Chapter 1

8 years later…

It’s surprising enough I haven’t broken my curse yet. Dad had fled from Windsong; I sat on a bench looking out for him coming home. He probably wasn’t coming any time soon. Allison came out and saw me, she sat next to me. Then she put her hand on my shoulder.

“I know you miss him, Venima,” She murmured, “but don’t worry, he’ll be home sooner than you think. I feel it in my bones!” She told be brave and boldly. Allison (Ally for short) is one year older than me; she’s pretty light hearted for a sister. Not like Laura, Annalise and Sylvie, my three much older sisters. Today’s my birthday; they’re holding a royal ball to celebrate it, everybody of the human race will be there. I wandered around the halls of the palace aimlessly later on. My brother, Philip, stopped me in my tracks.

“Venima! What on earth are you doing wandering about? You could hurt yourself, you know!” He shouted. I know that Philip can be overprotective at times.

“Look, Philip. I’m turning 16 today, doesn’t mean you have to be like that…” I pushed him out of the way and kept going.

“Well, don’t come crying to me when you get in trouble!” He yelled. I ignored him.  It was a sunny afternoon at the time. My mother came and stopped me.

“We’ve decided the ball is going to take place at sunset, if you’re ok with that, darling?” She said. I hesitated and said

“Oh yes! Of course I am!” I said. Then rushed to my room “I’ll just be getting ready”

In my room I was beginning to get worried. Sunset? What were they thinking? Everyone would find out I was cursed, but I had to deal with it. I pulled myself together and spent the rest of the afternoon getting ready for the ball. Later on, when the ball was just getting started, I went to the staircases that lead down to the ball room. It was completely packed, an orchestra in the background. And the stairs were lined with people playing trumpets on my arrival. A short man was standing at the bottom of the stairs with a scroll.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we are here to celebrate the birthday of the youngest, and loveliest, daughter of Queen Verona Skyfang, Princess Venima Skyfang!” He walked away. I walked down the stairs with my left hand on my amulet. Everyone clapped and looked at me. The only one not clapping was man about my age with black hair and wore a white tuxedo; he was holding a rose in his right hand. My mother was standing next to him, when I went to see her. She introduced me to the man.

“Venima, I want you to meet Prince Antonio of Cloudbreak Islands, he came over because he heard all about you and decided that since you’re both royalty you should be together…” She smiled happily. Antonio began to speak; he had the same accent as mine, Spanish.

“So, would you like to dance?” He asked me. He reached his hand out, I gently grabbed it and soon we were having banter on the dance floor.

“I’ve heard many things about you. I hear you like nature, am I correct?” He said while we were swept away on the dance floor. I hesitated and replied “Yes”. He spun me around.

“I’m glad to hear that, I do too. See? We both have something in common!” He replied. His eyes had a devilish look in them. Suddenly, trouble came along. Laura, Annalise and Sylvie walked towards me; I let go of Antonio and went towards them

“What do you want?” I asked. Laura laughed and looked at me.

“Ooooh, Venima got a boyfriend!” She said. The other girls pushed in front.

“Let me have him!” Annalise shouted.

“Oh no no no! He must be mine! Mine, mine, MINE!” Sylvie yelled. I backed away and tried to tell them to go away. They kept teasing me.

“Stop, please! It’s none of your business! No, I said STOP!” By the time I had said ‘STOP!’ I slapped Laura across the face, and then there were green sparkles that turned into small flowery vines. Everyone in the room gasped. Antonio didn’t. Instead, he pulled an evil looking smile. I rushed to the door to grab my hood, and then bolted to the door I turned the door knob, but nobody came to stop me. I put the dark green hood on and ran into the darkness. My hand on my amulet, so I wouldn’t turn into a rattlesnake (remember the curse I talked about earlier?). I knew by that moment I had three goals to complete. The first one, find my father. The second goal, fulfil my destiny of becoming a Skylander. And the third goal, to find true love and break my curse… (And yes, three goals sounds like a lot to get through)