All the bulbs had been turned off outside, and the barren lands were sunk in darkness.

“Lights out means lights out—​interior lights will shut off shortly as well,” the headmistress said. “I suggest you prepare yourselves for sleep. You have a long day ahead of you.” She then backed out and shut the door.

Wait—​that was it? The headmistress hadn’t said a word about Mina not belonging here. In fact, she’d treated both of them with an air of almost boredom, as if this were routine, as if Mina weren’t any different from any other student. And she hadn’t answered a single one of Jyx’s many questions.

Jyx didn’t seem to mind.

“Ahh!” Jyx said as she flopped on her bed. “I’m so happy to be here! Away from home! Away from ‘Jyx, you’re in the way!’ and ‘Jyx, you’re being too loud!’ and ‘Jyx, why won’t you grow up?’ Ugh! So nice to be on our own! Know what I mean?”

“Sort of.” Mina sat on the bed. The silvery blanket wasn’t as soft as cotton, and it crackled when she sat. She was still in shock that their welcome had been so ordinary. Maybe I can find a place here, even with being different.

«Look around,» Pixit said. «You already have one.»

A dorm room wasn’t precisely what she meant, but she didn’t argue.

Lying on her bed, Jyx fell silent, caught up in her own thoughts and leaving Mina to hers. On her side of the room, Mina pulled out her sketchbook and began to draw—​pictures of the ship, Mytris, Pixit, and Chauda—​until her hands stopped shaking and her heart quit thumping so hard.

Eventually, long after Jyx had stopped talking and long after lights out, Mina slept.

Mina didn’t linger over breakfast—​after one look at the hall stuffed with students, professors, and beasts, she scooped up a cinnamon roll and fled to eat in the peace and quiet of her room. Just because they were all seated at tables did not mean it was “sedate.”

You should stay, she told Pixit.

«But you’ll be lonely!»

You know I won’t be. She’d be much happier this way. Besides, I have you in my head. You eat your potatoes and play with the other beasts. Have fun.

Only when the bell rang again did she scoot back out, trailing after the other students to the practice field, as Professor Werrin had instructed.

In daylight, Mytris Lightning School looked just as imposing and unfriendly and majestic as it had at night, with its three black towers and darkened windows. And the land around it—​the barren lands—​was as stark and intimidating as the name. The hills were blackened, the earth dark and dry, with no hint of grass or flowers or trees, just a few dead shrubs. Everything looked charred.