Pronunciation: IZE-hie, SHAYL (rhymes with flies by and sail)
Parents of Skywise
Eyes High and Shale were Wolfriders in the time of Bearclaw. Eyes High was always entranced by the sky, and during her pregnancy she kept a perch at the top of the highest tree in the forest. It was important to her that her son be born as close to the stars as possible, with her lifemate Shale by her side.
Shale was aware that Eyes High was a loner, so he assuaged his longing to be with her by hunting to feed mother and child. But he was never see his son; all-too visible upon the perch, the pair were observed and attacked by two human youths. Shale fell from the treetop, breaking his back, and was killed in plain sight of his heavily-pregnant lifemate. Unable to escape, Eyes High was captured and went immediately into labor.
Ashamed by the cruel thing they had done, the human youths who had captured Eyes High spirited her away by raft where, exhausted, she finally gave birth. As her strength and life ebbed, she bundled the infant in her oiled leather cloak, sent to her tribemates one last time, then set Skywise adrift on the river to be found by his kinsmen.
