I reached out to pick up her mindstone.

The moment I touched it, it disintegrated into a million tiny bits of sparkling green dust. The green dust flew around me, and for a split second, I saw myself through Leera's eyes. Then it disappeared, and I was back to looking at my own hand. A greenish, glassy sheen covered most of my palm. I flexed my hand and found that it still moved more or less like normal. Strange.

[I didn't know that would happen,] Leera said in my mind.

[Can you still talk aloud?]

"Yep," she said aloud.

Something struck me. "Was BlueIsle going to offer her mindstone to Tawny?"

"She said she was. Why do you- oh. Blue knows what you are."

"Yeah, and if she bonds with Tawny, then Tawny will too." I jumped to my feet and climbed on her back.

She took off the soon as I was situated. [Blue could keep it from her.]

[But for how long? It's hard to keep something that big from someone who can read your thoughts.]

[You could tell her the truth yourself,] she suggested as the meeting building came into view.

I just sat there for a second, hoping she would realize exactly how bad an idea that was. [Have you met Tawny? She hates half-bloods.]

[But she's your friend.]

[She wouldn't be if she knew the truth. Look at what happened when Clarisa gave up her secret.]

She landed. [They weren't exactly friends before that.]

[You might have a point there, but she still wouldn't take it well.] I jumped off her back before she could kneel. That was a bad idea, as I twisted my ankle and had to limp the rest of the way to Tawny and BlueIsle.

"BlueIsle, Leera has something she wants to tell you," I said, somewhat out of breath.

"What is it?" she asked, glancing up at Leera.

"Talk in private," I insisted.

[Why can't you talk to her yourself?] Leera asked.

[Please just convince her that this is a bad idea.]

She snorted and started walking off. "Come on, Blue."

The two of them went to stand a little ways away, out of earshot.

Tawny grabbed my right hand and turned it over. Eyes wide, she ran her fingers over the glassy substance on my palm. "What happened to your hand?"

"Leera gave me her mindstone."

"I think BlueIsle might give me hers." She let out a little squeal. "It's so exciting."

"Why do you want her to? You were all for the mental cleansing and dragons just being animals or whatever."

She let go of my hand and gave me a stern look. "I know better now."

"So you admit you were wrong about dragons?" Maybe I could still convince her that she was wrong about half-bloods, too.

"I do."

"Then... could you possibly be wrong about half-bloods?"

She gaped at me. "El, after all the paltors have done to us on this mission, how can you say that? Clarisa's just a bully, but Kuertis and Farot are monsters. They would've killed us if you hadn't let the mindstones go and distracted them so we could all escape." Shuddering, she crossed her arms. "Why do you ask?"

"I was just curious," I muttered.

Leera and BlueIsle came back.

Leera gave me a worried look and brushed her wing against my side. [You're not a monster.]

[I know. What did BlueIsle say?]

[She thinks she can keep your secret.]

[Then she's going to go ahead and ask Tawny to bond with her?]

[Yes, but you don't need to worry. Even if Tawny figures out and tells the Enforcers about you, Lykela has to be in chaos right now. There won't be many dragon riders, and I can take care of any Enforcer on a drak.]

[I wish I could be so sure.] When I glanced over at Tawny and BlueIsle, I saw that the latter was already offering up her. Tawny accepted it without question, and a flurry of blue sparks flew around her for a few seconds before they funneled into her hand.

Bylanna whistled from on the back of her thunderbeast and gestured for me to come over. Anxious to get away from Tawny, I hurried to her.

She glowered down at me. "You're my only living relative, and while I wish I could go with you to Lykela and get to know you better, your mistake might have cost the Lykelan dragons any chance they had at living freely in the long-term. Clarisa and I are going to destroy the Ferentisian tomes that detail how to take control of mindstones protected by enchantments. It won't stop Ferentisians from learning how to do it, but it should slow them down."

"Clarisa is going with you? Couldn't I...?

Bylanna shook her head. "Clarisa has no place in Lykela now that her secret is known, and you have no place with us. You put your sentimentality before your good judgment. If we cannot stop the Ferentisians from learning how to take control of the katalnis, all hope will be lost." She sighed. "I hope we both live to see each other again. Goodbye, Ella Sveralni."

"B-bye." Was that all she was going to say before she left and maybe never saw me again? "Bylanna-"

Before I could finish, she pulled her thunderbeast's reins around and she took off running. In seconds, she was in the air. A little ways away, Clarisa mounted up on Moonhawk, who still had her silvery mindstone. They took off and followed Bylanna. I watched them until they disappeared over the horizon.

Once they were gone, Tawny and I went back inside to collect our things. Most of my stuff was in the room I'd slept in, but Leera had taken her saddle as a memento. Tawny and I both bundled up warmly and met down at the beach with our dragons. Tezzla was there, and she gave us a curious look.

"Is it cold in Lykela?" she asked.

"Not really," I said.

"Then you won't need all those clothes. The shield around the island also acts as a one-way portal. We can send you directly to your destination."

"Oh. That's clever."

"It is. And I believe this is yours." She held out her right forepaw. The Dragoneye Dagger sat on her palm.

"Thanks." I took the dagger and stowed it in my pack.

"It is I who should be thanking you for the liberation of my cousins in Lykela." She smiled. "Now, think of where you want to go when you fly through the shield, and you'll go there."

I climbed up onto Leera saddle.

Tawny did the same with BlueIsle, and we took off. I concentrated hard on the Academy island from the moment we took to the air. There was a blast of cold air and a bright flash of blue light.

As we went through the portal, I prepared myself to find an Academy in chaos after the dragons had regained their mindstones. When we came out the other side, we landed on the floating island's neck.

It was worse than I'd imagined. Every building I could see was in flames, and the island itself heaved like a boat in the middle of a hurricane. Leera could hardly stay on her feet as the ground rippled beneath us, and she took off so she wouldn't fall over. Tawny and BlueIsle followed suit.

In the distance, I saw the end of the neck-shaped part of the island rise. The head of the island turned to face us. Its eyelid, which should have been solid stone, opened to reveal the largest iris I'd ever seen. This was definitely worse than I'd imagined.