Before Mikhail can make it to Eventide Valley, he must first find his way through one of the thickest forests in the land - Auburnwood Forest. Steeped in darkness, mystery and legend, many a tale has come from travellers who journey through this foreboding place, and who's to say whether they're true or not?

The Musari - The Musari is an ancient race that lives only in the deepest, darkest, dampest parts of Auburnwood Forest. If there's any story people won't believe, it would be that the Musari even exist, as stories about them are rarer than chikkyn teeth. Mikhail, however, learns first hand that the Musari are real - and so is their biggest threat.

The Terrifying Tree Beast - The Tree Beast is a massive monster made of leaves and wood, and unlike the Musari, is also a widely known fable of Auburnwood Forest. Mostly because he's pretty hard to miss. The Tree Beast will eat anything and everything it can get its limbs on, including entire races of ancient, forest-dwelling fungi.

Bundi - While finding his way out of the forest, Mikhail comes across a wiry, energetic friend who's run away from home to explore the world. Not all that different from Mikhail, now that you think about it. The difference is that Bundi wields a powerful type of magic that the world has almost forgotten, thanks to the technology revolution that's sweeping the world. Mikhail has probably found himself a new travelling partner - that is, if he can stand Bundi's extremely short temper.

Mundi - Not too far from Eventide Valley, tucked away in the canopies of Auburnwood Forest exists a village, built entirely from the leaves and branches of the trees themselves that harken back to a simpler time, before the Technology Revolution. Most of the families in this treetop village are users of the ancient form of magic from long ago, and Mundi is one of the more powerful masters of this magic. He is also the only person who is able to keep Bundi, his foul-tempered brother's attitude in check.

Coming up next: Not every unsavory character in Mikhails' world is a massive monster with a bottomless appetite. And not every person he meets is a friendly face with a helping hand. As Mikhail's adventures continue into the Skies' Knife mountain range and the miles of twisting, turning tunnels that lie inside it, he discovers that everything is not what it seems to be, and not everyone is who they say they are.

©06 P. Gibson