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"GET OVER HERE WITH MY CANDLE, YOU DARK DRAGON," a voice rang across the meadow.

"NEVER!" Came another, followed by a bout of evil cackling.

"Guys, STOP FIGHTING!"

The first voice belonged to a girl with white curls bouncing around her face, and a shining white cape hung around her shoulders. She was named Sunny. She was running after her twin sister, Zaira. Her nut-brown skin was flushed red as she reached for her stolen candle.

Zaira was shorter than her twin. She wore a furry red cape, and her hair was tied in two pigtails. And the peacemaker of the group, Eclipse tried to keep the twins from fighting. She wore a light blue cape, shaped with manta wings and a tail, and her hair was pulled to one side with an iridescent red barrette.

"Guys! Zaira, give Sunny back her candle, and Sunny, stop trying to hit Zaira with your piano!"

"Who, me?" Sunny flashed a grin.

She rushed at Zaira, and as always, it ended with a scuffle. They all paused when they heard the distant toll of a temple bell.

Sunny tilted her head. "What could that possibly be?" she wondered aloud. "the Prairie Elder rarely calls any meetings."

"Must be important then! Hurry up!" Zaira called back, already up in the sky, winging her way over the clouds to the temple.

✵

Sunny arrived at the Prairie Village shortly after Zaira. She paused in the air, observing the ancient bell towers of the Sky Children before. She saw the Daylight Prairie Sky Children flying up to the temple, but she noticed another group gliding among the glittering Manta Rays.

They wore dark capes and staffs, and shining masks as black as coal. Zaira whispered to her friends. "Those are Golden Wasteland Sky Children! Why do you think they're here?"

"I don't know, but I see Sky Children from other realms too!" Eclipse answered.

Sunny realized she was right. She noticed a group of Valley of Triumph Sky Kids. With their vibrant sunset capes and iridescent masks, shimmering with evanescent rainbows when they hit the light. They were running around two abnormally tall Sky Children.

Wait, Sunny thought. Those aren't Sky Children, those are the VALLEY ELDERS!

She told her friends this new revelation and they gasped. She noticed the other Elders around too. The Wasteland Elder was helping the Isle of Dawn Elder around, and the Hidden Forest Elder was reading a book on top of one of the bell towers. The more the group of friends noticed odd things, the more that jumped out at them. They saw the Hidden Forest Sky children, with umbrellas strapped to their backs, and the weak Isle of Dawn Sky kids learning to fly from the others, even the Sky kids from the Vault of Knowledge, dressed in deep blues and purples, strutting around like they knew everything. (They probably did.)

The gong sounded for the final time, and everyone rushed to the base of the temple. All seven Elders were standing in the doorway to the temple. The Hidden Forest Elder's voice rose above the crowd chatter.

"Attention! Please quiet down! We have an important announcement to make!" She stepped back into the shadows of the door frame. The Isle Elder walked forward. In his creaky voice, he said;

"We have an agreement among all the Elders of the Sky Kingdoms," he paused. "we are going to start a daily gatheringfor all the sky children, it will take place in a different realm every day, and you will learn skills as well." He stepped back.

"You will receive a scroll tomorrow morning, along with a spirit stone. Good luck!" the Vault Elder said.

The crowds dispersed, the excitement over.