To her surprise, the people stepped aside. As she and Jaren swung their axes, first one, then the other, it struck a primal beat that Leelo could feel in the soles of her feet. She felt that desperate choking sensation in her throat, that insatiable need to sing.

“Are you all right?” Jaren asked her.

She nodded, but she felt like she was suffocating. She clamped her mouth shut, and with one final swing, she struck the death blow. The sound of branches snapping and the trunk splintering was ear-shattering.

This tree fell against its neighbor, taking it down with it. Many Endlans had gone home, but some stood watching, still waiting to see if there would be any consequences for what Leelo and the others were doing. Within twenty minutes, they had taken down all the pines, save the tallest. Leelo and Jaren were preparing to strike when a sudden bolt of lightning flashed overhead, followed instantly by a clap of thunder so loud Leelo screamed.

“Look out!” Jaren shouted, knocking Leelo to the ground. Just inches from where she’d been standing, a massive branch crashed to the Forest floor.

Leelo scrambled to her feet with Jaren’s help. She told herself it was a coincidence, that this had nothing to do with the Forest. But then the ground beneath her began to tremble. Suddenly, a sinkhole opened up nearby, swallowing the man who had warned Leelo to stop.

“Leelo!” Jaren screamed. She followed his gaze to the top of the pine, where flames blazed against the night sky. The lightning had started a fire.

She searched frantically for her mother as the wind roared and the other Endlans fled.

“I’m here,” Fiona said, taking Leelo’s other hand. “Quickly. We have to get you to the shore.”

Leelo’s mind was racing, trying to process what was happening. Somehow, they had succeeded in destroying the pine grove, but she had never accounted for lightning. She could only hope the rain would put out the flames before the fire spread.

They ran, dodging falling branches and fissures that opened in the Forest floor without warning. Leelo could hear people screaming in the distance, and a sob caught in her throat. What had she done?

They didn’t make it far before a mob of Endlans, still carrying their weapons, materialized from the trees. “Stop this madness, Fiona,” one of the men said, stepping forward. “Rein in your wayward daughter before she kills us all.”

Behind them, Leelo could hear the roar of flames growing louder.

Fiona pushed her wet hair out of her eyes. “My daughter was the only one here brave enough to call for an end to this Forest’s cruelty. For decades we have lived the lie our ancestors passed down to us. We told it to our own children. We sent our babies away!”