secede from that state and become an independent state of their own. At first the state was called Kanawha but later came to call itself West Virginia.

The major Native American Peoples in West Virginia were the Tutelo in the east, the Cherokee in the west, and the Shawnee in the central part of the state.

Shawnee Mythology

The Shawnee creation myth is similar to other Algonquin creation myths in maintaining that the people who are now the Shawnees originated from a different world- an island balanced on the back of a giant turtle-and traveled to this one. According to Shawnee myth, when the first people were on the island, they could see nothing but water, which they did not know how to cross. They prayed for aid and were miraculously transported across the water. The Shawnees are the only Algonquin tribe whose creation story includes the passage of their ancestors over the sea, and for many years they held an annual sacrifice in thanks of the safe arrival of their ancestors to this country.

The Shawnees were also unique among the Algonquin peoples in believing their creator was a woman, who they called [Inumsi Ilafewanu] "Kokumthena", which means "Our Grandmother." Kokumthena" is usually depicted as an anthropomorphic female with gray hair whose size ranges from gigantic to very small. According to Shawnee myth, the idea of creation came from the "Supreme Being", who is called "Moneto", but the actual work of creation was performed by Kokumthena the "Great Spirit", and she is the most important figure in Shawnee religion. 

The Supreme Being of all things is Moneto, who rules Yalakuquakumigigi [the universe] and dispenses His blessings and favors to those who earn His good will, just as He brings unspeakable sorrow to those whose conduct merits His displeasure. "Monteo" is not to be mistaken for the "Great Spirit", the ruler of deities, who is subordinate to Him. The "Great Spirit" lives in a home in the sky and, in addition to Shawnee and other Native American languages, she speaks her own non-Shawnee language that can only be understood by children under age four- who forget it as soon as they begin to learn Shawnee.

In addition to creating the world, Kokumthena will end it. Prophets who travel to the after world find her weaving a blanket called a skeemotah, but she has a wolf who unravels what she has done. (I have included this story as told to me by my Grandmother...Woman and the Wolf) Someday, however, she will complete her blanket, scoop up the virtuous to come live with her, and punish and destroy the wicked. 

This belief in a female creator/destroyer probably surfaced in or after 1824, although it may have existed earlier, and there are mixed opinions among historians about the reasons behind the emergence of this belief. Some believe that Kokumthena was inspired by a female deity of the Iroquois named Ataentsic, while another theory holds that the story of the Virgin Mary influenced the Shawnee myth.

In any case, the existing versions of the Kokumthena myth also contain warnings of a great white spirit who will try to change the creator's designs and shorten the years of the Shawnees and warnings of a great serpent who will come from the seas and destroy the Shawnees. According to Shawnee oral tradition, when the Shawnee first saw European ships, they recognized the forked ends of the Europeans' pennants as symbols of the tongue of the serpent.

The Great Horned Serpent, which is always portrayed in cartoon style drawings, is a creature which is shared with other eastern tribes. The serpent lived in a lake. One day he wrapped himself around a large buck deer and took its head which he wore as a mask to fool his prey. This event was witnessed by two ravens.

Another variation of this legend is that the creator was busy at work making the earth when he let a thought about himself escape. In doing this, he gave the serpent an opportunity to harness this power and instill it into himself, making him very powerful.

When the creator realized this had happened he reached out toward the serpent and tried to recover this missing power. In doing so he only managed to capture the head of the serpent and separate it from his body. The headless body managed to slither away and return to the lake.

Once there the serpent took the head of the deer to replace what he had lost. Shawnee elders say the serpent was killed and some of his flesh was carved off and is kept in the bundles of the five divisions. The flesh is still fresh and contains some energy stolen from the creator. Shawnee are warned to stay away from hollow logs and holes in the ground because the spirit of the serpent may lurk there. 

Another creature in Shawnee tradition is the Misignwa. The spirit lives in the forest and protects the animals around it. Some northern tribes claim the spirit is what people call Big Foot. The Misignwa watches all hunters and if they are disrespectful or wasteful he will cause them to have an accident as punishment.

During the Bread Dance the Shawnee have a man who dresses in a suit of bearskin, wearing a wooden mask and carrying a cane and turtle shell rattle to impersonate Misignwa. This impersonator will seek out children who are disruptive and frighten them, hence teaching them a valuable lesson. Misignwa carvings were found on poles in the village plaza's, in council houses and carved into pipes until the 19th century. 

Shawnee tradition has three figures that control weather. Each of these was created by the Grandmother Spirit and was so instructed not to cause harm to the Shawnee. One of these is Cyclone Person, a female face with braids of hair that cause tornadoes. She is given great respect by the Shawnee for not harming them. The Shawnee are not afraid of these storms. The second weather spirit which is actually four separate spirits is called the four winds. The four winds are often called upon to witness prayers, and they have colors associated with them. The winds were told by Grandmother Spirit to respect all women and not to stare at them. Shawnee women will pull their skirts up to their waist to embarrass the winds, thus causing clouds to retreat. The third spirit and most well known are the 

Thunderbirds. The Thunderbirds cause storms when they fight with the Great Horned Serpent and other evil creatures. Lightning is caused by blinking their eyes. The Shawnee believe that the Thunderbirds guard the entrance to heaven and are honored by Kispoko during the war dance as the patrons of war. Tales of the origin of the various divisions also exist. The Piqua, whose name means "a man coming out of the ashes," tell of an ancient fire that after burning out yielded a great puffing and blowing from which a man rose from the ashes. Mequachake signifies the perfect man of the Great Spirit's creation, and this is one reason for believing that the division was responsible for the priesthood.

The most important object in Shawnee religion was the sacred bundle, called 'mishaami.' Each tribe had its own bundle, which was believed to contain the welfare of not only the tribe but the entire universe. People sometimes had their own personal sacred bundles that protected them and enabled them to cast spells. The rituals, contents and history of the mishaami are considered sacred mysteries and are kept in secrecy even to this day.

According to Shawnee legend, all the mishaami were given to the Shawnees by "Kokumthena," who can still control them and will inform a chosen prophet if she desires a change in either the contents of a bundle or a ritual surrounding a bundle.

A custodian - always a man - and one of very high moral character - was assigned to the mishaami by the chief. The mishaami were consulted by the custodian whenever the tribe was considering a major move, and they were opened and their contents moved around before events such as battles in order to protect their outcome.

"The sun is my father; the earth my mother, who nourishes me, and on her bosom I will recline"
Tecumseh, Aug 1810

Thank you again for dropping by to read this native American legend, I hope you have enjoyed the read. I would appreciate some comments on what your thoughts are on this topic. Have a wonderful week.

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In Loving Light from the Fairy Lady❤ڰۣ✿

The Taos Hum

The Taos Hum

My apologies did not have sufficient time this evening to publish another episode of the Native American legends. I ran into this article I thought you may find interesting . Now this strange sound you are about to hear on these videos is not only restricted to the New Mexico area but has also been recorded around the world. Thank we will resume studying the Native American legends tomorrow

Some residents and visitors in the small city of Taos, New Mexico, have for years been annoyed and puzzled by a mysterious and faint low-frequency hum in the desert air. Oddly, only about 2 percent of Taos residents report hearing the sound. Some believe it is caused by unusual acoustics; others suspect mass hysteria or some secret, sinister purpose. Whether described as a whir, hum, or buzz and whether psychological, natural, or supernatural no one has yet been able to locate the sound's origin.

Short Documentory in search of Taos Hum

Click on link below to view

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfX5NCwC1WI

Thank you, I hope you have enjoyed this presentation. The Native American legends will resume tomorrow 

✿ڰۣ❤In Loving Light from the Fairy Lady❤ڰۣ✿

 Saponi Tutelo Peoples

Hi dear friends and followers.

Today we take a brief look at two tribes who inhabited the Virginia/North Carolina region, the Saponi and Tutelo Peoples. Both were related by language, religion, and customs and they eventually joined together into one single tribe, after the arrival of the white man.

I could not locate myths or legends of either people, however, my research did find something that is, to me, at least as fascinating as any myth or legend I have read so far.

The Saponi were a Siouan-speaking people who lived in the Virginia Piedmont near present-day Charlottesville. John Smith found them there, in a region he broadly labeled Monacan, in 1607. Sometime during the next several decades they moved south, seldom remaining stationary until the mid-eighteenth century. A small group of corn farmers and hunters, the Saponi moved to find protection from more powerful enemies.

In 1670 German explorer John Lederer found the Saponi among the Nahyssan on the Staunton River in Virginia. In the 1680s, they were on the upper Roanoke River, living adjacent to the Occaneechi. When John Lawsonvisited them in 1701, the Saponi were on the Yadkin River near present-day Salisbury, along with the Tutelo andKeyauwee. The Saponi chief told Lawson that the three tribes were planning to join and move again. In 1714 the Saponi, Occaneechi, Tutelo, and other small tribes concluded a treaty with Virginia governor Alexander Spotswood to return to that colony and settle on a six-mile-square reservation laid out on the Meherrin River. Named Fort Christanna, the reservation was to be a refuge for Piedmont Indians willing to serve the Virginia settlements as frontier scouts. In 1729 the Saponi and their friends abandoned the fort and headed for the Catawba River, where the Catawba Nation offered sanctuary.

In 1728 the survey of the border between Virginia and North Carolina was undertaken. Each colony provided commissioners to see that the task was performed correctly. One of the commissioners for Virginia was William Byrd. Byrd kept a very detailed diary in contemporary English of the day in which he described much of the interaction between the survey party and one of their Saponi scouts, a man whose name was Bearskin.

From Byrd and his Saponi informant several little points in regard to Indian habit and belief are obtained. Although not always definitely so stated, the references are usually intended to apply to the Saponi, and their associated tribes – the Tutelo, Occaneechi, and others at Fort Christanna.

Fire was made by rubbing together two dry sticks of papaw wood, the process requiring about ten minutes. On the occasion of any religious ceremony new fire was always made for the purpose from two sticks which had never before been used, as it was deemed a sacrilege to use the fire already kindled. From the fiber of a kind of “silk grass” the women made a strong thread from which they wove baskets and the aprons which formed the chief part of the woman’s dress. These aprons or skirts were wrapped round the body and hung from the waist to the knee, bordered with a fringe at the bottom. Spoons were made of buffalo horn, and the Indians believed that these spoons would split and fall to pieces if poison were put into them. Skins were dressed with deer’s brains, a method which the English learned to pattern, and the skin was sometimes stretched over a smoke to dry it more speedily. 

They annointed their bodies with bear’s grease as a protection against mosquitos and all other insects. A diet of bear’s meat was supposed to increase the generative power. It was believed that venison and turkey (i. e., the flesh of birds and of quadrupeds) must never be cooked together, on penalty of provoking the anger of the hunting gods, who would drive the game away so that the offending hunter would never be able to kill anything afterward. When the party laughed at Bearskin’s fears on this score and deliberately violated the taboo to convince him that he was in error, he took the precaution afterward when he had shot a buck and a wild turkey together, of leaving the turkey behind and bringing only the deer into camp, in order to put such a sacrilege out of their power. They justified their laying of the heavier burdens on the weaker sex by a tradition that work had originally come upon the human race through some fault of the woman18.

The general statement of the Saponi belief in regard to the spirit world, as obtained from Bearskin in a Sunday night talk around the fire, is best told in the language of Byrd himself, always making liberal allowance for the preconceived notions of a white man who did not claim to be an ethnologist. The transmigration idea here set forth agrees with what Lederer says of the same people:

In the evening we examin’d our friend Bearskin, concerning the religion of his country, and he explain’d it to us, without any of that reserve to which his nation is subject, He told us he believ’d there was one supreme God, who had several sub-altern deities under him. And that this master-God made the world a long time ago. 

That he told the sun, the moon, and stars, their business in the beginning, which they, with good looking after, have faithfully perform’d ever since. That the same power that made all things at first has taken care to keep them in the same method and motion ever since. He believ’d. God had form’d many worlds before he form’d this, but that those worlds either grew old and ruinous, or were destroyed for the dishonesty of the inhabitants.

That God is very just and very good-ever well pleas’d with those men who possess those God-like qualities. That he takes good people into his safe protection, makes them very rich, fills their bellies plentifully, preserves them from sickness, and from being surpriz’d or overcome by their enemies. But all such as tell lies, and cheat those they have dealings with, he never fails to punish with sickness, poverty and hunger, and, after all that, suffers them to be knockt on the head and scalpt by those that fight against them.

He believ’d that after death both good and bad people are conducted by a strong guard into a great road, in which departed souls travel together for some time, till at a certain distance this road forks into two paths, the one extremely level, and the other stony and mountainous. Here the good are parted from the bad by a flash of lightening, the first being hurry’d away to the right, the other to the left.. 

The right hand road leads to a charming warm country, where the spring is everlasting, and every month is May; and as the year is always in its youth, so are the people, and particularly the women are bright as stars, and never scold. 

That in this happy climate there are deer, turkeys, elks, and buffaloes innumerable, perpetually fat and gentle, while the trees are loaded with delicious fruit quite throughout the four seasons. That the soil brings forth corn spontaneously, without the curse of labour, and so very wholesome, that none who have the happiness to eat of it are ever sick, grow old, or dy. Near the entrance into this blessed land sits a venerable old man on a mat richly woven, who examines strictly all that are brought before him, and if they have behav’d well, the guards are order’d to open the crystal gate, and let them enter into the land of delights.

The left hand path is very rugged and uneaven, leading to a dark and barren country, where it is always winter. The ground is the whole year round cover’d with snow, and nothing is to be seen upon the trees but icicles. All the people are hungry, yet have not a morsel of anything to eat, except a bitter kind of potato, that gives them the dry-gripes, and fills their whole body with loathsome ulcers, that stink, and are insupportably painfull. Here all the women are old and ugly, having claws like a panther, with which they fly upon the men that slight their passion. For it seems these haggard old furies are intolerably fond, and expect a vast deal of cherishing. They talk much, and exceedingly shrill, giving exquisite pain to the drum of the ear, which in that place of the torment is so tender, that every sharp note wounds it to the quick. 

At the end of this path sits a dreadful old woman on a monstrous toad-stool, whose head is cover’d with rattle-snakes instead of tresses, with glaring white eyes, that strike a terror unspeakable into all that behold her. This hag pronounces sentence of woe upon all the miserable wretches that hold up their hands at her tribunal. After this they are deliver’d over to huge turkey- buzzards, like harpys, that fly away with them to the place above mentioned. Here, after they have been tormented a certain number of years, according to their several degrees of guilt, they are again driven back into this world, to try if they will mend their manners, and merit a place the next time in the regions of bliss.

This was the substance of Bearskin’s religion, and was as much to the purpose as could be expected from a meer state of nature, without one glimps of revelation or philosophy19 .

In 1731 growing dissatisfaction with their situation caused the Saponi to fragment. A few remained with the Catawba, but most left. Some moved north to join those Tuscaroras who remained in North Carolina after the Tuscarora War (1711-13); others migrated to New York, where the Cayuga, one of the Six Nations of Iroquois, adopted them. Still others drifted toward the English settlements, where they were ultimately absorbed into the general population. By the early 2000s the Haliwa-Saponi tribe was a small, state-recognized tribe with headquarters in the town of Hollister in Halifax County.

Other interesting cultural features:

- Myth: This addition to our knowledge of the Tutelo relates that the name of the last Tutelo chief was Ka'stQ'hagq, the term referring to his "Dwelling in Stone." Legend states that he had killed a number of people; that he was the "first

Tutelo who came to the Six Nations;" and that he had formerly lived in a cave having a room perpendicular to the entry passage in which recess he lived for protection. The cave was so formed that only one invader at a time could enter and turn the corner. Entrenched in this cavern he had accounted for his enemies.

-The Tutelo came up from the south. They did not have any settlements and lived in the woods and caves like wild people. They were a very timid people and were afraid of other Indians. The Tutelo scouts who went out to look for the smoke

from camp fires (settlements) would transform themselves into mice and travel under the leaves so that they would not be discovered by unfriendly Indians. When they wished to look over the country they would resume their natural form and climb to the tops of trees.

The Tutelo scouts were at last seen by the Cayuga who, being a friendly and peaceful tribe, invited them to join their settlement. They accepted and mingled with the Cayuga and learned their language. The Tutelo scouts returned to

their people and told them how they had been taken in by the Cayuga. They brought back the other Tutelo and their families to the Cayuga settlement. There they built a camp of logs. When sleeping at night they were arranged like spokes of a wheel, feet to the fire: the children first, then the women, and last, the men to guard the camp.

One night the Tutelo overheard the Cayuga talking in council with the Seneca. They could not understand all that was being said, but it sounded to the Tutelo like a plan to eat them. They thought that the Cayuga and Seneca were saying, "The Tutelo are good to eat." It proved to be that the members of the council were talking over the proposed plan for the adoption of the Tutelo [6].

6. Speck, Frank G. Siouan Tribes of the Carolinas as Known from Catawba, Tutelo, and Documentary Sources. American Anthropologist , New Series, Vol. 37, No. 2, Part 1 (Apr. - Jun., 1935), pp. 201-225

Thank you again for dropping by to read this native American legend, I hope you have enjoyed the read. I would appreciate some comments on what your thoughts are on this topic. Have a wonderful week.

✿ڰۣ❤In Loving Light from the Fairy Lady❤ڰۣ✿

Centeva the Wizard Lady

Hi dear friends and followers. Today is Sunday usually poetry day, but today I would like to present to you a short story. So take five, relax , and have a pleasant read. Hope you enjoy it.

Centeva the Wizard Lady

Centeva was riding along the trail in the Woods of Osha after having perfomed a successful show of magic for the good king of Athan. She smiled, pleased with her success. “Lady Wizards are kind of scarce in the land of Garsha, “ she reflected.

Most looked at her skeptically. She wasn't sure of just how many she had won over from their skepticism. Add to that the fact that there were not only the skeptics but also the jealous who would be magicians to contend with as well.

Suddenly, just ahead of her, appeared six mounted soldiers, all heavily armed. The foremost raised his hand and shouted, “Halt!” His voice echoed everywhere, awakening the silent forest.

The head soldier dismounted from his stallion, walked to her side and took off his helmet. "My lady, I was ordered to find you and escort you to the Kingdom of Ossar." He was a rather handsome and rugged-looking man.

Not wanting to create a disturbance, she also dismounted and spoke: "And what services would be required of me in the wonderful and mighty Kingdom of Ossar,?” she queried.

"Our queen, Madina, wishes to speak with you," Renalde declared.

"And what would her majesty wish to speak to me about, a lowly magician such as I?"

"It was not for me to question, my lady; to carry out her wishes is my only directive. Preferably to do it in a peaceful manner, but by force if necessary.”

He removed his gauntlet and offered her aid up onto her horse. Then he bowed slightly and said, "Thank you, my lady, just follow us. Macee will guard our rear flank to make certain there are no surprises.” He put his helmet back over his handsome face, re-gloved, turned on his heel, and returned to his mount.

They traveled through the forest and forded two streams. Then they began the climb to the mountaintop fortress of Ossar. The group climbed for what felt like a long time, until the trees grew thinner. As Centeva rode out of the tree line she saw a castle of granite towers and gold roofs that gleamed in the late afternoon sunlight.

Having crossed a a narrow granite bridge they came upon great brass-bound oak doors with ornamental brass hinges. A challenge was shouted from a window overlooking the bridge as while archers lined the parapets. Renalde Renalde gave the countersign. The massive doors moved as their hinges groaned like some wounded creature.

Within the walls of the castle, a crowd of townspeople moved about, doing their daily work. Centeva shivered as though from the cold, but this feeling had always manifested within her as she was about to enter crowded places.

After dismounting, she was was escorted to a grand hall filled with what appeared to be nobles and other people of the court. This did not help to quell uneasiness she had felt since her arrival.

“An auditorium filed with spectators. Was this to be just a meeting with the queen or an inquisition? Centeva began to wonder.

The soldier who had brought her sat beside her, gauntlets and helmet upon his lap. He looked pensive.

She said he had done nothing wrong. He did not understand, then suddenly said, “I never said there was going to be anything wrong. I only said that I was carrying out orders.”

There was silence as the queen stepped out from a doorway. She climbed a short set of steps, escorted by two aides. After helping her to be seated on her throne of marble and gold, the two aides positioned themselves to either side.

"Young lady," she began, "I have heard of your magical work, and I am in need of you and your gifts. I need your magic to defeat the Odions."
There was a minute of silence as Centeva considered what manner of services the queen wanted of her. The queen spoke and brought things to light.

"No! I cannot do that!" Centeva responded firmly. “Even if I could, I would not, your majesty. I will not take the lives of others with magic, I am but an apprentice magician. I do not possess the power of the sorcerer."

The queen leaned forward on her heavily ornamented staff and said, “You are telling me that you refuse to help me?” There was a murmur among the spectators as Centeva looked around the room. She was acutely aware that she was in deep trouble.

It would not matter whether she lied of not. Either way would most likely bring the same result: beheading, or being burned at the stake. Either way, it was not her choice. She did not completely hear what the queen had said, except for the word “dungeon,” as in “never to see light again.” But beheading would have been her choice over life in a dungeon of darkness, pain, and constant hunger.

The charge, for the records: there was none for failure to act as a magician on the books, so the queen made one up. “You are hereby charged with insolence, failing to bow to her majesty in courtesy, before the assembled court. And so you have broken our law!" the queen declared.

The same soldier, Renalde, walked her down the corridor leading to the dungeons. He held his helmet under his left arm and said, “This isn’t fair, my lady. I had never anticipated this. I tought you would do her bidding then just be on your way"

"If I had such magic, do you not think I would not have tried to devise a way to settle it without bloodshed? My dear warrior prince, or whatever you are,the truth is I am only but a novice who uses tricks, more than magic, to mystify and mesmerize my customers. I do not even possess enough magic to spell myself out of an unbound sack.”

Renalde closed the dungeon door behind her with a slam. A chain rattled and a lock could be heard snapping into place. Centeva sat on a wooden cot thinking. They had taken her bag. She didn't even have the benefit of her few magic tricks at her disposal. She laid on the hard boards of the cot and slipped into vigilant sleep, devising ways to escape. She refused to remain there until she withered and wasted away to death.

That night she dreamed she had possession of great magic, and when she awakened next morning, it was to Renalde's persistent shaking of her right shoulder. She recalled every detail of her dream. She knew how to make the magic work.

Raising her hands up over her head she whipped them down. There was a loud snapping sound, like that made when one strokes a cat's back on a dry day, or the sound of dry twigs being broken for kindling. A ball of blue energy materialized in the palm of her hands! Renald was transfixed by what he had just seen.

Centeva caused the blue energy sphere to rise above her head, then she threw it to the stone floor of her cell. The stone commenced to turn soft, then bubbly as the sphere melted its way through the floor. 

She leaned over and saw exactly what she had witnessed in her dream: another world, full of colors, predominantly with beautiful green and blue.

and all the beautiful colors of a pristine world.

Centeva stopped at the edge of the hole from which emenated a green glow of energy and looked at Renalde. She spoke softly, "Will you come with me?"
In less than a 

heartbeat she had a reply. A scream broke the silence! Centeva turned to look towards the doorway as Queen Madina rushed towards her with a sword that she had taken from one of the guards.

Centeva somersaulted into the glowing green aperture, followed closely by Renalde, who, unfortunately, did not escape unscathed. His arm had been slashed deeply and he was bleeding profusely.

Centeva persuaded him to lay in the thick foliage. There she compressed his wounded arm with her two hands. A green glow appeared around her hands and Renalde's wound began to heal.

To Be Continued At Another Time

Composed by Cynthia©

Thank you again for dropping by to read my short story and hope you have enjoyed the read. I would appreciate knowing what your thoughts are on this topic. Thank you and have a wonderful rest of the weekend.

✿ڰۣ❤In Loving Light from the Fairy Lady❤ڰۣ✿