I will do everything in my power to help my world.

Sophie closed her eyes, drawing the words from her heart as she whispered the oath.

The last word had barely left her lips when a latch on the box snapped open. Inside she found a pendant made of curved black metal, shaped like the sign of the swan. Set into the center was a magnifying glass.

Sophie assumed the tiny piece of paper enclosed with it would explain what the pendant meant. Instead it said-in Mr. Forkle's familiar writing: Glad you made the right choice.

THIRTEEN.

HOW MANY TIMES did you have to say the oath before your cube opened?" Biana asked, fiddling with her Black Swan pendant as she followed Sophie and Della down to breakfast.

"I think it was my fourth," Della said, lifting the hem of her long black-and-white gown to descend the stairs.

Surprisingly, Biana had worn pants-though the tunic she'd paired with them was embroidered with butterflies, and she had jeweled butterflies pinned in her hair. Somehow Biana made it all seem effortless-even her matching lip gloss. "I got it on my third try," she told Sophie. "What about you?"

Sophie looked away. "My first."

"I guess I should've figured that," Biana said through a sigh. She held her pendant up like a monocle. "Do you have any idea what these do? All my note said was 'to show you the world in new ways.'"

"Mine said, 'For when you need to look closer,'" Della added.

They glanced at Sophie.

"Mine said they were glad I made the right choice."

"Huh," Biana said. "It must be weird to be you."

Talk about an understatement.

All the things Calla had told Sophie were still buzzing around her mind-especially the part about Calla being involved with Project Moonlark.

For some reason she'd imagined the project only included Mr. Forkle, sitting alone in a lab with a microscope and some Petri dishes. But now she could picture a whole team-multiple people and species brainstorming and planning, resting their hopes on her to be their Moonlark. And what if- All thoughts dropped away when they reached the gazebo.

"Your hair!" Della gasped, rushing to where Fitz sat at the table. His usual dark waves had been dyed green, and they stuck out in every direction.

"Someone slipped an elixir into my shampoo this morning," Fitz said, patting the spikes and eyeing Dex. "But it's cool. I kind of like it."

Dex snorted. "Keep telling yourself that."

"Actually, it's not that bad," Biana said.

"Yeah, Fitz can pull off anything." Sophie blushed as she considered the implication of her words.

Keefe groaned. "I knew we should've gone with the balding elixir. Next time!"

"Uh-uh," Della told him. "You need to fix this-now. Do you really want the Black Swan to see what you've done?"

Keefe shrugged and grabbed a pastry from one of the platters in the center of the table. "They're walking around crusted with ice and turning their bodies to stone. Cactus head is nothing."

"Okay, lets try this a different way," Della decided. "If you get to makeover my son, then I get to makeover both of you."

"Works for me," Keefe said. "I look awesome in everything."

"Tell that to your feet when they spend the rest of the week balancing in my tallest heels," Della told him.

"Okay . . . forget that." Dex reached into his pocket and pulled out a tiny brown vial. "This will get rid of the green."

"Thank you." Della rumpled Dex's hair as he gave the vial to Fitz.

Fitz downed it in one gulp, gagging at the taste.

"No more pranks," Della said, wagging a finger at all three boys.

"Or-what if Fitz looks normal, but doesn't smell very good?" Keefe asked.

Biana giggled.

Della sighed. "What am I going to do with you, Keefe?"

"I hear the Lord of the Universe title is up for grabs. Unless Foster's trying to snatch it."

"All yours." Sophie had enough responsibility already.

"So you guys didn't have any problems with the oath?" Biana asked.

"Nope! Got it on my third try," Dex said proudly.

"Me too!" Biana said.

"Ha-beat you both," Fitz told them. "Only took me two."

"Don't get so smug. I'm sure Foster nailed it the first try." Keefe laughed when she blushed. "I knew it."

"How many tries did it take you?" Biana asked him.

Keefe looked away.

"So what did everyone's notes say?" Sophie asked, saving him from having to answer.

"Mine said 'Because seeing is believing,'" Dex said.

"Huh, I didn't realize they were different." Fitz smoothed his back-to-normal hair. "Mine said 'The smallest things can be the most dangerous.'"

Everyone looked at Keefe.

"Do not lose your way."

Biana repeated the other notes and studied her pendant. "I still don't get what they do."

"Typical Black Swan," Fitz said.

"Seriously," Dex agreed. "Don't they realize riddles are a huge waste of time?"

"Are they?" Granite asked, crossing the bridge to reach the gazebo. His face looked like clay soil that had cracked in the sun. "And here I thought we were training your minds to think critically and solve problems."

"There are no easy answers in this world," Wraith added, his silver cloak appearing beside Granite.

Biana moved closer to study him. "How do you partially vanish like that?"

"Work hard enough and I'll teach you," he said. "But today we'll be perfecting the basics. Rescuing Prentice will require a level of precision you currently do not have, so prepare yourself for a long, exhausting day."

"Meanwhile, I'll be initiating your Cognate Training," Granite told Sophie and Fitz. "Today will be the test to see if Cognatedom is truly a possibility."

Sophie's stomach dropped into her toes, and she was very glad she hadn't eaten any of the pastries yet.

"What about us?" Keefe asked, pointing to himself and Dex.

"You both have study materials in your rooms," Granite said.

"You're seriously telling us to go read?" Keefe asked.

Sophie leaned close to whisper, "It's only one day."

"A lot can happen in a day, Foster. You know that better than anyone."

"It's cool," Dex jumped in. "I have a project we can both work on."

The way he said "project" made Sophie wonder what prank he was planning. She hoped it'd be worth it, since she was sure Della would make good on her threat of high heels. But she was glad to see Dex once again keeping Keefe from getting too frustrated.

Part of her wished she could go with them as they crossed the bridge and headed up the stairs. Instead, she followed Fitz and Granite down to the river, trying to convince herself Cognate training wouldn't be as scary as it sounded.

"Mr. Forkle and I spent last night preparing these," Granite said, handing Sophie and Fitz each a black notebook labeled Cognate Lessons. "But as we developed the exercises, we realized we were skipping a crucial step."

The three of them sat in the shade of a tree with purple leaves, watching the glassy river rush past. Across the water, Della and Biana were practicing with Wraith, pacing back and forth while vanishing. Biana could only walk half the distance of the others before she'd reappear.

"The Cognate relationship requires both trust and balance," Granite said, reminding Sophie she should be paying attention, "and it's impossible to work on the former without the latter. In your case, Fitz-while you're an incredibly talented Telepath-your skills simply do not match Sophie's."

Sophie cringed, wondering if the criticism would bother Fitz. But he grinned at her and said, "Yeah, she makes us all look bad."

"She does indeed," Granite agreed, his face cracking further as he smiled. "So if you're going to be her Cognate, we need to get you up to her speed."

"But aren't her abilities strong because of all the tweaks you did to her genes?" Fitz asked.

"Actually, much of Sophie's strength comes from practice. Her ability was triggered eight years ago, and Mr. Forkle trained her mind every night until last year."

"He did?" Sophie asked, shuddering at the mental image. "I thought I had to be conscious to learn telepathic skills. Wasn't that why he couldn't teach me to shield?"

"Certain skills, yes," Granite agreed. "But others can be absorbed. I'll show you how."

He instructed them to scoot closer, until their knees were touching. "It'll be easier if you hold hands."

Sophie tried to return Fitz's smile, but her palms were sweating-which was stupid. She'd held Fitz's hand every time they light leaped or teleported. It was no big deal.

"What now?" Fitz asked, twining their fingers together. Sophie hoped he couldn't feel her racing pulse.

"Now I want you to observe Sophie's mind in action. And Sophie, I think it's best if you focus on the skill that seems to come to you the most effortlessly-transmitting long distances."

"Ohhh, I've always wondered how she does that," Fitz said.

"Who should I transmit to?" Sophie asked. "In my telepathy sessions I always practiced on Fitz. Or I call for Silveny, but I'm guessing that won't work, since she's not an elf."

"Actually, that could be interesting," Granite said. "It might open Fitz's mind to two skills-distance transmission and telepathy with animals. I'm not sure the latter skill can be taught, but it's worth the attempt."

"Does Silveny think in the Enlightened Language?" Fitz asked.

"Only the few words I've taught her," Sophie said. "Otherwise it's her language or images and memories."

"That may make it confusing," Granite warned, "but still a good test. In fact, this should be a definitive indicator of your Cognate success. If Fitz's mind can't learn from yours, it'll prove you're not compatible."

The last word dumped about a million pounds of pressure on everything.

I won't care if this doesn't work, okay? Fitz transmitted after she gave him permission to slip past her blocking.

But she could see the hope in his eyes-feel the excitement in his grip. And she definitely didn't want him thinking they weren't compatible.

"Okay," she said, stalling one second longer.

She closed her eyes and pictured the Sanctuary, with its rainbow sky and rolling pastures. The dwarves had built the lush animal preserve inside the Himalayan Mountains to keep it secret from humans. The rock walls also prevented the alicorns from teleporting away. Sophie wished Silveny could've kept her freedom, but the precious alicorn needed protection. The Neverseen had tried to capture Silveny twice. One time they'd even broken her wing.

Silveny? she transmitted, making Fitz jump.

"Sorry," she mumbled. "I should've warned you it'd be loud."

"But it's awesome," Fitz promised. "I need to learn how to project with that kind of power."

"Hopefully this process will teach you," Granite reminded him.

Silveny, Sophie said again, and this time Fitz barely flinched. He even held steady as she repeated the call a few more times. But he did jump when an exuberant shout filled her mind.

FRIEND! SOPHIE! VISIT! FLY!.