"Solis! There you are!" Floris cried, dragging out the last word as she chased him down the street. He had been heading across from the main boulevard, trying to get away from where he spotted his family, but the eleven-year-old damsel had evidently picked him out easily.

He turned now with a sigh, shifting his shoulder and glancing down at his dirtied apparel. "Hi, Flor-"

She tackled him, nearly knocking him into a passerby. The street was not as crowded here as farther north, toward the large square. "You had even me worried, Solis," she said, releasing him.

"Yeah, I . . . got side-tracked," he said, glancing around. His parents were just catching up to them, and his father was calling out:

"Running off again, boy! You're mother was panicking already."

Pim Lightwing glanced sternly at her husband for a moment. "Honestly, dear." Taking a closer look at her favorite boy, she said, "What's happened to you? You're all dusty and . . . I'm not washing those, you know."

"I know, Mother, I know. We just . . . decided to hit the mines." Did that sound like a satisfactory explanation? Probably, given the looks he was already getting from people.

"And you really thought that was a good idea on the day of the festival?"

His father interrupted, slapping him on the shoulder. "Hoho! Been a while. Rethinking your career choices? They could use you in the inner mines—or even the outer mines."

Seems everyone wants to use me, he thought bitterly. Looking out over the innumerable festival-goers and the shop-lined streets of Megeth, he stared at the post-Hiding sunrise until Floris pulled him along. His will to explore the festival and see sights nostalgic and new felt so distant, trivial. A friend had died today, and he had yet to tell anyone. Another friend, found but . . . he didn't even know what to say regarding Faridi—only that he could not go to the Magnates about it.

He used to consider them friends, auntie and uncles, but . . . right now he could see them only as enemies. To him and to all of Ameros.

I hope they pay somehow.

Solis slept fitfully that night, waking with a predictable amount of aches and grogginess.

It was the big day. The first day of the month. Couldn't possibly be a day when I actually feel great . . .

The nightmare that was the Festival day came back to him, hitting like a physical wave of pain just as he was getting out of bed. He dropped his bare feet to the floor and slouched, jabbing his elbows into his knees. Oh, Faridi . . . Colla . . .

Looking up toward the loft where Floris slept, he pondered glumly whether he would have the courage to tell anyone about Grimstaf VI. He would be out there today, and many others, but they would not know what lay beneath.

The Sun had yet to pass the Earth, and darkness reigned in this early hour. Somehow, he managed to force himself out of bed and outside to warm up for the day's events. Warm up, and . . . try to calm his nerves.

The Stone Valley was already packed with young men and women, mostly friends and family who had come along to support them. Sides were being taken on the upper west side, and one pair of boys appeared to be all-out brawling. Typical prep time, given the occasion . . . Many had gone home early to sleep—or attempt to, like him—before the day's events.

Floris will probably be out soon . . . if she didn't get the hint yesterday.

It wasn't long before he spotted Telsan down in the lower reaches of the valley. A swift descent brought him near the bottom, causing his ears to pop.

"Telsan!"

The Ornis looked up as he swooped in a tight circle. "Hey." He sounded predictably unexcited. As Solis caught up to him, however, he flattened out his trajectory and they glided together. "Here to warm up or . . . to talk?"

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The white-winged boy considered the question, beating his wings to rise along with his friend. "Probably a bit of both."

For the next hour, they flew drills and then took to the shore, doing stretches and muscle workouts. Normally they'd end up wrestling as well, or practicing formal martial arts, but today they wanted to save their energy. They talked only briefly on the previous day, mostly on the Magnates and their mysterious dealings with the Harbinger and his kind. Of Phoenix, and whether she would even show up for the tournament today after whatever happened with her and Colla. But mostly, they talked of family: Floris and the rest of the Lightwing family, Phoenix's cousin Erika, who would be competing here at Ameros—well, Grimstaf VI, the isle of terror.

Floris showed up around when Solis expected, fluttering about the outskirts of the valley before sighting the two boys and waving with a grin. Solis waved back, forcing a smile, but didn't stop talking to his friend until she came right up to wish them both well. She looked hesitant about intruding on the conversation, unusually so, before coming out and asking, "Why do you guys look so glum? I know something happened yesterday."

They looked at each other. Telsan cleared his throat and said, "We, um . . . Something did happen, but it's not something we can talk about. It's . . ." he looked at Solis, "messy."

Solis glared at nothing in particular. With a small gulp, he looked back at his sister. "Can you keep a secret?"

She snorted, though the grin that twitched at her cheeks undermined the gesture. "'Course I can!"

"He hates the Magnates," Telsan said, gesturing as though Floris would see her brother from a whole new angle.

Solis made no reply for a moment, partly because the birdman's words rang true, bringing to the surface the seething emotion, but also because he wanted to think over his next words—something he wasn't too good at. He glanced around them, noting the distance to the nearest onlookers, then jerked his head, beckoning Floris over to where they sat.

The girl approached slowly. "You really are serious. What's going on?"

"Floris, look. I . . . there's a chance we might win, and we'll be setting off into the Earth . . . but there's also a chance that something else could happen today. And I don't even know what."

Floris plunked herself down beside her big brother, opposite Telsan. "So . . . what you're trying to say is you've gotta tell someone, in case you don't get the chance again? You can trust me."

Telsan eyed his friend.

"OK, it's like this," Solis said with a sigh. "We went out to look for Faridi and . . . well, the story will come out soon if the Magnates don't cover it up, but . . . in the process, Colla died."

Floris gasped. "That's horrible! What happened?"

A few minutes later, the girl was biting her lip, nodding slowly, trying to take in their story—which lacked a few details, especially from Phoenix, but was otherwise truthful. "You will keep quiet about it?" Solis asked at the end.

"Of course," she said, nodding fervently through tears. "I . . . I don't know what I'd do anyway. But what about Phoenix?"

"She . . . I think she'll be here today," Telsan said.

"And if she isn't, Flory," Solis added, "and if something happens today, then make sure to tell her we forgive her. Whatever happened."

Floris sniffled. "All right. I will. But Sol, just . . . if you do end up winning out there, I'm—I'm going to miss you." She embraced him suddenly, nearly knocking him on his side. He felt moisture on his shoulder as her tears transferred to his shirt.

"I'll miss you too," he said. He didn't mean it to sound so absent, but his mind was elsewhere, focused on the day ahead. Winning was certainly a stretch of the imagination, so in all likelihood he would still be stuck on this island come tomorrow, but . . . his instincts told him to prepare for anything.

If only that were possible.

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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.

* Floris—Solis' younger sister. 11 years old; aspires to be a physician.

* Caris—Eldest of the three Lightwing children, now married and residing in the neighboring Tapiq village of Dram.

* 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.