Jyx. Ferro. Kita. All of them.

“Mount up,” Mina said.

“You heard her!” Jyx called. “Everyone, back to your beasts! We fly!”

«The best part of this plan,» Pixit said as they flew, «is that the prime minister and her people won’t see us coming. It’s completely unpredictable.»

That’s because I didn’t think of it until just now.

«Precisely! It’s brilliant!»

He had a point.

Unlike Mytris, which would be impossible to sneak into—​by now, someone had to have noticed they were all missing—​the capital wouldn’t be closed. In fact, everyone all across Alorria was welcome. People would have been streaming into the city ever since the new festival date was announced. A few bedraggled additions wouldn’t be stopped as suspicious. And we aren’t actually trying to sneak in, anyway, Mina thought. That helps. They were going to the same place as everyone else: the center of the city, as close as possible to the people with the power to stop the festival.

«And then we say hello!»

And hope they listen.

Flying straight from the barren lands, it was still a long journey. Plenty of time for Mina to think through all the things that could go wrong, and all the ways this could fail. She couldn’t help worrying that she was bringing the evacuees out of one storm and into another.

But it felt right.

We have to try.

She saw the capital in the distance. If Mina had thought the city looked impressive before, it was nothing compared to what lay spread before them now.

Each building looked clad in rainbows and diamonds—​they sparkled in the sunlight, and only when Mina and the others flew closer could they tell it was because every building was encased in its own waterfall. Rain beasts flew between them, with guardians leading streams of water in soaring arcs above the city. Sun beasts lined the street, beaming rays of light at the water, creating even more rainbows out of the droplets. In the air, rain guardians shaped clouds into animals: deer that pranced across the sky, little cats that played hide-and-seek behind the towers, dolphins that dove through the blue.

Music poured out of the city, and the musicians were carried on platforms propelled on the wind directed by wind guardians. Violinists and singers flew through the air, between rainbows created by rain and sun beasts. Dancers swung on ribbons that were held by more flying storm beasts.

And then the snow guardians came, and in their wake, the streams of water were frozen in midair. Skaters emerged from the windows of buildings and sped across the ice, high above the street. Cheers echoed so loudly through the city that Mina could hear them even from outside.