The Shifters: Katrina

Walking away from Marie had my head spinning, my thoughts a jumbled mess.

Only one thing stood out.

I needed to trust myself.

Trust my skills, trust my judgement, trust that I could protect my friends. Too many self-doubts had crowded my mind since putting the pressure of being a protector on my back.

Now, I needed to relax. I would only be able to save my friends if I had a clear head.

Unfortunately, things were never going smoothly in Iluita.

As I stepped out of the hidden prison, joining those on the first floor of Coraline's building, I felt the ground rumble. Myself, along with everyone else, froze up. It wasn't until one of the guards broke into a sprint that I felt my legs loosen up and I followed them, hot on their heels.

Outside the compound, close to where the shifter plants -- those that grew in magic soil -- were, many people were gathered. I spotted the dyed hair of Orgull's shifters, along with the forms of many other foreign friends, on one side. Opposite of them, a large crowd was slowly creeping up, forcing them to move back. I watched in horror as someone shot fire at my friends, Talia barely managing to protect Emma with a stream of water.

What are they doing?

What the hell are they doing?

Rage tickled at the edges of my subconscious. I felt flames curl up from my hands, and ice spread from my feet as I ran toward the two groups.

Sadly, those shifters were just as fast as I was. Fully trained adults lunged for my friends, knocking some of them off their feet. Elements were flying around, the air itself whipping people in all directions. The foreign shifters were avoiding hurting anyone from Iluita, but even they had to protect themselves.

I watched, my mouth falling open, as Heather, a student I had almost killed, blew Dani backward into a tree.

Growling, I charged headfirst into the fight. I zeroed in on an adult I didn't recognize attacking Luke. The earth apprentice was doing fine, despite just being in the infirmary, but he was sticking to defensive moves that were draining his energy. The shifter was sweating buckets as I neared them, an idea popping into my head.

I can't attack anyone from Iluita, but I can separate them with something big.

I glanced at the ground; the magic soil that would sprout a certain plant depending on how powerful your animal side was.

Groaning, I scratched my own arm until it bled, launching myself in between Luke and his attacker. Blood dripped from my arm as I skidded to a stop between them, the ground shaking as my personal plant grew.

Before I knew it, the shifters all around me were on the ground, thrown back by the large tree I stood on top of.

The Katrina Willow Tree was back, and I was thankful for it.

Ice spread my fingers, crawling down the tree and onto the ground. It wrapped around the others' calves, and even the other water shifters had a hard time overpowering my control. Eventually they gave up, staring up at me in anger as I balanced on the branches of my tree.

"What are you doing?! Those scumbags betrayed us! Their going to help the hunters kill us all!"

"We need to get them out of here!"

"We need to kill them before they can report back!"

"They deserve dea--"

Before the last person could finish, I froze their mouth shut.

"No one is hurting anyone," I snarled. "These shifters warned us about Orgull and Xavier's alliance. They are our friends."

A woman who ran one of the clothing shops in town pointed an angry finger at me. "You know nothing, Katrina. You're meant to protect us, but you're siding with spies!"

There were various cries of agreement, and the water shifters began to fight back against the icy binds I had them in. I grimaced, forcing more of my raw power to fuel the ice. With so much energy put into it, they couldn't take the control away from me to melt it.

"Katrina, this isn't your fight," someone hissed below me. I glanced down, only to see Luke reaching out for me. Above his eye, a cut was bleeding. "Their problem is with us."

Dude, you were supposed to be in the infirmary! How did you get out here?

I shook my head. "We need as many people as we can get for what's coming next. You're a part of Iluita. I can't let them hurt you."

Chloe, my precious roommate, took Luke's side.

"You don't need to live up to this Guardian thing, Katrina! You don't have to protect everyone and try to make peace, you're just a teenager!"

I shot her a dry smile.

"I have to try."

"See?! She protects them instead of us! She's a troublemaker -- of course she's a traitor!"

Ouch.

I faced the angry mob of Iluita shifters. They glared right back at me, and some even tried to use their elements against me. Each effort failed.

I eyed them, watching them try to fight back.

Watching such a large group fail to do anything against me.

Is this the power of a Guardian? Is this really why I exist? To control them as a means of protection?

I pursed my lips, making a mental decision. All at once, the ice disappeared into vapour. Both sides of shifters stood uneasily, the adults losing their fervor as I stared down at them.

The second someone tried to attack the others, I shot an icicle right in front of them.

"That was a warning," I growled, though my eyes were glued to Heather, one of the teens amongst the angry adults.

No one dared to move.

"You're all so pathetic."

It was obvious they weren't expecting me to insult them. Offended faces appeared all around.

"You take out your anger and pain on others. You assume that one bad cookie makes the entire batch horrible. You turned on people who've been helping us in the blink of an eye."

I clenched my fists, fire burning its way up my arms. Even the shifter-safe clothing burned, despite being resistant to fire.

And the others noticed, their faces paling.

"You can't stop the power of a single girl."

Heather clenched her teeth, glaring at me.

"If you wanted to beat on someone so badly, you could've signed up to help Koren find hunters. You could've agreed to protect the compound when the next invasion comes. You could've done anything other than attack our allies."

I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose.

"Infighting. Betrayal. Hurt. Loss. We all expect this," I muttered, "since we all know that the hunters will be coming for us. And yes, we were betrayed by Orgull, but these teenagers are trying to fix that. They want to help us.

"So if you lay a finger on them, you will answer to me. I plan on stopping Xavier, even if I have to do it alone. I will win this fight, I will prove that compounds can get along, and I will go down in history as the troublesome Guardian that did a pretty decent job."

I relaxed my shoulders, part of me deflating. I dropped my hand from my nose, glancing at the largest building in the compound. The one where my leader was currently freaking out about a betrayal.

With a grim smile, I made my last promise.

"And one day, I will take Coraline's place."

With that, I hopped down from my tree, planting my feet in front of the angry crowd.

"So, if you want to fight me, then now's the time. Otherwise, put your energy toward something better."

Nervous, unsure glances passed through the adults. A few cowardly souls left almost immediately, starting the process of each of them giving up and storming back to the compound.

Each of them, save for one.

Heather stood three feet away, glaring daggers at me. If stares could kill, I would've been dead already.

"If they do betray us, what will you do, Katrina..?"

"Protect whoever I can still trust," I muttered, turning my back to her.

"But..."

"What, Heather?"

"That's not everyone. Shouldn't you protect everyone?"

I tilted my head, but didn't look back at her.

"If I wanted to protect everyone, I would've said everyone."