Maya's POV
I ran faster than I had ever run before. Academy guards shouted behind me as my feet banged on the dirt path behind our herb shop. Ethan took hold of my hand and dragged me into the woods.
He shouted, "This way!"
"They can't follow us into the Deep Woods!"
But the guards were all I could think about. Ethan's words had my head spinning. Was all the information I had been given about myself false? Even so, what did that mean?
Just as a guard's voice boomed behind us, we crashed through the tree line. "Cease!"
"Per Phoenix Academy's directive!"
I was dragged behind a big oak tree by Ethan. Breathing deeply, we pressed our backs against the bark. I was certain the guards could hear my beating because it was so loud.
"Maya," Ethan mumbled, "I need you to pay close attention. I'm not the only person those guards are looking for. They're also looking for you."
"That's impossible," I replied in a whisper. "I am nothing. Remember how I was removed from Phoenix Academy for lacking magic?"
Ethan stated, "That's what they wanted you to think." His intense gaze gave me the impression that he was trying to convey a very important message. "But you're not magicless, Maya. You weren't."
I heard the guards conversing before I could ask what he meant.
One guard stated, "This is where the trail ends."
"They entered the Deep Woods."
Another said, "Should we follow them?"
My blood froze when a third voice said, "No." It sounded cruel and icy, like the voice of someone who took pleasure in causing harm to others. " Principal Hawthorne clearly warned against going into the Deep Woods. There are far too many dangerous animals there."
The first guard questioned, "But what about the Chen girl?"
"We were instructed to return her at all costs."
I felt sick to my stomach. They were talking me. However, what makes Principal Hawthorne want me to return? I was removed by him in the first place.
The harsh voice said, "We'll wait."
"She must finally come out. And we'll be prepared when she does."
Panic filled my eyes as I looked at Ethan. We were confined. Ethan, however, simply grinned as if this were all a part of a larger plan.
"Don't worry," he mumbled. "I am more familiar with these trees than they are. Come with me."
He walked silently between the trees as he led me farther into the forest. I made noise and snapped twigs while trying to follow his lead. I jumped at every sound.
"Ethan," I mumbled, "you must explain the situation to me. The Academy guards want me, but why?"
He came to a stop and looked at me. "Because they made the biggest mistake of their lives three years ago when they expelled you from Phoenix Academy."
"What do you mean?"
"Maya, can you recall what you were doing just before you were kicked out?"
I remembered that awful day. "I took a class called Magic Control. I was unable to make the flowers bloom that we were trying to do. My seed refused to grow."
"Are you certain about that?" Ethan inquired. "Consider more carefully. What precisely became of your seed?"
I tried to remember by closing my eyes. I had been focusing so intensely that my head ached while I held the tiny seed in my hands. My friends were creating lovely flowers all around me. The only one who failed was me.
Then, though, an odd thing had happened.
I said slowly, "The seed turned to dust."
"Like it was a thousand years old, it crumbled in my hands."
"And what was said about that by Master Thompson?"
"I destroyed it," he said. He stated that I lacked self-control and was dangerous.
I opened my eyes. However, I have no power. They removed me for that reason.
Ethan gave a headshake. "Seeds don't simply become dust, Maya. Only when someone is fully depleted of their life does that occur. You succeeded in causing the flower to bloom. You accidentally did the exact opposite."
"I don't understand."
"Maya, you possess life magic. However, it works in reverse. You can take life away rather than give it. They were afraid of you because of this."
I looked at him. "That isn't possible. The best kind of magic is life magic. It is only found in one person out of every thousand."
"Exactly," Ethan answered. "And Principal Hawthorne was aware that you would be more powerful than anyone at Phoenix Academy if you could learn to manage your impact. He is among them."
My mind was running. But why didn't anyone tell me if that's the case? Why did they allow me to think that I had no value?
"Because they wanted you to believe it," Ethan stated. "In order to prevent you from ever attempting to use your power, they wanted you to think you had none. However, you have been using it without realizing it, Maya."
"What do you mean?"
"The medicinal herbs in your grandmother's shop. Don't they work better when you touch them? And when you're around, sick animals heal more quickly?"
I thought on all the times Grandmother's herbs had been praised. They claimed that our shop had three villages' worth of the best medicinal plants. How being around animals seemed to calm them down.
I muttered, "I thought that was just coincidence."
"It's not," Ethan stated. "Maya, you've been healing people for three years. You simply were unaware of it."
All of a sudden, everything made sense. Yesterday, when I experienced that warm feeling in my chest, the glass jar exploded. When I was angry, the broom had glowed. Grandmother's odd face when she looked at me.
"Grandmother knows," I answered. "She has always known."
Ethan stated, "Your grandmother is a very wise woman."
"She has been keeping you safe."
"From what?"
"From Hawthorne, the principal. Ever since you left Phoenix Academy, he has been trying to find you. He wants your power for himself."
I was ill. "What does that mean?"
"It indicates that he wants to appropriate your magic and use it for his own purposes. Maya, he's done it before. To other pupils."
"That's awful!"
Ethan stated, "That's why I came to find you."
"Students like you attend a secret school run by my uncle. He sent me to take you to safety after students were removed from Phoenix Academy for being 'different.'"
"But the guards—"
"Are probably gone by now. They won't spend the entire day waiting in the trees."
Ethan gave me a serious look. "You must make a choice, Maya. You can return to your old existence and act as though you are powerless. Or you can join me and discover your true potential."
I considered returning to the herb shop. As children talked about my failure, I returned to sweeping floors and combining herbs. It was back to waiting for Sage's never-to-arrive letters.
"Will I ever see my grandmother again if I go with you?" I asked.
"I don't know," Ethan said clearly. "Maya, this is risky. Principal Hawthorne will pursue you if he learns your location. As well as anybody who is helping you."
Tears began to well up in my eyes. "So either way, I lose the only family I have left?"
"Maybe," Ethan answered. "Or perhaps you'll gain the strength to defend her."
I was silent for a while, reflecting. Then my heart stopped when I heard something. My name was screamed by Grandmother Willow from the direction of the town.
"Maya!"
"Help me!"
Ethan took hold of my arm. "It is a trap. She is being used by the guards to entice you to return."
I withdrew from him and said, "I don't care."
"My grandmother is that."
"They'll catch you if you return there, Maya. Your grandmother will still be in danger after they take away your power."
"I can't just leave her!"
"You're not leaving her," Ethan stated. "You're keeping her alive. Gaining the strength to protect herself is the only way to keep her safe."
This time, Grandmother's scream was closer. Her voice had changed, too. Something that chilled my blood. Fear.
She called out, "Maya!"
"They say that if you don't return, they'll hurt me!"
I looked at Ethan, tears running down my face. "I can't decide between saving myself and saving my grandmother."
Ethan remarked, "You're not choosing between them."
"You have to decide whether to give up now or to fight back later."
The forest echoed with another scream. It sounded like Grandmother was actually hurting this time.
"Maya!" she shouted. "Please! I told them everything! I told them about your parents."
My parents? What about my parents?
But before I could ask, I heard Principal Hawthorne's voice booming through the trees.
"Maya Chen!" he called. "I'm sure you can hear me! Return to the village immediately, or your grandma will perish."
My heart broke as I turned to face Ethan. "I must return."
"No," Ethan said strongly. "Your grandmother just left you a message, Maya. 'I told them about your parents,' she said. She's telling you to run, then."
"What about my parents?"
"They're alive, Maya. Additionally, they have spent the last three years in hiding from Principal Hawthorne."
The world looked to be tilting in my direction. "My parents are alive?"
Ethan said, "They're at my uncle's school waiting for you."
"But only if you're brave enough to come with me."
Principal Hawthorne's voice came again, closer now. "Maya, this is your last chance! The old woman will suffer if you don't come out."
I closed my eyes and made the hardest choice of my life.
I whispered to Ethan, "Let's go."
I heard Principal Hawthorne growl furiously behind us as we dashed farther into the forest.
He yelled, "Find them!"
"You'll all suffer if you can't find them!"
His voice had changed, though. Something I had never heard before. The strongest man in the kingdom, Principal Hawthorne, was scared. And for some reason, that made me even more afraid.