“You didn’t mean to fall,” Jyx said. “Don’t be so hard on yourself. You’re always so worried about being fair to other people, but you’re not being fair to yourself!”

“I lied about being able to summon a spark,” Mina confessed. “We still can’t do it.”

“Okay, that I’m a little mad about. Why didn’t you tell me? We could have helped you!”

Mina heard pebbles tumbling, above and to the left. She wished the lightning would flash again so they could see. But when it did flash, it only lit up the sky high above them, silhouetting the peak of a mountain. “I thought we were supposed to figure it out on our own.”

“We’re supposed to be partners. And your problem is obvious: you still don’t believe you’re meant to be a lightning guardian.”

How is that obvious? She’d tried to hide her doubts. Apparently Jyx was more observant than she’d thought. Or maybe I’m just that bad. “I’m the worst lightning guardian Mytris School has ever seen. After this . . . they’ll probably send me home.” Her throat closed up. Professor Werrin wouldn’t want a guardian who could neither summon electricity nor fly in a storm.

The thought made her feel ill. She’d dreamed about being a guardian for so long . . .

Another cascade of pebbles. “Mina, talk more. Tell me about your home.”

“I love our farm. It’s perfect.” She fell silent again, imagining it, the way the wheat looked when it first burst through the earth, the way the air smelled on a summer morning, the way the apples tasted sun-warmed and fresh from the tree.

“So tell me about it. Come on, Mina. Talk.”

Haltingly, Mina described it. She told Jyx about her family—​her older brother, the twins, and Mother and Papa. She talked about how excited they’d been when she’d received her egg, and how proud she’d been. She’d wanted this so badly, and they’d wanted it for her. They’d been so sure she’d hatch a sun beast or rain or wind and that she’d stay on the farm with them.

“And you ended up with a lightning beast?” Jyx said. “Why?”

«Because it’s who you are, Mina,» Pixit said stoutly. «Because you have things to do beyond the farm.»

What do I have to do? I’m a disaster.

«I don’t know. Things.»

“Mina? Keep going. How come Pixit’s Pixit?”