“I said that I doubt it. Even if they find Lochmordra’s home, if it’s not Ansley who’s causing this, then they still have no idea how to stop him. Unless they slay…” Tadg trailed off and shot a glance at Barclay that Barclay couldn’t read.

“Funny that that’s how you would solve the problem,” Shazi sneered.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“You’re Runa’s apprentices. You know what I mean.”

“You’re wrong about what happened between Runa and Cyril,” Barclay told her. “Runa was only protecting herself. Audrian gave her no choice.”

“Which makes Cyril a liar,” Tadg finished.

While the others bickered, Cecily nudged Barclay in the side. “I believe you,” she whispered, as though it were a secret she didn’t want her friends to overhear. “I like Runa. She’s so scary. I want to be scary like that when I get my license.”

Barclay stared at Cecily’s shadow wiggling like fish bait along the sand. He had no doubt that she’d grow up to be just as creepy as she hoped.

“Won’t Cyril be angry you feel that way?” Barclay asked her.

Cecily shrugged. “I know you probably don’t like Cyril, but I owe him a lot. If it wasn’t for him, I’d never have thought someone like me could’ve been in the Guild.”

“What do you mean? You have a Mythic class Beast.”

“Yeah, but testing for a Guild license is expensive, and you don’t get paid much as an apprentice, do you? I have a lot of little brothers and sisters at home to help feed.”

“How did he become your teacher, then?” Barclay asked.

“I was on my usual corner in Halois, which is right outside the Guild Capitol. It’s really busy there, especially in the morning, when everyone is rushing to work. And I saw Cyril walking by, with all his fancy gold medals, and so Oudie and I pickpocketed him.”

Barclay gawked. “You stole from the Horn of Dawn?”

“I didn’t know who he was. I just thought he’d have some kritters on him,” Cecily said. “He didn’t catch me, not until later that day, when he realized his coin purse was missing. He tracked me down, and he was really angry, at first. He’d just come back from the Woods, and he was in a bad mood. He threatened to have me thrown in jail. But he made me tell him how I’d done it, because he thought he was too powerful for a little kid to steal from him. After I showed him, he was really impressed. He told me that he had a slot open for a new student, and that he’d personally make sure that kritters were sent to my family every few weeks. And it was way more than I was earning as a thief.”