“And go where? Beyond the valley? It’s uninhabitable.” He opened his mouth, and flame shot out at the tree. It bored straight through the trunk.
I stared at the hole. “Will you teach me how to do that?”
“You wantmeto teach you?”
“Never seen anyone do that.”
He snorted. “I know, but I can’t fly so it doesn’t matter.”
“Teach me, and—”
“And you’ll teach me how to turn dragon? Nope. It won’t work. Plenty have tried. Novi’s here at least once a week, drilling me on lessons, hoping the next Reckoning will be different.”
Good to hear that Novi cared. I’d wondered about that. “Actually, what I was going to say was: Teach me, and when I figure out a way to go home—my home, Earth—I’ll take you with me.”
It was his turn to stare at me. “You’d do that? Take me?”
I pointed to the hole in the tree. “Teach me, and we’ll go together.”
“Deal,” he told me. “But you’ve got to get me some food too. Secretly. They’ll punish you if they think you’re giving me what I don’t deserve.”
“Is that why Novi doesn’t help you? She’s afraid she’ll be punished?” She might be giving him lessons, but she clearly wasn’t giving him extra food or clothes.
“A lot of wyverns are afraid,” he said. “But they don’t talk about it. This is supposed to be paradise, right? Until this last Reckoning, I was considered part of my parents’ household. As such, my rank was the same as theirs. But now that I’m considered grown…my fate is my own, and isn’t it such a glorious one?”
I wondered how many wyverns would take my deal, if I could figure out how to fulfill it without dying. Mr. Keene could be in for quite the surprise. I found that thought very comforting.
As a well-trained thief, I could have stolen the food.
IfI knew where it was kept. AndifI knew the kind of security systems the wyverns used. AndifI was willing to risk angering the whole community that had been offering me part of their rations until I could earn my own at the Reckoning.
In the end, I decided that it wasn’t worth the risk and that I couldn’t ask Mom to give up more of her share than she already was. So I went to Novi.
She’d said she was on guard duty, which made her easy to find. She was patrolling outside the chamber with the Door. Flying up in dragon form, I transformed back to human and waited for her on the cliff while I watched other wyverns practice their flying, dropping into spiral spins and then pulling up at the last second. One of them, I thought, was Maximus—a rust-colored dragon flying alongside his wife, a blue dragon.
“Oh, hi! I thought you were out practicing. What are you doing here?” Novi asked. “Can I help you with anything?”
“Yes, maybe. Just got back from visiting your brother.” Holding up my hands, I stopped her objections. “I’m unranked, right? So it doesn’t hurt my status to visit him.” As I understood it, once I had an amulet, I’d be given my own place to live and share of the food, but I’d lose freedom of movement. I’d also qualify for tests and training in whatever jobs were available to someone of my rank, and then I’d truly belong. Yay.
She blinked. Opened her mouth. Shut it.
“I’d like to bring him some food.”
“You pity him,” she said. “He brought it on himself by not—”
I cut her off. “It’s not pity. I need him. I’m having difficulty breathing fire, so I asked him to teach me, in exchange for food. Heisgreat with fire. You have to admit that.”
She nodded. “Of course! He’s the best! It didn’t help him, though, since he failed to transform. Completely failed. Hit the ground so hard, it’s amazing he didn’t die. Just let me find someone to take my post for a few minutes….” Scurrying off, she returned quickly. Another green-clad guard marched out of the tunnel, assuming her post, and Novi led me to her own quarters.
Her quarters were much more lush than Mom’s. Her walls were striped with gold and silver, and she had automated lights, drawers, and even a bed that folded itself out of her way as she strode past it. But even so, it wasn’t a large room. I wondered where exactly she ranked in the hierarchy and how secure her position was.
She dug out some food that she kept squirreled away in a chest. It was buried under blankets, and I pretended to study the ceiling while she blocked the view of the chest with her body. I wondered if I’d become like this if I stayed, hoarding food, aware of my rank, afraid all the time that I’d lose both my rank and my food.
As she handed over the food, I thanked her.
“No, thank you! I’ve wanted to help him, but…the rules…the ranking…”
I hesitated for a moment, then asked, “Your parents…do they ever visit him?” She’d never mentioned parents any of the times we were together. Only her brother.
