Chapter Nine

For almost three months Harry was adopted into a tribecalled the Amazonians. They were the rare inhabitants of the Amazons that many scientists and explorers had been researching but never found. They felt that his tongue, Parselmouth, would benefit them further in their livelihood. And in return forhis being a Parselmouth the villagers taught him survival skills. One woman called Mama Rhea taught him the magic of ancient Sorcery. She was the oldest of the villagers and the only Shaman. With ankle length, pure white hair, tied high in plaits, Mama Rhea was still quite healthy and youthful looking at her old age with healthy tanned skin and loose hide dress.

She was the one to take Harry under her wing and he loved learning from the lavender-eyed witch. He loved her even more when she would suddenly start a lesson that the Wizarding World never knew of. She explained that it was because they had forgotten the ways of Lord Merlin and Lady Circe, even the Dark Arts of Lady Morgana. There were even stories of an old religion many had once followed, Druidism, of which Mama Rhea had desecended. She was also one of the select few, being one ofonly nine Priests and Priestesses, that practiced the ancientways.

"Ah, Harry, welcome back to my hut, my boy."

He tipped his head. "Mama Rhea." He settled across from her roaring fire in the comfortable Indian position. She knelt before the fire, eyes intent on something she only could see.

"It is time for your next lesson. One I think willparticularly interest you." Harry had the feeling it pertained to something that hadhappened in his life. All the villagers knew of his past history, he made sure of it, not wanting anything to come between him andhis chance at living a normal life. "Have you heard of the Guardians of the Veil, Guardians of Lost Souls and the Dead?"

"No. But I know of The Veil at the Ministry of Magic in Britain."

"Ah, but there is a Veil in every Ministry, the same Veil. The Guardians will appear when they are needed. Sometimes earlier than expected. These Guardians always know when a living soul has entered the Realm of the Dead. They know a living soul does not belong, therefore the Guardians may bewilling strike a deal. But only with those of a pure heart and a desire forall life."

"All life?"

Colored smoke swirled above the flames, forming into The Veil he had once seen. "The Guardians are willing to part with the living soul but living souls feed their energy, keeping them alive for centuries to come. But with every day among the dead the living will begin to believe thatthere is no life only death. A pure heart must recognize that to save that one life could affect those around them. Some living souls may return cold, violent, even deadly. Is that one soul worth morethan the world of life? That pure heart must be willing to lose what desire they have for their lost loved one."

Unshed tears filled emerald, his voice but a whisper, "I can't save him, can I?"

Mama Rhea couldn't lie to her child, "I do not know. No one has ever been able to resurrect their lost soul from the Realm of the Dead without consequences. No living soul has ever exited the way it entered. The Guardians speak the ancient languages of all tongues. But not one has been able to accurately speak of the Guardians nor have we been able to understand them. We only know what we have learned. It is said that Lord Hades had created The Guardians of the Veil for his Queen Persephone when her world died with every day she was not above ground. It is said that Persephone used it as a mirror for her mother to see her daughter in the Realm of the Dead. It is also said that the Guardians are fickle beings, following the whimsical of their Lord and Lady, not always obeying what is asked of them."

But deep within Harry a flame was lit. And a plan was slowly developing. For more than ten years, Harry planned and hoped.