Tadg groaned at the noise and rolled over to face the wall.

Yasha glanced at Barclay. “Is he always like that?” When Barclay nodded, the other boy rolled his eyes, and Barclay felt a bit better. Maybe Yasha didn’t actually think him strange for being an Elsie.

All Lore Keepers can learn to control their Lore, Runa had assured Barclay while on the Bewlah. But the words meant to comfort him now seized him with fear.

If Barclay couldn’t learn to control his Lore, then he wouldn’t just fail at being a Guardian Keeper—he would be no Lore Keeper at all.

SIX

Something slammed, and Barclay and Root jolted awake, making the Gunkwort on Barclay’s cheek slip off and land on his pillow with a wet splat. Barclay blinked bleary eyes at Edwyn, who loomed in their doorway with an unusually serious expression. Despite all his sleeping, Edwyn looked as haggard as ever, his gray-peppered hair disheveled, and dark circles ringing his eyes.

“What is it?” Yasha mumbled. On Barclay’s other side, Tadg pressed his pillow over his head.

“Lochmordra attacked another island last night during the storm,” Edwyn told them. “We’ve only just gotten word. Some survivors from the Isle of Glannock have arrived. There will be more—”

“The Isle of Glannock?” Tadg threw off his pillow and sat up with a start. “Are you sure?”

“That’s what I’ve been hearing. So come on. We have work to do.”

The boys bolted out of bed. Root stretched and gave a wide, toothy yawn, and Motya, who looked to have been awake for some time, stared down regally from her perch atop the bookshelf while the boys staggered and tripped over themselves in a sleepy rush. Not ten minutes later, they raced downstairs and out of the shop.

In the daylight, Barclay got a far better look at Munsey, and it didn’t resemble Sycomore from the Woods as much as he’d expected. It was huge. And very, very gray. Its stone buildings blended into the bleak cloudy sky. Brittle bits of shell were caked between the cobblestones. And at this time of year, all the trees were bare. However, Munsey made up for this by painting all of its doors in bright, cheery colors, like yellows and reds and greens.

And the bustling streets were anything but boring. Pelican-like Beasts with ruffly black plumage soared overhead, letters and parcels for delivery clutched in their beaks. (Root barked at all of them.) Lore Keepers of all sorts passed by, with every variety of dress and features. Barclay noticed a man with very dark skin hauling a cart filled with mollusk Beasts that squirmed and crawled about with their long, slimy tongues. A pale and freckly woman trod past with a horned otter riding in her backpack. Up ahead, Barclay spotted Ansley tending to one of the streetlamps, feeding whatever it was that glowed blue inside.