All Earth's Children characters belong to Jean Auel. All Harry Potter Characters belong to JK Rowling. I just wrote this for fun, not profit.
the crossing over
The young woman awoke on the ground, surrounded by the tallest trees she had ever seen. She sat up and looked around curiously. The last thing she had seen after she ingested the root was the inside of her own sleeping platform, and the earthen ceiling above her bed. She wondered if this was a spirit world, like Mamut talked about. She felt the same, but maybe that didn't mean anything.
She stood up slowly, watching for anything dangerous, like wild animals. This place was a far cry from the snowy, windswept steppes she came from. However, she reasoned, a spirit world wouldn't look exactly like home. She wished she had Mamut to expain things to her. The animals they hunted were animals of the steppes. She couldn't imagine even a spirit mammoth being able to walk through this densely packed forest. Now that she was here, which way to go. She glanced up at the sky, took another look around her and chose.
The young woman started walking, looking for a herd. Of anything. Mammoth would bring her status with her camp, especially if the ensuing hunt was successful. But, anything would do--antelope, horses, whatever. She thought about finding a baby horse to raise, just like her friend Ayla. The young woman missed her older friend and had been restless and moody ever since they came back from Summer Meeting. The winters were generally monotonous, and now even Deegie was gone, off with her mate to start a new camp. Last year had the excitement of visitors, but this year was one boring day after another. When she had found the root Ayla and Mamut had used when they recreated the Clan Ceremony, she decided to try it. Just a little bit. She didn't want to walk in the spirit world forever, and she knew that there was a very real possibility of that happening with this plant. Just a tiny amount, just to see what would happen. So, here she was, starting her own adventure. Just like Ayla.
the hut
The young woman hadn't had far to walk when she saw smoke curling up through the trees. They had fire in the spirit world? She hadn't considered the possibility of human spirits, but it wasn't unreasonable. As she approached the direction of the smoke, she noticed the smell was from wood. She had smelled wood smoke before, usually at Summer Meeting. During the rest of the year, her people burned mammoth bone. Of course, she had seen many trees here, but no mammoth.
The trees seemed to thin out now, and she walked slowly, observing, blending in with the surrounding vegetation. Two steps here, three steps there, now sideways, now forward. She thought she could see something through the trees and she crouched down to approach unseen.
Carefully she crept forward until she could see the strangest shelter she had ever laid eyes on. The sides seemed to be made of mud, or stone, or both. The roof. Was that pieces of wood and tall grasses? She wanted to get closer to see. There was a large opening, clearly a door, although it was covered with wood, perhaps. Definitely not an animal hide. Strangest of all, were holes cut into the side of the house. Too small to be extra doors and too high up to be practical to climb through. Although it probably could be done that way. But the most peculiar thing about these holes was that although she could see glimpses inside the shelter, she could also see the faint reflections of trees, such as you could see in lakes. The holes were covered with something, some wierd kind of ice that doesn't melt? Why not. After all, things must be different in the spirit world.
The woman crouched down lower when she saw a man come out the door. He was huge, even bigger than Talut, the mate of her mother. He was dressed in animal skins and something else. Maybe woven fibers. Rather unusual. She watched, stock-still as he crossed his yard with a large club in one hand and approached an enclosure. The woman had not seen the sleeping animal inside, but it woke up and started making loud noises. The man reached into a bag at his waist and threw some meat towards it, and the animal snapped it out of the air and settled down to eat it, making contented noises. She heard the man talking to the animal before he turned and walked away.
So. The man was a Mamut. A powerful Caller, by all appearances. And, that animal! Spirit animals must not look like their counterparts in the physical world. She did not see anyone else around. Maybe he was on a solitary spiritual path. Watching the strange animal eat, the woman felt her own hunger. She would approach the Mamut and request hospitality. She didn't know if it was ever nighttime here, but if so, she would also need shelter. She was Nezzie's daughter, a high-status woman. She did not want to disgrace her family by arriving empty-handed. Remembering some of the vegetation she had seen on the way, she decided she would approach him bearing a gift.