Chapter 1: The Demons

    The great city of Stronghold was built long, long ago by many of the citizen's ancestors. It was a city built underground, full of tunnels and twists and rooms. It meant that the humans never got to see sunlight, but it was better than the outside world.

    Humans didn't really know much about the outside world. The only home known to them was Stronghold, and outside, Demons lurked everywhere. They would eat 10 humans for a midday snack. They burned down all the past villages (their ancestor's ancestors had been foolish to build homes aboveground).

    In the city of Stronghold, everyone went everywhere at

precisely the same time. Everybody. All except for one girl. Her name was Iris, and she was ten years old.

    Her parents were always busy. They had an important job studying demons and helping the city stay safe. Iris had learned to fend for herself ever since she was a toddler.

    She didn't have any friends, either. Nobody at school wanted to play with her because she was very smart and did well in classes.

    All in all, Iris had a boring, lonely life. Until Obsidian came along . . .

Chapter 2: The Ceremony

12:45 pm

    The day after Iris turned 10, a ceremony was held in the Grand Hall. Most girls didn't have to do things like this, but she dreaded it. Now that she was 10, she was considered the royal family's "subject." Strangely enough, there was to be a new king ceremony right after that.

    Iris walked down the long aisle holding a bouquet of flowers in her hands. Heads turned to stare at her from the sides of the hall.

    When she reached the end, the Queen, Rose, smiled graciously. "My dear, may you ever be of grace," she said, taking the bouquet. She tossed it behind her carelessly, 

where it landed on a mountain of flowers.

    Queen Rose placed a necklace of daisies on Iris's neck. "You are now a royal subject to serve this city," she announced. The hall burst into applause.

    Nervously, Iris walked to her parents. The people started to chatter amongst each other. They were waiting for the new king to arrive, but Queen Rose's brother David came out.

    "The King of Longwood Palace, King Andrew," David said, holding a pillow with a crown on top. "He will come out now."

    David stepped aside as King Andrew stepped into sight. He was a tall man reminiscent of a pencil; with a thick

handlebar mustache. He had yellow, rotting teeth, which implied he hadn't brushed his teeth in quite some time. Andrew smiled an ugly smile at the crowd. Iris hid her surprise.

    Andrew deliberately snatched the crown and placed in on his own head, where it lay sideways. The crowd quietly gasped.

    "Shush!" Andrew roared. The audience fell silent. Queen Rose backed away. Then, he swept his long cape away and rushed back behind the curtains.

    With troubled eyes, David turned to the crowd. "I'm afraid," he said in a hushed voice, "this coronation will be cut short."

Chapter 3: Aboveground

1:10 pm

    Everybody was talking about the King of Longwood when the crowds gathered to leave the Grand Hall. Iris remained silent and uneasy. She didn't trust this king to protect Stronghold.

    When she got home, she searched around her bookshelves until she found the big hardcover book she was looking for. As she wiped dust from its cover, she read the words, "The Book of the Aboveground."

    People didn't know much about it, but they picked up what they could. A special job was a "Landwatcher." From the underground, they stuck up little straws and peeked 

peeked around to see what was going on. Sometimes, in the most dangerous cases, a human would have to climb up for a few minutes, study, and come back down. The Book of the Aboveground was written by the Kingston Stone, the head of the Society of Landwatchers.

    As Iris flipped through the yellowing pages, she studied how demons looked like, and what other dangers might lie aboveground. Even though it seemed preposterous to worry, she feared that one day she might have to leave Stronghold and go to the outside world. In that case, she wanted to be prepared.

    She spent a few hours down in her old, musty-smelling basement until her parents got back. Even if they were

around, they chose to ignore Iris as if she was a broken dandelion they could easily blow away.

    She heard a loud crash upstairs, and Iris rushed to go up. She was stricken with horror when she saw her mother on the kitchen floor, blood pouring from her stump of a finger. "Ma, do you need help?" Iris asked.

    Ma stared coldly in her eyes; it was a look Iris had never seen before. Iris used to hope that her mother loved her, but that thought was banished in that one second.

    Iris quickly hurried away, leaving her mom. She thought about how stupid she'd been to believe everything that came to her mind.