Mina smiled at her friend. «Chauda says to tell you she’s in too,» Pixit told her. «Obviously I’m in. But then, I can read your mind, and you’re thinking very clearly and loudly right now.»

Ferro raised his hand. “I kind of care what the plan is.”

“When I fell in that first storm, Jyx’s beast, Chauda, wasn’t strong enough to carry the two of us. But our beasts have grown. A lot.”

Zek nodded. “It’s all the potatoes.”

A few laughed, nervously.

“Yes. They’re strong enough to carry more than one,” Mina said. She saw understanding begin to bloom on her friends’ faces. “We save the people of Dern by carrying them away from the storm. By bringing them across the border, into Alorria.”

Chapter
Twenty-Four

Just before dawn, Mina slipped out of bed and pulled on her clothes. Across the room, Jyx was silently doing the same.

Outside, the sky was pale gray. A few stars still clung to it, and the early-morning birds had started to call to one another across the blackened hills. Opening the window, Mina saw a few clouds brewing far away, obscuring the peaks of the mountains. It’s starting. She knew many guardians were in the capital already, preparing the marvels and wonders, most likely setting off countless smaller storms that would lead to the deadly ten-year storms.

«It’s okay. We can fly through rain.»

She felt Pixit’s nervousness, like bubbles in her veins. Usually they met their beasts outside and mounted them on the ground, but it was too risky to sneak through the school. They’d have to go out the window. Unfortunately, the storm beasts had grown so much that they couldn’t fit with riders on their backs. But Jyx had a solution to that: beasts first, then guardians jump out onto them. It had seemed like a good idea at the time. Now it seemed less simple.

You’re sure you can catch me?

Pixit hopped up onto the windowsill. «Absolutely.» He launched himself out the window, then circled back to just beneath it. She climbed onto the sill. «And if I miss, you bounce, right?»

She smothered a laugh and leaped. Biting back a scream—​must be quiet!—​Mina fell and then thumped onto the back of her storm beast. Pixit peeled away from the school, and Mina twisted to look behind her. Chauda squeezed herself out the window, followed by Jyx, who leaped onto her back. They flew silently north.

One by one, the others joined them, until they were over a dozen strong.

Ahead the clouds were streaked with gray so dark it was nearly black. It looked as if morning wouldn’t touch the mountains. We have until dawn. At sunrise, the festivities would begin with a flourish, and that, Mina believed, was when the storm would begin in earnest.

«Unless you’re wrong. Unless the prime minister is starting before dawn.»