Chapter II
The Beaulani
When I found out the loft was to be my room, I was very excited. It was and still is my idea of a wonderfully homey room. There was a huge bed with a tapestry like bed cover made of a soft wool-like cloth that wasn't itchy. There were tall bookshelves full of books. The roof was peaked, with one huge sky window that looked out the east on one side, and two narrow sky windows that looked out to the west on the other side. There was a desk, and a telescope. There was also a chest of drawers made of some kind of dark wood. And there was a wardrobe near the bed which had a feeling of being very old. Pellenas showed me that there were some light blue pajamas with horse like animals on them in the chest of drawers, he said they were just my size. He told me that Brignatia had given them to him to give to me before I was even introduced to him. I guess his being my teacher was all planned out way in advance. He was right, they did fit. "Will you tell me a story Pellenas? My mother used to tell me such wonderful stories, and she said you knew some too."
"Not tonight I'm afraid," he said kindly, "but tomorrow I'll tell you a very nice one. It's late though, and tomorrow must start right. I will have to start by telling you something that you won't want to hear, and which you probably won't understand. Then there will be school work, and chores, and hiking, and more school work, and more chores, and then lunch, and then capentry, and music, more chores, then supper, then literature, art, walking, and astronomy. Then if you are still interested, I'll tell you a story. But for now, goodnight. Say your prayers, and brush your teeth. There is a basin over there. Goodnight." He shut the door softly, leaving me to get ready for bed. I could hear his footsteps on the stairs. Stairs that always had for me such a comforting sound to them. Stairs in our world have a reputation for creakyness, but the jointery was different with these stairs. They had such a solid sound to them. They were like no stairs I have ever heard.
"Goodnight, Pellenas," I said as he shut the door. I thought he was kidding about all that work, but I was wrong. It did not take me long that first night, and every night after, to fall asleep in my huge bed with the high posts and giant pillows. I slept so well that I forgot to dream, even about spaceships and sky sized nebulas. I was awakened early, and ate my breakfast in a somewhat grogy state. Afterwards we walked a mile to a hilltop to watch the dawn, which was where Pellenas wanted to speak to me about certain things, he said. The woods were so beautiful and prestine, and there was a wonderful sappy aroma that filled the air. They were like what I imagined Englands forests must have looked like at one time, or maybe a little like the woods of America's northeast. We reached the hilltop just a few minutes before dawn. As the first rays streamed over the mountains to the east, Pellenas began his speech.
"We should always talk about difficult things at dawn, when there is hope in our hearts that we will overcome all obsticles of the day, and of all future days. By now you know that you were brought to our world not only to save you from the dark ones, but to prepare you for a cosmic drama that is taking place on your world. Your road this time will seem like the worst thing that has ever happened to you before it ends. On your world, you will never be happy. You will never have friends, even though you may think that you do. There may be a few who have the courage to help, but even they will bend under the forces at play. All your best hopes and asperations will seem just beyond your grasp. You will be mistreated, hated, laughed at, and cheated time and time again. Many times in your life back on earth you will be on the verge of giving up hope, but at those moments the light will save you, Brignatia will save you. If you do not work hard now, it will be unbearable for you later. Just remember that without this time you have here now, you would never stand a chance of winning against the forces of evil. So if there are times when your life here seems too hard, too tough, to unbearable, just remember that without this life you will fail miserably at the other. I can not explain to you about the miserys you must face, I can only prepare you to face them. Chances are you will fail in many ways, but without this time you would fail much worse. You will think it all terribly unfair, yet by enduring to the bitter end you will attain a height you have never dreamed possible..."
"I can tell you this," he said after a brief pause, "that even now what you think is the failure in yourself comes most of it from another, two someones in your own world, two someones that you should be able to trust, but which you can not. One day you will realize this fully, and it will set you free. When you give them a final refusal, you will find that there are then those who are brave enough to help you." Then he sighed heavily, "I can not force you to do this work, and something in you won't want to. I can only promise that I'll make it fun. I know you're afraid to have fun, because your parents back on earth say with their 'never have fun' faces, 'you can't have it, it's not for you, it's not yours.' But I'm telling you it is yours. You can have fun if you want to, and contrary to some people's popular belief on your world, it doesn't even make you fat"
"OK," I said entusiatically, for his voice was so real, so dynamic, it made my heart want to climb a mountain and go running down the other side. He was not kidding about all the work, and it was that, work. But after a time my body and mind grew used to it. After two years of nothing but physical, emotional, and mental exercise, he began to give me a day now and then in which to explore the woods by myself. I was nine now, and had learned so much in such a short time. Once a week Dame Katherine flew out to Pellenas' house in order to tutor me in music. I was beginning to compose original pieces. And although some of my pieces were being performed at a university level, I was never satisfied with what I was doing. I was looking for something that I had seen in the stars that first day with Pellenas. I had almost heard it then, and now the agony of wanting to recreate it so that others could hear it was a constant frustration for me. That's when Pellenas told me to put my music away for a while and begin taking walks. At first I could not conceive of giving up my music, it was such a big part of who I was by now. I was learning much from Pellenas about the subtlties of folk music, especially as pertains to string and woodwind instruments. But it was from Dame Katherine that I really learned the subtle art of composing music. She was an extrodinary composer herself, and I dreamt of being like her someday. But the fact that she had been composing for several hundred years did give her a distinct advantage. So the idea of giving all that up for time was unthinkable. But Pellenas new that there was something that would change my mind. It was then that he started telling me stories about the Beaulani.
The first stories he told me were of how the Beaulani were an ancient race of nature spirits that liked to incarnate in the form of horse like beings. That they had been around for eons on Avalon. And that every hundred years they met in a most secret part of the forest in order to sing. It was a special event on Avalon. Many cities and rural villages all over the planet held festivals, to celebrate the cosmic song of the Beaulani. Few were brave enough to actually enter the sacred woods at this time, but there was a clan of ancient warriors who lived in an old rift forest who would pick one special boy from their clan to brave the woods and bring back to them the tale of that century's gathering, for each one was different.
No one had ever been able to get close enough to the Beaulani to study them. They refused to be studied, and had ways of insuring that they weren't. One day when I was sweeping the porch, which was a time for concentrating and meditating upon the beauty of the day, Pellenas who was on the porch also, (he was looking off into the woods with a distant look of contemplation), turned to me and said, "it is not for me to tell you certain things about the Beaulani, but this much I will tell you: once a long time ago, before our present technological development, all ships of ours were Beaulani. There was no distance that they could not travel. Back then they traveled even to your earth. They agreed to do this, until such time as we could make our own ships for traveling the heavens. They did this in agreement that we would one day give them this life they have now, a life for the most part close to nature and free of man. That is not to say that they don't have dealings with humans," and here he smiled knowingly, as if to say he knew someone who did have dealing with them, "but for the most part they live sepearte and quite independant of us. All of those who went out in the past live here now, in great peace and beauty, all except two, and they are on your world still." Then he looked at me quite poignantly, and said, "Someday you must figure out what to do about that." That was when I began to have an uncontrolable urge to walk alone in woods dark and deep.
I had had enough science by this point in time to know that this sounded impossible. "But if they were able to take you anywhere in space how did they breath, how did they fly, how did people breath in space?" It was not that I did not believe that what my teacher was saying might be possible, he was generally right about everything. It was just that I was taught to have a questioning mind, and to never take things on blind faith.
Pellenas chuckled softly. "Yes I know it sounds incredulous, and no it was not magic. I will try to explain. Look at the sea creatures who build shells around their body. How do they do it? They use materials in nature to construct a shell, a house for their body, to protect that body from predators. Well this is a basic kind of animal life. Well let us suppose for a moment that there are forms of animal life on this planet that are very advance. Almost as advanced in some ways as the human life. What if such animals can use nature to reconstruct their body around their heart center in order for that heart to journey into space. And let us say that this creature has such a big heart, which even people on your world say of their favorite horses, that he or she does not want to travel alone. This magnificent animal wants to carry people so that they can see the stars and the space too. There are many stories even on your world of magnificent and seemingly magical beasts who carry great masters and saints on their backs. Is it not possible that on our world, which is older than yours, that there might just be many such animals who for periods of time help man explore the Cosmos around him? Think about it." And think about it I did.
"But how do they do it? I mean how do they change so much?" I said.
"Good question," said Pellenas, "just like your soul uses the forces of nature to create a body for you to dwell in here on the earth, their spirit uses nature to change their body into something else. Some would say that is impossible, but look at the catipillar, it changes from a big eating machine into the most beautiful member of the insect kingdom. You might say that for the Beaulani it is a combination of two types of transformations, one is like the snail who builds up an artifical body around itself, in this case to protect the living body from the outer space, and two, like a catipillar whose whole body is transformed, in this case into a living engine, capable of great speeds, and great jumps through space." Then he smiled at me and chuckled "Do not horses on your world jump in a fantastic way to?
"Yes," I said laughing to, "but not quite that far." We both laughed together. And suddenly it made sense to me, or at least it seemed possible that such a thing could happen, but it was not until much later in my life back on earth that I learned what he meant that there were still two Beaulani on earth, and that I would have to figure out what to do about that.
As I have said before, the woods on many parts of Avalon are incredible, and whereas the people live to be two or even three thousand years old on occasion, the trees live to be much older than that. There are trees on Avalon that are ten thousand years old. There are many sacred woods on this planet, and since the people seldom use wood anymore except for musical instruments, they are free to grow as old as they want. It had been this way for several hundred years. Most of the architecture on the planet was visualized into being, a type of mental percipitation by groups of trained people (elders) who had hone their meditative skills into a fine instrument of the soul. Their new philosophy was that by becoming co-creators with God the great He/She, they were lessoning the number of lives that they imposed their will upon.
This is not an easy thing to do though, even for them. Those who work on such a project must have the purest minds and hearts, and have a very sacrificial nature. It is wonderful to watch such a manifestation come into excistance. At first it appears almost as a dream, as something that is misty and pastel, but over time the objects begin to take solid form, and then suddenly there is mental wood of very fine quality, and mental bricks, metals, and so forth. After the city materializes there is a great celebration and then comes moving day, which becomes another celebration. So without a great need for wood, the forests grow truly immense.
It was in the heart of a great forest close to Pellenas' house that a large herd of the Beaulani were reported to live. I decided that since I was being encouraged to take long walks, that I would explore these old woods on my own, but first I would ask for a little more survival help from Pellenas, so that if I got lost I wouldn't die in the woods. Pellenas seemed very happy about my choice of projects, and gave me as much encouragement and practiacal lore as he could muster. After a few more months of practical experience with Pellenas I finally set out on my own one day in summer, early in the morning, right after breakfast. By this time I was nine and a half, and growing very strong for my age.
I set out with a knapsack full of all the things I would need to survive, including a kind of food that is very nutricious and good, but which is in a form similar to what the Indians called Pemican, except with nuts and fruits and grains. The day was sunny, and the birds were chirping everywhere. I had a map that Pellenas gave me, it was very old."
"I could give you a much newer map," he said, "but I have a feeling that this map will be much more fun for you. And, it is pretty accurate. It even tells where certain species have often been seen. That should make your curiosity grow a few inches." he said, and chuckled. I thanked him with my eyes, which is considered the most sincere kind of thanks by Rheans, and then set out for an ancient grove on the other side of a jagged ridge.
Pellenas was right, a newer map would not have been nearly as fun as traveling through an ancient forest with an old map that used the ancient names on all its landmarks. Only in dreams now can I remember the Welsh like language of the Rheans of Avalon. You might be wondering though, why my teacher let a nine year old boy wander the woods by himself. Well, self sufficancy in taught from a very early age on all the continents of Avalon. Also they believe in the laws of karma, so if something bad is going to happen to you it does not always help to have an adult present. Sometimes it does, but not always. I had already learned how to be fearless, which is something that has stuck with me here on earth whenever there is a real crisis. I would say that the evil ones have been fairly successful at destroying much of the training I received on Avalon, except where it really counts.
I did not mind at all climbing a challenging mountain and descending into the ancient forest on the other side. The landscape was wonderful, and the wildlife varied. On the second day while climbing the jagged ridge I saw a white mountain lioness (that's what I call them because of their similarity to our own mountain lions, except for the distinctly feminine eyes), this is a rarity, they are almost as shy as the Beaulani, and some even say that they are not even true animals, but are the shifted shapes of high Taras like Brignatia. But this has never been proven. It was not until the third day, after hiking a short ways into the woods, that I began to feel eyes watching me. I was not afraid, even though it is extremely dangerous to go amongst the Beaulani.
It was not the Beaulani that I met first though in those mysterious woods, but rather, a young girl my age with long black hair. You will think it sounds childish, but I was instantly in love with her. Although I was to find out later in my life on Avalon that she too was from earth, she definately had the eyes of a Rhean. She would not tell me her name though, no matter how much I begged her. I told her that my name was David, but she insisted upon calling me Lonely Lonely Lanni, with a teasing smile and a bright wit. I surrendered my heart to her from the moment I saw her, which I have never done with anyone else, ecept Brignatia; and she never took advantage of me for this, even though she teased me incessantly.
When looking at her as she so purposefully parted the under brush, her large eyes looking so intently and purposefully at me, as if she was expecting me there, I felt whole for the first time in my life, as if a great void in my heart had been filled completely to over-flowing by a single glance from her eyes. She asked me where I was headed, and I said brashly that I was seeking my first look at the Beaulani. She laughed at that and said that a person couldn't just come barging into the woods to view the Beaulani as if you were at a buseum to see a painting. Then she looked at me most strangely I thought, her eyes gave me a feeling of prhphecy, as if she were standing there in front of me seeing my future, and then, not telling me about it. "What do you see," I said.
That's when she looked at me nervously for a moment, and said, "Nothing, you're not quite who I was expecting," but then as quickly her nervousness was gone and she was bright again, and said, "but you'll do, poor Lanni. I love you anyway, and you're not what they think of you either. I know you Lanni...and in the end, they will too."
It was just like the talk I had heard from Brignatia and Pellenas, so I knew that she must be a seer, and must have been talking of my future life back on earth. Most of the people I had met on Avalon were aware of my predicament and sympathized with the dark road that streached out before me. They knew that the threads of karma could not be cut, but that they could be colored enough to see by when entering into the valley of Death.
"How do you know so much about me?" I asked defensively.
"Poor Lanni doesn't know yet," she teased, "but you will, then you'll wish you didn't. But come," she said gently, as she saw my old depression return, "you want to see the Beaulani don't you."
"You know where they are?" I said excitedly.
Of course, I am Beaulani too," she said. "You are so foolish sometimes Lanni," she said, and giggled.
She hushed my next question, and closed her eyes, making a graceful gesture with her right arm and hand, a gesture of communion. She was silent, making the hand gesture for about a minute, when I noticed that the woods got very quite, even the many song birds with their thin and distant calls were silent. Then one by one small horse-like creatures came into our little clearing, white ones and black ones, with huge almond shaped eyes. The white ones had yellowish gold eyes, that almost glowed they were so clear and alive. The black ones had pitch black eyes, that seemed to contain some black mysterious storm of justice in them. They seemed to communicate through their eyes, and their eyes brightened as they looked at the beautiful girl. After a short while the girl broke her communication with the Beaulani, and said to me, "They say that it's about time you showed up," then she giggled when I looked at her dumbstruck, then she giggled and said, "no, not really, they said that they are glad to see you, and ask if you would like to be Beaulani too? Are you scared?" she jibed.
"No," I said proudly, even though I had no clue as to what this entailed. To me the Beaulani looked like small horses, only with much finer features. Like small Arabians, except that the head was even more graceful than that of the Arabian. Their eyes were extremely intelligent. When they looked at you, you could tell that they could tell all kinds of things about you, not only by using their keen animal senses, but also by using their keen minds. Their walk was as quite as that of a deer, and their animal pride was equal to that of the best trained show horses.
At a gesture from the girl they nuzzled around us close, and suddenly I found myself in the middle of a herd of wonderous mystical Beaulani, with a black one close by on my right side, and a white one on my left. "Come," said the girl, "we will walk with them a ways. They have not told me how you will be made Beaulani, but you will, it is different for each one." I nodded in agreement, too excited to say anything. There was such a sense of peace being around them, a sense of stillness. We walked through a very old part of the forest, weaving through the trees. I was too shy to touch one, but the two on either side of me kept nuzzling me from time to time. After a time we reached another clearing in the forest. Suddenly I decided to put a hand on each of their backs, as a sign of respect. That is when I got the shock of my life. From the backs of these magnificent beasts, two barbs, one from each beast, shot into my hands from a special gland on their backs. At first glance I felt totally betrayed, for as soon as the barbs entered my flesh the black and white Beaulani at my side snorted loudly, and the whole herd ran off silently into the woods. I suddenly felt dizzy, and I then fell to the ground hard, feeling that I had just been killed by the most beautiful creatures I'd ever seen.
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