Changer's Blood (Balancer's Soul cycle) (23 page)

“Like when you do your wolf thing.” He nodded and smiled.
“By the way, why did you choose the wolf?”

“The wolf is a pack animal. They love to be around others, but most Changers are solitary
creatures
. Those who favor the wolf transformation are
rare and
usually seen as outcasts of our culture, but if a group of wolf type changers gather
we are usually left alone
to go about our business
. But I don’t like many of them so I’m usually alone.
I’ve always been able to take care of myself like many lone wolves.
”

She
had
another odd question
and asked it immediately after his sentence ended
. “Did the W
erewolf myth’s
actually
stem from you?”

He started laughing hard. “Yes
,
most myths
of certain culture
s
came from the immortals.
Don’t worry about myths because we aren’t allergic to anything this world has.
But if you cut off my head or rip out my heart I’ll die.
Many if not all myths have some root connection to an immortal. Li
ke some of the gods from different cultures came from either Balancers or Changers
who wanted people to worship them
.
Keepers have stayed out of the spotlight
for thousands of years
where as the others have mingled more with humanities cultures and civilizations
throughout the centuries
.
Our races
have been around for many
thousands of years and some of us have influenced history
in major ways
.
Even angels came from Changers because we can grow wings for us to fly
;
if we wished
.
M
ine are black
by the way
. We can even grow gills like a fish
,
to breathe underwater
if we wanted.” He stared at
her
reactions carefully.

Apparently they were very interesting.

This is a lot to comprehend. Are all myths in some way real?
“What about Bigfoot?”
She
blurted out as a side thought.

Mark threw his head back and laughed. “Yes
,
he
too
is a Changer.” He shook his head. “His name is Bryce and he is a riot at parties, especially when h
e’s drank two barrels of mead by himself
.
He’s a good dancer too.
”

“Are
there
a
ny other unorthodox Changers?” Kara
could help but imagine a drunk
en
Sasquatch
dancing
.

He stopped laughing, but he continued smiling at
her
with those dreamy lips. “There is a rarer class of Changers who can use
their
bones as weapons. And they are twice as dangerous as I am.”

She
skipped to another topic as
she
wanted to know as much as
she could about who
and what he is. “Do you have any kids?
I mean in nine hundred years you must have had a family right?
”

His smile vanished
immediately
and was replaced with sorrow.
Kara had
never seem him look s
o vulnerable before. It broke her
heart and
she
wished the question could be taken back
and forgotten
, but it was too late.
“I did
..
.” He sighed as he began explaining a story that captured
her
full attention.
“
W
hen I
was still human over nine hundred years ago and
lived in
Ireland,
I
grew up as a farmer’s son. Many of us were at that time
, but my father knew the way of the sword and taught me
.
S
ometimes I miss the old country before technology, but I will never miss the ignorance that we lived in, in those days. Like any young man my hope was to find a love and raise many children. I was sixteen when I found a woman who would be my bride. She was a beautiful woman and many wanted her hand, I thought I was the luckiest man alive. Before our first year anniversary we had a beautiful son. Our baby was the envy of many from my home village. It wasn’t a happily ever after you
’ve
read in stories.
Life was hard.

My
son was five
years old
when he was killed by his
own
mother.” Kara
gasped
at the cruelty and now understood the forlorn look he showed.
“She was told to
kill
our son
by a priest. He told her that my child was sired by a demon.”

“But you
’
r
e
not a demon
,
Mark
.” She
said empathetically.

He didn’t show any signs of hearing
her
as he continued. “
I was out on a hunting trip when my wife killed my son as he slept in his bed.
Th
e priest was infatuated with my wife
and used his authority to break our marriage contract
,
after my son’s death.
S
he went willingly
,
thinking
she could carry his
holy
child, thinking that his seed was the seed of god himself.

“I returned a week after my son was murdered and my wife laid with the priest. I was in such a rage that I yelled at him during a service. It didn’t go well for anyone. The priest had everyone leave except for my wife and
the
hired mercenaries that traveled with him.

“
When
the priest
was through using
my wife he slit her throat,
he tried to have me
executed
for speaking aga
i
nst him
saying
God
said it was just.
The f
our armed men tried to take my life, but I took theirs instead.
My father taught me well.
I fought my way
up
to the priest and killed him, but I was mortally wounded by getting stabbed in the kidney.
Even now I do not understand how I was able to move with a knife in my back, because once your kidney is stabbed you practically become paralyzed. I guess it was my
unbridled
anger
for my son
that kept me going
until he was avenged
.
”

“Weren’t you born a Changer?” Kara
asked
,
knowing how fast and strong he was
from
fight
ing
her b
rother earlier today
and couldn’t imagine a human slipping a blade into his flesh
.

Mark shook his head. “No, Changer’s aren’t born
,
nor can they
bear
children.
” He sighed
and she wondered
.
How can’t he have children? Does that mean we can’t…?

“
Let me finish the rest of the story before you ask another question.” He co
ntinued his story. “A man I had
seen in my village
many times
before
,
saw the whole thing and sided with me over the priest.
Everyone in the village thought he and those who lived with him were strange, but they never bothered or hurt anyone. The head of that household
knew my
vengeance was just and my actions
appropriate for the situation.
He
personally
carried me away to his house
on the outskirts of the land
before anyone else saw the carnage
I delivered
.
He knew I was going to die if he didn’t do something. He
offered
me a cho
ice; die painfully or become a C
hanger
and accept
even
more pain
. As you can see me still here and alive
,
you can guess what choice I made.”

“How does one become a Changer
exactly
?” She
asked and his eyes became intense.
He didn’t really want
to tell her
, but
she had him
on a roll.

“Our bodies contain
a virus that can turn another human
into a Changer
. The virus
itself
looks exactly like
every
other
blood cell in the human body.
When a Changer mixes his blood with a mortal
’s
,
he or she
,
bec
omes one of us
,
if they
survive
.” He emphasized th
e last word as he looked into her
eyes.

“
If
they survive?” she
asked weakly
, sensing dread
.

“Yes
,
if…
Stati
sti
cally only
five percent
of people can survive the painful transformation to become one of us.” He was dead serious.

Only five
? I have to think about this course of action.
“What if we were to have…?”
Her face began blushing as she
looked away.

Mark quickly
interrupted
her
question by answering
it.
“Even if the two of us were to mate
,
my seed is just as potent
. All it takes is jus
t one of my
living
cells to begin
the change in you.
Kissing is fine because
fortunately
the virus
itself
doesn’t get into our saliva
nor could it change you after
your pricked your finger on my fur
.
Cellular fluid, when mixed
,
will begin the change. It will be a pain you’ve never before experienced. Even after nine hundred years it still gives me the chills.
”

“Oh.”
She
said weakly while looking down at
her
hands.
So that’s why we haven’t
been
…
intimate.

“Anything else you want to know?” Mark asked a minute later.

“A lot actually. How did my b
rother become what he is now?” She
looked back in his
silver
eyes.
The way he looked at her
said he wasn’t going to hold anything ba
ck from her
any longer
.
She had a right to know.

“Sarah
actually
made him. She was unmated and chose your brother. Sarah combined both Connor’s and her souls together.
They are linked on a soul’s level.
They will be together forever
,
until one of them die.”

“What happens if one of
them die?” She
asked in simple curiosity.

“Since they are literally soul mates
,
if one of them were to die
,
the other will
pass on
as well.
They are one perfect soul now, but should one die the whole soul goes too and brings their mate too.
Distance doesn’t matter
in their case
.
Either way
,
they will die. They look after each other because they know
their lives depend on the other
.
” He said evenly as he was still studying
her
.

So that is why those two are so protective of each other.
“Are they even in love?” She
said aloud.

“More than anyone can understand
,
unless you are an immortal.” He said
,
answering
her
question
vaguely
.