Instead of a disclaimer, what came out of Mina’s mouth was: “We have to spread the truth farther. We have to find a way to get the essays into the hands of the real lightning guardians, the ones who’ve already completed their training.”

Her friends were all nodding. “Yeah,” Zek said, “they’re the ones who are supposed to be doing the big ‘showcase’ tournament in the capital with the prime minister. It’s not enough to get the students to boycott. If we can get the full lightning guardians to quit, that will make a difference! Can’t hold a celebration if no one’s willing to celebrate.”

Mina wanted to cheer. He’d heard the words she’d said and the ones she hadn’t. If they could reach all the lightning guardians—​or even just enough of them—​within the next few days, they could really make an impact.

“But how are we going to get it to them?” Ferro asked. “We can’t exactly slip the essays into their textbooks. They’re not even at Mytris.”

Mina considered it. There was one place they did see lightning guardians. “With the festival coming in five days, the prime minister will want extra electricity stored up. There will probably be more thunderstorms very soon.”

“So?” Zek asked.

“Wait—​are you saying what I think you’re saying?” Jyx asked.

Mina felt herself grinning. “We give them to guardians inside the next storm.”

Chapter
Twenty-Two

Mina was right: the very next day, another thunderstorm was scheduled for harvesting electricity for the festival. Professor Dano posted news on the bulletin board at breakfast. Staring at the posting, Mina tried not to feel full of nerves and doubts. On either side of her, Ferro and Zek jostled for a better view.

“You’re sure you want to do this?” Mina asked the boys. “We could get in trouble. Spreading ‘false propaganda,’ the prime minister will call it. This is bigger than just convincing a bunch of students.”

Ferro looked at her as if she’d suddenly turned a weird shade of orange. “Are you kidding? We met the outsiders. Drank their tea. Talked to them. Zek, back me up here.”

“You know why we wanted to be storm guardians?” Zek asked Mina.

She shook her head. She’d always known she wanted to be a storm guardian—​Papa had been one, and then Gaton had had his egg, and she’d dreamed about it from a young age. Her family had thought it was because she wanted to help out with the farm, but it was so much more than that. She’d wanted to help the world!

“Well, my parents said I had to, because I was a little kid and they knew best,” Ferro said. “But after that, I wanted Brindle to hatch because I wanted to be like the guardians in the stories—​you know, a hero.”

She knew exactly what he meant.