This was a thing that all lightning beasts and guardians should be able to do. Easily, Vira had said. So they should be able to do it, with a little practice, right? That is, if I really am meant to be a lightning guardian. Mina squelched that line of thought as quickly as it arose. Luckily, Pixit didn’t seem to hear her. He was still fixated on the lack of harnesses.

«I’d never let you fall.»

I know. Spark, please?

They kept trying. But the best that Mina felt was a tingle in the air. She didn’t see a single tiny spark light her fingers. Not even once.

Vira had said, You can join us when you’re ready to be one of us.

As she failed again and again, Mina couldn’t stop the terrible fear rising up inside her, as every doubt and worry she’d ever had clamored to be heard: What if she never was ready? What if she couldn’t be, no matter how much she wanted to? She wasn’t loud or ferocious or fearless. She was just . . . Mina.

What if that wasn’t enough?

Chapter
Ten

Lying in bed after lights out, Mina couldn’t sleep. She heard Pixit flopping around in his bed as well. Can’t sleep either? she asked.

«Am I being too loud?»

Actually, you’re quieter than when you’re snoring.

She slipped out of her blankets and felt her way to Pixit’s bed. Her hands bumped into his feathery scales. She sat, leaning against his side.

«Mina, I can feel you worrying, and I don’t know how to fix it. I know you’re a lightning guardian. I know it like I know air is for breathing and water is wet. But I don’t know how to make you see it too.»

She put her arms around his neck and burrowed her face into his scales. She didn’t know how to reassure him, when she wasn’t sure he was right.

«Can we try again to spark? Maybe if we succeed, then you’ll see what I see.»

Of course we can try. Resting against Pixit, she spread her fingers apart. Let’s try now, when no one’s watching. Maybe it was the pressure of knowing that others were waiting for them, or that people could be watching them fail. She told herself she had to keep thinking positively, for Pixit’s sake as well as her own.

They tried again, and again. Mina felt the air tingle. A few sparks skittered over Pixit’s tail like a mouse scurrying across a floor. Stray bits of electricity danced between his ears and crackled on his nose. But none of it transferred to Mina.

At last, she fell asleep, next to Pixit. He snored with her.