Ferro was bouncing up and down on his beast’s back, waving his arms. “Over here! Zek, I’m open! I’m”—​guided by Mina, Pixit jutted in front of him—​“not open. Go left! Down, no, wait—”

Jyx chased Zek. The tall boy held the ball of sparks over his head as his beast zigzagged away. But Jyx and Chauda were gaining on him, flying straight as he dodged and weaved.

Suddenly Ferro dropped down, his beast’s wings folded. “Now!”

Zek hurled the ball through the air.

Pixit dove toward it, even though Mina had no idea what to do if they reached it first, but Ferro was faster—​he snatched the lightning out of the air. “Ha-ha! Catch me if you can.”

Then Ferro threw it back to Zek, who aimed it at the goal. The ball zoomed forward and hit the rod, disappearing in a crackle of sparks that traveled down the metal and into a black box at the base.

“One point for the boys!” Ferro crowed. He flew toward Zek and they high-fived.

The game continued.

Ferro and Zek, on Brindle and Ragit, scored three more times.

“Maybe we need a plan?” Mina suggested to Jyx.

Jyx brightened. “Yeah! Excellent. Do you have an idea?”

Mina studied the two boys, as well as the rods. So far, they’d been chasing after the boys, always a step behind them, reacting every time they passed the lightning back and forth. Suddenly she had it. “No more guarding Ferro and Zek. It doesn’t matter what they do—​what matters is the lightning and the goal. I’ll guard the rod, and you be ready to catch the bolt when they fail to hit it.”

“Great!” Jyx paused. “You mean you’re just going to stay there, by the goal? No flying after them? Just wait for them to come to you?”

Mina nodded. “Exactly.” It was a reasonable plan. Straightforward. And something that she and Pixit could do, even without being able to transfer electricity.

“But no one does it that way.”

She wondered why not. It made sense: Ferro and Zek had to reach the rod to score. With Mina as goalkeeper, the odds of them hitting it dropped dramatically. And then, once the boys tried and failed, Jyx could easily steal the lightning and could score. True, it was less exciting than chasing them all over the sky and required more patience. But: “Is there a rule against it?” Mina asked.

“No rule. It’s just much too boring. We’re doing it my way!” Jyx declared. “You come in from the east, I’ll come from the west, and we’ll squeeze them between us. Knock the ball out of his hand. Okay? Great. Go!” Chauda, with Jyx, flew eastward.

Sighing, Mina guided Pixit to the west. This isn’t going to work. There are two of them—​one will just catch the ball when the other drops it.