Barclay took a deep breath to compose himself. It didn’t work well—he inhaled a mouthful of rain, and it was hard to calm down when there was only endless ocean in every direction. So he took Yasha’s advice. He tried to think of something that made him relax.

The first thing that came to his mind was mushrooms.

Button, he thought. Chaga. Mourningtide Morel…

He cut himself off. This was Lore, not mushroom farming. He’d never become a better Lore Keeper if he kept thinking like an Elsie. So he switched subjects to his most recent homework.

The Great Capamoo War, he recited, which was one of the nine most crucial events of Lore Keeper history, according to his textbook. The Man-Eating Hasifuss. The… The… He struggled to come up with a third. The Assassination of—

“I don’t know what you’re waiting on!” Ulick shouted at him. “But now’s not the time to—”

Giving up on his list, Barclay finally thought, Wind!

It was worse than last time. The gusts Barclay conjured blew twice as fierce, no matter how hard he fought to control them. The ship dipped forward. The mast groaned like it might snap. And the deck shifted from flat to diagonal, sending Barclay falling onto his side… and Yasha toppling over the stern into the water.

“Man the wheel!” Ulick shouted at no one in particular, then dove over the side of the Bewlah. Without someone to steer, the helm spun aimlessly, making the ship veer this way and that.

Barclay rushed to the wheel and grasped it with both hands. The force of it spinning nearly knocked him over a second time. But he planted his feet and held it steady.

“Look out!” Viola shrieked.

Barclay barely had time to see what she meant before something wet and slimy slapped him across the cheek. He sputtered. Then something else whacked his shoulder. Then his side. Many somethings splashed into the water at his feet, and Barclay realized with a start that they were fish.

“Lepinfish!” Tadg called. “Flying fish!”

“Flying” seemed the right word for them. Dozens of Lepinfish leaped out of the Sea, so high they reached the ship’s sails. Those already on the ship jumped again, splashing more water into Barclay’s eyes. From the mast above, Bewlah squawked in horror as one smacked her wing.

“Don’t panic,” Runa told them, though Barclay felt a great deal past panic. They were all going to drown, and it was his fault.

“Lepinfish only jump like this if they’re running from something!” Tadg yelled. “That means there’s—”

His voice was drowned out as something low and menacing groaned beneath the water.

“What was that?” Viola shouted.

Runa rushed to the stern and looked out over the waves. “Ulick! Are you—”

“Oi!” came Ulick’s voice. “I’ve got the boy, but there’s something else out here! Toss us the life buoy!”