Object of Balance

By Lesley Fisher and Benjamin Graham

Object of Balance is a fantasy about nine little fairies who find themselves embarking on a great quest through hostile lands to save their world, Andel.
It is a race against time. They must find one of the objects the great wizards were using to keep everyone in their world safe. It has been stolen from the wizards, and it must be found and brought back before it is too late. What the creature that stole the object didnt know was that the object was keeping something even more evil back. Without the object, their world will become riddled with all the storms the elements can throw at them.
It is not all bad. The fairies do find that through their travels, they meet many new creatures who become their friends and allies. Well, with the fate of the world in the balance, wouldnt you be willing to help?
When the wizards told the fairies they had to go and get the object back, they were shocked. How could nine little fairies possibly do this? The object itself was bigger than all of them put together! The wizards told them they had to; there was no choice. The wizards could not go as they had to stay and hold the other evil at bay until the object was put back into its place. Still, the fairies worried but did as they were told. They would find a way!
Object of Balance is a warm and wonderful tale full to the brim with many different characters that I hope everyone of all ages will love. There are ferocious dragons, a giant as tall as a mountain, ogres, witches, trolls, and so many others. It is family oriented, and it has many lessons to be learned. Enjoy!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: May 19, 2014
• ISBN: 9781499015140

Lesley Fisher

Lesley Fisher lives in a small town where she has lived for many years. She has brought up her two boys there. They are now all grown up and don’t need her as much. Finding she has more time on her hands, she needed to fill it with something. She has chosen to write fantasy books. Lesley finds she enjoys it so much, that after her first book Object of Balance she is constantly finding new ideas for more books. Her hope is that she can bring a little imagination to all.

Book preview

PART 1

Fairyland

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CHAPTER 1

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G OOD MORNING, SAID Heaven as she flew into the little grass house where her sisters Ryleigh, Bethany, and Maddy lived.

Good morning, they said as they got up yawning.

What a perfect summer morning, said Heaven. The perfect morning to plant some flowers.

All three fairies looked at each other and smiled and said, Perfect. They loved planting seeds for the beautiful flowers; they thought it was the perfect job for the perfect outfits they had made just yesterday.

Once Heaven knew they were up and about, she flew to the next home in the blue mushroom cap where she and her sisters Brooklyn and Hope stayed. Again she called, Good morning; and again her sisters sat up yawning and said, Good morning!

Heaven says, It is a perfect morning to feed the fish in the pond!

Again, both sisters looked at each other with a smile and said, Perfect. They had the perfect new hairdos just for this job.

Next came the little house in among the lilies; it is made from wood and has grass for a roof. This is where her sisters Kadence, Emily, and Faith lived. Today it was their job to herd the grasshoppers and ladybugs to their feeding stations and take them to the fields so they could get some exercise. They used the grasshoppers and ladybugs to help with chores such as carrying seeds to be planted or water for baths—anything that was too heavy for the fairies to carry.

Again, Heaven flew in and said, Good morning; and again her sisters sat up yawning and said, Good morning! Heaven says, It is the perfect morning for herding grasshoppers and ladybugs. Now usually all three sisters would look at each other and say, Perfect; but on this beautiful perfect summer morning, only two sisters looked at each other and said, Perfect!

Kadence did not. She did not think it was perfect. The shoes they all made last night for their jobs they were asked to do were not perfect for her. Only her sisters’ shoes were perfect for that job. She thought her shoes were perfect for collecting dew from the flowers. So when she didn’t say perfect, her sisters looked at her like she was sick. They thought they were going to have to get their sister Ryleigh, who was considered to be the fairy doctor.

She became the fairy doctor because Emily once stubbed her toe, and Ryleigh was the only one who didn’t panic. She just went ahead and put some honey on it and wrapped it with some copper grass, which helped make it feel better. Therefore, she became the fairy doctor.

Kadence held her hands out in front of her, her cheeks were bright red and she looked meekly at the ground. She knew she was causing trouble in their perfect world, but how can it be perfect if she didn’t feel perfect about her shoes? She looked up at Heaven and said as quietly as a mouse, I can’t do that job today; it is not perfect for me!

Emily’s and Faith’s mouths dropped open as they couldn’t believe their sister was saying such things; things like this just never happened.

Kadence knew they happened because they happened to her all the time. She just never said or did anything until today. She wanted to see how her sisters would react. Well, they reacted exactly how she thought they would. Like she was completely and utterly out of her mind!

Heaven just stared at her sister. What did she say? No, she didn’t say that. It was just her imagination, she thought. But when she looked at her sister, she knew it was not just her imagination. Kadence actually said something was not perfect. What do I say to that? she thought.

Heaven looked at Kadence and said, Well, what would be the perfect job for your new shoes?

Now it was Kadence’s turn to be shocked. She couldn’t believe her ears; her sister had actually asked her what the perfect job would be.

Meanwhile, her sisters Emily and Faith were looking back and forth from one sister to the other in complete awe. What was going on around here?

Once Kadence got over her shock, she said, My shoes would be perfect for collecting dew from the flowers.

Heaven looked at her and said, Perfect; and off the fairies went to do their perfect jobs.

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CHAPTER 2

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M EANWHILE, ABOVE FAIRYLAND way up in the clouds, rose two crystal towers. This is where the two wizards Tyson and Curtis lived, one in each tower. They lived in the crystal towers so they could keep an eye on the fairies and make sure everything was always perfect for them.

In each of these towers, there was an Object of Balance, which kept their world from coming to turmoil. These objects were two prisms or gems if you like: one was light and one was dark. Of course, these were the two objects from the Dragon lands. As long as the prisms stayed in their places in the towers, life was perfect! The other job the prisms did was to create the barrier that made fairyland. The wizards had noticed over the years that the fairies never went beyond the barriers as they were content with what they had. So the fairies never knew there was a world outside in the beyond and did not seem to care. That was all right with the wizards.

It was early morning, and Tyson had decided it was time to go check on his prism. He was in charge of the light prism. He kept it at the top of the tower where the light from the sun shone through it the very best! Morning sun made it shine brighter than the afternoon sun.

Up to the top of the tower, he walked with his light blue robes and his pointy light blue hat. Sometimes the robes got in the way when he was going up to the tower; they tripped him up, so he would have to be careful.

Before he even reached the top of the tower, he knew that the prism was working, for he could see the light in the staircase. What a beautiful sight!

He never got tired of looking at it.

Meanwhile, at the other tower, the wizard Curtis was doing the same thing: checking on his prism. He was in charge of the dark prism, which he thought was also the most beautiful sight. And he would never tire of its beauty.

Once this morning ritual of checking the prisms was done, one wizard would cross the bridge between the two towers and spend the day at the other wizards’ tower, where they would eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner; watch over the fairies; and perform their spells.

Today it was Tyson’s turn to cross the bridge to Curtis’s tower. Curtis, who wore dark blue robes and a dark blue pointy hat, was there to greet his friend, where they would have freshly baked bread and honey for breakfast.

Good morning, the friends greet, hope you slept well. Yes, well enough, they both greet in turn. I see our fairy friends are doing well, says Tyson.

Yes, very well, said Curtis. But then Curtis’s face changes, and it is not a happy change.

Tyson wonders what is wrong with his friend.

Curtis looks at his friend and says, I am sorry to tell you this, but I had a feeling of foreboding in the night and sense something awful is about to happen.

Tyson says, Yes, I had the same feeling, but I do not know what it means! So they went on with their day, as they were sure whatever the bad feeling was, it would show itself soon enough!

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CHAPTER 3

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I N A LAND far from Fairyland and the two crystal towers, past the Grasslands, through the Marshes, along the Desert, into the

Forest, over the Mountains, there was a Red Land, a land made of fire where everything was so hot nothing lived there or could live there except fire lizards and fire breathing dragons.

Guess what? That is exactly what lived there: big ferocious dragons! Their names were Keith, Danny, Norman, Jimmy, and Terry, the biggest and greatest of them.

All the dragons except one were as happy as can be. The one who was not happy is Norman, and he hated that he breathed fire and that they had to live in this retched land! He loved the living things like trees, animals, and bugs. But what he really loved were the fairies.

What the dragons did not know was that Norman had a fairy hidden on his part of the shelf inside the volcano where the dragons lived. He kept her in a special cage that he conjured so she could live with him always. Oh yeah, dragons are also magical and have certain magical powers.

Tatyanna was the name of this fairy that Norman kept in his cage. Tatyanna was a beautiful fairy; she had shimmering long blond hair and the most beautiful sky blues eyes that sparkled when she was happy, which was not much lately and when she flew her wings shone a beautiful yellow.

In Norman’s eyes she was the most beautiful thing on the face of the earth; she had the most beautiful voice when she sang songs for Norman, even if they were very sad songs.

In order to find out how Tatyanna had come to be in Norman’s clutches, we must go back to the time when he received his beautiful opal dagger from the wizards. You might think that after two hundred years that Norman would forget, but dragons have vast minds and remember the smallest of details.

Norman remembers when the two wizards came and exchanged the daggers for two pieces of treasure the dragons had.

He knew that the dragons didn’t get the best part of the bargain, for when the wizards left the dragons land with the objects, Norman followed them.

He followed the wizards because as he watched them float away he could sense something very different about them, and he was a curious dragon who hated the Red Lands. Maybe this was what he was waiting for.

As Norman followed, he noticed that the wizards each held one object: the wizard with the light blue robes held the light-colored object, and the wizard with the dark blue robes held the dark-colored object. Each looked as if he was mumbling to himself, but Norman started to notice something. As the wizards mumbled, the gems they held would glow bright and the land, which was always very stormy, had calmed and you could see the land below as it was meant to be seen! Beautiful green trees and grass, water so blue green it sparkled. Norman was so amazed; he could not believe his eyes! He did not know that such beauty could exist. He thought only his treasure at home held such sparkle. How wrong he was.

Of course, Norman was seeing the objects bring balance to the world, and thus the Objects of Balance were born!

He knew right then and there that he wanted to be part of this land, so he kept following the wizards until they stopped. The wizards no longer had their bubbles of protection, but they were being surrounded by other things. There were creatures of all sorts; but the one thing Norman noticed were the fairies, how they shimmered when they flew, how their voices were so beautiful. Everyone, including the fairies, was all cheering the wizards as the journey they embarked on was a complete success.

Norman noticed that one of the fairies was busy with a pine cone in one of the trees and wasn’t part of the crowd. Well, you can guess what awful thing Norman had in mind. Yes, you guessed it.

Norman stole that fairy right out of the tree, pine cone and all. The fairy, of course, was Tatyanna.

You are probably wondering why no one noticed Norman there in among them. Well, remember when I said dragons have certain magical powers. Norman had turned himself invisible so no one could see him. He snatched that fairy and flew off like lightning, and that is how Norman was able to capture Tatyanna.

Later on, when the fairy sisters noticed that their tenth sister was missing, they told the wizards who in turn told the rest of the creatures, and they all looked for days and months, but of course she was never found. It was a very sad time.

Eventually they had to realize that Tatyanna was gone for good and would have to go on with their lives. So it was that the wizards made Fairyland, and even though they missed their sister very much, they now had a beautiful land where they could start their new lives.

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CHAPTER 4

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L ET’S GET BACK to Norman and Tatyanna in today’s time. Norman loved his fairy Tatyanna, but being in captivity in a cage for so long, she had now lost her shimmer and her voice was very weak. Norman now had to realize that Tatyanna just wasn’t happy.

Yet he refused to give her up; he loved her too much.

Norman knew that if he didn’t do something soon, Tatyanna would fade away.

That was when Norman came up with the most wicked plan. He decided if he could go and get one of the Objects of Balance that it would help Tatyanna become herself again. He felt that the power in which one of those gems held would help to bring back Tatyanna’s glow.

Time was of the essence, so once again he turned invisible and flew to the other side of the world where the two crystal towers floated and stole the light prism, which he thought shone the brightest in the morning sun. He thought maybe because it was the brightest it held the most power.

Once he had the prism, his thoughts went to Tatyanna, and he kept thinking about how happy she would be and how she would once again shine and sing, not once thinking that it was because she missed her sisters and friends and hated being locked in a cage in the most horrific of lands that caused her unhappiness.

Norman also did not realized that unless the prisms were together and had the power of the wizards behind them that they were just regular stones and held no power whatsoever.

As it was, when Norman took the prism, chaos was unleashed. He did not know this because it was behind him, and his thoughts were only of Tatyanna.

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CHAPTER 5

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C URTIS AND TYSON, the wizards, knew right away that something was wrong. They could feel that the magical barrier was no longer working. There seemed to be a sort of humming sound all around them, and their crystal towers no longer had the see-through effect. The crystal now had a dark cloudy look to it. When they looked around to see what had happened, they noticed a trail of light pass over top of the towers, which seemed to come from the tower that held the light object. This trail of light was the only thing they had to help solve the mystery later on as to what could have happened to the object! They did not know at this time that it was a dragon. The worst part at this very moment was that they could feel the towers were falling to the ground. Not real fast but enough you could feel it and you would know it if you hit the ground.

Both Tyson and Curtis decided they would conjure great big clouds for the towers to sit on but realized right away that this would not work, for every time they tried to conjure the clouds, the wind that had really started to pick up would blow them away.

The best they could do was to conjure a great big bubble that would surround the towers and maybe bring the towers down slowly and keep them from smashing to smithereens. The problem was that it would take a great deal of energy, and it would take both wizards to do it; and they were going to land on the fairy village, which in itself was a bad thing but also a good thing.

It’s bad because it would crush the little village; it’s good because the bubbles they conjured would keep the storms from the village, and hopefully any fairies that survived would be all right inside the bubble once it landed!

*

Down in Fairyland, Heaven was making her rounds, making sure everything was going perfectly. She hated to admit it to herself but that morning when Kadence told her, her job wasn’t perfect it really shook her up. It felt almost like an omen of other things not so perfect to come. She could not shake the feeling that something was just not right. She kept checking herself over; she had the perfect clothes, the perfect shoes, and even the perfect hairdo for the job she was doing. It had to be just her imagination.

She was just heading over to the flowers where Kadence was collecting the dew, and as she got closer to Kadence and could see her shoes, she thought to herself, Wow, she was right. Those shoes were perfect for that job! Anyway, she was just heading over to the flowers to tell Kadence it was break time—that Ryleigh, Bethany, and Maddy were already at the tree house having their daisy tea—when the wind picked up and sent her flying in the opposite direction.

Kadence never noticed her sister being thrown because she was in her own turmoil. She was just about to dip her hazel nut pail into the dew when the wind picked up, which made the lily she was collecting the dew from tip over. This made Kadence lose her balance and fall to the ground where she began to tumble like a tumbleweed over and over again until she hit something very hard and everything went black.

Meanwhile, Heaven was doing her best to try to grab something—anything to keep her from flying away. She put out her hand in hopes that it would catch something—anything. Finally she felt something at her hand; she quickly grabbed a hold of it. It was the string from the lanterns they have that surrounded the tree house. Somehow by moving her arms along this string, she was able to get to the door of the tree house. By now it had started to rain so hard; along with the strong wind, it was hard to see her hands in front of her. Once she felt she was finally at the door, she tried to have a look around to see what she could see, holding tight to the string. She could see nothing but things flying around in among dust and debris. When she turned to go into the house, however, she thought she caught a glimpse of a leg behind the little tree stump they used as a table outside on nice days. She looked a little harder; sure enough, it was a leg. It was Kadence, and she was lying there like she was sleeping. She must be very badly hurt! She knew she could not help her sister by herself, so she reached the door and managed to get it open and yelled for Ryleigh to come and help her. Between the two of them, they struggled but managed to get Kadence into the tree house. They laid her on one of the couches, and that was when they noticed the big bump on her head. Poor Kadence, would she ever wake up again? asked Heaven, not really asking anyone in particular. Heaven could just not believe all that had happened in last few moments; their whole perfect world was turned upside down and in complete chaos.

Ryleigh knelt over Kadence to see what she could possibly do for her; this was a little more serious than she was used to. So she just kept putting wet clothes on her head in hopes she would eventually wake up.

Heaven was in such shock she hadn’t noticed that her other four sisters were not there. She had not had a chance to let them know it was break time, and now it came to her like someone punching you in the stomach. They were still out there in this storm. What was she going to do? She was just too scared to think anymore.

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CHAPTER 6

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B ETHANY AND MADDY were sitting idly by when all this was going on around them. It seems they were assessing the situation. They were not two fairies who were squeamish or who frightened easy.

They looked at each other, then at their frightened sister, and knew it would be up to them. They jumped up and already had a plan formed as to how they were going to try to rescue their sisters who were stuck out in the storm. They were like that; they always seemed to have the same thoughts at the same time.

Bethany and Maddy both went upstairs to the room that they used to make things to help with daily chores or household items such as pots. Both came down the stairs with great big balls of string.

It was their plan to anchor both strings to the staircase and tie the other end to their waists, so they could try to look for their sisters and not be blown away; or even if they did get blown away, it would only be so far and they would be able to use the string to find their way back.

Both Heaven and Ryleigh both yelled, No! It is just too dangerous! The wind and rain is just too strong. Please don’t do this! We do not want to lose you too. What if you hit your head like Kadence? Who will save you?

Heaven sat down on one of the chairs at the table and was trembling so hard Ryleigh brought over a blanket and covered her sister with it.

Both Bethany and Maddy came over to their sister and gave her the biggest hug and told her, Heaven, we have to. We cannot let our sisters come to harm if we can do something about it. Please try not to worry. We will be as careful as we can.

Heaven looked at her sisters with tears in her eyes and said, You two have always been the bravest of all us. Please take care!

So each tied her strings to the staircase and the other end to her waist. Heaven and Ryleigh wished them a last good luck, and they were out the door in all the craziness.

Bethany and Maddy knew instinctively that two of their sisters were at the fish pond and the other two in the fields. Somehow, without saying a word to each other, they knew which sister was going to go where. Bethany was going to the fields and Maddy the ponds.

Although this decision was made, the minute they stepped out the door, all their fine planning went out of their minds. There was no way they could get to the ponds; the wind would just not allow it. So instead they just jumped up and let the winds carry them both over to the fields. Hopefully, they could at least save two of their sisters. Sure enough the winds took them over to the fields; thank goodness, the string was long enough. Also, because they were now pulled so they were at the end of their strings, it made it easier for them to look around, for the wind could not take them any farther.

Soon they came to a mushroom holding pen where they usually kept the ladybugs in the wintertime. They noticed that the roof of the mushroom pen had blown off. Bethany thought maybe they could escape from the rain and wind if they could get to it even for a little bit so they could get their bearings.

As they opened the gate to go in, there waiting for them was the biggest surprise ever. All four sisters—Emily, Faith, Brooklyn, and Hope—were all huddled against the wall hanging onto the shutters trying not to fly away! They all looked so scared yet so relieved when they saw their sisters that Bethany and Maddy felt very sorry for them! You could tell that Brooklyn and Hope were crying and Faith and Emily were trying to make them feel better.

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CHAPTER 7

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F AITH AND EMILY looked up and couldn’t believe their eyes. Their two crazy sisters Bethany and Maddy had come to rescue them. Emily was not too surprised; she knew her sisters well and knew they would come for them. They were just like that; you could always count on them, especially, in a crisis, not that they had many crisis, but one time Hope got stuck in a tumbleweed and started crying because she couldn’t get out. Bethany and Maddy were there and helped her to get out of the tumbleweed. Ever since in Hope’s eyes they were considered the heroes of the family. At this very moment Emily had to agree. Of course they weren’t rescued yet, but she believed in her sisters and knew it was a matter of time.

Once Bethany and Maddy had a few moments for a break, they began the process of wrapping their sisters in each of the strings, two to each; and because there were now six legs and six arms, it seemed to take no time at all to pull themselves to the safety of the tree house.

Inside the tree house Heaven and Ryleigh couldn’t believe their eyes when all their sisters collapsed inside the doorway as it was a little awkward to get inside the way they were wrapped in the string. They began jumping up and down for joy; they were just so happy!

They ran to each sister in turn and hugged each of them and said, Thank goodness you are safe!

When things started to settle, Maddy and Hope decided everyone needed some tea to settle their nerves. So they made enough tea for everyone and were just so grateful everyone was safe inside the tree house, even though Kadence still had not woken from her bump on the head!

All at once they were all sitting there being grateful and noticed that the wind and rain had stopped outside. The storm was over.

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CHAPTER 8

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C URTIS AND TYSON were doing their very best to keep the bubble barrier wrapped around the towers and trying to bring it down to earth as slow as possible.

They were able to land the two towers so they didn’t crush all of Fairyland; they kept away from the tree house in the hopes that was where the fairies took refuge from the elements.

Now as the wizards were wrapping Fairyland in their bubble, the storms blew outside of it instead of in it. So when the fairies thought the storms were over, they weren’t really, just held back.

When the fairies came outside and they saw the wizards with their staffs and the great big towers coming down to earth, something inside them changed! These two wizards looked familiar to them, but it seemed like it was forever ago that they had seen them and knew them!

All at once things started to come back to them: their missing sister and the new home the wizards had found for them. The animals of the world they have not seen forever but now remember they were there! These two wizards—what were their names? Oh yeah, Curtis and Tyson! All of a sudden, they remembered a world that was not so perfect, a world that always stormed and all manner of creatures had to hide from the elements.

They remembered these two wizards had come and made things better for everyone, no more storms and a beautiful home for them where they would forget about the chaos and their missing sister. Now, all of sudden, it seemed to be plunged back into darkness. What has happened?

They could see that the wizards were using all their strength and powers to create this safe haven for them, but for how long could it last?

Heaven decided because she was the leader she would have to go and talk to one of the wizards about what was going on. She brought Bethany and Maddy because they were so brave and it helped her feel brave to have them beside her.

The wizard Curtis was the closest, so they headed his way. As they approached him, he smiled a very big smile and said in the friendliest voice he could muster under the strain he was in,

Hello, fairy sisters, he says as they approach him.

Heaven says hello back. Once seeing the friendly smile, she seemed to have all the courage in the world and said, What is happening around here?

Curtis continues to smile for he does not want to frighten them any more than they already are and says, I am sorry, my dearest fairy, there is just so much to say! We have been plunged into darkness because one of the Objects of Balance that kept the storms at bay has been taken. Now it is up to you and your sisters to save the world from turmoil if you are willing.

What! said Heaven. You must be joking.

No joke! There is no one else! My brother and I have to stay here and keep the storm from spreading to the other lands, and it will be up to you and your sisters to find the object and bring it back. says the wizard in a rush.

Heaven was so shocked she almost fell out of the air. She forgot to flap her wings but managed to get a grip on herself.

I am sorry if I have shocked you, says the wizard, but there is not much time, and you and your sisters have far to go and so little time to get there. Please do not ask any questions right now. You will need to go and get your sisters together and pack as much as you can carry, Curtis tells Heaven this as he starts to shake from the strain of holding the spell together. He continues, Then all of you come back here, and I will quickly explain what must be done to save us all. You must hurry. My brother and I are straining. It won’t be long before we will have to let go, and the storms will take over. Go now. Please hurry!

Without another word, the three sisters went to tell the rest of their sisters what they must do. When Ryleigh heard their story, she asked what they were supposed to do with Kadence; she still had not woken up. All the sisters stopped what they were doing, and Brooklyn and Hope said in unison, Oh no, we cannot leave her here! Ryleigh decided it was up to her and would have to go and ask the wizard what they should do. Surely he won’t expect us to just leave her.

Curtis smiled at Ryleigh as she approached and said, What is it, little one?

Even though Ryleigh felt very shy around the wizard, she blurted out, Our sister has a bump on her head and won’t wake up. What should we do? We will not leave her!

Curtis looked at Ryleigh and said, No, you must not leave her here! Ryleigh was very relieved and felt her shoulders fall with relief.

Curtis was biting his lip and was thinking. Then it came to him. You must fly as fast as you can to Tyson, my brother who is on the other side of the towers, and ask him for a certain flower he keeps in his robe’s pocket. There is a flower. One sniff of it will wake your sister from the deepest, darkest of sleep! Go fast. Go swift.

Ryleigh flew as fast as she could; still it took her almost thirty minutes to reach him. Once she got there, she was pretty winded, and it took her a minute or two to catch her breath.

Tyson looked at the little fairy and thought, What could possibly make this little fairy speed her way to me, the poor thing!

But Ryleigh had caught her breath and was now able to explain everything to him. Tyson did not hesitate. He told Ryleigh to fly into his pocket and get the flower she needed to help her sister. Ryleigh did as she was told and got the flower that seemed to have a very strong odor. She was sure this must be able to do the trick, for it was making her eyes water. She thanked Tyson and sped back to her sisters as fast as her wings would take her.

Whatever this flower was, it sure didn’t come from Fairyland. It was the worst-smelling flower Ryleigh had ever smelled. She was sure Kadence would wake up—anyone would after smelling something like this. Once back at the tree house, she flew straight in and went to Kadence, with her sisters all right behind her. Ryleigh looked up at them all and said, Well, here goes nothing, and put the flower under her nose.

All at once Kadence was up and yelling, What is that awful smell? Oh, my head hurts! and she lay back down.

All her sisters started jumping up and down for joy and saying, Thank goodness, she is awake! Ryleigh got her a glass of water, and while she lay there for a few moments to get herself together, Ryleigh filled her in as to the events thus far. So after a little while, Ryleigh and Kadence did their packing and got ready for whatever it was the wizard Curtis had in mind. Heaven thought to herself, Our perfect life is now over. Only darkness lies ahead.

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CHAPTER 9

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O NCE THEY WERE all packed and assembled and in front of Curtis, he told them the story of the Objects of Balance and where they came from and how one was stolen from them that morning, which caused them to plunge into turmoil. He told them everything, even the part about the dragons. He told them how he and Tyson saw a trail of light that led to the Grasslands but didn’t know how far it had gone from there. The fairies would have to follow that trail and hopefully be able to get the object back.

Kadence decided she would ask the question that was on all their minds, How were nine little fairies going to make this journey that two wizards who had extraordinary magic powers had done so long ago? For no one knew how far they would have to travel to get to the object or, for that matter, get it back to Fairyland as the object weighed more than all nine sisters put together. What if they had to go all the way to the Red Lands and talk to the dragons. How could they possibly survive that?

Curtis looked at Kadence and said, Those are all very good questions, Kadence, which made Kadence blush scarlet.

Firstly, Curtis said, "on your journey you will meet many new friends, but you will also meet with other creatures who are not so nice, so be weary of all creatures that make you feel uncomfortable. Trust your instincts. Fairies have great instincts. Anyway, I am absolutely sure the friends you meet will help you on your journey.

"Secondly, I have in my pocket nine little magic stones for each of you. When you need them, they will conjure a safe bubble that will surround you like the one we are now in. The only thing with the magic stones is that you can only use them once, so use them well.

Thirdly, the reason you must go is because Tyson and I will need to stay here to hold the storms back, which we will be able to do only for a little while, so you won’t have the weather to worry about as of yet; but if you have not brought the object back by the next new moon, I am afraid it might be too late and the weather will have moved into all the lands and everything will be lost!

My brother and I are very powerful indeed, Curtis continues, but even we only have so much strength, and it takes a great deal of power to hold the storms back; even now I am tiring.

Now come each of you and get a stone out of my pocket and take good care of it, for it will save your life. Oh, and one more thing, I know that Heaven is the leader; but I believe that when you meet other creatures, you should let Kadence do the talking.

All the fairies couldn’t believe their ears. Kadence always stammered and blushed when she talked.

Curtis said, Yes, I know what you are thinking. Yes, she always blushes, but she is also the one who talked even though she knew it would upset her sisters. Kadence has the means of her voice to say what is needed when it is needed, and you are going to need this on your journey.

Kadence gulped and turned red. She could not believe the wizard was thinking that she could do this, but she liked the attention, so she never said a word and just nodded. She would do her best.

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CHAPTER 10

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T HE FAIRIES HAD a last look around and could see that their little village was in total ruins; the only thing standing was the tree house. And it was a total ruin! The leaves were all blown away, and the little lanterns that had saved Heaven’s life were also all blown away, and the string that held them together was hanging loose. It was so sad. How were they ever going to fix this? They realized they could not think of that right now. They would worry about it when they get back. If they get back—a few of them thought.

Curtis’s last words to them were Take the stones and head toward the clear skies that way, for that is the way my brother and I saw the trail of light go. Now go and go like the wind until you hit the Grasslands, for it won’t be long before we let go of this barrier.

So with their magic stones tucked away in their bags, all nine fairy sisters were on their way.

As soon as Tyson and Curtis felt that the fairies had a good-enough head start, they gave into their urge to let go, for they were getting too weak to last much longer. Someway or somehow they were going to have to find the strength and the right spell to keep the storms from spreading until the fairies come back.

When they let go, they each quickly ducked into the tower closest to them. Without them saying anything to the other, somehow it had already been decided that they would hole up in the tower closest to the Grasslands, which, of course, was Curtis’s; so when they let go of the spell, Tyson ran into his tower but ran through to the other side, where he ran across the bridge that gapped the two towers, and found his way to Curtis’s tower where they would somehow find the spell or spells they needed to hold the storms back without exhausting all their powers.

Outside they could hear the wind, rain, and probably hail hitting the outside of the towers; it was so bad they were starting to think that even the towers weren’t going to be able hold in weather like this. Their only hope was that they had given the fairies enough time to get to the Grasslands before they let go. Otherwise, all hope would be lost for everyone.

PART 2

The Grasslands

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CHAPTER 11

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I N THE GRASSLANDS, where there were fields of wild flowers, trees of all sorts, ponds of all sizes, clearings of green grass, as well as underground burrows for a great many of the creatures to make their homes. Just an all-around beautiful place. And in this beautiful place the creatures of Grasslands were starting to stir.

As they flew, scurried, pranced, and buzzed around looking for their breakfast, something caught their attention.

Each looked up into the sunny bright blue sky and could see a trail of light coming from the Fairylands and watched as it sped by and moved toward the Marshlands where dreadful creatures lived. The light was so very beautiful but seemed a most disturbing sight; there was also a stench of some kind that lingered for a while afterward so that each creature had a feeling of foreboding as it went by; each felt that nothing good was going to come from this sighting.

When they looked back at the Fairylands, from which the light came from, a big black cloud had seemed to form and had soon covered the land, and it seemed to be spreading and slowly coming toward them. They all thought, That can’t be good.

Jalna, the oldest of the mice cousins, looked to her other cousins Charity, Astra, and Amanda and said, We need to have a gathering of all the creatures. Run and tell them to meet us in the clearing. Quickly, there is something very dangerous amiss here!

The clearing that Jalna was talking about was the one that was the largest, and it had a great big elm tree right in the middle and was surrounded by beautiful smooth stones. This place was very old and had been used for gatherings for a very long time. In fact, if you look close enough, you could see that the tree had once been used as a home by some poor creatures that must have fallen, for nothing had lived there for a long time. Other creatures liked the tree but refused to make it their home as it just didn’t feel right. Not even the spiders would take it over, only dust. So it stayed empty.

As the other creatures started to gather around, Jalna took a quick head count. Anita, the bumblebee; Donalda, the ladybug; Mandy and Autumn, the butterflies—these four spoke for all insects in the Grasslands, for the insect population was huge! Princess Emma, Princess Brianne, Princess Tara, and Princess Kayla—the unicorns spoke for the four-legged creatures. Then there was the rest of Jalna’s cousins, Charity, Astra, and Amanda, the mice who spoke for the creatures who lived in the ground. Although Momma Raccoon whose name was Denise and Momma Beaver whose name was Kim also liked to be part of the meetings, they never wanted to miss out on anything, and they liked to be able to put their opinions in, so counting these two made everyone accounted for.

As they all gathered, there was a great deal of murmuring going on, Did you see that light? What could it be? What does it mean?

Jalna looked around and tried to get everyone’s attention, but as she was a mouse, it was hard to be heard over the crowd. Princess Tara, who was the oldest and most reasonable of the unicorns, looked over at Jalna and realized she was doing her best to get the crowd’s attention. So she took it upon herself to get their attention. She reared up on her hind legs and whinnied very loudly, which, of course, got everyone’s attention, It seems Jalna has something to say. Please listen, yells Princess Tara.

Jalna looked over at Princess Tara with a look of gratitude and said, Thank you, then proceeded to speak. As you have all seen the spectacular light in the sky that happened this morning, you know why we are here. I don’t know if any of you noticed, but this light has left the land behind it in a big black cloud, and we can be certain that that big black cloud is on its way here. I propose that we have some volunteers who will go the edge of Grasslands and have a look to see what is going on. Then maybe we can prepare if we need to.

Everyone just looked at her like she had just proposed they take up jumping off a great big cliff.

Princess Brianne lifted her head and said, It will have to be one of us unicorns for we are the biggest and the fastest, so I will go and I will take my sister Princess Emma. Princess Emma thought she could be fast enough; sometimes she had a hard time keeping up with her sisters.

So it was decided that the two unicorn sisters would go as soon as they had some breakfast and a good drink of water from their favorite pool. They would need a great deal of energy for this trip, for they did not know what to expect.

As no one knew what was in store for the two unicorns, they started to worry for them even before they left, but everyone tried not to show it for the sisters were being very brave, and it was important that they not feel how scared everyone else felt for them.

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CHAPTER 12

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P RINCESS EMMA AND Princess Brianne were on their way, with Princess Brianne in front and Princess Emma close behind. They ran for maybe close to half an hour when they saw the shimmering lights of different colors coming toward them. Princess Brianne stopped and called to her sister, We must stop and wait to see what this is but be ready to run back and tell the others, for we do not know what this entity is. For some reason, they did not feel afraid of these lights that were coming toward them. They did not seem threatening in any way. They were small enough to be almost like lightning bugs. The difference is that these lights had different colored glows to them. Princess Brianne didn’t remember any of the bugs she knew to glow different colors. So they would wait and see.

Once the shimmering lights got closer, the unicorns realized what they were seeing and could not believe their eyes. They were fairies! They had not seen fairies before, so it was a wonder to see. This was a creature they had not heard of for hundreds of years.

Their ancestors had always told them about the beautiful fairies that used to live in the great big elm tree in the clearing where they have their meetings.

Believe it or not, these were the same fairies that the unicorn ancestors had talked about, but at the moment the fairies had not remembered this about themselves. As they got closer to the unicorns and traveled the Grasslands, these memories were starting to come flooding back.

Emily and Faith, who were in the front of the group, seemed to be a bit more excited and happy than the rest of them to be back in their old home, even though they did not realize at first that this was their old home. It just felt so very familiar. Well, Emily and Faith were the first to see the unicorns and became even more excited. They couldn’t wait to meet the unicorns, for they remembered playing and frolicking with some a very long time ago. It was a very happy memory.

In the meantime, before the fairies met up with the unicorns, Princess Brianne told Princess Emma, Run back and warn the rest that the fairies are coming home to get ready with a big welcome for them. She was going to say guests, but that didn’t feel right as it was their home as well as theirs. So Princess Emma spun around and ran as fast as she could back the way they had come to warn everyone to get ready for the fairies. Jalna would know what to do, I hope, she thought to herself.

Princess Brianne thought she would meet up with the fairies and let them know where to go, not that they shouldn’t know themselves, but either way she would be friendly. Then she would continue on her journey by herself, for they really needed to know what was going on. But then again the fairies came from that direction; maybe they know something.

Emily and Faith reached Princess Brianne and greeted her with such enthusiasm; Princess Brianne was a little taken aback but was very happy also. Hello, my dear unicorn, it is so good to see you, both Emily and Faith chimed. You must wait for our sisters, for we know that they will want say hello also, says Emily.

In a few moments the other fairies had caught up and were not too happy with Emily and Faith for going so far ahead. Princess Brianne heard something about a fairy named Kadence who was always supposed to do the talking and Emily and Faith saying they were sorry but couldn’t help it for they were just so excited about meeting up with a unicorn and that it wouldn’t happen again.

After a few moments, one of the fairies who seemed very shy for she turned quite red approached Princess Brianne and gave her a bow. Kadence felt in her heart that this creature deserved to be respected, so when she spoke, it was with the most admiration she could muster. My dearest unicorn, we are so pleased to meet you and did not mean to scare the other unicorn away. It is just we have come from the land you see behind us that is now in great cloud. We have embarked on a great quest to save the world from the same. Is there anywhere we can go and talk and rest, for as it is, we are also going to need help from anyone who is willing.

Princess Brianne looked at Kadence and gave her a bow back, for she felt just as Kadence felt, that this little creature deserved her respect. Princess Brianne said, My dearest fairies, first, you did not scare my sister away. It was I who sent her to the others to let them know of your arrival; second, your quest has mixed with mine, for my sister and I were just going to the edge of Grasslands to see what was happening, which I am relieved to say that I will not have to go now for I am sure you have the story of it. Third, I do have a place where you can rest and tell your story, and I am absolutely sure there will be creatures there that will only be too happy help you on your quest.

Kadence smiled at Princess Brianne, and at once they knew they would be friends. Kadence said, Thank you, my dearest unicorn. My name is Kadence. These are my sisters Heaven, Ryleigh, Bethany, Maddy, Hope, Brooklyn, Emily, and Faith. Princess Brianne said, Nice to meet you all. My name is Princess Brianne. Now let us go meet the others.

Kadence looked at Heaven who gave her