The Breach of the Mists

Wisins are about the size of a soccer ball. When the Wisin is feeling calm and peaceful, it looks adorable, like a ball of fuzz. It has yellow fur with orange spots and when it decides you're not an enemy, (if you want) it will cuddle with you. But if it decides you're going to attack it, the Wisin transforms itself into a ferocious beast. Its fur becomes coarse and turns black with red patches, it sprouts horns and grows killer claws and poisonous fangs that can kill you instantly. Its eyes turn red and on this creature's tail, where a ball of fuzz used to be a spiked ball has taken its place.

Graythurn was an excitable, adventurous, mischievous Wisin youth with golden fur with star-shaped cream markings except when he felt he was under attack then, like all Wisins his marking would change dramatically. He became black with red lightning bolts and capable of doing whatever he needed to protect himself or his family. His family was his father, Blackthurn, Chief of the Wisin Court and his mother, Rose, a fabulous chef who owned a tavern in town.

He lived in Centerton, one of three towns in Lunareis Woods. The population of Wisins in all three towns is about fifty thousand. The center of the town was the Square where the Court would meet at the base of the Gem Tree. There the laws of the people were discussed and argued. They had many laws but the most important was that should any outsider find their way to Unalay, they were to be cast back to the ocean as a way to protect themselves.

Graythurn's home was at the corner of the Centerton Square next to his mother's tavern. Graythurn helps his mother at the tavern. He washes the tables, serves customers and takes orders and he likes to help his mother but sometimes it seems very boring to him. He would much prefer to be off on an exciting adventure but those don't happen very often, in fact, they have never happened. His adventures mostly consist on chasing squirrels, which he eats. He eats most of his meals at the tavern. His favorite meal was muskrat stew with brown bread to dip into it and blackberry pie for dessert.

Wisin's are talented creatures and each has their own gift to share. Graythurn spent a lot of his free time in the many other parts of the Island. With his Wisin gift of agility, both of mind and body, he could figure out puzzles and could explore places that other Wisins, despite their climbing skills, couldn't. And even though he explored a lot, Graythurn thought that his home was the best place in the world. Graythurn was a talented Wisin and this often led him to ignore those Wisins that were not as bright and shining as he was. Lily, a young Wisin, in town was one of these Wisins. Graythurn was quick to remind her too quiet whenever she and her family would visit the tavern.

Graythurn liked to explore the entire Island not just Lunareis Woods. He spent a lot of his free time in the many other parts of the Island. His Wisin gift was the gift of agility both of mind and body. He could figure out puzzles and could explore places that other Wisins, despite their climbing skills, couldn't. And even though he explored a lot, Graythurn thought that his home was the best place in the world. But he and many others thought that their world was the entire world and didn't think that they shared it with anyone but the creatures of his island.

The Island is protected by the Magical Mists, a cloudlike haze surrounding the island. The Mists are tall and thick, with the Weathmers, creatures who lived in the clouds, who watch over the Mist and control the weather of Unalay. Weather was very important on Unalay Island and it soon become more important than ever. In the years to come they would remember the days and weeks that were to follow as "The Disruption" and Graythurn was about the have the adventure of a lifetime.

When Graythurn was a young Wisin, a terrible, yet magnificent, storm on our side of the Mist caused a breach in the barrier between the two worlds. The Weathmers knew of the storm's coming and informed the Wisin's Chief of Court, Blackthurn, the father of Graythurn, of the it's expected wrath. They were worried that such a storm would cause a break in the Mist. They were right.

A merchant ship carrying explorers was caught in the storm and was destroyed, with one survivor. Charles Smith survived the sinking of the ship and the terrifying storm only to find himself washed up a beach that he didn't even know existed. There wasn't supposed to be any island in that part of the ocean at all! He was found by Lily, a young Wisin, who was rather forgetful, overly kind, and timid. Thinking that Charles was merely an Unalay creature she didn't know about, or had forgotten, she invited him to her home. She didn't even know he was a foreigner but had also forgotten the laws about foreigners, anyway.

Lily's father was a member of the Court and he knew of the law stating that no foreigners be allowed inland and was furious that his daughter would allow such a matter to slip her mind. He took Lily and Charles straight to the court to solve the problem. Meanwhile, Blackthurn was discussing the breach with the chief Weathmer. He was worried that what might make it through the mist, although younger members of the court were assuring him that nothing could be out there and not to worry. Blackthurn was convinced that there was something to worry about and he wanted a solution. He thought matters couldn't get any worse when in came Charles, Lily, and her father.

There was a large commotion in the Court. They had not thought humans even existed. Now they really were starting to panic. Once Blackthurn had regained silence, he told them what they should do. He went to one of the books of law and read what needed to be done if ever a breach was made. There he read: The names of all the children of the court members would be inscribed into the Gem Tree and the two would be chosen for the quest. This quest is explained on the poem inscribed on the tree:

Everyone went to the Gem Tree that grew in the woods behind the court building. There all the children's names were inscribed on the tree and they all waited at the base of the tree watching as the children's names faded, slowly one by one. This process was very long and by nightfall everyone had gotten tired and hungry and had left the tree's base, except Lily and Graythurn.

Early the next morning the court members came back to see two children doing completely opposite things; one greeting them in a pompous manner - Graythurn; another still sitting, as if waiting for her name to fade, to everyone's surprise this one was Lily! Blackthurn requested the members and the children proceed into the court to discuss the matters to follow. When everyone was seated and comfortable, Blackthurn asked the court members what they thought should be done. Many opinions were given. Some said, that although Graythurn was ideal for the job someone else should go in Lily's place, others said it was her duty to go, and still others argued that both children should go with a host of Wisins to find the gems. Only one person had the answer, Ignatius the wise old Wisin said, "the poem clearly states that the ones chosen should go and they should go without other Wisins. If it is not done exactly how the poem says they may not succeed."

It was also Ignatius who suggested that Charles should accompany them. Ignatius and Blackthurn had talked all night about the stranger's presence on the island. Ignatius told him that a stranger had come once to the island when he was young. As he told the story to Blackthurn he was shocked. The man who arrived so long ago was now Mr. W. Surely the children would meet Mr. W on their quest and with Charles along he would understand so much more about their island and how it must be protected. Blackthurn agreed and Charles was added to the list of adventurers.

The group was about to leave but Graythurn was still grumbling about having to bring Charles with them. He did not understand why but it couldn't be helped, he had to obey his Father. He decided he would just have Lily be responsible for Charles and he would concentrate on finding the gemstone. He wanted to find it in a week or less.

Ignatius had looked in the Wisin records and found some helpful information, a book excerpt on the gem saying that there is a challenge to overcome there was also a clue that the tree itself would offer some help. The entire group ran to the tree to look. They searched in it's roots, branches, and all on its trunk and found a bark scroll preserved in wax. Ignatius melted the wax off and found the first clue but he didn't read it, Ignatius knew only the chosen should read it. Ignatius handed the excerpt to Graythurn and the clue to Lily who put them in their packs to read on the journey.

The trio, two Wisins and one human along with one mule laden with supplies left shortly after noon. After they had been traveling for about two hours Graythurn said they should stop to take a rest and take a look at the clue. He also took the clue from Lily, saying that he would take care of the clue from now on because Ignatius should have given it to him. Lily wanted to protest but was intimidated by Graythurn's self-confidence, so she handed it to him reluctantly and didn't say a word.

When Graythurn opened it up, he stared bewildered for about a second and then exclaimed "a lot of good that does us it doesn't say a thing." Lily asked timidly if she could take a look at it, Graythurn handed it to her saying he didn't know what she expected to find. Lily looked at it and found that if you looked closely you could see raised lines. She thought about this a moment and then asked Graythurn if he could hand her a piece of paper and a charred stick (which they used for pencils) out of their supply bag. He gave them to her and was going to turn away for he thought that she was still just a forgetful little nobody, but his curiosity got the better of him.

Graythurn watched as she laid the paper on top of the bark and started rubbing the pencil up and down on the paper and when she was done right there in front of his nose was the clue to where the first gem was. Graythurn said to Lily "I have confession to make, when I found out you were the other Wisin chosen I thought that I would do it all on my own and that you were just going to be a thorn in my paw but now I have a new respect for you. I'd like to start our acquaintance all over again. Can you forgive me, and can we find the gems as a team?" Lily agreed wholeheartedly.

Both Wisins read the clue:

Graythurn immediately knew where the rhyme was directing them, The Three and a Half Caves. He had been there many times. He explained that there was a cluster of four caves deep in Lunareis Wood but one of them was blocked by a boulder, so it was referred to as the Half Cave.

Lily, Charles, and Graythurn set out immediately and by dusk they had arrived at the caves. But it growing dark quickly and they could only take a quick look at the Half Cave. They didn't know how they were to move the boulder for it was taller than both of them combined and Charles had firmly stated his refusal to assist in anyway. They decided they sleep on the problem and figure it out the next day. When they awoke, they had a cold breakfast of scones and fruit juice and they assessed the problem again. Both of them had thought of something but weren't sure if that alone would be enough. Graythurn had thought of using a lever to lift up the boulder and Lily had thought of using a pulley to pull it to the side, after pondering on both ideas they had the same thought use both, what they didn't know would it work?

Graythurn quickly jumped onto the rock and secured a strong rope around it. Using a strong limb from a nearby tree he swung the rope over a strong branch. As Graythurn was working on the pulley system, Lily was digging beneath the rock to place the lever. It took them a bit of time searching in the woods to find a stick strong enough for the lever. They arranged it so that when Graythurn pushed down on the lever, Lily would quickly hoist up the rock ever so slightly. Graythurn would then quickly give the rock a push so it would move from the entrance to the cave.

They took a quick break for some food and then, with strength restored they attempted their task. Giving each other a look of luck, Graythurn pushed down and Lily pulled up. It was hard, never had they worked so hard in such a short time. With cries of exhaustion, SUCCESS! The rock was moved, ever so slightly but enough for them to squeeze into the cave.

It was a very small cave, and there sitting right out in the open on a small pedestal was the next clue. " WHERE'S THE GEM?!" Graythurn shouted. "Calm down," Lily said, "I'm sure it's in here somewhere." She searched around the entire cave but nothing else was inside.

They stepped out and Graythurn walked over to their campsite to speak to Charles but Charles wasn't there. "Oh, no!" Graythurn exclaimed. " Not only did we fail to find the Gem but the human has run away, we have to find him. Who knows what he might try to do." Lily and Graythurn quickly gathered up their things and threw back them on the mule, who had been trying to find some way of getting the pack off and now they were putting more things on top of him.

At this same time Charles had wandered away and had came upon a Martsay. This is a very rare Unalay creature it looks just like an owl but is slightly bigger, and is very wise and can talk. This particular Martsay was sent by Ignatius to follow the trio and had been waiting for an opportunity like this. He swooped down an introduced himself to Charles as Mr. W and requested that Charles sit down and make himself comfortable. Then Mr. W flew into a hollow tree and brought out a something that looked some what like a mirror but not exactly.

He flew back down to Charles and said "I know everything about what you want to do if you get off this Island. You wish to turn it into what humans call a theme park. You wish cage all the creatures and turn them into 'main attractions'. If this is in truth going to be your final decision then at the end of your journey all is lost for you." Charles looked at him in awe "How did you know all that?" Mr. W took a deep breath and said slowly, "Those are the same ideas I had when I was shipwrecked here many years ago. You see, I was once a human like yourself. I had great ideas on how to Unalay into 'Parker's Unalay Amusement Park' as I was once Steven Parker. I had all the plans in my head and was ready to find a way to sail off the island and make it happen when I was found out. I am not exactly sure how they knew what I was planning. Perhaps they can read minds, or maybe I let something slip out during a conversation. Regardless, I was offered, by someone even wiser than I am now, the chance to best see the future if I went through with my plans. Confident that I would see myself as rich and famous, King Parker of Unalay, I agreed."

"I was shown the mirror that I would like you to see shortly. When I looked in I couldn't believe what I saw. My plans would not be as I expected. I asked the wise person what I should do. I was given a choice to either be transformed into what you see me as today or accept The Staff. As you can see, I chose to be transformed. I went to live in a secluded area of the island and lived there for many years, studying the island's inhabitants and behaviors in my own way. Then when I learned all I thought I could, I began to roam the island. I have been teaching myself and becoming wiser every day, my choice was a good one. Given the choice to transform to what I am now appealed to me. This world was fascinating and since I had no family left and I yearned to learn as much as I could I stayed. I never even found out what The Staff was and I didn't wish to know."

"We have talked enough about me. Now, if you wish to remain alive, it is your turn to look into the mirror." Charles didn't know what else to do so he looked in. As he watched he saw Wisins living their daily lives and doing things that all humans did. He saw adult male Wisins working at their work and their homes. Charles saw adult female Wisins cooking, cleaning , taking care of baby Wisins, and last of all he witnessed young Wisins learning in school, and playing. They lived without having a care in the world. Charles continued to watch, captivated by what he saw - then the vision changed, horribly. He saw young Wisins huddled in cages, scared of the humans staring at them and crying for their mothers who were in separate cages. Charles saw adult Wisins trying to get to the young ones and trying to make the humans understand. He saw the Humans laughing at the Wisins but a few humans, mostly children, who were looking confused. The children were not sure what to think about these creatures who acted, but didn't look, like humans.

The vision changed one last time to a picture of chaos! The Wisins had decided to fight for their freedom and transformed themselves into their hunting forms. They were fierce and brave and the battle was awful. Wisins fighting humans and humans battling for their lives. In the background he could see some Wisins and young humans trying to restore peace but they were having little success. Then the Mirror went black.

Charles was trying to keep himself from crying. Mr. W said to him, "Now do you see why most humans can't know about Unalay. You see Wisins and some other creatures on this island are figuratively the Humans of Unalay, they are exactly like you except they have a different cover. As an explorer you know in your heart this is true." Charles asked, "What should I do?" Mr. W answered, "Just continue on the journey with Graythurn and Lily, you will be given a choice, just as I was."

Just then they heard the sound of Graythurn and Lily calling Charles' name. Mr. W called out to them, "We are over at the hollow tree!" Graythurn and Lily ran over started shouting both at once. Mr. W calmed them down and said, "Do not worry about Charles any more. He won't try to run away anymore. Continue with your quest and Charles will follow. Lily asked him how he knew this and he replied "I've just had a very serious talk with him and I believe he feels very differently about his situation."

"Don't worry about his silence, he is just deep in thought," Mr. W continued. Graythurn and Lily looked at Charles who seemed different than he had earlier, as if he had just won a very difficult battle of the will. "For some odd reason, even though I don't know who you are I think we should believe you," Graythurn said and Lily agreed. Mr. W told Graythurn and Lily his name and reassured them that he knew both of their fathers and was a good friend of Ignatius. They should tell them all he said, hello! He flew off leaving them to continue their adventure.

Lily was the first to speak up and said "I think the best thing to do would be to read the clue we found in the cave." Graythurn agreed, Charles said nothing, so they opened it up and here is what it said:

Lily knew where to go this time. "My Father took me to that place once, it's an abandoned mine. He said they stopped mining many years ago because a door leading to another tunnel of some sort was found down there. Inscribed on the door was a message saying only the 'Chosen of the Tree' could open it and underneath the message were two spaces for two paws. They didn't know what that meant but when anyone placed their paws in the spaces nothing happened. I believe it's near here, let's go!", said Lily.

After they had walked for about half an hour they came to the mine. They realized that they hadn't had anything to eat since breakfast and now it was time for dinner, they had totally skipped LUNCH! So they made camp and ate dinner. After they ate, Graythurn and Lily decided to take a look at the door in the mine but not go in until the next day. Charles promised he wouldn't run away and asked if he could he stay at the campsite and sleep. He was exhausted from both the adventure and his time with Mr. W. Lily and Graythurn said yes, for now they trusted him. The two Wisins both took a lantern and made their way down towards the door. It was a long walk but they eventually arrived. They looked over the entire door and it looked exactly like Lily explained it. Since there was nothing else on the door, they headed back to camp and since Charles was already asleep, they too, nodded off wondering what tomorrow would bring.

When they awoke Ignatius was there speaking with Charles. Surprised at seeing him, Lily asked, "Why are you here?" "Good morning, Lily. It is good to see you awake," Ignatius replied "My good friend, Mr. W, told me that Charles has had a change of heart. I need to take him away for awhile and to tell him of his choices. You and Graythurn continue with your quest as we are anxious to have the Breach repaired. So if you would go off quickly, I would greatly appreciate it." So Lily and Graythurn headed off to the mine to face the 'Dark and Gloom.'

Ignatius said to Charles "There is a big decision for you to make if you want to live. You must make a decision because for our own safety we cannot let you live if you try to leave and continue with this plan. You have looked into the Mirror of Seeing, you have seen our ability to transform ourselves and you know we are capable of killing to protect ourselves. We do not want to though. We are a peaceful people. You have two choices. One choice you already know, Transformation. And though it does not appear to be so the other choice is much harder to undertake, The Staff."

"The Staff is the choice to go live in the clouds with the Weathmers. You will use The Staff to protect the Magical Mists from breaking ever again. If you chose this you are bound to protect Unalay and all it's inhabitants. You will remain a human and will be given certain powers for our protection and yours. You must be willing to protect the Mist and hold The Staff in place whenever the need arises. Let me explain - in the clouds there is a spot where The Staff can be held in place to protect the Mists during a storm. Now I don't know why this is but it appears that only a human can do this job. Both Wisins and the Weathmers have tried but the staff won't go in. I have come to believe that it is a job for a human."

Charles asked "What did you mean hold it in place?" Ignatius replied, "From my reading I have discovered that it will only work if you press The Staff in throughout the entire storm. This must be difficult and I am not sure what will happen during this time. You may even lose your life as you protect ours." Charles looked at Ignatius and then looked away. After a long pause Ignatius asked, "Which do you chose?"

As the conversation continued up on the surface, Graythurn and Lily had hiked the long way down and had finally come to the door. Looking at each other for courage, they tentatively put their paws in the spaces. The door slowly creaked open and they descended down the tunnel to face the unknown.

The door slowly creaked open and they descended down the tunnel to face the unknown.

Lily and Graythurn were very grateful that they had remembered to grab their lanterns and extra oil, for even with the lanterns they could see only but a few feet in front of themselves.

After a few minutes of walking in silence, Graythurn got up the courage to speak, "How long do you suppose we have been down here?" "Well," replied Lily, "it seems like a long time but I am sure it has only been a few minutes." Determined to solve their problem they just continued to walk in silence until, finally, they reached a dead end. The wall in front of them had five circle shaped clefts. A small shelf was carved in the wall to the left of them. There on this small shelf were five circle shaped rocks. Lily lifted her lantern closer to the shelf and took a close look at a few of the rocks. There were carvings on each of them.

Graythurn said, "Let's look at the wall and the stones at the same time." So they picked up all the stones and turned to the wall. Lily realized that the stones fit perfectly into the clefts in the wall. "Now we just have to figure out what order to put them in," she stated. Graythurn agreed. He set down all the stones and selected one at random. Looking at it carefully, he noticed that the shaped carved within the circle of the rock was a triangle. Looking at the other rocks he noticed they too had geometric shapes carved on them. The shapes were all different - including the triangle there was a square, a pentagon, an octagon, and a hexagon. Lily noticed that there were five rocks and five clefts, so all the rocks went somewhere on the wall. But where?

Graythurn took a quick look and suddenly remembered the rhyme, 8 in 0, 3 in 0, 5 in 0, 6 in 0, 4 in 0. The numbers obviously meant something, but what? He said the rhyme out loud to see if it would help. Lily suddenly exclaimed, "The sides of the shapes! The sides of the shapes!" "What in the world are you talking about," asked Graythurn? Lily replied, "The number of the sides of the shapes inside each circle. A circle has zero sides and each shape has a different number of sides. We just need to match the numbers in the rhyme with the numbers of the sides of the shapes." Graythurn still didn't get it. So Lily just began picking up the stones and placing them in the correct order. Graythurn watched and suddenly understood as well.

They watched carefully as the last stone was put in place. Anxiously they waited as suddenly, with a great scratching noise as the huge rock slid across the floor. They could tell the door had not been opened in years. It moved really really slowly, but finally the opening was large enough for them to enter and there, in the center of the room was what they had been searching for. The gem was beautiful, bigger than they imagined and, even though there was no light in the room it shined as bright as the sun. They had succeeded.

They succeeded in finding the gem that would fix the breach, they succeeded in helping Charles understand about their island, and they had succeeded at understanding each other.

It had been approximately five hours since they had found the gem. Graythurn and Lily had journeyed out of the mine and stopped to rest in a clearing a few paces from the tunnel. "It is great to have the gem, but I wish we had brought something to eat," said Graythurn. Lily laughed, "Umm, I thought we were Wisins who were born the ability to hunt and gather food. We'll just fine some." Graythurn laughed, too, "You're right so let's look for fruit and berries as we walk, I want to get back to Ignatius and Charles."

As they had been hiking out of the mine, Charles and Ignatius were deep in conversation. "Even though I am scared stiff, I am going to take on The Staff and protect the Mists. I know it is what I am meant to do." Ignatius smiled in agreement, "I was desperately hoping that was what you would say. The creatures of Unalay can now live without fear of another breach." Charles not wanting to waste another moment and eager to do something got up quickly. "Can you take me to wherever it is that I will live? If I stay still another moment, and think too much about the scary parts of what I have to do, I will chicken out!" Ignatius laughed out loud, "Wait a moment, don't get a head of me! First, we must mend the breach that delivered you to the island. Then we will go to your new home. But before all of that, let us go see if Graythurn and Lily had completed their part of this mission. They definitely had the scarier end of it all, didn't they?" Charles agreed and they headed to the! mine's entrance.

After hiking some time, Charles and Ignatius ran directly into Graythurn and Lily as they were attempting to find them. The young Wisins' began to talk at the same time telling about their success, the difficulties they faced, how hard it all was and how exciting it was to succeed. They all needed to head for the Gem Tree immediately.

"Wait a moment!", Ignatius shouted. He was flustered from the youngster's excitement and needed to gather his own thoughts. "I get to go first. Do you have the gemstone?" Graythurn reached into his pack and removed the most beautiful opal that anyone had ever seen. Charles gasped, "I didn't believe there was even a gem to be found, and I certainly didn't believe it would be this big or this precious." Ignatius sighed with deep relief, "Marvelous, let us make haste back to the Gem Tree."

Many miles and many hours later, after eating only as they marched, the group made their way home. They continued through the day and the night was well, and with only a few hours marching left they were too exhausted to go any further. Dropping to the ground, they slept fitfully for a few hours and rose, eager to complete the quest and return home.

Finally, the Gem Tree was seen. As they rushed to it, Blackthurn appeared from the other side. The group met him at the base of the tree. He embraced his son in a long hug, "Something in me told me to come here and you are what I find. What luck!" Together with Lily, Graythurn exclaimed loudly, "We have the Gem! Let us mend the Breach at last."

Their shouts of excitement woke the whole town who quickly gathered at the tree. Everyone had anxiously awaited their safe return and now they all wanted to witness the mending of the breach. The breach had been on everyone's mind for too long and they all wanted to sleep again in peace.

Blackthurn handed the opal to Graythurn. He looked with joy at what he had worked so hard to get. Graythurn looked at Lily who was as proud as he was. She had stepped back a bit into the crowd to give Graythurn this moment. He walked over to where she was and spoke loudly to the crowd. Pulling Lily out in the open, he said, "This stone would not be in our town if it had not been for Lily. She was the brains of this quest. She figured out how the move the biggest boulder I had ever seen, she knew the code that opened the door to the gem, she was braver than I thought she ever could be." Looking at her, he finished, "I think YOU should place the gem into its' hold."

Lily blushed but took the gem and walked over to the Gem Tree. There was the empty space awaiting the gem. There in the tree as if it had grown as the tree grew was a cavity, the exact shape and size as the opal. Lily placed the beautiful gem in its place and stepped back.

Light immediately shot from the top of the tree, it came from the very center of the tree and sped its way directly to the Mists. The crowd looked up to see the Mists gather themselves together as if being sewn by an invisible hand. The light shown shades of gold, yellow and orange as it did its work. The Wisins cheered with great joy! The joy that their young ones had returned, the Breach had been mended, their Island was safe and that no one was dead.

They watched as the Chief Weathmer arrived from the beaches with great speed. He descended directly in front of Charles and Ignatius. He spoke directly to Charles, "So you've decided to become the Protector of the Mists. Very good, come with me and I will see you get to your new home." Charles looked flabbergasted. "How did you know?" Turning to Ignatius, "How did he know?" Ignatius just shrugged, "I don't know how they do it. Every time I come to tell them anything, they already know it. Kind of odd but they are very nice to have around."

Charles turned and said a thankful good-bye to Graythurn, Lily and all the Wisins, "I will be with the Weathmers now and although I can't leave them, I hope you come to visit me often. Thank you for showing me all of Unalay and that my idea for your world was not the best idea. I plan on protecting you all for a long time." He turned and taking hold of the rope ladder the Weathmer had dropped, and he climbed up to the cloud for his ride into the skies.

Charles arrived at his new home. A small village in the clouds where the Weathmers, who created Unalay's weather spent their time. From the village they kept an eye on the mist and an eye on the land. The Chief Weathmer climbed from the cloud and went to a tower in the center of the village. Motioning to Charles to follow, he entered the base of the tower. There in a small room tower Charles watched as he removed ancient, but sturdy staff from an oblong case. He handed it to Charles and climbed with him to the very top of the tower. "We Weathmers create the weather that falls on Unalay. But we have no power over the weather beyond the Mist. There are times when that weather becomes so fierce it can break into our world. Only a human may hold this staff in its place here in the tower. This staff provides the Mists the strength it needs to withstand even the strongest storm from outside. Your hand on it, placed deep in this spot will save us all from another Breach. Each Breac! h brings the threat of another Human, perhaps more than one. Perhaps enough to fight us and destroy us." He looked deeply in Charles' eyes. Charles knew how important his new life would be. The Weathmer showed him the carved opening in the tower where the staff was to be placed in the tower floor. "Keep this staff always with you, if it is ever lost, we will be lost."

Climbing down, Charles was shown his own home which was at the base of the tower. He hoped that he would be able to reach the top if he ever needed to but right now all he wanted to do was eat and sleep. "Food is on its way to you now. Your favorite - Crabs and corn on the cob with chocolate peanut butter swirl ice cream."

Charles looked with wonder as if to say, how did you know? But before the words even left his mouth, the Weathmer Chieftain said, "don't ask us how we know, we just do."