Zek and Ferro were in their group, as well as three other pairs of beasts and guardians: Trina, Saril, and Kita, with their beasts, Hava, Quil, and Uma. All of them jostled together, talking and laughing, giddy, and for the first time, Mina felt like she was one of them. She was as excited as everyone else. They all greeted her by name just as cheerfully as they greeted Jyx, Ferro, and Zek.

“Stick together,” Jyx said to Mina.

“Yeah, that way if anyone sees a butterfly that spits fire—” Zek began.

Ferro punched him lightly in the arm.

“Ow, I’m wounded!”

“Guess you’ll have to go to the sick room instead of the city,” Mina teased softly.

“I’m healed!” Zek said.

They all laughed.

They were herded by teachers onto a river ship that had been coated in the lightning-resistant rubber. Beasts were crowded together as far from the flammable masts and sails as possible, while the guardians were free to roam around the ship. Jyx and Mina ran from side to side as a wind guardian filled the ship’s sails. They waved goodbye to the school.

Mina hadn’t seen the barren lands when they’d arrived, since it had been nighttime, though of course she’d seen them many times from the windows of the school and from the air. Somehow, seeing the blackened hills from the raised river ship felt different. Leaning against the side of the ship, she felt the wind in her face and breathed in the briny smell—​in this direction, the river would be fresh water, but the ship still smelled of seaweed and fish and salty air. They’d make the return trip tomorrow, when the current reversed direction. On either side of the raised river, the hills looked beautiful, even though they were charred like burned bread—​there were variations in the blackness: silhouettes of leafless trees, rocks that huddled in circles like travelers around a fire. Beyond the black hills, the mountains watched the river ship wend its way toward the city.

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that Ferro had come to stand beside her. “Missed you at lightning relay,” he said.

She was so startled that she gawked at him.

“You think of new stuff.” He shrugged. “It’s funner.”

Zek joined them. “‘Funner’ is not a word.”

“I said it. Must be a word.”

“Not the only criterion. Definitely not a word.”

“She understood what I meant,” Ferro said. “That makes it a word. Right, Mina? You knew what I meant; therefore we had communication. Therefore, it’s a word.”

Zek snorted. “Saying ‘therefore’ doesn’t make you sound smarter. Being right does. Mina, tell him he’s an idiot. He doesn’t believe me when I say it.”