“Beyond the Horizon”

By John H. Whalen

Beyond the Horizon is about a young man's search for himself and his purpose in life. The book takes place in the future after a nuclear holocaust was released upon the world. After the death of his mother, Jessica, Miles goes in search of his father, John, who had not returned to their village after several years. He starts out his adventure with his large dog, A-len. Miles rescues the beautiful Sara from some grotesque man-creatures. While exploring this primordial world, they have many adventures which include evil shape-shifters, witches that practice the dark arts, monster rats, and the dreaded demon beasts. As they travel on together, Sara and Miles become very close and Miles begins to have feelings that he doesn't understand. They also learn to continue to seek what is Beyond the Horizon.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Nov 15, 2012
• ISBN: 9781479750849

John H. Whalen

John Whalen was born in Oswego, New York. He was the middle child of 12 children from the different marriages of both parents. John graduated from Mexico Academy High School in 1967. Then, in 1997, he went to the Oswego University and received his Masters Degree in Education. He has 3 children, 1 boy and 2 girls from a previous marriage, all of whom he is proud of the way they turned out. His son, Johnny, is in the Office of Naval Intelligence now stationed in Hawaii with his son Kalani. My youngest daughter, Sara, has 2 beautiful children, Rebekah and Brian. John quit teaching to take care of his beautiful wife Linda, who died of cancer on September 12, 2012. His step-son, Tommy Scott Jr., lives with him as they take care of each other.

Book preview

CHAPTER I

There was but a slight whisper of a cool breeze upon the early morning air. Miles sadly looked down from the heavily wooded hillside. He was looking upon his sleepy little village as the first piercing rays of the early morning sun peaked over the surrounding monumental mountains. The people of the village were just in the process of awaking to the promise of a bright new day. They all moved almost lethargically about their own very early morning routines. Miles, on the other hand, had been up since the first signs of the false dawn was gently touching the early morning sky.

Miles was tall, and very muscular. He had what to some would be roughened good looks. His hair was dark almost coal black and very wavy. He wore his hair long and tied with a rawhide thong. The young men of his village wore their hair this way until they were allowed to undertake the Rites of Passage. The Rites of Passage is a methodical ceremony that the young men of the tribe had to go through to be considered a true man. It involved many tests that they would undergo before they would be considered men and protectors of their quaint little village.

Miles wore a dark leather vest that had many different sized pockets and a single narrow tie in the front to cover his very broad, muscular chest. His vest was unusual for most other men of his village wore pull over jerkins that had no pockets. He also wore dark leather pants with soft-soled, calf length boots. He had fabricated his clothing from the many animals that he had hunted and killed. Over his shoulders he carried a long bow with many arrows in a sturdy quiver. At his side was a long knife sharply honed and about his narrow waist he wore a sling. Within the pockets of his vest he carried many special shooting stars. Across his broad, tanned chest he also carried a long, woven rope. Almost a must in the high mountain terrain that surrounded his little village.

All of these weapons were fashioned and made exclusively by his own hands. It was one of the main requirements for the Rites of Passage but Miles had gone beyond the necessary requirements for his preparations for the Rites. Miles had often spent many weeks upon his own within the deep, surrounding forest honing and improving his skills in wood lore and most importantly—self survival. His skills were unsurpassed by any other in his little village. The survival skills were yet another very important requirement of the Rites of Passage.

Around his massive neck he wore a very special magical amulet that his mother had bestowed upon him minutes before her untimely death. The magic amulet had special powers that would cause it to pulsate with a strange energy force whenever immediate danger or malicious evil was about to threaten the wearer. As far as Miles knew there were only two such amulets in existence. His father Jon wore the other one. As he stood upon the wood covered hill, he thought of his imminent life within the little village and an undulation of very deep loneliness swept over him.

Miles was what some of the villagers called an Outsider. But others called him worse, a Mutant. Miles was much stronger and faster than all the other youths of his village. He had a much keener sense of hearing which allowed him to hear sounds long before any of the others of his village could even detect them. Miles also was endowed with highly developed night vision which enabled him to discern objects on the darkest of nights that none of the others could see. The most obvious thing that makes him stand apart from the rest of the villagers was his dark, coal black hair. This, as well as his other special mutant powers he had inherited from his dear, sweet mother, Jessica. All the others of his tribe, including his beloved father, had either blonde or light brown hair.

Being that Miles was so apparently different than the others he was often viciously teased and taunted by the other children of the Village. The other children never bothered to ask nor even allowed Miles to join in their frolicking and playing. None of the children were ever physically abusive towards him. Miles suspected that they feared his greater strength and his fantastic speed. Even as a young boy, Miles was much stronger than most of the full grown men of the village. As a young man, he also was taller than the other men of the little village. This all aided in their deep resentment and their great infantile fear of him. Their constant taunting injured Miles much deeper than they ever realized but he refused to ever allow it to show on the surface.

While Miles was quietly standing there gazing down upon the quiet little village with its meandering people A-Len his Faithful companion came silently up to him and gently nuzzled his hand. It was as if he were able to sense that Miles was feeling deeply depressed and very lonely, A-Len was a very large, wolf-like dog that weighed almost two hundred pounds. He was dark black with fine shadows of a reddish brown in his thick fur. This allowed him to blend in with the many shadows of the night. He had a very intelligent face with soft, deep brown eyes. A-Len was extremely fierce in a fight yet very gentle and completely loyal to Miles. Actually, Miles was his only friend for the others of the village silently feared him. A-Len had never given them any reasons nor were his actions ever antagonistic towards them. Here again, it was the villagers own foolish fears.

Miles had saved A-Len as a very young pup after a terribly copious flood that had nearly drowned him. A very violent storm had caught Miles outside of his sheltered mountain range where his little village sat. He was walking along the banks of a raging river after the storm when he spied a large log floating in the middle of it. Upon the log, Miles could discern a small, dark fur ball. He quickly removed his weapons and undauntedly dove into the raging river. With his great strength and endurance, Miles easily made his way to the log. He gently removed the frightened, clinging fur ball from the branches of the log. Instinctively the small, dark fur ball quieted down as if he knew that he would soon be safe on dry land. Miles returned to the bank of the raging river with very little difficulty. He raised the little, dark fur ball into the air so that he could inspect it for injuries. Satisfied that the little, dark fur ball was basically uninjured he set it upon the ground. Immediately, the little fur ball began shaking the water off. Miles laughed at the amusing sight. From that day on, A-Len was almost a constant companion of Miles.

No other of his little village had such a grand pet or as Miles refers to him a companion. For like Miles, A-Len was a mutant too. As time went on, Miles found that he was able to easily communicate his thoughts and feelings to A-Len by merely concentrating with his mind. The two of them were almost inseparable. They were always hunting, playing or merely relaxing together. They had been on many adventures and faced many fierce enemies together. Miles often shares his inner most and deepest feelings with him knowing that he would never disclose them to anybody. This closeness had grown especially since the untimely death of his mother Jessica.

Miles’ father Jon, was an Elder and a famous Ranger of his village. He had often been away from the small secluded valley for very long periods of time. A Ranger’s main duty was to continuously seek the great lost knowledge of the past, then return with it to their village. They searched the many ancient, dead cities for any unusual artifacts. Pencils, paper, metals of any kind, and especially readable books were considered to be extremely valuable to the Elders of their village.

When Jon was at home, he had often taught Miles much concerning history, ancient legends, myths, and much more about survival wood lore. Jon was an excellent hunter and trapper. One who could walk unnoticed throughout the quiet stillness of the great forest. They often took long walks in the surrounding forest just sharing their companionship. They would have many long discussions concerning the ancient past. They also talked of his father’s many adventures while he explored the many ancient and decrepit cities of the outside world. There were always many discussions concerning the various dangers of the black witchcraft users, devil worshipers, and the much feared demon-beast of these ancient cities.

Jon had spoken to Miles about the black rites and the gruesome use of human sacrifices within these rites. Jon also had vividly described the terribly cruel ferocity of the demon-beasts. They were often used to carry out the bidding of evil witches and their covens. At this time, his father’s Ranger party had been missing for well over two years. This was unlike his father or any of the other Rangers within his group. All of the others of the village considered the party as being dead after having been gone for so long without hearing any messages from them.

A long time ago, Miles’ mother, Jessica, was a plains woman. She had met Jon on one of his many excursions outside of the secluded little valley. At the time Jon had been severely injured by a large vicious animal. Jessica had found him near death. She dragged his battered and bloodies body into a nearby cave. There, she nursed him using her vast knowledge of herbal medicines. Jessica tended and dressed his many wounds. She had prepared and applied many special poultices and salves to ease his pain and to assist in his healing. She then sat an quiet vigilance as he slowly mended. For most of the time he laid unconscious and would have been helpless victim of the many beasts of the plains.

Upon his awakening, it was her smiling, angelic face that first greeted him. She was tall, statuesque, and a very beautiful woman. She had long, wavy black hair and beautiful dark eyes. Her skin was bronze and radiant. They fell deeply in love and were married by her tribal laws. Later, Jon was reunited with the rest of his small party of Rangers. Upon their return to his little village, they were again married by his village’s laws.

Jessica was one of the Shaman of her plains tribe. She had many special powers for she too was a Mutant. Her tribe was later totally devastated by the numerous and extremely savage attacks by herds of wandering demon-beasts. She was endowed with a great knowledge of herbal medicines and of the vast mysteries of white magic. Among her special mutant powers was the ability to be a shape-changer. A shape changer is a person with the power and ability to physically transmute into many different animals. It was completely done at the discretion of their own inclinations. Their main criteria is that they must be able to concentrate fully on the type of animal that they would want to become. The transformation would then be almost instantaneously and complete. They are endowed with the raw powers and senses of the animal but they also retain their own minds and spirits. Transformation caused a great drain upon her life forces and always took time for recovery from the effects. There are also some evil or dark witches that have this great mutant power of transmutation.

Jessica had spent many long, tedious hours educating the young, avid Miles about the ways of her tribe and of herbal lore. She also knew of the deep heartache and the extreme loneliness that Miles felt for she too harbored these same intense feelings deep within her heart. They often had long talks and Miles would discuss his inner most feelings with her. She had attempted to explain, and maybe even excuse, the reasons that the villagers treated them the way they did. She had said that their unfair treatment of them was basically caused from their fears. Fears generated from the past and their general misunderstanding of their special powers. The word Mutant, had been in the past related to the horrible creatures that appeared to be so very evil and always dangerous to humans. They were caused or created by their exposure, or that of their ancestors, to the extreme concentrations of radiation in the After-time. Jessica’s ancestors were not as adequately protected from the dangers of intense radiation as were those of Jon’s village.

The After-time usually refers to the period of time immediately following the world wide nuclear holocaust. It was a time when there were large concentrations of radiation all around the world. During this period the extreme levels of radiation would sometimes kill its victims. In other rare cases, it would alter the appearance and reasoning abilities of the humans and animals that it came in contact within. At times the radiation’s would affect their minds causing them to go completely insane. These then maddened beasts would want only to viscously kill or destroy anything that they came in contact with, human or animal.

The radiation could also cause subtle genetic changes in others that would be passed down through their future generations. A great number of these changes could be malicious or evil but many were also good and gave or enhanced special powers. Being that the majority of the people usually heard or remembered more about the evil than the good their fear of mutants grew with the years.

The narrow-minded villagers began equating the term Mutant with only evil, savage beasts. This concept was not always true as has been proven through the very existence of Jessica, Miles and A-Len. They were good but the concept that all mutants were evil still lingered strongly on deep within the minds and hearts of the villagers. What ignorant people do not understand, they often unreasonably feared and attempted to unwittingly destroy it. Sadly, this has been the way of men since the very beginning of time.

A short time ago, Miles and A-Len were away from the little village hunting for game. During their absence a very large group of demon-beasts savagely and viciously attacked the little village. They were large, hairy and horribly deformed beasts. They had small, red eyes, long, hairy arms that ended in razor-like claws and had huge, yellowed fangs in massive jaws. The demon beasts attacked the little village suddenly and without any warning for the perimeter guards. They killed and rendered every villager, whether man, woman, or child, that they came in contact with. They showed mercy to none and their deaths were horrible.

Jessica was quietly tending her small vegetable garden behind her house. Her home was on the extreme outskirts of the little village. She and the villagers preferred it that way. She heard the terrible screams being emitted from the village. She turned and saw several of the vicious attacking demon-beasts heading towards a group of small defenseless children. Jessica quickly used her mutant powers and transformed herself into a very large, black wolf. Without any concern for her own safety, she immediately leaped to their aid.

Jessica swiftly covered the distance between her and the defenseless children.

She valiantly attempted to divert the attacking demon-beasts away from the screaming children. She prayed that help would arrive soon. Jessica fought savagely and as valiantly as she possible could have against such great odds. She tore and rendered many of the viscous demon-beasts but their sheer numbers were just too overpowering. Help finally did arrive in time to save the frightened children but not in time enough to save the valiant Jessica. The men of the village were finally able to form resistance against the terrible invaders. They courageously fought the demon-beasts, repelling them back. Finally, after a long, hard battle, the men of the village were able to kill all of the vicious demon-beasts forces. They allowed none to escape their secluded little valley. They feared that if any had escaped that they would give the position of their little village to others of their kind.

Soon after the fighting had ceased, some of the villagers placed Jessica onto a stretcher. They carried her broken and torn body gently back to her tiny hut. Some of the women attempted to make her as comfortable as possible in her condition. During her weakened condition, Jessica quickly transformed her shape back into her own once again. She quietly laid there completely helpless and totally exhausted.

The women of the village attempted to cleanse and to dress her many wounds but they lacked her great knowledge of herbal medicines. They all knew that she had been too seriously wounded and had lost far too much blood to survive very much longer. Some of the women of the village came by to thank her for saving their children from the demon-beasts. They also apologetically admitted that they now all knew that they were very wrong for the way that they had treated her and her beloved son. Jessica could see and sense that they actually meant all that they said and softly smiled at them in acknowledgment. She also knew that no matter how sincere they were their deeply rooted fears would not allow them to change. They may not outwardly show it but they would still secretly fear them.

Upon his return from a long, fruitful hunting trip, Miles discovered the slain and mutilated bodies of the perimeter sentries. They were left to guard the outer hidden entranceway to the small, secluded valley. He traveled cautiously through the passageway for the spoor of the demon-beasts passing had strongly lingered within. When they reached the inner opening, there they found the other guards that had also been slain and mutilated. Miles and A-Len then raced as swiftly as possible back to the little village in fear of his beloved mother’s safety.

There, he quickly noticed the huge funeral pyre where many of the villagers were throwing the putrid bodies of the demon-beasts. Most were dead but he could hear the piercing screams of the ones who were yet alive. The putrid stench of the burning, bodies, along with great thick billows of black smoke, permeated the entire village. Miles could hear the loud plaintive keening and wailing of the mourners as they lamented for the many villagers and family members that had been savagely killed in the vicious attack upon their village.

With his heart pounding wildly, Miles raced quickly to the house of his mother. There he found it completely surrounded by many of the villagers. He roughly and very unceremoniously forced his way through the very large crowd and into her house. There, he found his mother, Jessica in bed with her eyes closed. She was surrounded by yet more villagers, mainly the Elders. Miles could plainly see that she had suffered many grievous wounds. He quickly knelt down and gently laid his head upon her breast. Then he began to cry softly for the first time that he could ever remember. For a few moments, Miles felt so terribly all alone in a very hostile world that was not of his own making.

Jessica slowly opened her tear-filled eyes for she could sense the awful feelings of despair and loneliness deep within her son. She weakly reached out her shaking hand and gently stroked his long, coal-black hair. Miles slowly raised his head with tears still welling within his own eyes. He could actually sense that the precious life force was draining slowly from his mother’s now frail and broken body. He knew deep within himself that she would soon be dead and that he would then be all alone. Jessica weakly reached up and slowly removed her very special amulet from around her own neck. She then placed it lovingly around Miles’ massive neck.

Softly she said to Miles Keep this with you always for it will aid and protect you in times of need. It will warn you whenever danger or evil is near. Your father wears it’s only mate.

Miles looked deep within his beloved mother’s sad dark brown eyes. Miles knew of the great powers of the special amulet for his mother had spoken of it quite often to him. Jessica gently closed her dark eyes as if to merely resume her sleep. Then she quietly passed away with a soft and gentle smile upon her lips.

The Elders and the other villagers all slowly began to leave. Each stopped briefly to express his or her condolences upon Miles for the grievous loss of his beloved mother. He could feel that their sincerity was real but knew deep within that it would not last. Their deeply rooted fears would after a time slowly reappear. They all seemed to know that Miles wished for solitude so that he could express his own grief in private.

After they had all departed, only Miles and faithful A-Len were left. Miles quietly and ceremoniously began to prepare his mother for burial. He washed her completely with special oils. He reverently dressed her in a special white ceremonial dress that was covered with thousands of colorful beads. Then, he gently wrapped her within a large black blanket. It was covered with many mystical and cryptic manifestations. Their meanings were known only to Jessica and Miles. Jessica had explained them all to him as she did her wishes in the event of her death.

Miles knelt next to his mother and prayed. He then gently picked up Jessica in his two massive arms and held her tightly to his chest. He carried her to a very special place known only to himself and A-Len. Miles buried his mother privately high upon a hill. It was a place that she had visited often with him. The place over-looked their whole little valley. It was very beautiful and peaceful there. Miles knew that she would enjoy her eternal rest there undisturbed by man or beast.

He dug the grave himself very deep. He then placed many large stones over it for protection from the many wild scavenges that inhabited the surrounding forest of the little valley. He stayed there all day at his mother’s graveside. A-Len was his only faithful companion. Towards dusk, they both returned to the village. They walked slowly to the small gloomy house that once was filled with love. With the death of his beloved mother and the strange disappearance of his father, Miles felt such a deep emptiness within his massive chest. The heavy pain and loneliness was now almost unbearable. There he waited in silent contemplation for his time at the Council of Elders.

CHAPTER II

Miles’ village lays deep within a very secluded valley that is almost completely surrounded by a deep, rich forest. In turn, this peaceful valley is surrounded by an almost solid wall of sheer mountain cliffs. There is only one way in or out of the secluded little valley. This is through a long, narrow guarded passageway which goes through a large, underground chamber before entering the secluded little valley. Both ends of this passageway are always guarded by two Sentries each.

Their ancestors had arrived at the secluded little valley in huge flying machines. These flying machines had to be landed outside of the little valley. They arrived just before the