she has no such gifts, but they do not stay in one place long enough to convince anyone otherwise. Ayla continues to have prophetic dreams. The Shelters of Stone Upon arriving at the Ninth Cave, Jondalar's dwelling, Ayla realizes that this cave is identical to one she's been seeing in her dreams. Her dreams and waking psychic visions become more frequent and more powerful, and the female shaman Zelandoni can sense them. However, Ayla rejects Zelandoni's offers to train her as a priestess, saying she merely wishes to live a normal life. Zelandoni finally convinces Ayla to join the spiritual devotees, known as "Those Who Serve the Mother." The Land of Painted Caves Published March 29, 2011. The last book In the Earth's Children's Series, Ayla is now about 25 years old and training to become a spiritual leader of the Zelandonii. Her training includes a series of harrowing journeys and gives her problems when trying to balance her work and her family life. Invention and skills Phenomenal Memory: Because she doesn't have inherent Clan memories which allow recall after a few reminders, Ayla is at first seen by the Clan as dimwitted because she must be told or shown repeatedly how to do things. As a defense, she works to develop her memory skills so she needs to be shown or told only once. This knack comes in handy when she encounters new languages. Two-Stone Technique: After almost being harmed by a lynx when she missed with her sling, Ayla develops a technique to reload her sling after a cast during the downfall, for immediate use. In reality, Ayla's method of rapid-slinging two stones is not possible. Diagnosis: As reasoned by Iza, although Ayla could not memorize all Clan medicinal lore, she has the ability to reason intuitively, recognize the causes of illnesses and treat them appropriately. Fatherhood: On her own, Ayla eventually develops some understanding of the relationship between a male having sex with a female and subsequent pregnancy. Clan belief is that pregnancy is due to spirits and they do not have a biological concept of fatherhood. For that matter, many Cro-Magnon groups which Ayla later encounters have not made this discovery either - though a few other Cro Magnons she encounters have also (independently of each other) come to realize that there is a link between sex and pregnancy. Arguably this has a greater and more