Clarisa's statement pounded in my ears, and I bolted to my feet. Leera did the same, putting herself in front of me the best she could in the tight space. Clarisa just leaned back against the snoozing Moonhawk.

"My mother was a cinem, so you're in good company." Her face betrayed no emotion.

"What?" My tail fidgeted at my side.

"Callah ordered me to tell you. So you'd trust me or something, I don't care. I will make sure that this mission succeeds, whatever you think of me."

Hesitantly, I crouched down, as close to being relaxed as I was going to be. Leera followed suit, kneeling with her head between Clarisa's dragon and me.

"So... What are we doing here, anyway?"

"We are going to Ferentis. Past Ferentis-Lykela border, there's a portal that'll take us through the world barrier. The portal leads to a cache of super powerful weapons. An expedition led by a disgraced Ferentisian prince is going there, and we're going to go with them. Once we get there, you're going to use that dagger the intruder tried to steal to destroy the portal and keep the Ferentisians from getting the weapons. If you fail, we will lose this war."

My blood chilled. "That's not funny."

"It isn't supposed to be, talme." She sneered. "And you are the only one who can do it." This seemed to aggravate her as much as it terrified me.

"Why am I-"

She cut me off. "Because your father's great grandfather helped make the portal. With fire magic." Her mouth twitched. "And he added a back door to the enchantments that's hidden to anyone who's not one of his direct descendants."

"Why didn't Callah tell me earlier? And why are we going now?"

"She's more paranoid than a kylopod, but she does have a reason. If a Ferentisian spy had learned about the mission earlier, it would be doomed before it started. She thought the Ferentisian prince would send someone to get close to you, and she couldn't afford the chance to let you tell anyone about the mission."

"I wouldn't-"

"I don't care. You asked why she did what she did. I'm telling you, so be quiet." I quickly shut my mouth, and she continued, "The Ferentisian expedition isn't approved by their council, so it's funded and led entirely by a prince with no funding. He planned to gather funds, people, and supplies for a while before setting out, but when the Council ordered the border attacks and declared war on Lykela, he decided to set out early. We have to get there before he sets out in less than a week. That's why we're leaving now." She stood and headed for her bags.

"Where are you-"

"I'm putting something on other than an Academy uniform. You should too. Where we're going, you wouldn't want to be caught dead in one. I'll burn both of them, then take first watch."

I changed into a dully-colored tunic and trousers like she'd said, then handed over my uniform. Knowing that I would have to take watch soon enough, I decided to sleep while I could. After the long day's flight, I started drifting off the moment I climbed into my sleeping bag.

"Your turn." Bright sparks appeared past my closed eyelids.

I opened my eyes just as Clarisa snapped her fingers again, sending another small wave of sparks at my face. I brushed them away and sat up.

"You're supposed to be a talme, so don't use fire magic if you run into anything dangerous. The last thing we need is to attract the attention of a Lykelan patrol and have you locked up." She handed me a glow orb, then heading over to her sleeping bag.

I crawled out of mine and left the cave. I'd put my alabri necklace on when I was packing at the Talme House, so I had it if I needed to transform. Unfortunately, it was fairly drained of magic. When I checked it, there was hardly enough charge for a 10 minute transformation.

I'd forgotten to transform away my teeth before I went to sleep, and maintaining the shift had drained most of what little energy I'd had left. Without Callah's ridiculously heavy charger, the only way to charge my alabri now would be to perform a Tayna ritual with at least two other talmes.

Only, there weren't any talmes around at the moment. I'd have to try and perform the ceremony alone, but that wouldn't get me more than half an alabri's worth of energy at best.

I decided to not use my remaining magic unless I absolutely had to, and I let my teeth turn back into fangs. I headed into the trees to keep watch where no one could see me if they were a flying patrol overhead.

Pacing was slightly less snore-inducing than staying still, so I walked back and forth between the trees near the cave entrance, looking and listening for anyone or anything that could be a threat.

At one point, I must've sat down and fallen asleep, because I woke up on the ground with a bunch of pine needles poking my face and arms. The crunching of heavy footsteps on the forest floor came from a ways away. I couldn't see the owner of the footsteps, but I could tell they were at least horse sized, maybe bigger.

[Leera, we have company.] I pushed myself up into a crouch.

[I'm coming.]

Voices coming from the direction of the footsteps met my ears, and I couldn't believe it. I recognized one of them.

"They likely chose a moderately large cave at ground level," Tawny said.

"Couldn't we just fly over and spot them from the air?" an unfamiliar boy's voice asked, sounding exhausted.

"I don't believe so. They'll probably be attempting to hide themselves from anyone flying overhead,"

As I stood to meet them, Leera appeared from behind me and raced past, heading right for the others.

[It's just Tawny and a friend, I think.]

She skidded to a stop, peering into the gloom of the forest. I couldn't see anything but shifting shadow beyond the circle of light cast by my glow orb.

[I can see them,] Leera said.

"Leera," Tawny shouted. A dark, talme-shaped shadow detached itself from two larger dragon-shaped ones and looked around. She spotted me in the light of the glow orb and came over with the boy and his dragon.

I quickly transformed my fangs.

The boy was a fairly tall talme, not much older than us, with dark hair and skin. He had warm, brown eyes and an easy smile. He was easy on the eyes, too. Feeling heat rising in my cheeks, I looked away from him to glance at his dragon.

The dragon couldn't have been bigger than a class 5, and it looked like he was only a class four. He wasn't any bigger than a racehorse around the chest, and he was bright crimson.

"Who is this?" I asked.

Tawny smiled nervously. "He was a late recruit who showed up just in time for deployment. We met each other after I received my assignment. I wasn't given the medic's position I expected." She looked at her feet. "And I do not believe in killing other sentient creatures." Nodding at the boy, she added, "Kuertis felt the same as I did. We came to find you."

There was a tense silence as I realized what she was saying. "You deserted?"

Leera snorted and glared down at the two of them, her eyes glowing amber in the dark.

"Look who's talking," Kuertis said with a flirty smile. "From what I've heard, they kicked you out of the Academy. You shouldn't be a rider anymore, but there's your dragon right there. Now that we're here, all of us might as well run away together."

"I didn't run away. I'm on a-"

"-probation," Clarisa said as she stepped into our circle of talmes and dragons. "That's why she was deployed separately from everyone els. Ella is still supposed to be a rider, but you two most definitely are not. Now, get out of here before I flag down a patrol and get you both separated from your dragons." She held her wand tightly and pointed at them.