“Your … your Scythe?” I say and lay my hand on my chest where I had laid it before falling asleep. I can still feel its weight pressing against me, but it isn’t there with me on the ship.
“You have begun something, Midnight, something that will change your world forever.”
“What? What’s going to change?”
“Your friends will always be there for you; if you don’t turn your back on them, it will save your life one day.”
I open my mouth to speak, but he lifts his hand, motioning for me to stay silent. “Take every opportunity to prepare yourself for the challenges that lie ahead, for if you are not equal to the future, it will consume you.” As he says the last words, his form starts to drift like smoke in the wind.
“Wait! Wait!” I yell. My eyes pop open. Cloudless blue stares down at me. I blink a couple of times and clear my head. I roll over and push myself up to my knees. Mal is sitting cross-legged on the edge of the blanket, watching the trees and mountains whip below us. Lightcrest is brushing locks of hair out Brilliance’s sleeping face. I watch her, my mind racing about what to do.
I scoot over to Mal and give her a nudge.
She smiles.
“Aren’t you tired?” I ask.
“More than tired, but every time I close my eyes I see unicorns,” Mal says.
I put my arm around her shoulder. “I don’t think we’ll ever see a unicorn again, Mal.”
She nods. “You’re probably right.”
I glance over at Lightcrest and Brilliance and sigh. “I need to tell you something, Mal,” I whisper.
I tell her the whole story of what happened when we split up just outside of the unicorn city. I tell her what I learned about the deal between Lightcrest and the unicorns and what really happened with the Queen Suzanne.
When I finish, I wait for her to answer, but she only mumbles a couple of times under her breath.
“Pretty crazy, huh?” I say.
She bites her lip. “He’s right.”
“Huh?”
“Lightcrest. He’s right. If the halos learn about his deal with the unicorns, he’ll be kicked out of the order and so will his whole family.”
“How do you know?”
“I read about a halo who got involved with something a lot smaller than this, and even his greatgrandkids couldn’t be halos. Brilliance won’t be able to go to school to become a halo. No more skull ball … nothing. She’ll be an outcast.”
I stare at Mal and peer over at Brilliance and Lightcrest.
“You mean like me,” I say.
Mal goes silent and fidgets with a piece of the blanket’s thread.
“It will be worse … You can still go to Death’s Academy and be a hoodie,” Mal says.
I cross my arms and scowl. “So you think I should just not tell anyone and let everyone go on thinking my dad is a screwup?”
Mal draws her knees into her chest and rests her chin on them.
“I don’t know, Night. I don’t know … But Brilliance saved our lives. It doesn’t seem right for …” Mal doesn’t finish her sentence, but swallows up her last thought.
I let go of her shoulder and scoot over a few polka dots away. I turn my back to her, fold my arms, and lay on my side. My head is spinning.
A few hours pass, and we touch down in front of the Lock.
“We’ve got to put the Scythe back in Rapture’s Sheath,” Lightcrest says and motions for us to follow him. Brilliance, still a bit queasy, tries to get to her feet. “Honey, you stay here.”
“No, I want to be there when we put it back,” she says.
“I’ll help her,” Mal says and puts her arm around Brilliance, helping her to stand, and they stagger forward together.
Lightcrest leads us below the dungeons, and we enter a wide room. The floor is smooth obsidian. The only thing in the room besides flickering torches is a crystal pulpit with a narrow opening at the top.
“That’s Rapture’s Sheath. It’s what amplifies the powers of the Scythe. Once you place it back into the opening, all the powers will return,” Lightcrest says and his eyes drop to the floor.
I lift the Scythe off my shoulder and walk it over to the pulpit.
“Wait,” Lightcrest says. He turns to Brilliance, who is still arm and arm with Mal. “I need to tell Brilliance something before everyone gets back. I need to tell her something I should have told her a long time ago.”
“What is it, Daddy?”
Lightcrest clears his throat.
“Brilliance,” I cut across him. “He was going to tell you that he had suspicions of the unicorn attack, and that’s why he didn’t go to the Reapless.”
“Why did you have suspicions?” Brilliance asks, looking at Lightcrest.
“He’s embarrassed to say,” I blurt. “He saw my ranting on the Hoodie Network, right before everyone left for the Reapless. He believed me. Your dad has always been exceptional at seeing beyond our differences and letting old mistakes … fade away.”
Brilliance beams at her dad. “You believed him?”
Lightcrest stares at me for several seconds and nods. “Yes, I did … Night’s dad is one of the best Deaths ever, and I knew if his son said he saw unicorns, then he did see unicorns.”
I put the Scythe back into Rapture’s Sheath and almost instantly we hear the sound of shouting voices and bustling feet above. We begin climbing back upstairs but are met by a handful of Sickles that had just returned. All of us are immediately taken into custody and interrogated.
Once they figure out that we saved the Scythe and weren’t the ones who took it, we’re released with hearty handshakes and far too many slaps on the back. The Regent himself escorts Mal and me to the front of the Lock where the Hoodie Network reporters are waiting.
“Lightcrest Michaels says that he was only a minor player in all of this and that the two of you and his daughter are the real heroes. Is that accurate?” a chubby reporter asks.
“It is,” a voice calls out from behind the reporters.
All the reporters spin around, and Lightcrest is standing there with his arms folded. “I got there at the very end. If it weren’t for the three of them, the Scythe would have never been returned. I was only a passenger.”
“Is that true, Midnight?” the same reporter asks.
The Regent cuts in front of me. “You heard it from the man who was there! These two and that little halo are heroes. Have you ever seen such collaboration between hoodies and halos?”
“Were all the unicorns killed?” a woman reporter with a hooked nose asks.
“We’re investigating that as we speak. Two dozen Sickle squads and a handful of halo regiments are on their way to the hidden unicorn city now,” the Regent says.
“It looks like you’ve repaired your family’s name. How does that feel, Midnight?” a reporter from the back asks.
I swallow, and I can feel a very embarrassing glaze forming over my eyes. I grit my teeth and fight back the tears that want to leap out.
The Regent slaps me on the back. “He feels wonderful! He’s a hero, and everyone in his family can carry their heads high.”
“So, what now, Midnight?” the chubby reporter asks.
“Uh … well, I need to take the entrance exam for Death’s Academy. I’m pretty worried about that,” I say.
All of the reporters chortle, and some scribble notes down.
The Regent chuckles. “What do you think, folks? After what he’s been through, I don’t think this guy needs to worry about an entrance exam, right?”
“No, I’m really worried. I suck at exams,” I say earnestly.
The reporters laugh even louder. The Regent throws his arm around me and then around Mal. “How about this? No exam needed. Both of you are in. I’m giving you both the Regent’s scholarship.”
“You mean I don’t have to take the exam?” I ask.
“Nope. Both of you have all-expense-paid scholarships for the full four years,” the Regent says. “Don’t you th
ink they deserve it, folks?”
The reporters all cheer, and I hug Mal so hard I think I break two of her ribs. I let her go, and she smiles and winces at me at the same time.
“Okay, folks, that’s all we have for today!” the Regent says, guiding us away from the crowd. The reporters groan and call after us. We’re escorted back into the Lock.
“Your parents are waiting on the other side,” the Regent says, striding in front of us down ebony-tiled hallways.
We come to a T in the hallway, and the Regent stops. “Okay, you two, this is as far as I go. I’ve got a bunch of work to get this government up and running again,” he says and shakes Mal’s hand and then mine. “Fine work. Very fine work, indeed.”
He turns to his assistant. “Please take them to the southeast courtyard. Their parents are waiting.” The Regent gives us one last wave and strides down the opposite hallway.
“This way, please,” the assistant says. We follow her down two more hallways and through countless doors until we reach a room with rows and rows of bookshelves. Several of them have been toppled over and books are strewn across the floor. A dozen or so hoodies are stacking books and lifting shelves back up.
“What a shame,” the assistant says, shaking her head. “So much damage.”
“Hey, kid!” a familiar voice calls out.
I turn and see Demien striding toward me.
“Oh, hey,” I say and wave at him.
“Hello, Demien,” the assistant says, fixing her hair and smiling. “The Regent asked me to escort our two little heroes to their parents.”
He nods. “Do you mind if I speak to Night for a moment?”
“No, not at all,” she says and flips her hair over her shoulder.
“Alone,” he says.
“Oh … uh, their parents are waiting,” she says.
“It will only take a moment,” he says and leads me behind some collapsed shelves.
A narrow door stands behind an overturned table. He pushes the table out of the way and tugs open the door.
“Where are we going?” I ask and glance back to where Mal and the assistant are waiting.
“Nowhere far. I want to ask you something,” he says and walks through the door.
I follow him, and he closes the door behind me. We’re in a small room with an oak table and four chairs.
He leans against the table and crosses his arms.
“I don’t believe you,” he says.
“What?”
“You’ve left something out of your story. Something else happened at the unicorn city, and I would bet you a thousand skulls that it has to do with Lightcrest Michaels.”
I shift uncomfortably from one foot to the other. “I didn’t leave anything out.”
He stares at me, examining my eyes and face. I can’t return his gaze; my eyes are fixated on my shoes.
“I’ll make you another wager. I bet Lightcrest had something more to do with the Queen Suzanne incident than just being the hero.”
My eyes dart up at him for a moment and then back to the floor. I shrug my shoulders. “I told everyone everything I know.”
Demien scratches his chin and lets out a long sigh. “I don’t understand why you would want to protect him, but I guess you have your reasons.”
He watches me for another second and folds his arms.
“Can I go?” I ask.
“Yeah, you can go,” he says.
I grab the doorknob and am about to yank it open.
“You know we’re all very lucky, don’t you?” Demien asks.
I stop my hand on the knob.
“We’re lucky the Scythe of Grim didn’t get into the hands of some wayward hoodie or … halo. As you know, when it is in the hands of the unicorns, all of our abilities are taken away, but they’re too clumsy and dull-witted to do anything more than that. But in the hands of someone who actually knows how to use the Scythe …”
I turn and face him.
“Unstoppable, unbeatable, all powerful,” he says. The words hang in the air between us. “I wouldn’t like to think about it.”
I stare at him for several moments and then turn and walk out the door.
Twenty-six
My mom is so happy that I’m okay, she doesn’t even care that I was able to get out of the moderator. I hug both of them and we drive home.
As soon as we get home, my mom gives me another couple dozen hugs. To be honest, it’s getting to be a bit much. She keeps on ruffling my hair and kissing my cheek. I have more lipstick on my cheeks now than she does on her lips. She finally stops with all the sappy stuff and gives me one more hug before heading upstairs to go to bed.
My dad and I are sitting at the table. He hasn’t said much the whole time. He’s just smiling.
“I know everything, Dad.”
“About what?”
“The Queen Suzanne.”
His smile falters for a moment, and it looks like he’s about to cry.
“I know it wasn’t your fault. I know you fought against the unicorns, but no one would believe you,” I say.
A tear streaks down his face, and he nods a few times.
“But I know something you don’t,” I say.
He wipes his eyes. “What’s that?”
I tell him the whole story, including Lightcrest’s involvement with the Queen Suzanne. When I am finished, he blinks and scoots his chair closer to mine.
He places his hand on top of mine. “Your whole life you’ve had to live in the shadow of what happened before you were born. You were judged by your last name before anyone got to know you. You knew what it felt like to be ashamed of your dad. You knew how all that felt, and you didn’t want that halo girl to go through that too.”
I fidget in my seat and pick at a crack in the table.
“Midnight Smith, you are one remarkable hoodie,” he says and squeezes my hand. “I’m so proud of you.”
“I thought you would be angry because we could have cleared your name,” I say.
He shakes his head and smiles. “You just did, Midnight.”
I smile too.
“I have a feeling, though, that this won’t be the end of your crazy adventures, Midnight Smith,” he says. He stands up from the kitchen table and starts up the stairs.
“What? What do you mean, Dad?” I splutter.
He stops and looks over his shoulder at me.
“You’re heading to Death’s Academy. You think fighting unicorns was tough?” he asks and smiles.
I think I just wet myself.
Discussion Questions
How do you think Obsidian Smith’s reputation affects his son’s actions?
How do stereotypes get the hoodies and halos in trouble?
Do you agree or disagree with Night’s decision to not turn in Lightcrest? Why?
How did Night’s friends help him through tough situations? Why are good friends so important?
Did Night act differently when he was thinking of others instead of himself? Do you think it is important to have a good purpose behind your actions?
Night often got in trouble for making mistakes. How do you feel when you make a mistake? How do you try to make it right again?
About the Author
Unlike Mowgli from The Jungle Book, Michael Bast was not raised by a den of wolves … it was a mob of meerkats. This has proven to be both problematic and beneficial later in life. A problem because he has an insatiable desire to tunnel in his backyard, costing him thousands of dollars in sprinkler repair. A benefit because he can scratch behind both ears with either foot.
Michael lives in the deserts of Arizona with his wife and four kids. Each day between Cinco de Mayo and Halloween he curses his decision to live in 110-degree heat. To learn more about Michael and Death’s Academy, go to www.deathsacademy.com.
Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
One
Two
Three
Fou
r
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Eighteen
Nineteen
Twenty
Twenty-One
Twenty-Two
Twenty-Three
Twenty-Four
Twenty-Five
Twenty-Six
Discussion Questions
About the Author
Back Cover
Death's Academy Page 18
