Changer's Blood (Balancer's Soul cycle) (28 page)

They
continued watching the match again.

Jack
,
still trying his
upmost to gain the upper hand against
Mark, but
was unable to
do so
because of his opponent
’
s swiftness and agility
.
Jack
made a fire blockade and Mark ran right through the flames as he ran on all four without even getting one spark on his
well defended
body.

Physically, Mark was superior in this battle.

Kara said softly
as she looked at the rocky ground
“
Mark
…
told me how one becomes a Changer.”

All
three nearby
heads snapped in her direction. Connor asked
evenly
“Have you made a decision
on if you will even try
?”

Her head shot up to look at
him
. “Brother
,
how long have you known?”

He leaned Sarah
back into his chest as he said “
Sarah
,
told me
that the odds weren’t good
if one went through the change. You are strong
,
so I think you could
survive
that
slim chance
and be one of the rare ones who can endure.
”

“You won’t tell me that it’s a stupid idea, I could die or something like that?” Her eyes were confused as she looked at him.

Sarah
knew he was smiling as he said “Sis
,
you’re your own person. Make your own choices and follow through with them.
Even if you make a wrong choice, it will still be yours to make.
You are the master of the life that is yours
and yours alone
.
I couldn’t stop you and if I did
,
it would be like I took your life myself.
”

“Thank you for that pep talk Brother. Do either of you have any comments
for me?” Kara asked
,
looking at
Jillian and Sarah
with her chocolate colored eyes.

Sarah
shook
her
head, but
Jillian
asked in a motherly way “Do you love him?”

“Yes!” and Sarah
could see the same
fierce
determination in her that Connor always shows.
That was another
small
trait they shared.

“Seems to me like you
’ve
already
made
up
your decision
,
Kara. You didn’t come seeking our opinions, you wanted to see if your feelings were real between the two of you.
But you already knew that didn’t you?
” Connor said before
Sarah’s
mother could say something
perverted again
.

A
ll
four of them
looked over at the
clashing
opponents
when they
all heard a crash in the rubble.

Jack
was knocked back after being hit by Mark’s
round
shoulder.  He was rolling from the
powerful
hit and lessening the damage with the roll.

Mark stood back up and walked to
Jack, the match ended
.
Jack
took Mark’s clawed hand
and
was hoisted up. Then Mark put his muzzle close to
Jack
’
s ear and said something that put a grin on
his
face.

At the same time
,
Connor and Kara
’s
smile
vanished
and
they said together
“Uh oh!”
Sarah
forgot how acute their hearing is.

Before she
could ask what was said, Connor stood up
,
taking
Sarah with him. He let go of her
as
she
felt him calling his power. Suddenly he took to the sky.

Sarah
looked down
in fear
a
s
she saw her f
ather and Mark running side by side
,
straight for
her
.
They didn’t look like they were playing.

Connor
heard what Mark suggested as he whispered in Jack
’
s ear. “How about we test how well he can fight the two of us at once?” The moment
Connor
saw Jack
’
s
azure
eyes and Mark
’
s silver eyes
turn in his direction and
zero in
,
he
understood
he
had to figure something out and quick.

Knowing how strong they are separately
he
knew
exactly
just
how much trouble he
found himself
in
.
T
hey are cooperating now
. Connor
decided to take to t
he air and make a battle plan. He
didn’t wait long to see that this course of action wouldn’t last long.

When he reached the tree tops Connor
looked down to see everyone looking up at
him
. Jack conjure
d
hi
s fire whips again, but it was M
ark who gave Connor
a
real
pause of concern.

Connor thought he
was the only one capable of flight.

Even from up here
he
could see
Mark’s
eyes glowing
brightly
in the afternoon sun
light
and
he
could hear
breaking
bones
taking a new
shape.
T
wo black nubs started growing
from
betwe
en his shoulders. T
hey continued growing and bowing out. His black fur started changing into black
glossy
feathers.
It was a sight he’d never forget. When Mark
stood on his back legs he opened what were
now glorious black wings. By Connor’s
measure
he
guessed
Mark easily
had a twenty foot wingspan.
The proportions were perfect and made him look more deadly than ever before.
He
remained in his
wolf form
, but with those glistening wings he had become something else.
Mark
still had his wings spread as he said “Let’s see how well you can do
against us
now
,
Buddy.
Prepare yourself.
”

As Mark
leapt into the ai
r
,
he pushed his wings down and
gained
over
twenty feet with a single beat of his
magnificent
black wings. He was showing off
for everyone
as he flew to Connor’s
eyelevel, but stayed just out of reach. His muzzle pulled back as he showed how menacing
his teeth really were.

Connor knew he
had to react and not
idly
plan
or else wind up paying a painful price
.
He
focused more energy to
his
legs as
he
tried to escape. Suddenly a
blistering
hot pain wrap
ped around his
ankle. Jack
’
s whip
struck and
wr
apped around it. He pulled and Connor knew he
had only one alternative.

He
pretended to struggle
in the air
as
Jack
pulled
as if the whip were a chain and the feel of the element felt solid
. Mark took
the
bait and flapped his powerful wings to
try and
capture him
.
Connor
stopped the flow
of stamina
from his
legs and dropped out of the air.
T
he girls
down below began yelling for them to stop, but Connor
had a
n active
plan
already
formulating
.

He
directed
his
earthbound
body
,
head first
,
down at the ground.
T
he
frantic shouting
from all of the girls
continued
.
At the last moment Connor summoned his
power and focused
his
mind instantly.
He
used the element Terra to
rip
ope
n a hole just wide enough for him
to tunnel throu
gh
the earth
.

Connor
made it through the
dark
tunnel perfectly
. Once the
tunnel closed behind him
,
the fire that wrapped around
his
ankle was choked off and disappeared.
He
continued making
the
tunnel
slightly
wider
as he
used Pressure
,
directed to
his
hands
,
to slow
his descent. When he
finally stopped
descending Connor
had
just
enough room to flip
around
and land on
his
feet.
His a
nkle was really hurting
and it was probably badly burned
.
He
then
used sonar to see through the rock.
I hate
battles that aren’t one on one, but
I understand th
e
lesson
they are giving me
…
Connor
saw through the earth in black and white as
he
used
the
sonar ability.
T
he three girls
were
searching the spot where
he
entered
and tunneled into
the ground. Jack still
remained
holding his whip
,
waiting for
the opponent
to resurface
.
Connor
could also see Mark circling
above
the clearing
w
hile searching for where he
might reappear
next
. B
elow
his feet flowed a
current
of water.

I
t
is an
aquifer
, ready to be used
.

T
hree minds
suddenly tried
to contact
him
.
He
allowed
the strongest
a
nd the most familiar
in and blocked
all
the others out.
“Connor? Are you hurt at all?”
Sarah asked
in a
frantic
mental voice
.

“Yes,
it’s not
all
that bad and I’ll heal quickly.”
It was the truth because
his
ankle felt like
he
had a first
or second
degree burn around it.
He
could
then
feel Sarah’s pulses reverberating through the rocky soil.