They kept walking around the curve of the lagoon, both a little on edge about what the future held. “Have you uncovered anything good from the journals?” Fifer asked after a while.

Thisbe nodded. “Interesting stuff, personality-wise. I’m not sure how useful it is, though.” Her scales rose on her arms again, and this time she stopped walking and looked up anxiously, her eyes darting in different directions. “What is going on?” she muttered. “Now it’s happening when I’m just talking about her?”

Fifer frowned and looked up too, but there was nothing unusual—just some birds. “That must feel strange. Do the scales ever fall off?”

“Not so far.” Thisbe turned and peered into the jungle. “Does Panther or the scorpion ever come all the way out here? Sometimes other kinds of lurking danger make my scales stand up.”

“I don’t think so,” said Fifer. “Definitely not the scorpion. He hates the light.”

Thisbe didn’t detect anything in the jungle except the platyprot, which followed them and alighted on a nearby branch. But Thisbe’s scales told a different story. “Something’s off,” she said quietly. “Maybe we should go back.”

“Go back. Go back. Go back,” said the platyprot.

“Is it the platyprots that are causing your scales to do that?” Fifer studied her sister and grew worried. “Do you want me to call my falcons to take us home quickly?” she asked.

Thisbe snorted. “Seriously, Fife? The birds? What do you think?” But Thisbe’s laughter soon died in her throat, for there was a disturbance inside the jungle near the treetops. Then a large shadow passed over them.

The twin leaders looked up. And then Thisbe yelled, “Run!”

One False Move

The Revinir swooped down at the twins from her hiding spot above the jungle trees. Instinctively both girls tried to run into the jungle to make it harder for the dragon-woman to catch them. But the Revinir was too fast. She reached out with her powerful hind legs and clamped down on Thisbe and Fifer, hooking her curling talons around their arms and piercing holes into the backs of their vests and through Fifer’s robe. She rose with one in each claw, lifting them up into the air.

Thisbe twisted and squirmed and sent burning spears of lightning at the Revinir’s claws, working her way loose, and fell a heart-stopping distance into the water below.

“Thisbe!” Fifer cried, and tried to worm her way out of her robe and vest, but the claws had pierced through and she was stuck.

When Thisbe surfaced, the Revinir swooped down and snatched her up again, letting out a strange little scream as she grabbed her and dragged Fifer through the water too. This time the Revinir dug her talons in deeper and rose even higher. Thisbe cried out in pain, and bolts of fire shot from her eyes and fingertips, hitting the Revinir but doing no harm.

Fifer began flinging deadly spells at the dragon-woman with her free hand, even though she knew that the Revinir didn’t seem to be affected by anything. Then Fifer screamed for her birds, who came flying in from the jungle and soared at the dragon-woman. But the birds were like flies to her. She batted them away with her front legs and her wings, killing several each time she swatted at them.