The Amazing Adventures of Samiya Henderson: Chapter 2

The last time Samiya had entered the Wonderlands, she'd been ordinary. She wasn't ordinary anymore. She stood at the edge of the Shimmer Forest and raised her right hand. A spark of violet light crackled at her fingertips — the same light that had been appearing ever since she returned home from her first journey. It showed up in her dreams. It showed up when she was angry. It showed up, most embarrassingly, during her school spelling bee when she'd felt so nervous that her whole desk had lifted two inches off the ground. Her teacher Mrs. Bloom had looked confused for a full minute before putting her glasses back on and moving on. Samiya had never told anyone. Not her mom, not her best friend DeShawn, not even Marcus — and Marcus could keep a secret better than anybody. But now she was back. The silver-grass meadow stretched ahead of her, and the familiar three-moon sky curved overhead, and somewhere in the distance she could hear the sound of the Shimmer Trees singing their slow, wind-chime song. Except something was different. The light in the Wonderlands had always been golden-warm, like late afternoon in August. Now it was gray. Ash-gray, like the sky before a serious storm. "Solara?" Samiya called. The little winged lion usually appeared before she even finished her first step into the meadow. Now — nothing. Just the gray light and the singing trees and the far-off call of some creature she didn't recognize. Samiya pulled her jacket tighter. The air was cold in a way it hadn't been before. Cold and sharp, like something had been taken out of it. She heard footsteps behind her. She turned, hands up, violet light already sparking — and stopped. A girl stood at the edge of the meadow. Samiya's age, maybe a year older. Dark braids. Red sneakers that looked just as ordinary as Samiya's own. And eyes that flashed the same impossible violet. They stared at each other. "You're a Lightkeeper," the girl said. It wasn't a question. "I'm Samiya Henderson," Samiya said. "And I have no idea what that means." The girl's expression did something complicated — half relief, half something that looked a lot like fear. "You need to," the girl said. "Because the Shadow Weaver found out about you three days ago." She took a step closer, voice dropping low. "And he's already on his way." The singing trees went silent all at once. Samiya felt the violet light surge hot in her palms, brighter than it had ever been before, as if it too understood that something had shifted — that the Wonderlands she thought she'd saved was only the beginning, and the real challenge had just arrived at the door. "Tell me everything," Samiya said. The girl looked at the gray sky above them and then back at Samiya, and what Samiya saw in her eyes wasn't panic. It was hope. "There isn't much time," the girl said. "So I'll start with what matters most." She took a breath. "Your power isn't what you think it is. And the Shadow Weaver knows that too."