Shadow of the Makei: Legal Note and Foreword

LEGAL NOTE:  This original copyrighted work is based on Walt Disney's 
feature film, "The Lion King."  Elements taken directly from "The Lion 
King" are the property of The Walt Disney Company.  "Shadows of the 
Makei" is distributed free of charge excepting reasonable distribution 
costs.  Quoting passages from our work, writing original pieces based on 
our work, or using characters we created is fine as long as you secure 
prior approval.  That begins by sending either of us a copy of the work.  
Our e-mail addresses are:

David A. Morris:	damorris@wilmington.net
John H. Burkitt:  john.burkitt@nashville.com

Your comments on our work, pro and con, are always welcome.  We have 
been asked about our legal note.  This is our official response: "The 
copyright is maintained solely to prevent patently vulgar or lewd misuse 
of our characters.  Most any work, including parodies would be fine as 
long as it meets certain reasonably broad standards of decency.  We 
reserve the right as copyright holders to define and change those 
standards.  None of these standards is meant to force the applicant to 
be consistant with the literary style or plot of the original work."

The characters Akase, Isha, and Malaika are the property of Brian 
Tiemann.  Used with permission.

This story is a fictional work, but we don't claim that any resemblance 
to any characters living or dead is purely coincidental.  With love and 
respect, we acknowledge the debt we owe to those who taught us how to 
laugh and cry.  Without acting as clear models for any one character, 
many great souls, some non-human, have been woven deeply into the fabric 
of our lives only to end up in "Shadows of the Makei."


FOREWORD BY THE AUTHORS:

	"Chronicles of the Pride Lands" and "The Spirit Quest" shine like  
jewels on black velvet.  A pair of beautifully cut gemstones that gleam 
with their own inner light, showing us hope, promise, and happiness.  
And like all jewels, they have many facets, many faces in which one can 
peer and percieve a distinctly different view of the world.  Most are 
pure and clear, offering a unwavering view of what should be.  And there 
are others which are flawed, offering an uncertain picture as to what 
the future might hold for us.  And then there are those that are dark, 
giving nothing, promising nothing, and leaving us filled with doubt.
	Yet what makes the jewel so beautiful?  Perhaps it is the sparkle 
we see, the contrast of light and dark impressing itself on us.  For 
what is the darkness without the light to give it shape?  And in turn, 
what would the light be without darkness to give it definition?  This is 
the very essence of the jewel.  And this is the center of "Shadows of 
the Makei," that glimpse into the flawed darkness of one facet that 
makes us percieve the beauty and clarity of the light all the more.


					David Morris, Wilmington, North Carolina
					December 15, 1996


	As many ideas pulled from Chronicles of the Pride Lands appeared 
in The Spirit Quest, many ideas pulled from Spirit Quest appear here.  
These are different views of the same world.  As such the works are 
complimentary but do not heavily overlap.  This work is a separate 
story, but it would be vague and difficult to understand if you had not 
read Chronicles first, then Spirit Quest.
	This work contains a lot of dark, frightening imagery.  But it is 
not a work about dark, frightening things, any more than the Christmas 
Story is about finding a room in Bethlehem.  Those who concentrate on 
the dark miss the point.  We all have our source of strength.  We all 
have the right to tap into that strength.  If you learn anything from 
this work, perhaps it is this: prayer is not a measure of last resort 
but rather a first line of defense.  Do not cower in the shadow of a 
Makei when you can step into the light.


					John Burkitt, Nashville, Tennessee
					December 15, 1996