“Well,” Fifer said, hesitating because it was going to sound bizarre. “I got a weird feeling when the Revinir was speaking to us that we should… stop fighting against her. Do you remember what I said to you in your mind?”

Thisbe faltered. “I think it was something like ‘remember the fights we won.’ ”

“Yes. And how did we win our battles? Against dragons, against soldiers, against the catacombs and the Revinir, and against invisible Frieda Stubbs?”

Thisbe grew skeptical again. “I feel like you want me to say something profound here, and I don’t know what it is, so why don’t you go ahead and tell me.”

Fifer stared at her sister, thinking one word over and over in her head and trying to force it into Thisbe’s mind the way it had happened before. But if it was sent out telepathically, it didn’t connect—perhaps because the two were at odds at the moment.

“Well?” Thisbe demanded. “Stop staring at me like a freak!”

“Didn’t you hear it?”

Thisbe exploded. “No!”

Fifer lifted her arms into the air and said, exasperated, “We won with our wits. Our smarts. Sure, magic helped against the soldiers, but we are not and never will be a match against the Revinir’s power and strength. We have to beat her with our minds! Don’t you see?”

“And would you like to tell me how we’re going to do that?” Thisbe shouted.

“By joining her side!” Fifer screamed.

The words rang in the rotunda. Both girls were silent for a long moment. Fuming. Incredulous. Confused.

Then Thisbe put her face in her hands and shook her head wearily. “You have become completely unglued.”

Fifer let out a frustrated noise and turned her back on her sister. She was mad at Thisbe, but she was also mad at herself for completely botching everything. The gut feeling she had was clear as day, but for the life of her she couldn’t explain it adequately in words. Thisbe was right. Fifer fought off tears of frustration and wiped her eyes angrily, then stared out the window, pressing her forehead against the cool glass as the fog outside was beginning to burn off.

Then her eye caught something moving through the brush at the edge of the orchard. She focused on it, then gasped. She couldn’t believe it. Everything they’d just been fighting about faded. “Thisbe,” Fifer said, her anger slipping away. “You’re going to freak out when I tell you what I’m seeing right now.”

Testing the Dragons