Another Sleábeak swooped toward them, and a sizzle of gold static shot up the rake. Tadg walloped the bird with a loud zap! The Sleábeak cawed and soared away.

“It’s metal, so it conducts electricity,” Tadg said. Tadg’s Beast was a Nathermara, a huge electric lamprey. His Lore let Tadg control water and create lightning.

Though Beasts were hard to hurt and quick to heal, Tadg must’ve made the Sleábeak angry—very angry. It shrieked and swerved back toward them, and another dozen Sleábeaks nearby flew to join it.

“We’re about to be skewered!” Barclay croaked.

“We should get inside.” Viola shoved Tadg’s and Barclay’s backs. “Go! Move!”

They scampered out of the birds’ path down a wide street. Tadg bolted to the closest door and pounded on it. “Let us in!” he called. But no one did.

Barclay’s Lore granted him speed—it would be easy to outrun these birds. But that would mean leaving Viola and Tadg behind. So he dug his heels into the cobbled street and turned around. He raised both arms and focused hard.

Wind!

This time he summoned a vortex. It spun like a tornado, slinking up from the ground and widening into a gigantic funnel. Any nearby Sleábeaks were sucked in and launched back out into the sky. But even after the three apprentices were safe and the street was clear, the vortex didn’t stop.

Barclay couldn’t make it stop. He might’ve been able to summon wind, but wind was also wild. The more powerful the Lore, the less he could control it. Soon roof tiles, broken shells, and sand were swept into the air, pelting Barclay’s skin and forcing him to squeeze his eyes shut. The strength of it all nearly threw him sideways, so he sank to his knees. Even the ground itself seemed to shake, and something loud crashed behind him.

After almost a full minute, the wind finally stilled, and Barclay peeled open his eyes. The cottages around him, already riddled with holes, were now missing whole planks of wood and most of their roofs. The debris littered the street in a circle around Barclay, as though he had been the eye of the storm. Any caws of the Sleábeaks sounded far off in the distance.

But Knunx wasn’t saved just yet.

“Look out!” Tadg shouted, and Barclay spun around to spot one last Sleábeak flying straight toward him.

Something hot and bright burst in front of Barclay—fire.

“What the—” He lurched back as a flaming wall erupted between him and the Sleábeak. The Beast gave a frightened cry and flew off, and the fire extinguished.