He nailed a piece of paper to the wall, made a humph sound, and then waddled off while she read it.

Thunderstorm

Three miles northeast of Mytris Lightning School

Tonight at eight o’clock

All students required

Our first thunderstorm!

She didn’t know how she felt: excited, scared, or her usual jumbled mix.

Pixit! she called.

She didn’t hear an answer—​chowing down with the other lightning beasts, he was too distracted to hear her. She debated what to do. She didn’t like going into the dining room, even during breakfast, when things were comparatively calm. Students weren’t using the climbing wall or maze of metal rods this early. She usually maneuvered her way through the line to pick up her food, then fled back to her room, where she could eat in lovely peace and quiet. I can do this, she thought. I’m a lightning guardian. Just like them.

It was just . . . there were a lot of them, all in one place.

Across the dining hall, Mina spotted Jyx with Zek and Ferro, as well as a circle of other students whom Mina vaguely knew. They said hi to her sometimes, but she’d never eaten with them. But Jyx will want to know about the storm.

Taking a deep breath, she stepped into the dining hall. Immediately the sound washed over her. She felt as if she’d plunged underwater. She threaded her way between the tables, ducked beneath a potato that was tossed by a guardian into the open mouth of his beast. Another student bumped into her with a tray, and she and Mina both muttered an apology at the same time. At last she reached Jyx’s table.

Jyx was talking, gesturing widely as she told a story. She broke off when she saw Mina. Jyx climbed up onto the table, between breakfast trays and textbooks, and strode across it to grab Mina by the arms. “You joined us! See, told you she’d come around eventually. Sit! Eat!”

Mina felt her face growing hot. She let Jyx herd her onto one of the benches, and she wished Jyx would lower her voice. People were staring at them. I should have waited. “I’m not—​I only wanted to tell you that—”

“Mina’s the one who came up with the new relay strategy,” Jyx said. “Guard the rod. Eat the energy. Mina, all the teams are trying it now, or some variation.” And several of the other students chimed in, each of them describing how they’d used their beasts to guard the rod. One on offense, one on defense, but sometimes it would be a trap, to trick the other pair closer . . . So many were talking at once that Mina wanted to clap her hands over her ears. But she sat there, frozen, with a smile plastered on her face.