“He hurt his wing,” Mina said, trying hard to stay calm. Pixit was hurt! It’s my fault. If she’d been a better guardian, or if she’d urged him to be more careful in the storm . . . If they’d flown sooner or practiced more, or if she’d listened to her instincts and worn a safety harness, even just a rope, instead of doing what everyone else did and trying to pretend she was like everyone else when she knew she wasn’t . . . Again she clamped down on her feelings. “I don’t know if he can fly.”

“He has to! We can’t be caught on this side of the mountain. You heard Professor Werrin. We broke a major rule!” Jyx and Chauda circled them, spattering rain. “It’s one thing to break a rule on purpose, for a reason. But this—​if we get in trouble because of a mistake, that will be bad. You don’t know my parents, Mina. They were star guardians. I can’t make a mistake! Not one this size!”

Pixit, can you try? Even if you could just make it over to the other side of the peak . . .

He moaned.

The rain was only a drizzle now. Struggling to shine through the clouds, the moon cast layers of shadows over the mountainside. Mina could see farther, nearly to the peak. We still have some time. But not a lot of it. Per orders from the city, the rain and wind guardians were driving the storm south, following the mountain line, so the lightning guardians could harvest as much lightning as possible, before they sent the storm back across the border. The thunder and lightning wouldn’t be allowed to reach the pastures and orchards, much less the city and the farmlands beyond. Once the storm was gone, all the students would be herded back to the school—​and someone would notice that Jyx and Mina and their beasts were missing. If we can just reach the other side of the border before then, everything will still be fine.

«I’ll try. Climb on again.»

Mina climbed back on. She wrapped her arms around his neck, trying to stay away from his wings. She felt him tense as he opened one wing, then the other. He flapped—​and the pain shot through her, too. Stop! You’ll make it worse.

«I’m sorry! Mina, go with Chauda. I’ll fly when I’m better. I’ll find you.» He sounded both heroic and pathetic at the same time.

I’m not leaving you. Besides, Chauda can’t carry me and Jyx—​you know that. She looked up the peak, trying to guess how far it was. Not impossibly far, she thought. “Jyx, you and Chauda need to go for help.”

«No!»

“Are you crazy? I’m not leaving you!”