Enchantment (3 page)

The
stre
a
m
narrowed.
The
trees
were
taller,
and
their
darker
green
branches
n
o
w
blocked
m
ost of
the light from
above.
A
s she inhaled, the
s
cents
of
cedar
and
m
oss filled
her nostrils.
The rich,
Eart
h
y
surroundings
weaved
a
s
pell
around
her,
drawing
her
deeper
into
the
m
o
m
e
nt. Licking
her
lips,
s
he
could
taste
the
s
weetness
of
the
berries
that
would
line
the
forest
floor.
She closed
her
e
y
es,
falling
for
the
m
agic
of
the
m
ome
n
t,
not
wanting
to
p
a
y
attention
to
the
black thunderheads
above.

A
low
ru
m
b
le
of
thunder
drew
her
attention
upward.
“I
better
turn
u
s
around.”
Wincing
at the
soft
sound
of
her
voice, she
felt a
flash
of
guilt at disturbing
the silence.
Instead of
picking up the
paddle,
she
let
the
craft
drift
in
the
current.

The
forest
beckoned
m
y
s
t
e
rious
l
y
,
the
stre
a
m
and
canoe
beco
m
ing
m
ore
shaded
with
each gentle
stroke
of
the
paddle.
Catz
paced
at
the
front
of
the
canoe,
giving
her
a
warning
look.

C
rack!

Thunder
boo
m
ed through
the
vall
e
y
and
lightning flashed
across
the
black
s
k
y
.

The air hung hea
v
y
with the s
m
e
l
l
of rain, and Meeka’s
face was abrupt
l
y wet. Catz
h
o
wled, giving a
new definition
to the
phrase pi
s
sed
-
off,
and
s
wished elegant
l
y under the covered portion of
the
bow.

The
rain intensified, and a
blue
veil
of
water descended over
her.
Thunder crashed
above her head.
Lightning
streaked
across
the
darkened
s
k
y like
fire.
Tendrils
of
electric
it
y
raced
along
her body
like
a
lover's
caress.

“Oka
y
,
alrea
d
y
.
I
got
the
m
essage!”
Through
the
o
n
slaught of
rain,
s
he
s
potted a
beaver dam ahead
in
the
distance.

“Catz, I’ll take
the canoe
out
there by
the
d
a
m
. We can
take
shelter under
the canoe
and
w
ait for
the
storm
to
su
b
side.”

Note
to
self.
Don’t
be
s
assy
with
Mother
Natur
e
.

The
beaver
dam
loo
m
ed
ahead,
a
s
quat
wall
of
m
ud
and
wood.
Meeka
swallowed.
Willows, driftwood,
birch,
and
poplar
w
ere
tangled
to
form
a
s
olid
m
ass.
A
dark
head
bobbed
in
the
water for
a
m
o
m
e
n
t
before
vanishing
from
sight.

When
a
wide
tail slapped the
water, Meeka
instinctiv
el
y
ducked, stifling a
screech. The
echo reverberated
through
her.
Intent
on
getting
off
the
water,
she
leaned
over,
the
paddle
slipping
into the
rapid
current.
A
hard
knot
for
m
ed
in
her
sto
m
a
ch
when
the
s
hadows
gathered
to
block
the
m
eager
sun
co
m
pl
e
te
l
y
.

H
ow
the heck
did
it
get
so
dark?

Crouched
on
her
knees
in
the
canoe,
Meeka
reached
dangerous
l
y
far
over
the
edge, stretching
for
a
large
log
she
hoped
to
grab.
The
sturdy
piece
of
w
ood
would
help
her
get
out
of the
boat.

A
m
assive
splash
close
to
the
canoe
caught
her
off
guard.
She
swung
her
gaze
over
her
s
houlder,
gasping
when
she
m
ade
e
y
e
contact
with
a
giant
beaver.
With
a
gasp,
the
craft
lurched to
the
side.
The
canoe
swa
y
ed
uncontrollab
l
y
.

Her
strangled
s
cre
a
m
preceded
the
splash
of
her
bo
d
y
hitting
the
water.
Her
flailing
hands scrabbled
for
purchase
on
the
canoe,
on
l
y
to
have
it
tip
and
land
next
to
her
with
a
sickening thud.
The
current
swirled
around
her
legs,
dragging
her
along,
and
her
forehead
hit
so
m
ething extreme
l
y
hard.

Her
li
m
bs
were
bricks,
too
hea
v
y
to
m
ove.
H
er
e
y
e
s
closed,
blackness
beckoning
her.
The
w
orld
s
he
knew
went
black.

Chapter
T
w
o

“Da
m
n
it!”
Kerrigan
roared
in
pain
when
his
ham
m
e
r
s
m
ashed
his
thu
m
b.
Lifting
his
head, he
listened
to
the
growing
ruckus
of
the
alarm
shredding
the
silence.
To
s
sing
aside
the
ham
m
e
r, he kicked it across the floor, his
ears ringing.
“Alarm off!” H
i
s
bellow
drowned
out the ann
o
y
i
ng screech.
His
sto
m
ach dropped
as
he
thought of
so
m
e poor
creature perishing.
A
legion of
beavers kn
o
wn
as
the
Secret
Keepers
ensured
nothing
got past
th
e
m into
the Enchanter’s
w
orld.
K
eeping Enchantment
safe
often
led
to
casualties
of
the
four-legged
varie
t
y
.

The
construction
of
his
library
was
the
new
e
st
addition
to
Kerrigan’s
huge
ho
m
e.
He
spent endless
hours
adding
to
his
house,
when
time
per
m
i
t
ted.
U
sing
m
a
g
ic
w
ould
have
been
m
uch easier,
but
never
as
en
j
o
y
a
b
le.

A
large
sigh
escaped
as
he
stared
down
at
the
th
u
m
bna
i
l
alrea
d
y
turning
purple.
He
placed his
tool
belt
back
on
the
floor
and
m
ade
his
way
down
the
ladder
to
stride
through
the
ho
u
se, heading
to
the
back
door
leading
to
the
tunnel.
With
a
wave
of
his
hand,
the
m
assive
door opened, and
he stepped through
an ancient
carved
archw
a
y
j
u
st high enough to
accom
m
o
date
his six-foot-five
frame.
The
intricate
tunnel
twisted
up
and
down
around
m
a
n
y
corners
and
ended
at a
thick,
iron-strapped
oak
door.

Enchantment
existed
in
a
dimension
parallel
to
the
Upper
World,
or
“Earth,”
as
so
m
e
called it.
It
w
a
s
believed
there
w
a
s
on
l
y
one
way
to
enter
and
exit
Enchan
t
m
e
n
t,
both
of
which
led
to death,
unless,
of course,
y
o
u
were
a
beaver
or had
the
m
a
g
ical
abil
i
ties
of the
beaver.
Enchanters
m
ade
up
m
ost
of
the
population
on
Enchantment,
and
thrived
happi
l
y
in
this
w
orld,
being
hosts to
m
a
n
y
m
agi
c
al
abil
i
ties.
Enchan
t
m
e
nt
was
just
that—encha
n
ted.

Kerrigan
entered
the
neat
l
y
kept
ho
m
e
without
knocking.

Todd
stood
in
the
center
of
the
kitchen,
his
hands
tangled
in
his
fur.
“
We
have
a
proble
m
,” he
stated
without
even
turning
to
look
across
the
s
pacious
room
at
Kerrigan.

Kerrigan
rubbed
his
tired
e
y
e
s.
He
had
been
working
too
m
a
n
y
long
hou
r
s,
and
now
his i
m
p
a
tien
c
e
s
howed
through
his
abrupt
tone.
“
I
guessed
that
w
hen
the
ala
r
m
went
off.
I
s
uppose we
have
y
et another
ani
m
a
l
from
the
Upper
World
trapped
in
the
da
m
?
”

“I…I
think
it’s
an
an
i
m
al
.
”

Todd’s weak croak settled
over Kerrigan. He
bit
back a
s
harp
retort.
“What
w
a
s it
this
t
i
m
e?

Did
y
o
u
get
it off
the
da
m
?
”

“Well,
y
ou
see.
That’s
where
the
problem
began.
I
was
above,
scouting,
w
hen
I
s
a
w
a
large
s
hadow
on
the
water
beside
the
da
m
.
I
needed
to
get
it
aw
a
y
from
the
lodge
because
I
knew
the alarm
would
go
off.
U
n
sure
of
its
identi
t
y
,
I
swam
up
to
take
a
look,
and
that’s
when
it happened.”
Todd
frowned,
his
dark
e
y
e
s
darting
to
m
eet Kerrigan’s.

A
nn
o
y
e
d,
Kerrigan
snapped,
“
What
happened?
Spit
it
out.”

Before
the
wor
d
s
finished
tu
m
b
l
ing
from
his
m
o
u
th,
he
felt
ashamed
b
y
his
anger.
“I’m
s
or
r
y
, Todd. Please
j
u
st get
on
with it.”

“It
fell
in
the
water.”
His
tail
thu
m
ped a
nervous
te
m
po against
the
floor.

Kerrigan knew
m
ost animals
from
the
U
pper World died when they entered the
water
b
y
the da
m
.
The
strong
undertow
pulled
eve
r
y
t
h
i
ng
down.
He
ran
a
hand
through
his
hair.
“What
did
y
o
u
do
with the bod
y
?
”