At long last, the annual festival had arrived. Megeth was a new city in this short season, a glittering beacon of decoration, lights, music, flashy performers and vendors that could be seen and heard from far off, where citizens and sightseers alike thronged the streets in gay merriment, giving out cheerful greetings to folk they would ordinarily never even speak to.

Falla Dolce followed a group of these revelers down one of the town's main thoroughfares, wondering how the family—may they rot in misery—was doing back on Fenaback. They would be enjoying themselves at their own traditional festival, although the Fenabackian one was slightly different. In Megeth, there was more emphasis on the village's original founders, the oversung explorers who came from the Great Island in the northwest, while Fenaback's was said to honor the engineers who worked to create the elementalist basis with which the island nation had begun. She honestly couldn't say what the day meant for most of the Great Sky's tribes, though she was pretty sure they all celebrated the day.

"Hoy, madam! Enjoy the shows!" called a juggler in a red-and-white-striped top, tipping his matching hat before flipping it, somehow producing three red balls from it in the air. These he began whirling up and down in a shape-changing circle.

She watched for about two seconds before the next performer caught her eye: an actor wearing a ridiculous animal costume, acting out a famous children's poem. Multiple children in the crowd laughed along. Sights like these always took her back to the festivals at Fenaback when she was young. . . . she had not been a child for a long time, long enough that the memories felt distant and unrealistic. And yet it seems just yesterday that I was ten years old and running along without a care in the world, just like those kids. She couldn't imagine what it must be like to be a Magnate. No wonder they were all so dispassionate and distant, seemingly unfeeling and uncaring, if they truly lived as long as the rumors said.

She continued down the street, passing more performers and booths and colorfully dressed girls with bows or wing adornments. Uncomfortable things, all, and cheaply made. She liked her clothing to be functional, not itching at her. But this was a day for looks, not practicality. As for the stalls . . .

Now, there's something interesting. A fabric merchant had set up shop on Birch Street, a feather-capped man peddling material mostly of green and brown shades—the easiest to come by. What surprised her was that she didn't recognize him. She knew every clothworker and textile merchant on the island, and most such vendors who came for the festival as well.

She hesitated, then made her way through the crowd to the merchant's stall, which lay just a few spaces down from where Birch Street adjoined the main thoroughfare. She just had to get back to her own stall, nearly a block away, before Lysera messed up a sale or let something get stolen. Falla had put a lot of hard work into this year's products, and didn't want something going wrong just because she'd let Phoenix off the hook for the day. Honestly, where was that girl anyway?

As she approached the vendor, she noticed with some surprise that he was of the Eastern Fae people. His tall, narrow nose and long eyes gave him away, even though his hat was tucked over his long ears. He looked to be around her age, thirty-five or so, but she knew their kind tended to look young.

"Good day, ma'am," he greeted her in a lightly accented voice, pausing his hawking as he took note of her browsing his stands of draped materials. "Anything I can get for you?" He didn't sound worried, nor overly pushy. A good business man.

This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

"Just browsing," she said. No need to tip him off to the fact that she was a vendor who specialized in putting his wares to good use. The merchant, seeing her careful interest and the way she compared the colors, commented on her apparent knowledge of "a good cloth," and she simply replied, "I do." In truth, she realized after closer inspection that his dyes were not half bad. While plain in general palette, the hues were varied and robust, and the materials themselves ranged from decent to good quality.

"Of course, my lady. Take your time. Wise Zeyd fetches his merchandise from far and wide, inspired by the Earth itself in all her wondrous beauty."

Ah, yes. The Eastern Fae worshipped the Earth as a goddess, claiming that they came from and would one day return to the place. Personally, she couldn't be troubled with believing in anything other than keeping her business running, however that may sound. With a polite nod to Zeyd the cloth merchant, she began searching the streets for a good food vendor.

"That girl had better be behaving herself," she muttered to herself as she set sail amidst the sea of people. Not Lysera; she was a dear for offering to watch the stall while she took a break. No, the one she'd raised for the past sixteen years, who thought she was going to fly to the Earth with Pim's boy. Surely now of all day's she couldn't possibly be getting into trouble.

----------------------------------------

CHARACTERS

* Solis Lightwing (SOLE-iss)—The main character, a white-winged boy of unceasing curiosity who longs to see inside the forbidden Earth.

* Telsan (TELL-suhn)—Solis’ best friend, a young man of the Bird Tribe.

* Phoenix Dolce (DOLE-chay)—Friend of Solis and Telsan, a Flameborn girl of sixteen years. Daughter of Falla Dolce.

* Pim Lightwing—Daughter of Fey of Longfell and mother of Solis and Floris.

* Arthur Lightwing—An exterior miner, husband of Pim, head of the Lightwing household.

* Faridi (fuh-RID-ee)—A Tapiq man who frequently volunteers for lookout duty.

* Colla—A female Tapiq; often works with Faridi.

* Melka—One of the three living Tapiq Magnates.

* Donnor—Said to be the eldest of the three living Magnates.

* Spore—One of the three living Magnates. Doesn’t say much.

* Fey—Solis’ deceased grandmother, a former Magnate.

* Falla Dolce—Phoenix's mother, a Dustborn from a powerful elementalist family of Fenaback. Kept her family name due to unfortunate events she'd rather leave buried.

TERMS

* Earth, The—An immeasurable continent that looms over the entire sky. Forbidden to all save those whom the Magnates choose each year.

* Tapiq (tuh-PEEK)—The tribe of winged men who dwell in Ameros and the surrounding islands. As with most tribes, they have adopted some from other tribes and races as their own, while others are visitors.

* Ornis—Also called the Bird Tribe, though this isn’t entirely accurate, as there are multiple; most simply live farther north.

* Hiding, The—The six hours in the middle of the day when the Sun’s low-angled course takes it behind the infinite cloud layer that looms beneath the sky world.

* Magnate—One of the three living souls of the Tapiq tribe who have ascended to the Earth and returned, bearing supposedly infinite knowledge that they choose to keep hidden.

* Ameros (AM-uh-ros)—Largest island in the southeastern quadrant of the sky, where the Tapiq village of Megeth lies.

* Megeth (Meh-GETH)—Capital city of the Tapiq people.

* Grimstaf VI (GRIM-stahf six)—An artificial island created west of Ameros by the Harbinger.

* Elementalist—One born with a Kinship to an elemental force. They usually lack wings.

KINSHIPS

* Flameborn—Kin of flame. They form their own wings as needed from tongues of fire that sprout from their backs.

* Dustborn—Artists of soil and dust. They fly with wings created from nearby dust particles.

* Windborn—Wind kin. Unlike other elementalists, these often grow wings just like any other, though some possess heightened abilities allowing them to fly without wings—and thus lacking them.

* Waveborn (aka Watchers)—Keepers of the invisible wards that protect the sky islands from falling hazards. Also, those with the rare ability of sound manipulation.

* Dewborn—These control moisture and redirect water.

* Stormborn—Creators of small storms and electrical currents.

* Snowborn—Bringers of frost and snow on a small scale.

* Sunborn—Manipulators of light.

* Beastborn—These rare kind, seen largely in the northwestern isles, come in different orders according to a certain class of living creature.

* Cragborn—Manipulators of stone.