Johnny raised his hand high, and every child fell silent. The forest itself seemed to pause, waiting.

And then Johnny brought his hand down and chaos erupted. The crows took flight first,

swooping and diving around the logger's heads in perfect formation. The men swatted and ducked,

stumbling backwards as the birds caught warnings that echoed through the trees.

What the?

One logger shouted, dropping his chainsaw as a red fox darted between his legs.

The fox led him in circles, always staying just out of reach,

drawing him deeper into Eliora's maze of fallen logs in twisted pathways.

And from her perch high above, Lena watched Kieran's plan unfold.

The loggers reached for their tools only to find their hands sticking to the handles.

Sap coated everything!

Chainsaws, axes, even their clipboards. They wiped

their palms on their shirts, but the sticky mess just got worse.

Ah, gross! This equipment's all gummed up! One logger said to another, trying to pull his hands

free from a rope that seemed to have wrapped itself

around his wrists. Mia's animal friends worked like a well-rehearsed orchestra. Squirrels were

chattering from the branches, dropping pine cones with perfect aim. A family of raccoon scattered

the men's lunch, while the owl, who was now joined by all of his friends,

were hooting from different trees, making it sound like the forest was haunted.

But the most beautiful part was Eliora's maze.

Every time the loggers tried to find their way back to that oak tree, the forest seemed

to shift around them.

...