Tyrant in the Shadows

Part 14

Miriam was indeed the rebellious teenager. She had let it slip that she knew what Julie's powers were but she refused to say more than that. She also kept leaving the room they were practicing in and Sophia could do nothing about it, seeing as how she was chained to the floor. After three times of that, Delaney and Ivan both started joining those little training sessions to keep her from running off. 

Julie didn't understand why Sophia was chained to the floor. It didn't seem fair to her. She said that Sophia was nice so she shouldn't be chained up. Sophia tried to explain that it was because her powers of teleportation were unstable, but the three year old still didn't get it. She tried to get Miriam to melt the chains a few times. Miriam refused. She didn't couldn't figure out how to use her power any more. It was a mental thing. After the attack on her home, her mind was blocking out her ability to use her power. Ivan and Delaney couldn't figure out how to help that so they experimented a bit.

The first thing they tried was getting Miriam calm. Her power seemed to come from strong emotions so that didn't work. The next attempt was to get her angry. Her fists got very hot but not a flame showed. So they tried meditation. That one was going to take longer to experiment with because Miriam was not a patient child. Sitting still and focusing on her mind was not her thing. They'd realized Miriam was suffering from a  lot of guilt. She not only blamed herself for the killing of her family but also the ones who died in the battle. It was hard trying to convince her that it wasn't her fault. In fact, two months later, she still couldn't believe it wasn't.

The outpost was attacked a lot. Usually about once a week. The amount of potential gathered in one spot was a sure factor in that. Of course, they were well prepared for those attacks. It was a commonplace. Every now and again there would be two attacks in one day. Those exhausted the potentials at the outpost so it worked well that there was never an attack less than a week after those. The humans weren't the only ones who needed time to rest and regroup. 

Miriam couldn't help but be fascinated at the operations that took place in the outpost. They were incredible and complex. So was the hierarchy of powers. Most to least common and then the other ranking was most to least powerful. Ivan was thrilled to find someone who enjoyed tactical preparation as much as he did. Delaney was going to be driven crazy if he didn't stop talking about it. She was happy to see him happy, though, despite how annoying it could be. 

Today, the attempt was to bring a small flame in and get Miriam to strengthen it slightly. Or put it out. Either one worked.

"So, look at the flame, feel its heat. You have it in your mind? Good. Now, focusing on that heat, either use your energy to strengthen it, or its energy to strengthen you. If you choose to do the first, you want to see a visual increase in the size. If you choose to do the second, I want you to put it out," Delaney instructed.

Miriam nodded and stared at the flame. She put her finger to it, and carefully took it from the candle. Focusing her energy to her finger, the flame grew. It was only barely noticeable. Then her mind flashed back to the attack, to the wall of fire she'd created. It had burned Sophia... and Julie. She put her finger to her lips and blew it out.

"There," she muttered, "I made it stronger and then I put it out."

Ivan nodded, "Good. Now light it again."

Miriam looked up at him, glaring, "You light the damn candle."

"You're not allowed to get that attitude with me," he glared back.

"Ok, Ivan, you're sounding like... well, like a prick. Or her older brother that thinks he's better than her," Delaney stated, "And Miriam, we have a bucket of water right here. Try to light it or it'll be dumped on you." She didn't know if she'd go through with that threat or not, but Miriam, being a fire elemental, hated water. It would be motivation.

The young teen sighed and glared at the candle instead, "Ok, fine, I'll try to light the candle."

She put her finger to it, forcing energy into her finger and then into the wick. It lit, a weak flame flickering from her finger to the candle. She pulled her hand back and looked up, an obvious, "Happy?" look on her face.

"Good. Tomorrow you'll be lighting a camp fire," Sophia grinned, "And tomorrow, I'm getting out of these chains."