Page 5

THE SPIRIT TREE

One moment I was shivering in the cool, wet winter air; and the next I was throwing off my rain jacket and stuffing it into my backpack. Two full seasons separated Bayshore from the Forbidden Zone.

There was definitely magic at work here.

I was burning up. The moon beat down on me, as harsh and unrelenting as a desert sun. Sweat pasted my shirt to my skin, and I was pretty sure my sandpaper-dry tongue had permanently melted against the base of my mouth.

Beyond the gate lay an open field. There were no trees or bushes or flowers here. There wasn’t much of anything. It looked like fire had burnt everything to the ground, but it might have been that burning moon. The field was scorched, black, barren.

Mounds of raised, hardened earth littered the ground like a choir of geyser mouths. A foul, greenish fog billowed up from the holes. I decided to keep my distance from those plumes, in case they were as toxic as they looked.

This place totally freaked me out.

Anxiety haunted my every step as I zigzagged across the field. My heart hammered, my pulse popped, my bravery began to buckle. The pressure—the fear—was building up inside of me, just like the yucky green steam inside those holes.

I had to master that fear, or I might as well turn back and give up now.

I imagined myself as a great and powerful Knight on an urgent Quest, and that made me feel a little better. My hands were still trembling, but at least my steps were steady.

“You can do this,” I told myself, over and over again as I traversed the barren expanse.

Finally, I came to a stop beneath a tree unlike any I’d ever seen before. The Spirit Tree was enormous, stretching high into the sky, taller than any building in Bayshore. Sparkling blossoms adorned its black and white branches, and little lights twinkled around the tree—streaking and swirling, turning and twirling—like little colorful comets orbiting a planet.

Those little lights were the spirits. The air hummed with their energy; it tingled against my skin, swathing me in soothing waves, like a sailboat rocking me to sleep. I closed my eyes, and breathed in the magic of it all. And for one perfect moment, I forgot all my problems.

“You’re not here for a nap, Savannah,” I muttered to myself.

I quickly opened my eyes again. Dante and Nevada, bound by chains, enveloped in peaceful slumber, were pressed against the Spirit Tree. The tree’s smooth, shimmering trunk was at least twice as wide any tree I’d ever seen.

Actually, the Spirit Tree appeared to be made of two entwined trees—one as white as fresh snow, one as black as a raven’s feathers—each trunk braided around the other, mixing and merging all the way up. Until the two trees became one.

Dante was chained to the black trunk, Nevada to the white one. An archway adorned with brilliant blue blossoms bridged the two trunks. At ground level, the gap between them was enormous, wide and tall enough for a large truck to drive through it.

I turned in a full circle, searching for anyone else. There was no one. No soldiers. No General. No Finn or Sean. Just little me and the big tree of spirits.

Oddly, the spirits weren’t withdrawing, even though I was standing right here. We’d always been told that the spirits never allowed humans to see them. That’s why Dante and Nevada were unconscious. That’s why the General and his soldiers had left. Well, that settled one question, once and for all.

I wasn’t human at all.

Yeah, ok, so I guess my magic, lame as it was, should have been a dead giveaway. But my mother was human. She didn’t have any magic. Neither did my brother, who was mytwin, after all. So why did I have magic?

“Savannah,” Dante muttered, and I rushed forward, setting my hand on his forehead.

He didn’t speak again. He was still deep asleep. Apparently, even in his dreams, I was on his mind. My overprotective brother couldn’t help but worry about me.

I turned toward the white trunk to check on Nevada, but stopped when I heard a twig snap behind me. I pivoted around, expecting to see Finn and Sean. Honestly, I was surprised that I’d beaten them here.

But I didn’t see Finn. Or Sean. I didn’t see anyone at all.

“Who’s there?” I asked, my hands shaking as much as my voice as I gripped the straps of my backpack.

I didn’t see see anyone, but I could surefeelsomething. A presence. I wasn’t alone out here.

CHAPTER5

A MAGICAL ENCOUNTER

“Iknow someone is there.” I wiped my sweaty palms on my pants. “Show yourself!”