Chapter 1
Lightning split the sky like a crackling whip, and the thunder roared in her ears. The heavy rain and strong winds did not only soak her hair, plastering the wet brown strands to her face, making it harder to see in the darkness than it already was. It made the tree branches she climbed on extremely slippery. She flexed her toes around the branch, feeling the rough bark scratch her hardened soles, before she bent her knees and leapt onto a branch in the next tree. A forked bolt of lightning illuminated the sky, and she could once again see the boy on the ground beneath her. He was getting dangerously close to the edge of the cliff, as if he didn’t see that it was there. How could he not notice that the trees were getting sparser, the terrain more open, and the ground jagged? As thunder boomed, he raised his hands to cover his ears and hunched down. She understood his fear, he was lost, alone in a forest far from people.
His wet and mud-covered clothes had been spotless and wrinkle-free when she had first spotted him a few hours ago, before the thunderstorm hit. If his clothes and careless attitude weren’t evidence enough that he was not used to being in nature, the way he had wandered further away from where his camp must be, without paying any attention to his surroundings confirmed it. When the rain began, he had tried to make his way back, but as he made several wrong turns, she watched in frustration. Her mother used to tell her, her mind was older than her body, but she had a hard time understanding how someone could be so clueless when it came to their own survival.
Her mother had warned her to stay away from people at all costs ever since she was a baby. Every day of her life she had heard her mother’s warnings and lessons about the dangers outsiders posed to her. Living in the middle of the forest insured the lack of people around, but it still happened on occasion. Hunters or campers testing their skills by heading far into the wilderness, sometimes came upon the remote cabin her mother had built for them when she was five months old and started to show signs of magic in her.
Her attention snapped back to the boy as another lightning bolt spread over the midnight sky like a spider’s web, and she could see his smudged face and wide terrified eyes as he whirled around, trying to locate himself. As she leapt to the next tree, she thought back to earlier that day.
When she had heard the rhythmic thumping of helicopter blades while she ate her overcooked rabbit stew, curiosity took over and she had followed the sound. She had only seen a helicopter from afar before. When someone got lost in the woods and needed to be rescued, or on pictures in books or magazines. When she had seen that the helicopter was without the markings of the rescue team and that it landed not too far from her cabin, she could barely contain her excitement as she headed in the direction of the lake. It was the only place she knew of where it would have enough room to land. Her mother’s constant warnings echoed in her head but her whole body itched to see people again. Knowing that she could keep herself hidden as long as she kept to the trees, she went off into the forest.
She hadn’t seen the helicopter though. As she got closer, a boy had walked through the shrubbery, muttering to himself and she froze. It was the first time she had seen someone so close to her own age. Everyone she had ever met or seen from afar had been grownups, mostly large burly men. This boy couldn’t be older than ten, and she was fascinated. The white shirt he wore was a stark contrast to the bushes’ green nuances. His hair was black, and even if it was neatly combed back, a few strands at his neck had gotten loose and curled at his collar. So different from her matted brown strands that fell flat around her face. As the boy continued on his path, she made the impulsive decision to follow him, just for a little while. That had been nine hours ago.
A lightning bolt struck a tree not far from her, forcing her mind away from the memory. The creaking from broken wood, barely heard over the winds howling, was the only warning they got before a twenty feet tree came crashing down toward the boy. Instinct took over and she moved as fast as she magically could, so that she stood next to the boy. Raising her hands toward the falling tree she willed it to stop, begged it to stop. Everything around her slowed down as her magic pulsed around her hand as it expanded. Surrounding them and stretched even further to cushion the tree. Even if she wasn’t touching the tree, she could feel its weight, pushing down on her. Her knees buckled and she got down on one knee in the slippery mud, focusing on the large tree above her. She needed to get it away or they would be crushed. She searched her mind to find that pond of magic she knew was in there.
She could see it clearly in her mind’s eye. A pond with pink and blue water surrounded a big rock in the middle of it and she hesitated at the edge, taking a deep breath before she kneeled and reached her arms down in the water. It wasn’t cold, still, it made her shiver.
A surge of magic leapt through her and she cried out as she focused all the energy onto the tree. A blue shimmering light wrapped around her, and even if she was grateful for the strength it gave her as she got up on her feet again, it scared her as well. She had used the pond in her mind a few times, but never dipped her arms in it like this. Barely even touched the surface with a finger. And she had never seen her magic turn blue before. She fought against the panic bubbling through her. The tree groaned and she gathered her last strength in one last push, and she was relieved to see the tree fly up and away, loudly crashing into another tree further down the path. With heavy breath and sore arms, she turned to the boy.
He was almost a head taller than her, and he stared at her with wide eyes. Before he could say anything, she turned to walk back toward the trees. He just stood there staring after her. When she noticed that he hadn’t moved an inch, she raised her hand, gesturing that he should follow her. With only slight hesitation he did. She led him to a big oak tree where she placed her hand on the bark, feeling the strong soul within. She gently asked the tree to help them, to shelter them from the storm. The tree responded by growing more branches that braided together, forming a shelter. She glanced over her shoulder and watched the boys stunned expression as the shelter formed and she sighed. She knew that she wasn’t supposed to do magic around people, she wasn’t even supposed to be around people, but she couldn’t let the boy die out there. And without any hiking experience or magic like her, she was sure that he would. She reached for him, but he stumbled back with fear in his eyes. She didn’t move, just stood there with her hand outstretched and waited. He looked as if he was considering running and she really hoped that he wouldn’t. She couldn’t follow him if he decided to go down that path. Being there was dangerous enough. The boy glanced around, and she could see in his face when he realized that he had nowhere to go but with her. His shoulders slumped and he looked defeated. The breath she didn’t know she was holding escaped her as he placed his hand in hers. She led him into the shelter and as they settled down the tree grew more branches with thick patches of leaves and sealed them inside.
Darkness surrounded them, and even if she were comfortable with it, used to it, she could sense a tension in the cramped space, guessing the boy was not. With a little concentration she made a small cloud, filled with glowing lights that swirled around, illuminating the small shelter. After being in the storm for so long the silence felt like a blessing, the only sound was their breaths and the boys shattering teeth. He must be freezing underneath those soaked clothes. She had raised her core temperature out of habit and hadn’t given it a second thought. She scooted over to where the boy huddled on the ground and slowly raised her hands to him so he wouldn’t be startled. His eyes followed her hands as she placed them on his body. One on his chest and the other one over his bellybutton. He trembled under her fingers. She closed her eyes and let her magic flow through her and focused on what she wanted it to do for her. Her palms grew warm, and when the boy gasped, she flung her eyes open, afraid that she had gone too hot and burned him.
She wasn’t used to using her magic on others as her mother always refused. She never wanted her to use magic unless it was absolutely necessary, a rule she had a hard time following. When she looked at the boy but saw no pain, she followed his gaze down to his clothes where the water was evaporating, and she smiled. Of course, this would be odd for him.
She was used to magic and what she could do, but her mother had told her that it was abnormal and not something everyone could do. Therefore, it was not accepted out in the real world. Her mother had taught her everything about how they burned witches on the city square for people to watch in the old days, and when the world became more evolved, so did their methods. She had spent countless hours listening to her mother about scientists and the wicked experiments on people like her. About the military trying to use them as weapons and trying to recreate their magic in their own soldiers without care for the cost of the person they used. Her mother talked about torture and cells filled with people who were just like her. Innocent people murdered until there was no one left.
That is why her mother had chosen this life for her daughter. Living so remote that no one could find her and take her away. Her mother had taught her other things of course, such as reading, math and cooking. Her mother had made sure there were plenty of books for her to read, and when she wasn’t busy with chores around the cabin, she had her face in a book somewhere. The reminder of her mother’s death six months earlier made her throat close up and her sight clouded with tears.
A soft hand on her shoulder jerked her back into present time, and she stared at the boy who looked at her with concern in his eyes. “You can stop now if it’s hurting you. I’m warmer now.”
He thought the tears were created from pain, well they were, but not the kind of pain he meant. She shook her head to let him know that she wasn’t hurting, she didn’t dare to speak, afraid of the whole situation she had put herself in. She had never been this close to anyone other than her mother, at least not for this long. She was chewing her bottom lip when the taste of blood touched her tongue. She dragged the back of her hand across her mouth and wiped the blood on her muddy shirt.
“I’m Gavin,” the boy said, as he leaned back toward the shelter wall. “What is your name?”
She stared at him, unsure of what to do, what to say.
“Well, thank you for saving me from that tree. And for making this,” he said as he looked around.
“How old are you?” The question blurted out of her mouth before she could stop herself.
The boy looked at her. “Turning eleven next week, what about you?”
It felt wrong not to answer him when she had been the one to ask first. Her voice came out as a crackling whisper, “I’m eight.”
The shelter grew quiet as time passed, their breathing so close in rhythm, it sounded as one. Gavin’s hair had started to dry up and in the dim light, she could see the curls frame his face. His dark eyes scanned the walls of the shelter before meeting hers and she jerkily moved her gaze to the muddy ground. Butterflies broke free in her stomach and her face felt hot. She didn’t like how her body felt and needed to do something, anything, to keep her thoughts straight. She silently asked the tree to move and a few branches parted, so she could lean outside. The rain was still pouring down and a flash of lightning startled her, making her shuffle backward. The tree closed up after her and she looked over her shoulder at Gavin.
“It’s still pretty bad out there. You won’t make it back to your camp until it stops raining.”
“You’re probably right. I don’t even know where I am.”
She stared at where the tree had just closed and Gavin continued, “My dad will take the helicopter to search for me as soon as the weather clears. I just hope he can find me.”
He looked defeated and she felt bad for him. How could she help him without letting him know she had followed him around all day? She didn’t think that was something one would want to know. An idea formed in her mind. Scrambling back to the wall she asked the tree to part once more. She closed her eyes and focused on that magic place inside her, as she moved her hands in small circles. The result was a ball of energy, the size of a football, pulsating with a bright blue light. She carefully maneuvered it through the opening and sent it up over the tree line where she made it hover above them before she sat back and closed the opening again.
“There, now they have something to follow.”
“Like a beacon!”
She wasn’t sure what a beacon was, but she figured that he knew, and she nodded. Gavin yawned and stretched.
“Sleep,” she told him as she settled down with her legs crossed on the muddy ground. She needed to focus on the pulsating light to keep it going all through the night. Shutting of her surroundings, she entered her mind, wading through the water until she reached the rock. Positioning herself the same way, with her legs crossed, she focused on the beacon.
Her concentration was broken by a sound she couldn’t place at first. Repetitive, and highly annoying. She tried to close it out of her mind, but it grew louder and louder until she huffed and opened her eyes. Their small shelter looked the same; the cloud of lights still floated above them, and Gavin had curled up into a ball, snoring loudly. But that was not the sound she had heard. It came from outside. The thumping was rhythmical and grew in volume for each second. The helicopter! Her stomach tied itself in knots. She had known that they would come for Gavin, but it wasn’t until now she understood the true meaning of it. People, more people who would know what she could do. Would they kill her on the spot, or would they abduct her and experiment on her? She wasn’t sure what she was hoping for. Her palms grew clammy and she focused on her breathing. In and out... In and out....
The sound stopped. Her body was stiff as she moved, not only because she had been sitting still for so long, but the mud that covered her had dried, forming a hard crust on her clothes and clumped her hair together in thick strands. Raising her hand to the branches that sheltered them, she asked the tree to open. Without making a sound, a hole, big enough to crawl out of, opened up and she hesitantly looked outside. The helicopter was barely visible through the trees. It had landed next to the edge of the cliff, close to where the tree had broken off last night. Soft murmurs glided up with the wind which had calmed a lot since the night’s storm. She noticed then that the light that filtered through the trees had a soft peachy color, telling her it was early morning. The voices grew louder, and she could hear twigs snapping as someone stepped on them.
Two men came walking among the trees, heading right for them. Both men were tall, but one was bulkier than the other one, who was slim and very clean. The first man had brown short hair, almost shaved completely off at the sides and a ruffled mess on the top. He looked so different compared to the second man. That man’s hair was black, but it looked as specks of gold was dusted in it, as the sun bounced off the neat waves. He looked much like Gavin had done when she first spotted him. It must be his father. The first man turned to the side and the sun reflected on something on his back. She narrowed her eyes to see, and her breath got caught in her throat. A gun!
She backed into the shelter and tried to control her panic. She didn’t want to die! But if she didn’t reunite Gavin with his family, she would have revealed her existence in vain.
Maybe it wouldn’t be that bad to die after all. At least she wouldn’t be alone anymore. Without her mother, life hadn’t been much fun. She had always done chores around the house and she knew how to cook the basic things at least. She would survive. But without her mother, she didn’t know for what. Was she supposed to live all alone in the woods for the rest of her life?
Another twig cracked and she jerked, took a sharp breath, crawled over to Gavin, and shook him. “Gavin, wake up!” she hissed, keeping her voice low.
He groggily opened his eyes and looked at her with a look of confusion. “What is it?” The fear in his voice was obvious, but she pushed away the feeling of guilt for making him worry, there was no time.
“It’s okay, I think your father might be outside.”
He sat straight up before bolting through the opening without a second glance at her, and she felt hurt, but not sure why. She could hear the joyful reunion outside, and it was like a stab in her heart. She would never be greeted with joy from her mother, only with fear and distrust from strangers. She gulped and slowly made her way to the opening, not yet showing herself, but close enough to hear what was said. She recognized Gavin’s voice.
“…and suddenly there was a girl next to me, I have no idea where she came from, but the tree changed direction and smashed into another tree!” He spoke fast and excitedly, “She saved my life! And then she made this.” His voice trailed off and she suspected that he was showing him her hideout. Her heart pounded in her chest and she felt dizzy.
“That sounds amazing Gavin. I suppose she was the one who led us here with that light?”
“Yes! And she dried my clothes and everything!”
“Well, where is your new friend? I would love to thank her for taking such good care of you.”
“Hmm. She’s in there, but I think she might be shy. She doesn’t say much.”
“I see…”
It got quiet for several heartbeats before the man’s voice was heard again, louder this time.
“Excuse me, Miss?”
“Dad! She’s not a Miss, she’s a girl!”
A giggle escaped her at Gavin’s comment, and she knew immediately that she had revealed that she was indeed hiding inside. She crawled outside before she got too scared to do so. Three pairs of feet greeted her; closer than she had thought. She scrambled up on her feet and staggered back until she had the shelter against her back. The man looked surprised as he looked down at her. She could feel his eyes measure her up and she felt as young as her age. She had grown up quickly, needing to take responsibility at home when her mother had gone away to get supplies they couldn’t make or grow themselves, leaving her alone for days at a time. When she read about other children in her books, she always felt a mixture of sorrow and guilt. Sadness because she never had the opportunity to play and go on adventures as the children in her books, the closest she got to anything like it was when she was reading. She was lucky that her mother thought of reading, any book, was studying. And you could never learn too much according to her. The guilt came from wishing to be able to live outside in the real world even when she knew how hard her mother worked to keep her away and safe.
“You are the one that saved my son?”
She could hear the doubt in his voice, and she knew what he saw. A dirty, scrawny little girl with torn and muddy clothes, bare feet, and dirty, tousled hair. She nodded. Too afraid to speak.
“Boss, she’s not registered.” The other man spoke with a voice so deep it sent chills down her spine. She had never heard anything like it. Then his words sunk in. Registered? What did he mean with that? Gavin’s father took the device the other man had been tapping on and looked at it.
“What do you mean she’s not registered? How can she not be?”
Fear rose within her again. How could she be so stupid to reveal herself? All her life she had listened to her mother go on and on about how she would die or be tortured if she did. Her breaths came in short bursts and she felt lightheaded. Hands searching, grasping for something to hold on to until her hand found a branch, growing out from the shelter and held on tight. Gavin noticed her erratic breathing and stepped toward her, but his father grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back.
“But dad! She can’t breathe!”
“Calm down Gavin, I see it too,” he said with a soothing voice as he crouched down before her, so that his face was in line with hers. “Take deep breaths. You are having a panic attack.”
She tried to relax, to fill her lungs with air, but every time she tried, her chest stopped. As if she couldn’t expand her lungs further. Sweat broke out on her forehead and the world started to sway.
“Deep breaths. Come on, you can do it.”
She shook her head, sure her chest was going to explode. Panic flowed inside her as she let go of the branch, just to grab a hold of the man’s jacket instead. Pleading him with her eyes to help her.
“Yes, you can. Come on, be a good girl. Breathe. What is your name?”
Darkness surrounded her. “My name?” she panted, “My name...” She could feel her knees giving way under her. Waiting for the pain from smashing to the ground, but it never came. Her body felt weightless as if she was floating, or maybe carried. She didn’t care. She was exhausted. “Name... Name is... Minania...”
