The dragon turned. Yenni flared her speed runes and dove, but too slowly, and a forked tongue slid rough and wet against her thigh. The dragon jerked his head up, twin plumes of smoke hissing from his nose, and nimbly jumped to his feet like a fleet cat, rising up to more than twice her height. Then he turned away from her, opened his bat-like wings, and flapped them, fanning her with heat. He took off with a screech, flashing purple and black as he soared into the azure sky. For two heartbeats Yenni stood stunned, watching the beast disappear, then she grabbed the straps of her back-satchel and ran like an emerald leopard was on her heels.

She didn’t stop until she was in an open square of bright, green grass, where at last she flicked her eyes back to the sky, relieved to see it dragonless. Panting, she glanced around. The other students gave her strange looks, but none seemed particularly disturbed. What by all the Sha was going on? She didn’t imagine the whole thing, did she?

She looked up again, tense, alert for the sound of wings beating the air, but the atmosphere around her was calm, almost pastoral. Perhaps it had been some kind of hallucination brought on by stress. But that heat and those gemlike eyes . . . the dragon felt real enough. Yenni looked to the sky yet again. Still no dragons. She bit her lip. If she retraced her steps she could find the main gate again and go from there. Hallucination or not, she wanted to get out of the open as quickly as possible. She turned to head back and froze.

A very strange person was making her way through the sprinkling of students in the square. Yenni blinked. Was this another trick of her mind? She shook her head, but the woman didn’t disappear. Yenni knew it was rude, but she stared openly. She couldn’t help it: the woman was blue!

All the Creshens she’d encountered so far were pale, but this woman was so light skinned her complexion had a blue tinge. Her face was angular, with high cheekbones and eyelids that folded over in a way Yenni had never seen before. Truly, all manner of people resided in Cresh.

The woman smiled as she approached, her steps gliding and graceful under her long ivory skirt. She didn’t seem to be a threat. Still, Yenni stood ready to call on her runes. This was a strange place where no one batted an eye at dragon attacks, and she wasn’t taking any more chances.

“Let me guess, you’re looking for admissions?” said the woman.

Yenni let her shoulders drop. “Yes, I am.”

“Allow me to show you where to go. I’m volunteering with the student service committee and it’s my job to stalk the grounds looking for lost lambs to lead. I’m Kiyozui Duval. Call me Zui.”