First, I had to fly.
Wind roared around me, and the ground was zooming closer.I’m not going to fail,I thought.I have to go home. Dad is waiting for me. And my brothers. And Ryan. And Gabriela. I’m going to fly!
Wings burst out of my back, and I soared upward. Joining the other dragons, I flew with them. I knew I couldn’t execute the perfect maneuvers of the wyvern leaders, but I could do what I knew how to do.
I let the wind guide me.
Feeling it, I danced through the air, spiraling and diving and soaring. I saw the other dragons out of the corners of my eyes—Mom and Novi were beside me, and the three of us flew together, synchronized, the way we’d practiced. We skimmed the river, we flew above the trees, we circled the mountains.
And I forgot this was a test. I forgot about the Door. I forgot about anything but this moment, the wind, and the sight of the sky above me and the world below me as I flew between them both.
“Fire!” Novi called. She breathed flame.
And I unleashed my rage at the unfairness of both worlds, Earth and Home. At the unfairness of being judged by things that were only a small part of who we were.
I let out my anger at Ryan’s father.
My anger at Ryan for not being able to stand up to him.
My anger at Maximus for lying to me.
My anger at my brothers and my father for not helping me, not trusting me, not believing in me.
My anger at my mother for trying to do her heist without us.
My anger at myself for being caught.
And the flame roared out of me.
It wasn’t the largest flame or the brightest or the most controlled, but it was enough. I flew with it before me, spiraling and diving and spinning. And then it was over.
The horns sounded. The next seven wyverns began their test.
I sailed back to the cliff, landed, and transformed. Other wyverns clapped my back, congratulating me, and I pushed through them, toward Mom. Novi met up with me partway through the crowd. “Worm truly wants to go to Earth?”
“Ask him,” I said. This was the best chance we were going to get—all the wyverns were distracted with the Reckoning. “And meet us with him by the Door in ten minutes.”
As the next group of seven wyverns soared into the air, Mom and I threaded through the crowd. Gripping my elbow, Mom whispered in my ear, “How can you be sure this Worm is strong enough? He failed at the last Reckoning.Failed,Sky.”
“He failed to fly. Not breathe fire. I saw him produce white-hot fire.” The more I thought about it, the more certain I was that he could do it. White-hot fire measures approximately 2,500° F, a match for the fire beast. “There’s no real reason the fire beasthasto be defeated magically. If we have hot-enough fire, we can fight fire with fire.” I kept my voice low, even though the crowd around us was busy cheering for the new set of competing wyverns.
She was shaking her head. “He’d be risking his life. And even if it did work, he’d be leaving his home, his family, everything he’s ever known. We can’t ask him to do that.”
“He’s treated like dirt, Mom. Like ashes. He doesn’t even get enough food to eat! Or clothes to wear! I guarantee he wants to leave.”
She opened her mouth, then shut it, considering what I’d said, and I felt a rush of relief—she wasn’t treating me like the baby of the family. She was acting like we were in this together, which we were. Our own crew of two. “All right,” Mom said at last. “But I’ll be the one going through with him. You stay here, safe, until I’ve found a way to disable the bomb and take the Door to a secure location.”
Now it was my turn to shake my head. Crews stuck together.Familiesstuck together—if anything, I felt that more strongly than I ever had. “We’re both going through. I’m not staying here, and I’m not leaving you behind.”
“Absolutely not,” Mom whispered.
We reached the edge of the crowd. We scooted around it, our backs to the mountainside. Glancing between the watching wyverns, I saw another dragon plummet, and the crowd gasped.
Mom continued, “It’s one thing to risk my life; it’s another to risk yours.”
“You can’t stop me,” I whispered back. “After you go through, you won’t be here to keep me from coming right after you.”
She glared at me. “I am your mother.”
