Enchantment (78 page)

Meeka
s
hrugged
at
St
r
y
k
er’s
taunt.
Pouring
the
water
over
her,
she
s
hivered
at
the
icy tendrils
s
kidding
down
her
bod
y
. The
strangled
m
oan from
across
the
field
drew
her
up
s
hort.

O
h,
my.
W
hat
do
I
look
like?

“N
o
w,
Meeka,
I
want
y
ou
to
use
y
o
ur
powers,
but
instead
of
fueling
th
e
m
by
hatred
like
y
e
s
t
erd
a
y
,
channel
them
strategical
l
y
.
Don’t
use
them
to
destro
y
,
but
u
se
them
to
defend
and block
Kerrigan’s
advances.”

She
tried
not
to
s
m
irk.
She
wanted
Kerrigan’s
advances,
but
not
in
the
form
of
fighting.
But silliness
aside,
she
didn’t
want
to
use
her
powers.
She’d
al
m
ost killed
Str
y
k
e
r
before.

The
others
m
ust
have
seen
the
apprehension
on
her
face.
Catz
sauntered
up
in
front
of Meeka
and
sat
d
o
wn.

“Sit
with
m
e
for
a
m
inute
.
”
Catz
patted
the
ground
beside
her
with
a
front
paw. She
sank
to
her
knees
in
front
of
Catz.

Catz
s
poke
in
a
soft,
reassuring
voice.
“
M
eeka,
y
o
u
don’t
have
the
abili
t
y
to
harm
an
y
o
n
e
y
o
u care about.
Y
our heart is too
pure. It isn’t in
y
o
u
to do
s
uch a thing. Y
e
s,
y
o
u
have the abili
t
y to
destro
y
,
but
y
ou
w
ould
never
unleash
it
unless
y
o
u
or
a
loved
one
was
in
danger.
Trust
m
e, Meeka;
I
w
ould
not
guide
y
o
u
astr
a
y
.
Trust
y
o
u
r
heart.
In
order
to
wield
great
p
o
wer,
y
ou
m
ust be
one
with
the
power.”

“I
w
i
sh
I
could
j
u
st
go
back
to
being
the
old
Meeka.”
S
he
instant
l
y
realized
what
s
he’d
said. “J
u
st
the
old
Meeka
without
the
powers.”

“It
is
an
honor
the
gods
chose
to
bestow
upon
y
ou
such
a
gift.
I
know
y
o
u
will
never
cause harm
without
great
reason,
but
y
ou
m
ust learn
the
extent
of
y
o
u
r
powers.”

Meeka wanted
to continue
this
talk, but
not in front
of Str
y
k
e
r,
and especia
ll
y not in
front of Kerrigan.
She
reached
up
and
hugged
Catz,
w
ho
purred
loudl
y
.

The
tears
for
m
ed
in
her
e
y
es,
but
she
refused
to
let
th
e
m
fall.
“
I
do
trust
y
o
u
,
Catz.
If
y
o
u think I
can do
this, then I’m going to
give it
a
shot.” Casting a glance
at Kerrigan, Meeka felt her heart
stutter.
“Ma
y
be then
he
w
on’t
hold
back
s
o
m
uch
.
”

“That’s
my
girl.”

* * * *

Rolling
her
shoulders,
Meeka
m
ar
v
eled
at
the
array
of
colors
in
the
fla
m
es
she
could
s
um
m
o
n.
From
red
to
purple,
each
had
a
strength,
a
weakness,
and
as
the
tests
progressed,
she realized,
a
m
eaning.
Red,
she
discovered,
m
eant
anger,
and
w
a
s
difficult
to
penetrate.
Orange w
a
s
a
cooler
fl
a
m
e
that
ca
m
e
about
when
she
was
m
ild
l
y
anno
y
e
d
.
Purple
w
a
s
a
pla
y
f
u
l
fla
m
e, and
would
actual
l
y chase
things if
she
s
um
m
o
ned it. The
two
colors Meeka
couldn’t de
m
onst
r
ate on
the
training
field
w
ere the
fluorescent pink and
blue. Those
colors had
on
l
y
s
hown
the
m
s
e
lves
w
hen
she
had
been
alone
with
K
errigan.
S
he
also
realized
the
sparkles
s
he
had
started
with
m
ust have
been
from
her
inabil
it
y
to
u
se
the
fl
a
m
es
proper
l
y
.
The
one
power
s
he
hadn’t
used
y
e
t today w
a
s
mind
control—her
m
ost
p
o
werful
abili
t
y
.

Str
y
k
e
r
w
histled,
co
m
man
d
ing
her
atten
t
ion
again.
“
We
have
one
power
left
to
explore.
Y
our
abil
it
y
to
force
y
o
ur will on
others.”

“I
don’t
like
it.”
Meeka
shifted,
unease
flaring
inside
her.
It
was
the
one
power
s
he
tried hardest
to
ignore,
the
one
that
gave
her
the
m
ost night
m
a
r
es.