She wanted to believe in the impossible.

As the sailors docked the ship, Mina drew as much as she could in her sketchbook, determined to capture everything she saw before the sun set. Skyscrapers filled the paper. She drew the trains and the bridges and tried to sketch the fountains in mid-spray.

As the last rays of sunlight sank behind the city, electric lights blinked on, covering the towers in what looked like a blanket of stars. And then she saw them—​the lightning beasts with their guardians, flying between their towers, sparking like fireworks.

All of them looked like Pixit: dragon bodies and dog faces, yellow scales and feathers. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Pixit testing his still-tiny wings—​they might have been strong enough to hold him, but he couldn’t fly with her yet. Soon, she told him. She felt him yearning to soar, and she imagined how it would feel so high above the city, with the wind in their faces and lightning on their skin.

A girl’s voice cut through her daydream. “Someday that will be us!”

Stuffing her sketchbook away quickly, Mina jumped out of the hammock. In front of her was a girl about her age with black hair cut to her ears, a heart-shaped scar on her chin, and a lightning beast by her side. The girl was wearing brown leather like a blacksmith would wear—​smart, Mina thought approvingly, fire-resistant—​and carried a small satchel.

“You must be the other new student,” the girl said. She hopped down onto the rubber and stuck out her hand. “I’m Jyx. This is Chauda.” Her voice was loud, as if she were proclaiming everything to the world. It made Mina want to shrink back.

“Mina. And Pixit.” She shook Jyx’s hand awkwardly. She’d never shaken another kid’s hand before. It was a city-folk tradition, usually only for grownups.

Chauda waddled forward to the lip of the deck and then thumped down next to them in the black area. Both Pixit and Mina were crowded against the ship railing—​Chauda was wider than Pixitbut had the same-size wings perched on her broad back, which meant she was newly hatched too. She sniffed at Pixit as if saying hello. Mina couldn’t hear her thoughts, but Pixit could.

«Yes, I’m sure I’m a lightning beast,» Mina heard him say, apparently in response to something Chauda had asked. «And, yes, I came this size. Besides, your wings aren’t any more mature than mine!»

It’s all right, Mina soothed him. She wasn’t sure what the other beast had said, but she didn’t like Pixit being upset. It made her feel as if she’d swallowed a thistle.