Enchantment (21 page)

He
approached
and
stood
facing
his
friend’s
back.
The
y
o
ung
warrior
im
m
e
di
a
te
l
y
stepped away
from
St
r
y
k
er
and
bowed
before
the
Enforcer.
“At
ease,
Gaston.
I’m
i
m
pressed
to
see
y
ou i
m
prove
dai
l
y
,
”
Kerrigan
co
m
p
l
i
m
e
nted.

The
y
o
ung
warrior
beamed
with
appreciation.
“
Thank
y
o
u
,
sir,”
he
replied
as
he
turned
and walked
aw
a
y
.

“St
r
y
k
er,
if
y
o
u
keep
being
so
hard
on
all
these
y
o
u
ng
lads,
y
o
u
’re
going
to
be
the
only
one guarding
the
Counselors’
Realm,”
Kerrigan
m
ocked,
extending
his
hand
to
his
friend.
Str
y
k
e
r greeted
him
with
a
big
s
m
i
le,
accep
t
ing
his
welcome.

“Well,
it
took
y
ou
long
enough
to
get
here
this
m
orning.
So
m
e
of
u
s
don’t
have
a
life
of luxur
y
.”
He
clasped
his
wrist
behind
his
back,
his
feet
braced
apart.
“All
the
Cou
n
selors
have gathered
in
the
cha
m
ber. Those
old
hobbits are
never
up
this
ear
l
y
.
So
w
hat’s
u
p
?
”

“Walk
with
m
e
.
”

They
headed
to
the
far
end
of
the
field,
a
w
a
y
from
the
others,
where
he
knew
they
w
ouldn’t be
overheard.
“
M
y
father
h
a
s
done
s
o
m
e
thing
I
w
ould
never
have
believed
him
capable
of.”

Kerrigan
looked
at
h
i
m
serious
l
y
.
“
I
am
not
prone
to
bouts
of
uncertain
t
y
or
doubts,
but
this,
I believe,
has
far-reaching
consequences.”

Str
y
k
e
r’s
face
w
ent
static,
losing
all
traces
of
hu
m
or.
“What’s
got
ever
y
o
n
e
in
so
m
uch upheaval
?
”

Kerrigan
walked
over
to
a
s
haded
bench,
where
St
r
y
k
er
sat
down
and
began
r
e
m
oving
his weapons.
“As
my
s
econd
in
com
m
a
nd,
it’s
i
m
porta
n
t
that
y
ou
are
a
ware
of
any
possible
threats. There
is
danger
to the
situation.
From
where,
I
do
not know,
but I
can
se
n
se
it,
and
we
m
a
y
need to
act
quick
l
y
.

“
M
y
father cocooned
two
beings
w
hen
th
e
y
fell into the
water by
the
da
m
,
and
brought
th
e
m to
Enchan
t
m
e
n
t.
Th
e
y
s
urvived.
One
creature
is
from
a
species
called
Le
m
rens,
and
the
other appears
to
be
a
hu
m
an
fe
m
a
l
e.”

Str
y
k
e
r
stopped
the
color
draining
from
his
face
a
s
he
gaped
at
hi
m
.
“
That’s
not
p
o
ssible. We’ve
alw
a
y
s
been
told
nobody
could
survive
a
trip
through
the
di
m
ension
from
Upper
World, not
to
mention
the
Counselors
have
alwa
y
s
told
u
s
m
a
g
ic
did
not
exist
in
Upper
World.
Perhaps
y
o
ur
father
is
m
istaken
.
”

“Make
no
error;
it
is
indeed
quite
p
o
ssible.
I’ve
spoken
to
both
the
hu
m
an
and
the
L
e
m
ren. The
L
e
m
ren
s
e
e
m
s
very
intelli
g
ent,
and
holds
the
abili
t
y
to
wield
p
o
werful
m
ag
i
c.
The
m
ore alarming
part
of
this
tale
is
the
fe
m
a
le
is
j
u
st
starting
to
develop
s
ome
form
of
what
s
he’ll
believe to
be
supernatural
gifts,
and
I
believe
it’s
m
ore
powerful
than
y
ou
or
I
could
i
m
a
g
ine.
If
I’m
to believe
w
hat
the
Le
m
ren
tells
m
e,
there
are
those
w
ho
will
wish
to
exploit
her
p
o
wer.
It
is p
o
ssible
that
one
of
our
o
wn
could
be
included
in
that.
A
n
y
o
ne
who
anticip
a
tes
u
sing
her
will an
s
wer
with
their
lives.”

Kerrigan
paced.
“
S
t
r
y
k
er,
ensure
all
gargo
y
l
e
s
are
prepared
for
a
battle,
should
the
need arise.
We
could
have
a
real
threat
here.
I
just
don’t
know
exact
l
y
what
we’re
dealing
with,
and until
I
can
get
so
m
e
answers
from
the
Council
and
re
m
ove
the
foreigners
from
Enchantme
n
t, ever
y
o
n
e
s
hould
be
on
their
toes.”