Okay, maybe he did absorb some of my worrying, Mina thought. In that moment, she could read all his fears: he was worried he’d disappoint her, that he wouldn’t be good enough for her, which she thought was absurd. He was perfect as he was. She projected to Pixit: Calm down. It’s a door. It’s meant to open. She raised a fist and knocked. The sound was swallowed as if buried in a pillow.

Jyx pushed past her. “Let me try.” She pounded on the door with both fists. Landing with a plop, Chauda head-butted the door. “Hello! We’re here! Let us in!”

Stepping back, Mina looked up at the silver lightning-bolt decoration. She tracked it down to the point, where she saw a divot in the door. She waited until Jyx paused, resting her hands on her knees and panting, and then Mina pushed on the divot.

A bell chimed.

“Seriously?” Jyx wheezed.

Mina shrugged.

The door swung open, and a squat man peered out at them. The light behind him was so bright that Mina could barely see his face. She got the impression of raisin-size eyes and a bulbous nose. “Ah, you must be the new ones,” he said.

Jyx pointed at the door. “Was this a test?”

He blinked at her. “No. This is a door.”

Grumbling, Jyx stomped inside. Pushing past Mina and Pixit, Chauda stomped in as well. Sparks shed from her tail, and the man in the doorway brushed the embers off his sleeves. Whatever his clothes were made of, it didn’t burn. Pixit romped in after them. Mina was last. She wanted to ask if they were in the right place, if they’d done the right thing, if they were supposed to do something now that they were here, but she decided he would tell them what to do next.

He didn’t.

Humming to himself, he trotted through the entryway and disappeared through another smaller door. Jyx, Chauda, Pixit, and Mina were left alone.

“Oookay,” Jyx said. “Are we supposed to follow him?”

Mina craned her neck, trying to see everything all at once. The vaulted ceiling, high above them, was made of all black stone streaked with gold veins, as if lightning had been caught inside it. There were no windows, but a crystal chandelier filled with electric bulbs hung from the center of the ceiling. All around them were glass sculptures in strange shapes, like sprays of water frozen in midair. Each was displayed on a pedestal. She went closer to one, reading the plaque beneath it.

From the Class of Spring 882

A woman’s voice said, “Sand, when hit by lightning exactly right, can create magnificent glass sculptures. You see before you the proof of mastery of each graduating class since the founding of Mytris Lightning School. Mastery of the power of storms is what makes Alorria magnificent and sets her apart from all others.”

“Wow,” Jyx said.