The bustling streets of Solaris were not something I was accustomed to, considering how uneventful my small village was. In Acrine, I knew everyone's names and their children's names—even their pet's names. Seeing so many new faces brought a sense of uneasiness through me, but I paid no mind to it, solely focusing on the excitement of the festival.

Lanterns were lit, flickering slowly against the dark purple sky as the breeze rushed through the streets of Solaris, wisping through legs and rustling clothing. My hair swished in front of my face, and the smell of sweet air wafted under my nose. The energy of tonight almost felt magical.

"Navi, dear," Mom called as I started to fall behind. Watching the scenery unfold around me distracted me from keeping up with my group. "Keep up with us, please. We're almost there."

I stuck close to my family, not wanting to get separated in such a place.

"Sorry," I smiled once beside Mom. "It's just so different."

She laughed softly. Her bright smile was encaptivating. "We haven't even gotten to the best part yet." Her arm intertwined with mine, guiding me through the bustling streets of unfamiliar faces and new experiences.

Loud voices called out from the crowd, marketing their products to those who passed by. Various foods, fabrics, and jewels rested at stands with someone trying to sell their merchandise. Some were doing quite well, gathering in a crowd with a piqued interest in the items being sold.

"Ma," I said while looking at a booth with beautiful fabrics on display. "May I?" I was tugging on her arm before asking for her permission. I had a small amount of money, but I wanted to buy some souvenir from the big city.

"Alright," She nodded in agreement when she saw where I was looking. "Ronan," Mom called. "We'll only be a moment."

He was barely listening as he was tending to my brothers, who were far too interested in the women with scarcely enough clothing to cover their intimacies. I was old enough to know who these women were and what they were after. Most looked to be in their early twenties, the same age as I was.

I hoped my brothers were smart enough to stay away from them and not be drawn in by their seductive nature.

Dad pulled them away from the girls and led them in a different direction to look at weaponry work by a blacksmith's booth.

I giggled, pulling on her arm until we were in front of the booth that caught my attention. A shirt was hanging from a pole, a dark green colour with a brown sash around the middle. It went long enough where I imagined it to reach my thighs, and I had a perfect pair of brown pants to match its design. "Isn't it nice, Ma?" I asked while my eyes danced over the material.

"It is," She nodded, her eyes wandering around the booth at the different fabrics.

The man who owned the booth stepped out from behind a set of clothing on display. The hue of his flesh was dull looking, with sunken skin and dark circles under his eyes. He looked tired and ill. Once we caught his eye, an annoyed glimmer took over his features. But his voice was sickly sweet, as if he could make up for his lack of hospitality through words.

"Ah, my darlings. How may I be of service to you today?" His thin body wove through his shop, pushing past an intricately made pink dress, its length spanning all the way to the ground.

"I'm wondering how much this would cost me?" I asked, pointing to the green shirt in front of me.

He hummed, gathering the material in his hands before eyeing me over. "Yes, yes. A good choice. This would match your lovely brown hair quite well." His hands worked over the fabric as he pondered his thoughts.

I waited expectantly for the price as his hands danced over the material. I had a few coins in my purse; most were coags, but I also had a couple of tiogs and one konnig. I fingered the coins, stopping when I felt the familiar largeness of the konnig. I didn't expect the shirt to be more than that.

"Three konnigs. A fair price for a fine lady." My heart sunk immediately. I didn't have anywhere near enough for that price.

I backed away from the shop, an apologetic smile on my face. "I'm sorry to waste your time, but I don't have that kind of money with me."

His face immediately turned sour, and a large hmph sound came from his mouth. "Well, on you get then."

I pulled on my mom's arm as I backed away from the grumbling man who cast us with a dirty, stink eye. Once we were far from the shop, my mom let out an unladylike snort. "Unbelievable." Her voice was high with emotion. "That price was far too ridiculous." The two of us walked to where we last saw my dad disappear. "He was doing that on purpose, I hope you know. That's what they do here. Jack their prices sky high and try to sucker someone into buying their products." Her head was shaking furiously as we went to stand beside my dad and brothers, who were looking over a leather quiver.

Chay had broken his quiver a while ago. It split right down the middle, the leather fraying from years of use. I never understood how he broke it the way he did, but the boys were hard on their equipment instead of taking care of it properly.

Dad said he was tired of repairing or making new ones for the boys, so he made them buy their own equipment, hoping they would gain some kind of appreciation for it if they spent their hard-earned money. Chay dropped one coag and two tiogs in the man's waiting hand behind the booth. My mind turned sour immediately. How was this cheaper than that shirt I tried to purchase? But I kept my thoughts to myself and smiled at Chay when he showed off his new belonging.

The five of us moved from the booth and back into the crowd. I could hear Mom speaking to Dad about the rude man at the booth she and I went to, but I paid no mind to it. There was no sense dwelling over it when the deed was done. However, I turned back to look at the booth, where he spoke to another group of people who pointed at the different clothing in his shop.

Turning a corner, I followed my parents, not paying much attention to my surroundings until I heard my mother fawn over the decorations. Looking around, I realized we were in the middle of the city where the five statues of our Gods rested. They were decorated with flowers that ran from the top of their heads to the bottom of their feet, where candles were lit and casted a magical glow around their features.

Whoever carved the stone had a gift. The statues looked so lifelike I thought they would start dancing with the crowd surrounding them. They were larger than humans, rising above the heads of those who stood beneath them, who placed flowers at their feet and said a few words that were between them and the Gods.

Hearing my mom's loud laugh ring out into the air, I saw her and Dad zipping around through the crowd. I smiled at how happy they looked as the magical atmosphere took effect over their senses, and they were soon lost behind a couple of people dancing the same as them. Moments later, I saw them push through the crowd, and the song ended just as they reached my siblings and me.

Another song started shortly after, and I watched as the crowd gave out shouts of glee to the familiar tune.

"I think Navi wants a dance, yes?" Dad didn't wait for my reply as he pulled me away from my spot, and we jumped around arm in arm to the tune of the music. Dad twirled me around, my blue dress flying around me in waves of a giant sea. I laughed, enjoying the feeling of having fun.

The night was young when we first moved into the streets of Solaris, and by the time we decided to take a break from dancing, the moon was high in the air.

I took a sip of the punch placed on the sidelines, tasting its sweet flavours on my tongue. It was tart, causing my mouth to water, but I enjoyed the taste of it too much as I finished my entire glass and poured another.

"Don't drink too much of that, Navi dear." Mom said as she too sipped from a glass of punch. "There's enough alcohol in here to even make a sailor pass out on the ground."

I laughed, taking my mom's warning seriously. "It's much better than the ale Mister McGarty drinks at the Inn. This is dangerous stuff." I took another sip of the drink, feeling the liquid warm my insides as it settled in my stomach. I wondered how McGarty was doing, or rather what he was doing. I hope he was well and safe. I couldn't wait to tell him about my experiences in the big city.

Chay and Keaton spoke with a man who talked of the military, where their forces were trained on Wintercrest to become soldiers of the ongoing war. I refrained from rolling my eyes. The festival was a time to celebrate, not recruit men for the war that threatened our lands. I noticed Mom and Dad hadn't overheard their conversation, or they would be pulling my brothers away from this man. They were young, but they were able-bodied to participate in the battle. The man knew this, of course. That is why he was speaking to them now.

My eyes caught sight of something I had never seen before. There was a marking on a man's shoulder, exposed for all eyes to see. It started with a pair of blue wings with a sword secured in the middle and two bands wrapped around his arm just above his elbow. It was curious to see, but the more I looked, the more I saw different coloured wings all around.

"Mom?" I questioned, standing beside her.

"Yes?" She asked, turning away from Dad.

I subtly pointed toward the men with the markings on their shoulders. "Are they part of some kind of cult?"

She followed where I had gestured, eyeing the men with critical eyes. Recognition flowed through her features as she scanned the markings. "Oh, those are dragon riders, Hunny."

My eyebrows rose in shock at her words—dragon riders in Solaris. More than I had ever seen before in my life. Then again, I only heard of Mr. McGarty's tales of how he used to be a dragon rider long ago. I wasn't sure how long, but he always said a ridiculous timeframe.

"I didn't know Mister McGarty had a marking like that." I thought of the older man, but he always wore long-sleeved shirts even in the hottest weather conditions.

Mom shook her head. "I'm sure I once heard him say how his mark disappeared after the death of his dragon. He said the colour faded, and there's a faint scar-like mark where it used to be. But then again, why would he want to show that off after what happened to him? It's not something he would be proud of."

I knew her words to be true. It made sense, after all. Maybe that was why McGarty chose to wear long sleeves, covering up what happened in his past. I wondered how far into the past; he said something about it being a hundred years ago, but that was most likely overestimated. He looked to be eighty at the most, with greying hair and a raggedy beard that stretched to his chest. His eyes were always sunken, but even though I knew his past troubled him in the present, the liquor worked hard on his body.

My eyes returned to the dragon riders, who seemed to stick together on the sidelines. They were drawing attention from the people that caught sight of their markings, but they ignored the crowd with an accustomed turn of their heads. They seemed to be used to the frequent staring, as I'm sure they had been the entirety of their dragon rider lives.

The part of me with a curious taste for adventure wanted to join their company and hear of their tales, but they were young, and I'm sure they hadn't experienced much of the world as Mr. McGarty had. My self-conscience told me to stay put, not wanting to be one of those people who intruded on a stranger's life just to gain a sense of satisfaction for the prying brain. No, I would leave them be, thinking of my own dragon rider back at home whose mind was full of lifelong history far better than anyone else's here. I gained a sense of yearning at the regretful absence of McGarty. He was a person I felt comfort in, almost like he were my grandfather to teach me about the past and correct its wrongdoings.

"What's with the face, big sister?" I heard the familiar voice of my brother Keaton say beside me. Chay and Keaton seemed to have finished their conversation with the man recruiting people for his army, and they settled beside me to watch the twirling crowd before us.

"She's always got a face, always daydreaming," Chay commented, playfully scrunching his face.

I scoffed, turning away from my annoying brothers to sneak a peek at the riders again. "Did you notice the riders over in the distance? I didn't realize they would be attending."

Their attention went to the men with different coloured markings on their shoulders. "Maybe they're here to see if a new generation of riders has been chosen?" Chay's thought process would make sense if it weren't five years since the last riders came to be.

I shrug my shoulders, unsure myself.

"It's been what? Five or six years since there were new dragon riders?" Keaton relayed my thoughts aloud. "Maybe there are no more people in this world worthy of being a rider anymore."

"I thought there was one stone left," I said, turning to my brothers. "Maybe they're waiting until they finally find the one who was supposed to be chosen all those years ago."

"Maybe." Chay shrugged his shoulders, leaning his weight against mine. I rolled my eyes, stepping forward, so his weight was off balance, and he stumbled a few steps awkwardly.

Laughing at his glare, I stuck my tongue out in his direction. "You should know better by now." He didn't seem to learn from the past times he's tried using me as his personal fence post.

"Behave you three," Mom called as she and Dad approached us in a fit of twirls and bounces. I could see the playfulness behind her mock glare as she stared down at the three of her children.

Suddenly, and without warning, I was in the arms of Chay, who spun me around a few times before Keaton decided to steal me for himself to dance. The three of us went back and forth like this, laughing into the magical air without a single thought between us other than not letting each other fall onto the ground. Chay moved us further into the crowd, into the midst of it all, where there was barely enough room to dance, but we managed just fine.

I hadn't realized the crowd starting to part around us or the determined faces of the riders approaching where my brothers and I were dancing. Nor did I understand why Chay and Keaton paused in the middle of our dance until I saw who was standing before us. Blue, red, and green wings surrounding a sword glared back at me as my eyes trailed from their markings to look in their eyes. The men stared at Chay and Keaton, and one with honey blond hair spoke up before I could ask what the problem was. His short sleeves exposing his arm revealed he was not a dragon rider. His pale skin stretched over his lean muscles, a blank canvas.

"You," The man with golden hair spoke up, the music flitting ominously in the background. "What is your name?"

Chay cocked his head to the side, eyeing the man with a guarded expression. "I could ask you the same." Keaton's posture was tense beside me, and he went to stand beside his brother, blocking me from viewing the riders.

"Right, right," The man stuck out his hand before introducing himself. "Call me Ahren."

Chay grabbed his hand firmly, and he and Keaton introduced themselves to the person who abruptly intruded on our lively dancing.

"I'm going to get right down to it, and it's going to shock you till no end," Ahren said as he opened his palm to reveal a black stone with rolling clouds colliding with one another. Something inside of me snapped immediately, bubbling within my blood and lashing out within my lungs.

"You're joking?" Keaton questioned, eyeing the stone with weary eyes.

Ahren shook his head. "This belongs to one of you. It activated not long after the two of you came near me." He seemed to gesture to them by sticking his arm out further in the direction. "All you have to do is touch it, and we'll know for sure."

I was silently going through a battle I was unsure of, disturbed by the feeling of unknown anger toward the man holding the stone with a leather glove. Something inside of me told me to take it from his hands, that it did not belong to him.

Chay was first to reach toward the black stone, holding it within his palm. The people surrounding us waited in silence as the music went on around us, but the stone remained angry and didn't glow from his touch. Next was Keaton, as Chay placed it into his palm delicately. Everyone held their breath, but no change came. Only the reflection of their disappointment shone back from the stone.

"I was so sure," Ahren muttered as he took the stone back from Keaton.

I couldn't contain the untamed rage burning a freezing chill through my bones, and I pushed past Chay and Keaton to view the small black orb awaiting angrily in the man's hand. It didn't belong with him. Its angry calls sang through my ears, urging me to take it from the one whose hand it was held captive in.

No one moved as I came forward, almost as if time had stopped in its place. A tiny sliver of light emitted through the thick, black clouds, urging me to hold it in my grasp. With shaking hands, my fingers enveloped the stone in my clutches, and a searing chill rolled through my body at contact with the smooth surface. My hair whisked away from my face, the wind picking up and pushed through the crowd. The lanterns creaked, the moon shied away, and the shadows grew in size as the stone's power sang within my blood.

The stone, angry with the growing years of not finding the one made for its power, could finally rest. It had found its choosing.