His mind ventured into pleasant memories, like the earthy smells of the mushroom caves and the thunderous sounds of Master Pilzmann’s snores. Immediately he felt more at ease than he had in weeks. It didn’t matter where he’d come from or why he’d left. Wherever he traveled, home was the place beneath his feet.

He took a deep breath, focused hard on the shell, and thought, Wind!

The shell lifted off his palm and soared into the air. For three seconds, then five seconds, then eight, it hovered in front of Barclay’s eyes. Then the wind grew stronger, forcing the shell higher and higher—until it finally slipped away and plunked onto the sand.

It might not have been perfect, but it was far better than anything Barclay had managed yet.

“You nearly have it,” Runa told him.

Barclay beamed. He nearly did.

But before Runa could leave to instruct the other apprentices, he said, “Wait! I wanted to ask you… That book you gave me to read… why did Tadg say it was all, um, make-believe?” He didn’t want to accidentally insult Runa by calling the book a load of phooey.

“Book?” Runa repeated. “What book?”

“The Nine Most Crucial Events of Lore Keeper History by Grusha Dudnik.”

Runa’s expression changed to a second one Barclay had never seen on her before—embarrassment. Her ears flushed cherry pink, and she chuckled awkwardly.

“Well, isn’t that a mix-up? Grusha is a distant—very distant—cousin of mine, who has a lot of silly ideas about Lore and Beasts. I bought a copy of her book because I was trying to be nice. I must’ve given it to you by mistake. You haven’t read much of it, have you?”

Barclay had nearly memorized the entire thing. “Nope,” he squeaked.

“Good. As if you need to waste time studying a plague that only affected geese.”

“Should I study something else, then?” He still had a long way to go to catch up to the other apprentices.

Runa smiled. “I think you’ve more than earned yourself a break, don’t you?”

Barclay skipped dinner that evening. He wasn’t hungry, and even after one of the best lessons he’d had in a long time, he was still too ashamed to face Orla, who clearly thought him more trouble than he was worth.

He rummaged through the bottom of his satchel and pulled out the conch shell he’d been given in Knunx. He hadn’t looked at it in a long time, because Tadg or Yasha was normally in the room with him. And because looking at it embarrassed him. It reminded him of the useless charm he’d once carried.

But now all he felt was hope.

Barclay summoned Root from his Mark. Root stretched his back, no doubt bored of being cooped up for hours.