Druidess Found (Druidess Trilogy Book 1)

of his people's past knowledge. They were not a simple people. They lived in villages, true, but life felt more than what it appeared on the surface, at least to him. Village life afforded a peace that perhaps a city couldn't. Peaceful did not equate to simple. There society contained complexities beyond a simple village life. Often those complexities irritated Moto. Their villages contained wonders some might view as impossible. The construct of their huts, for example. On the surface, the huts looked simple enough, but they were sturdy and cool in an otherwise hot and humid climate. Yet, in other ways his people appeared primitive, example being the lack of a written language.

Through Moto's travels to other worlds he experienced different ways of life, and different types of Inhabitants. He didn't interact with many of them. He observed from a distance to first determine if the Inhabitants could touch the energy of their world. If they could, he made contact. Although, at first the language barriers posed a tricky problem, fortunately, Shimani figured out how to overcome the language barriers on one of their excursions together. Shimani then showed Moto how to 'learn' the language in a blink of an eye.

At times Moto wondered who mentored who when it came to Shimani, although he would never admit it to him. In his travels, he came across a variety of Inhabitants and most possessed some kind of written language. Even those Inhabitants he considered behind development and understanding of the Kahoali people. It didn't make sense to him that his people understood so much about the energies and living within their environment in harmony yet lacked in other areas. The same areas that lessor developed Inhabitants did not lack.

He stepped up to the arch of the Ancestral Gateway and touched the smooth stone with reverence. A piece of their ancestral heritage lay beneath touch. Maybe the only piece left of their ancestral history and heritage. The Ancestral Gateway, a prime example of what knowledge the Kahoali people lost. His people knew it existed, but no one knew where to find it and no one bothered to look, except himself. Finding it took Moto years and even then, he found it by accident as he stumbled upon it some time ago. As it turned out, he happened upon it by chance when he and Shimani scouted a part of the forest no one explored or cultivated for food and clothing. Now, thinking back on it, he couldn't remember why Shimani and he walked that part of the forest.

He shook his head.

It didn't matter now. They found it and from that point on Moto made it a priority to learn how to use the Gateway. In the beginning, learning how to use the Ancestral Gateway started out as academic and a way to touch knowledge that his ancestors possessed. After the night terrors started, learning how to use it became paramount. Once he learned how the Gateway functioned and its purpose, he explored every possible world he could to find to explore. He asked questions and sought answers about his night terrors. None of those Inhabitants gave him answers, none which made sense, anyway. Today, however, his purpose didn't revolve around finding answers to his dilemma of the night terrors. He sought answers to another dilemma which recently became far more important.

He admired the Gateway as he often did each time, he stepped up to it. The Ancestral Gateway, an impressive stone arch, smooth to the touch. The stone gleamed as if polished in the recent present, although Moto knew otherwise. The Gateway's size stood tall and wide. Even with Moto's impressive stature he couldn't stretch enough to touch the inside edges or the top of the arched stone, not even with his fingertips.

The stone gleamed a bleached tan, like sand. At times Moto noticed a silver gleam running through the inside of the arched stone of the Gateway. That same gleam did not exist when he and Shimani first found the Ancestral Gateway. Moto first noticed the silver gleam after his first activation of the Gateway. Now, he noticed both during activation and other times before activation. The gleam didn't follow a consistent pattern for him to discern. He felt mildly irritated by the lack of logic in that regard but ignored his irritation. He would solve this mystery another day.

Moto ran his hand over one of the runes. Various runes lined both sides of the arched stone. Shimani and he spent many nights recalling all the stories they could remember about the Ancestral Gateway searching for answers to unlock its secrets. Much as Moto hated to admit it, Shimani first discovered the secret of the runes, and that the Ancestral Gateway was a stationary portal. As far as Moto could tell the destinations connect different worlds to Ki and not between destinations on Ki. He tried a variety of ways to use it like a portal from one destination to another on Ki, but to no avail.

He dragged his wandering thoughts back to the present and placed the palm of his hand on the rune which would open the Ancestral Gateway to his destination. He closed his eyes and concentrated. He felt the heat of the rune penetrate the center of his palm. It didn't hurt, but neither did he find it comfortable. He forced himself to keep his hand firmly connected to the rune while the energy of Ki flowed through him into the rune and stone arch of the Ancestral Gateway. He knew he poured enough of Ki's energy into the stone when he felt the energy flow back into his palm. He stopped pulling energy from Ki and concentrated on his end goal. He felt the moment the Ancestral Gateway created the portal within the confines of the arched stone.

He felt the opening of the portal whether than saw it with his eyes. If he looked closely, he could see the slight shimmer within the space of