t was my final day in the infirmary and I was itching to get out of there like my shoulder was itching to get out of its bandage.

Tomorrow I would return to my relatively normal activities and begin my farewell tour of the school—finishing my midterms, packing my stuff, and trying my best to fend off the hordes of girls who all had a thousand questions to ask me.

I hoped that with midterms this week and my classmates busy studying, I might be able to scurry in and out of the halls without being bothered as I went from test to test. But I suspected this was a hollow dream. Lately I could not get away from people.

Since I wasn’t supposed to go back to regular class until tomorrow, my test on pirate ship design was being presented to me in the form of a “take home exam.” One of the school’s administrative assistants had delivered it to me an hour ago and was supervising my progress.

Hastily I worked through my last diagram—filling in the blanks on a visual representation of the Jolly Roger.

Suddenly the timer went off. I barely managed to complete the last question before the exam was yanked away and stuffed into a folder. The assistant who’d been monitoring me nodded cordially, then took her leave without another word.

As she exited, Jason came in carrying a bunch of textbooks.

“Hey!” he said as he set the books on the table across from me.

“Hey!” I responded. “What are you doing here? Don’t you have class?”

“Yeah, but I’m on lunch right now. And since the school’s In and Out Spell is down again as the magic hunter hunt continues, I thought I’d come visit.”

Concern flashed in my eyes and I opened my mouth to speak, but Jason held up a hand. “Before you say anything, yes, I used the school’s main road and entrance like Daniel and I have been doing since Saturday.”

“Good.” I nodded. “And thanks for coming. It’s nice of you to visit. What’s with all the books, though?”

“I ran into SJ on my way here and she told me to get these to you. She gave me a message as well.” Jason cleared his throat and spoke in a voice six octaves higher than his own in order to imitate SJ. “She said, ‘Crisa, you cannot avoid studying for your Damsels in Distress midterm forever. It is tomorrow afternoon and you have a semester’s worth of procrastination to overcome if you want to pass.’”

I smiled at Jason’s imitation, but the thought of that much studying on a subject I actively despised and had been dodging made my stomach turn. Maybe this truce with SJ was a mistake. Us talking again meant her nagging me again, which she was as prone to doing as I was prone to ignoring.

“Too bad our mission this semester couldn’t have caused us to miss midterms like it did last fall,” I commented. “I think I prefer fighting monsters to studying. At least with the former you always have the option of stabbing out your frustration.”

Jason glanced at the pile of books he’d brought then rubbed his arm sheepishly. “Sorry. Maybe I shouldn’t have brought them?”

“No, SJ’s right,” I admitted begrudgingly. “I just finished a test is all, so I need a minute before I can dive back into studying.”

“Pirate ship design?” he asked.

“Yeah.”

“Daniel and I have our test on that tomorrow. Any tips?”

“Well, ordinarily I would say play sick, but looks like these days even a trip to the infirmary doesn’t qualify as a get-out-of-jail-free card.”

“Bummer, and I know a wicked way to fake Liptoid Fever too,” Jason said, grinning. “But hey, forget midterms for a sec. I brought you a present. Thought it might cheer you up.”

He pulled something out of his backpack. I leaned over to see what it was.

Cookies!

“I noticed what you’ve been eating in here and know you well enough to guess that you could really use this,” he explained as he tossed me one of the two giant chocolate chip cookies he had sealed within a plastic bag.

“You have no idea!” I said as I took the treat gratefully. I bit into it and instantly felt some of my stress melt away like the chocolate chips that melted in my mouth.

“Thanks, Jason. You’re my savior.”

“No problem,” he said.

He sat in the chair across from me and chewed on his own cookie. It’d been a while since the two of us had hung out on our own. In that peaceful lull, I regrettably remembered the thing I’d promised myself I would do the next time we were alone. I’d been putting off telling Jason about my vision of his death. Since I was leaving soon, my window for doing so was about to close. This was probably my last opportunity.

“Jason . . .” I began. “There’s something I’ve been meaning to talk to you about. I had a vision about you a little over a month ago. I’ve had the same vision again a few times now and, well, I’ve been going back and forth about whether or not I should tell you about it.”

“Is it important?” he asked.

“Yeah,” I said. “But it’s also pretty messed up. I’m totally willing to tell you if you want; it is your right to know. But honestly—I’m warning you—once you know, there’s no going back. And I promise you that the second I finish, you’ll wish there was.”

“Ominous build up there, Crisa. You trying to scare me?”

“No. I’m trying to protect you. My visions always come true. You know that. They’re not predictions; they’re fact. And while I can’t unlearn what I know about the future, I can try to keep you from going through the same thing.”

Jason thought for a minute before giving me the answer I dreaded.

“I want to know,” he said.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah. I’m not afraid of the future, Crisa. I get what Liza was saying last semester about our Inherent Fates. Whatever happens in our lives is a reflection of who we are and our choices. Which means that whatever you’ve seen of my future is going to come to pass one way or the other as a result of me just being me. If that’s the case, it’d be foolish for me to cower in fear of it. Don’t you think?”

“I guess,” I replied. I fidgeted for a moment, stalling. “So . . . you’re absolutely sure then?”

Please say no. Please say no. Please say no.

“One hundred percent,” he said.

Obliged to keep my word, I told him what I’d foreseen. I told him about the battle with the knights by the riverbank, about him, Blue, and SJ eventually being overpowered, and about how Blue was going to be nearly killed.

And there—in the cold, still infirmary—I finally told Jason the morbid secret I’d been preserving for so many weeks now. That the only reason Blue was fated to survive this attack was because he was going to sacrifice himself for her. She would be saved, but he would pay the price, dying by that riverbank while she lived on in his place.

When the story was done, he and I sat in silence. I wasn’t sure for how long. All I knew was that it felt like time had frozen solid, or at the very least, to the density of frozen yogurt.

Jason stared out the window—lost in thought. I watched his face worriedly. Part of me wished I had kept my mouth shut. Part of me felt relieved to have finally told him. The majority of me just felt guilt seeping even deeper into my skin.

Like it wasn’t bad enough that my conscious activities kept putting the people I cared about in danger. My unconscious ones were wreaking just as much havoc. I was like a plague. Everything and everyone I came in contact with was at risk. Which meant I really did have to get out of here. Now, more than ever, I was thankful for being sent home where I could be isolated from the greater world for a while.

“You okay?” I asked after some time had passed.

Jason didn’t answer. I didn’t blame him. It was a stupid question given the situation, but it was the only thing I could think to say.

“Did you tell Blue about this?” he asked.

“No.”

“Good,” he said. “I don’t want her to know.”

This surprised me. “Why?” I asked.

“Because it’ll hurt her. When what happens, happens, she’s going to blame herself and I can’t change that. But I can prevent her from feeling like there was something she could’ve done to prevent it.”

“Jason, she knows my visions can’t be altered.”

“You really think that’ll keep her from trying? No way. I know her, Crisa. The second you tell her she’ll become obsessed with trying to stop it. And then when she can’t, she won’t just feel blame, she’ll get consumed by it.”

He paused and took a breath. “Look, if I have to die to save her,” he swallowed, “I want to be sure that she’ll eventually be able to forgive herself for it. Which won’t be possible if she knows what’s coming. I need you to promise me you’re not going to say anything to her, okay?”

“All right. I won’t tell her. I promise. But, Jason, don’t you want to talk about the main issue here? I told you that you’re going to die. You must want to—”

“No,” he said. “You already have enough on your plate to worry about, Crisa. I don’t want you to worry about me too. I’m fine. I’ll deal with this in my own time.”

I nodded, understanding in more ways than one.

Jason glanced at his watch and stood to leave. “I have to go,” he said. “I’ve got a midterm in Cavalier Rescues at two o’clock and I need to get back to campus.”

“All right,” I replied. “I guess I’ll see you later?”

“Yeah,” he said. “See you.”

He moved swiftly for the door. As he grasped the handle on his way out, I called after him. “Jason.”

He stopped.

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” he responded solemnly, but sincerely. “What’s coming isn’t your fault, Crisa.”

He left the room and I stared at the door for a minute after he’d gone—knowing that while he may have been right, it definitely didn’t feel that way.

Eight exams, three days, and fifty classmates plaguing me with questions I refused to answer later, my day of departure had finally arrived.

It was early morning. The sun hadn’t risen yet; the sky and everything else was gray and crisp. SJ, Blue, and I walked across the grounds to the field by the front entrance where we were meeting Lucky, who had been appointed as my ride home.

Yesterday Lady Agnue told me that the school guards had found three of the four magic hunters who’d attacked me. They had not managed to escape the stable before it collapsed during the fire. I assumed that the only hunter who’d gotten away was Parker. As their leader, he’d proven to be smarter and a lot harder to get rid of. My gut told me he was out there somewhere, having likely fled into the forest between Lady Agnue’s and Lord Channing’s. Over the last few days the school guards had apprehended six other hunters hiding in the forest, but not him.

Since the search of the forest was ongoing, the In and Out Spell continued to be periodically lowered and the perimeter of the campus very thoroughly guarded, making us feel secure meeting out in the open.

I spotted the boys and Lucky. My pet dragon’s silvery skin blended in with the color of morning.

“Tell me again why we had to do this so early?” Blue yawned.

“I want to get out of here before any of the other students wake up,” I explained. “You don’t know how many of them have asked me about my magic in the last few days. It’s been exhausting; I didn’t have to work this hard to outrun Arian. Plus, I want to leave before Lady Agnue can get in a last word. Today’s going to be unpleasant enough without more of that dragon lady’s vile echoing in my ear.”

Blue looked to Lucky then back to me. “You do realize that since you’re the one with the dragon, technically that would make you the—”

“Blue.”

“Right, sorry. Not helping.”

I huffed in amusement at my ever-candid friend and put my arm around her shoulder. “You know what? Believe it or not, you are.”

“Daniel and I checked the Lord Channing’s storm tracker in the school’s observatory this morning, Crisa,” Jason said as we convened. “The weather looks good for the day. Should be smooth sailing.”

“Thanks,” I said.

The two of us exchanged a hug. This was one of the last farewells I had to make. I’d already said my goodbyes to SJ and Blue in our room, as I was not one for public displays of affection or big displays of emotion. Throughout the week I’d bid my adieus to Girtha, Marie Sinclaire, Madame Alexanders, and a few other friends as well. That only left Daniel.

I was worried an exchange of goodbyes might be awkward between us, but thankfully it wasn’t. It was simple and curt.

“Good luck” was all Daniel said to me as I walked past him.

“You too” was all I said in return.

The cold air washed against my cheeks and I inadvertently shivered as I went by him.

With a mini black leather backpack slung over my fully recovered shoulder, I proceeded to climb on board Lucky’s neck. When he raised it up a second later, I stared down at my friends.

“See you in a month,” I said.

I was about to take off when SJ suddenly spoke. “Crisa,” she said. “Please be careful.”

An undertone of affection seeped through her words. It warmed me and gave me hope.

I nodded and gave her a slight smile. “I will.”

With that, I turned my attention back to Lucky. It was time.

“All right, boy. Let’s go.”

Prompted by a swift kick of my heel, Lucky took off into the sky. My hands clutched onto one of the large blunt spines along the back of his neck. The wind slapped my face. I clung on tightly as I adjusted to the ascent but soon relaxed as we leveled out.

I glanced over my shoulder. Even from up here everything was still bathed in a sleepy shade of wintery gray. Everything but the practice fields, that is. They were unmistakably black and their devastation was impossible to miss.

My heart all but stopped at the sight. The aftermath of the fire was burned into the grounds like a scar. The once green fields were charred and desolate. The obstacle courses and track were melted, destroyed. The barn and stables lay in shambles. Blackened, fire-stripped trees bent over like broken spirits protruding from layers of ash.

I forced myself to look away and my gaze fell upon the main building of the school instead. My friends had been reduced to specks. The academy itself was still as a toadstool. Not a single light shone from the windows as my classmates slept on, undisturbed.

In that moment I was reminded of the last time I’d left school on a mission. It seemed like an adventure that began an eternity ago even though it had only been a few months. Everything about my current state of departure was different from what it’d been last fall.

Back then I was in the dark. I didn’t know about my magic, my visions, or my fate. Now I had answers that I’d long been after, and more that I hadn’t even known to ask for. Moreover, I was in possession of something vital that I didn’t have the last time—a strong sense of self. This advantage alone filled me with courage, fight, and confidence.

As I looked ahead at the streaks of gold breaking through the horizon, I knew that while I was afraid of the threats out there waiting for me—antagonists, magic hunters, the future—I was not afraid to face them.

If they wanted to come after me, let them. I wasn’t the same lost, confused little girl they’d encountered last semester. I’d changed. And I was ready. Which meant that I was open to their challenge. The only question in my head that remained was who would be the first taker?