Chapter One: The Earth Festival CHAPTER ONE The Earth Festival Skandar Smith watched the rays of the setting sun dance through the Eyrie's armored trees. From the doorway of the treehouse he shared with his three best friends, he could hear the familiar chaos of them attempting to leave for the Earth Festival on time. "Bobby! You haven't even got your jacket on yet!" Flo Shekoni cried in despair. A thump as Bobby Bruna's boots landed on the metal floor. "I refuse to change until the very last second--green just isn't my color." "Yes, and yellow matches your sunny personality so perfectly," Mitchell Henderson said sarcastically. "There's no need for that," Flo scolded, and Skandar suspected that Bobby had made a rude gesture at Mitchell. "I know you prefer the air season, Bobby, but we do need to leave now, or we'll miss the festival altogether." "Why do you care so much?" Bobby grumbled. "You hate crowds." "Flaming fireballs," Mitchell cursed. "I forgot about the rip in this jacket. You can practically see my whole shoulder!" "You can wear my jacket," Bobby said innocently. "I'll keep my yellow one on--" "Mitchell Henderson, if you let her give you that green jacket, I will--" "Ooh, go on, Flo!" Bobby whooped, and then there was laughter and running footsteps. Smiling to himself, Skandar finally turned round in the doorway. "Oi! We're Rookies now--practically fully trained, fully grown unicorn riders." He stepped inside the treehouse, narrowly dodging Flo, who was chasing after Bobby, who was hurtling after Mitchell. "If you carry on like this, I might find myself some more mature friends. Branch out a bit." Flo, Bobby, and Mitchell stopped dead, looked at each other, and then... ran at Skandar and tackled him onto the pile of beanbags, hooting with laugher. "I hate to break it to you, spirit boy," Bobby cackled. "But nobody else would have you." Skandar sighed dramatically. "I suppose I'll have to put up with you three, then." And for one blissful moment, lying on the colorful beanbags surrounded by his friends, Skandar could almost pretend that he was fine. Eventually, after much swapping and repairing of jackets, the quartet were riding through the crowded streets of Fourpoint. Skandar and Scoundrel's Luck had Bobby and Falcon's Wrath on their left, Mitchell and Red Night's Delight on their right, and Flo and Silver Blade shining ahead of them, among the sea of green-clad Islanders making their way toward Element Square. "Is this festival actually going to be any fun?" Bobby asked. "What do you mean?" Flo spoke over her shoulder as Blade stormed ahead. The silver unicorn seemed to be as worried as his rider that they might be late. "Well... earth wielders aren't exactly known for being party people. If it was the air festival--" "Bobby, will you please stop complaining about the season changing?" Mitchell said, Red's wings colliding with Scoundrel's as they squeezed through the narrow street. Flo looked a bit offended. "It's not that we don't like parties. It's just more effort for us than for air wielders. You could turn any situation into a party." "Aww, thanks, Flo!" Bobby said, genuinely touched. Mitchell chuckled. "Yes, I bet Bobby could even turn a burial into a party--" Flo shook her head at Mitchell, as Bobby raised an eyebrow. "Sorry, Skandar." Mitchell sounded horrified. "I didn't think. I didn't mean..." "It's fine," Skandar said. "Really, I'm all right." He'd been saying this since June, and he knew nobody believed him, but sometimes he wished his quartet would stop focusing on the fact that his mum had died, his sister had betrayed him, and his aunt was on the run. It was why he longed for moments when they were all just silly together, and also why Skandar looked forward to letters from Dad. Robert Smith was still writing to his son about how proud he'd been watching the Air Trial at the end of Fledgling year. He knew nothing about the terrible events that had followed the race. So when Skandar wrote back, he could pretend he was living an ordinary life at the Eyrie with his sister. He could imagine that the story he was making up for Dad was true. "I mean, this looks like rather a good party to me," Mitchell said, attempting a return to normal conversation as they arrived at Element Square. It was the first Earth Festival Skandar had managed to attend, and he'd never seen the square quite so beautiful. The earth wielders had grown a knee-high wildflower meadow across the whole area--colorful blooms bursting through the long grass--which seemed somehow resistant to the trampling of hundreds of unicorn hooves. The whole place smelled fragrant and fresh, and the stalls dotted round were just as strikingly earth-allied. Some were cavelike, filled with gems, where customers could choose precious stones and have them made into jewelry, while other stalls boasted soil-filled beds with flowers or vegetables ready to be picked right from the soil and roasted. And there were, as usual, activities to keep restless riders and unicorns amused--a tug-of-war with flowering vines, an obstacle course involving giant magnets, and a sand modeling competition. Skandar could already see a replica Hatchery, complete with perfectly round door. Listening to the cheerful chatter of the festivalgoers, Skandar felt a twinge of jealousy. How could nothing have changed for them, when only a few weeks ago his whole world had been irreversibly altered? Erika Everhart--spirit's dark friend, the Island's greatest enemy, the Weaver--was dead. But no matter how many names she'd been given, she'd been Skandar's mum, too, and losing her hurt more than he'd thought it would. Even after everything she'd done to the Island. To his sister. With his sister. The quartet dismounted--even Bobby looked awed--and they looked round. Skandar pushed away his dark thoughts. He was just about to ask whether anyone wanted to share a sizzling tub of roasted potatoes when three Eyrie riders approached. Skandar recognized them all. Marcus, on his unicorn, Sandstorm's Orbit, had been chosen as the new squadron leader of the Peregrine Society, the Eyrie's elite flying squad. Marcus was flanked by Patrick, a fellow Grin, on Hurricane Hoax, and--bizarrely--Bobby's younger sister, Isabel Bruna, riding her brand-new unicorn Tsunami's Herald. It was easy to tell that Bobby and Isa were related. They had the same severe brown bangs, the same olive skin. But Isa wore her hair long, trapped neatly in two braids, and her eyes were bigger and brighter, as though constantly surprised by whatever trouble she'd started. And where Falcon was slate gray, Herald was as white as snow. "Isa!" Bobby hissed. "What are you doing at the Earth Festival? Hatchlings aren't allowed!" Skandar had never heard Bobby sound so like Flo in his life. Isa tutted. "Wrong as usual, hermana. The Commodore changed the rules." "Oh." Bobby looked taken aback but turned her attention to Marcus and Patrick instead. "Okay, new question. Why are two Preds hanging around with a Hatchling?" "We're not hanging around with her," Patrick protested, his mutated hair sticking up as though freshly electrocuted. "She won't stop following us." "Harsh but accurate," Isa said, patting Herald's neck. "Isa--" Bobby started, but then she breathed in deeply as though trying to calm herself. Flo looked on approvingly; she'd been encouraging Bobby to turn over a new leaf with her sister now that Isa was on the Island. The trouble, as Skandar had realized the moment Isa had arrived, was that Bobby's sister was really, really annoying. "I'm looking for a Rookie," Squadron Leader Marcus said, ignoring the sisters. "An earth wielder called Elias, rides Marauding Magnet. Have you seen him?" Nobody had. "Is everything all right?" Flo asked. "I'm not sure," Marcus said, his face creased with concern. "Elias had a lot of friends declared nomads after the Chaos Trials. Instructor Webb hasn't seen him for days. The instructor's worried." "He'll turn up, mate," Patrick said reassuringly. "Then we can go back to discussing how you betrayed me and chose Fen as your flight lieutenant." Marcus groaned good-naturedly as they said goodbye and moved to the next group of Eyrie riders. Bobby managed to grab Herald's reins before Isa could follow them. "How about some sister bonding time?" Bobby asked in an enormous effort to be nice. "We could visit one of the gemstone caves? How about something blue for your element?" Isa rolled her eyes. Skandar wondered which sister had started the habit. Stomach rumbling, Skandar turned to Flo and Mitchell, but Mitchell was already riding Red toward a group of blacksmiths listening to a bard singing about the coming harvest. "I said I'd meet... I'm just going to see if Jamie..." Mitchell's voice was swallowed up by the festival crowd as he went in search of his boyfriend. "Potatoes?" Skandar asked Flo, and she nodded enthusiastically, the silver in her Afro flashing. As, they started to queue, Skandar saw Rex Manning nearby, surrounded by other members of the Silver Circle. A shiver went down Skandar's spine when he spotted Nina Kazama's mood ring on the Commodore's pale white finger. Rex had shown his true colors back on the summer solstice, when he imprisoned any spirit wielder he could lay his hands on. The other Eyrie instructors had protected Skandar, but he worried about how long Rex would allow that to last. He turned to Flo. "Why isn't anyone investigating Nina's death? I'm sure Rex killed her. How can they let a murderer be Commodore? Has Rex said anything to you? About Nina? About me? About Agatha? About what his plans are for the spirit element once--" As quick as a lightning attack, Flo placed her fingers to his lips and Scoundrel growled. "Skar, you have to stop this," she said, ignoring the black unicorn. "There's no evidence that Rex killed Nina." "Apart from the fact that he's wearing her ring ?" Flo shook her head. "There could be so many reasons for that. Maybe it's out of respect. Weren't they in the Peregrine Society together?" "Yes, but--" "I don't trust Rex either, okay? Not after he tried to arrest you and Agatha. But I really don't think he's a murderer. And he's no more prejudiced against the spirit element than most people on this Island. Remember how he saved us from his father at the end of Nestling year? And he still has Dorian locked in the prison, apparently." She swallowed. "He's a complicated person, I think. I've heard rumors within the Silver Circle that he didn't have an easy time of it growing up." Skandar grunted in disbelief. "Well, I'm not exactly having an easy time growing up either. And I haven't killed anyone!" Flo sighed. "I don't believe he's as bad as all that. I think he'll keep Aspen's word and bring spirit wielders back if you make it to the end of your training. He keeps promises, Skar. I think he just wants the Island to be safe, that's all." Skandar didn't want to keep arguing. Flo always believed the best of everyone--he loved that about her--but he was convinced Rex Manning was one of the most dangerous people he'd ever met. "We're starting Rookie training in a few weeks," Flo said, smiling at Skandar in that way that made him forget where he was. "Enjoy what's happening now, rather than worrying." Skandar shrugged, knowing she was also talking about Kenna. He'd noticed Flo paying close attention to him over the last month. Perhaps she'd guessed how he kept going over and over the events from June: Kenna's betrayal, her attempt to forge a new generation of riders, and--worst of all--the moment she'd killed Agatha's unicorn, Arctic Swansong. "Take it from someone who knows," Flo continued. "Worrying doesn't help. What flavor do you want?" She pointed to the sign above the kiosk. Underneath the words Rita's Rollicking Roasties were various decisions that customers had to make before ordering their potatoes: crispiness--from doughy to jaw-crunching; saltiness--from sprinkle to seawater; and finally flavor, of which there were at least twenty--everything from rosemary to lemon to beef to chocolate. "Do you think chocolate and roasted potatoes taste good together?" Skandar wondered. "Only one way to find out." Flo winked at him and kneeled down by the wooden planter, searching for a potato hidden within its soil. Skandar was about to join her when he noticed something odd about the statues at the center of Element Square. The lightning bolt, waves, and flames were all their usual concrete gray, but the jagged rock for earth was painted with a long white stripe down its center. Skandar's heart beat wildly, his quickening breaths loud in his ears. As panic flooded his senses, the happy chatter of the emerald crowd faded to a low hum. Was painting the statue part of the festival? Surely not. Surely the organizers would have realized the panic it would cause. It looked exactly like that mark. Her mark. "Flo?" Skandar said, voice shaking. She looked up at him, alert. They'd been through so much together--she knew fear when she heard it in his voice. "Please tell me the earth statue's been like that the whole time." Skandar pointed at the rock. "Tell me it's someone's idea of a really bad joke." Flo stood to look. "It wasn't like that a few minutes ago, Skar." Without another word she scrambled up onto Blade's back. Skandar mounted Scoundrel, who sent a pulse of calm through the bond, sensing his rider's unease. Others were starting to notice the statue now--some pointing, others staring in disbelief, as worry rippled across Element Square. Within seconds, Falcon and Herald emerged from the sea of festivalgoers and stopped by Blade and Scoundrel. Skandar was relieved to see Mitchell approaching too, with Jamie sprinting alongside Red through the wildflower meadow. Scoundrel shrieked, as though urging his fiery best friend to hurry up. "I don't understand," Isa said as the quartet moved their unicorns into a defensive circle, shielding Tsunami's Herald within them. "It's just paint on a statue. Why is everyone--" "It's the Weaver's sign." Bobby's voice was tense. "Like the stripe she had down her face. Like a spirit unicorn's blaze." "But isn't the Weaver dead? The Islanders in my quartet told me that Commodore Manning killed her!" Isa insisted. " He didn't kill her," Skandar growled. "But yes, she's dead. I saw her die." Isa stayed silent. "Who would do this?" Jamie sounded angry. "I can think of someone," Mitchell said, glancing in Skandar's direction. "But she wouldn't try anything, would she?" Flo said softly. "It's too risky. Too many sentinels, silvers everywhere. The entire Council of Seven is here. And the Commodore." Then, all across Element Square, unicorns began to collapse. Riders yelled in shock as they were thrown from their unicorns' backs. Distress flares exploded from the saddles of earth-allied sentinels as they were unseated, filling the square with green smoke. Islanders screamed as unicorns that had been flying over the festival plummeted to the ground, plowing through stalls and sand sculptures. Sandstorm's Orbit fell on top of a gem cave and it collapsed, spewing colorful jewels as Squadron Leader Marcus pulled himself from the wreckage. Scoundrel bellowed in confusion as he and Skandar watched stone-haired Gabriel leaning over the light gray body of Queen's Price, pleading with her to wake up. Aisha was calling to Dagger's Emerald over and over, the flowers in her hair wilting with anguish. Freya was pulling at Earth-Bound Raptor's mane in floods of tears. Panicking, Skandar jerked his gaze back toward Marcus, where Orbit was lying on a sea of gemstones. "It's the earth wielders," Mitchell cried. "It's only affecting earth unicorns!" "Apart from Blade," Flo breathed, winding her hands into his silver mane as though trying to keep him upright. Time in the square seemed to slow. Skandar scanned the motionless bodies, wings spread across the ground at odd angles like fallen angels. "They'll be okay, right?" Isa asked, her face stricken, arms round the white neck of Tsunami's Herald, as though worrying that her water unicorn would collapse too. "They're not dead, are they?" Skandar opened his mouth to reply but the fallen unicorns answered for him. As one the earth unicorns rose like ghosts from shallow graves. But they weren't dead. As their transparent horns glowed eerily in the torchlit square, Skandar realized what he was seeing was far more terrifying than that. All the earth unicorns had turned wild. Scoundrel bellowed, Falcon and Blade screeched, and Herald and Red reared up as the putrid stench of wild unicorn blasts filled the air. Mitchell was pleading with Jamie to run, and he sprinted away, shouting to nearby blacksmiths that they should take cover in the forges. Earth wielders across Element Square were all frozen in shock. The unicorns they had loved since they'd first locked eyes in the Hatchery had turned into the monsters the riders had been taught to fear. Coats that had glistened only moments before were now dull. Wing muscles that had taken years to build were wasting away. Well-fed bodies began to shrink and shrivel, the lines and bumps of their bones becoming visible in seconds. Some riders fled from the square in panic. Others stayed--pleading, begging, sobbing--as their beloved unicorns blasted elements at anything in range and tore through the square, causing chaos. Commodore Manning and his Council of Seven had organized themselves into a defensive line and were firing lightning bolts to try to move the wild unicorns out of the crowd. "Stop! He's not himself! Don't hurt him!" Farooq was shouting at them, trying to protect Toxic Thyme from their air magic. But Thyme just snarled at him and barged right past, sending him flying into the tall grass of the meadow. "This is horrible!" Flo cried as she summoned a sand shield to defend against a wild unicorn's blast of stinking smog. "But how?" Mitchell threw a fireball in the general direction of Dagger's Emerald, trying to head her off without injuring her. "This is impossible. Bonded unicorns don't just turn wild for no reason." A wild unicorn swooped low over their heads. A wild unicorn with a rider. There was a white stripe painted down the middle of the rider's face, from the crown of the head to the tip of the chin. But that was where the similarities to the Weaver ended--for this rider had thorned vines curling up her arm, ice spikes at her throat, lava in her veins, feathers at her ears, a head that was half skull. And even if Skandar had seen none of those things, he would have recognized his sister anywhere. Kenna Smith landed Goshawk's Fury amid the chaos of stampeding unicorns, begging riders, and fleeing Islanders--and she laughed. And laughed. Skandar was barely aware of riding Scoundrel through the crowd of screaming earth wielders. He was scarcely conscious of the elemental shields he was raising to deflect blasts from the newly wild unicorns. He hardly heard himself yelling his sister's name. "KENNA!" A fierce desperation to reach her boiled in Skandar's veins, even though he had no idea what he was going to do when he got there. Attack her? Hug her? "Stop her!" Rex Manning's authoritative bark rang out over the bellows of the wild unicorns. The Commodore and his entire air-allied Council of Seven, galloped toward Goshawk from the opposite side of the square. Kenna stopped laughing as she rode Goshawk's Fury forward--away from the Commodore but toward Scoundrel's Luck. Goshawk's rotting wings snapped out, and the meadow wilted as her skeletal knees brushed its flowers. For a moment Skandar thought Goshawk was going to collide with Scoundrel, but seconds before impact the wild unicorn took off and soared right over his head. Skandar fought off tears. Not because Kenna had painted herself to look like the Weaver. Not because she was almost certainly responsible for the earth unicorns turning wild. But because his sister hadn't even looked at him. He missed her--that was the truth. Even though he knew he was supposed to think of her as the enemy, all he really wanted was to talk about what had happened in June. Was she hurting too? Was she angry--like he was--about Erika Everhart leaving them behind all over again? Skandar was only vaguely aware of his quartet catching up with Scoundrel. "We need to get out of here," Bobby said through gritted teeth. She was having trouble protecting her sister from the swirling blasts of the earth unicorns. Isa had barely started Hatchling training and her attempts at magic were doing more harm than good. "Herald can't fly yet; we'll have to ride for the Eyrie." Fourpoint was in complete chaos as the quartet fought their way through, young Tsunami's Herald sandwiched protectively between them. The earth unicorns didn't appear to be as wary of human settlements as normal wild unicorns, and Skandar saw at least a dozen tearing through the narrow streets. Others had already set fire to wooden treehouses or smashed shop windows. Some of their riders were attempting to catch them; others were cowering in doorways or hiding in trees. "From bonded to wild. It's impossible," Mitchell said again as they reached the base of the Eyrie's hill. "Mitchell, it just happened," Bobby snapped at him. "Clearly it is possible." "Why wasn't Blade affected?" Flo's voice was barely audible. "It could have something to do with Blade being a silver," Skandar guessed. "Silver unicorns aren't as affected by spirit magic." "Blade's the only earth-allied silver, right?" Bobby asked. "Apart from Elora and Silver Soldier," Mitchell said, already planning. "We should get a message to Agatha and see what the situation is with the Wanderers. Is it all the earth unicorns, or only the ones who were in Element Square tonight?" Flo was still worrying about Blade. "So you're saying Kenna used the spirit element to do this? That because Blade is a silver he definitely won't be affected?" "We'll know for sure once we talk to Elora," Skandar said carefully, but he was already thinking about how wild unicorns had an affinity with the spirit element. How only spirit wielders could see and break bonds to kill unicorns. And how that didn't work against silvers. "Why would your sister do this?" Isa asked Skandar accusingly. He bristled. "Kenna's been through... a lot. I'm not sure she knows what she's doing right now." "Are you really defending her?" Bobby asked, incredulous. "After Arctic Swansong?" "Leave it, Bobby. Okay?" Flo said more forcefully than usual. Mitchell plowed over the tension with practicality. "Rather than why Kenna's done this, the scarier question is how . How has she been able to affect so many unicorns at the same time? That kind of magic, that kind of power, it means..." "We're all in danger," Skandar finished. Because Kenna was more powerful than any other rider Skandar had ever seen. And she was grieving--just like he was. A combination both terrible and terrifying. Excerpted from Skandar and the Skeleton Curse by A. F. Steadman All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
