Changer's Blood (Balancer's Soul cycle) (30 page)

While Kara
was shooting at a new target
she
was trying to
release
her
anger. After emptying the quiver
she
walked up to the tree and pulled out the clustered bundle.
She
made two shaft shots and threw the ruined arrows away into the woods.
Letting nature benefit from her loss.

Kara
turned around and saw a black shadow standing above
her
and blocking out the
after
noon sun.
She
looked up
into
her
boyfriend’s sad eyes and his head
hung
down
,
looking ashamed
for his actions
.
His
fur
was unwoven and soft instead of fused in a protective covering.
“Can we talk?” He asked quietly
,
in his
animalistic
voice.

She
looked over at
her
brother sitting in the shade while it looked like he was conversing again with Sarah as they kept looking at each other without blinking.
It is really annoying to not hea
r
their conversations.
She
could see that Sarah sat
in front of him
and used her thigh to keep
Connor’s
ankle elevated.

Behind Mark
,
Jillian
and Mr. Branderson
were
talking while Jillian lounged her back against his exposed chest.
They were talking about Jillian’s first client for needing a wedding planner.

Kara returned
the rest of the
arrows in the quiver again and
slung the
bow over her
shoulder before answering
her
boyfriend
.
“What about?”
She
couldn’t mask the
annoyance
dripping
in
her
voice
nor did
she
want to
.

“About earlier
…
when I tested your brother. I’m sorry he got hurt.” He said
,
raising his head to look at
her
.

Connor
yelled in
their
direction
,
startling everyone. “I’ll be h
ealed enough to walk in an hour so quit beating yourself up already!
” Kara
looked at
her
brother who
wore
a grin.

Can’t we ever get any privacy?
She
thought to
her
self. Mark
’
s head whipped
to look at
her
brother. His lips
pulled back over his canines in a smile then he nodded once.
What did Brother just tell
you
?

When he looked back
Mark asked “
Would you like to take this somewhere more private
then
?” Kara
glanced at
her b
rother who was smiling widely.
Undoubtedly her b
rother had read
her
mind and gave Mark the suggestion to go somewhere else.

She
said “What do you have in mind?”

She received the
answer
from
M
ark opening his tremendous
and now dried
wings. They were
black,
sleek, glossy and perfect. They really did look like a hawk
’
s wings, but they were all jet black like the rest of his hair. “Let’s talk in the sky, but you’ll need to leave your equipment behind.”

She
ha
s
always wanted to fly and
she’s
never heard of flying on a Fwen.

Taking off the
belt of arrows and setting
the bow down she watched as
Mark tucked his wings in and turned around.
She
asked “What should I do?”

H
is eyes
began
glowing as he went down to all fours again.
B
oth his front and back leg muscles
began
growing larger
. Then he refused his
back
fur into its sleek armor again. When he raised his wings
Kara
saw that the armor on his back made a small saddle just
large
enough for
her
to sit on. His mane that came down his back was now threaded into two lines just big enough for each of
her
hands to hold on to.
She
also saw that his
rudder like
tail
looked
slightly
longer as well.

When he turned his head she
saw that he was finished making
all of
his adjustment because his
slit
silver eyes had black pupils
again
. Kara
took a slow
,
deep breath and released it. She
could feel
her adrenaline coursing through her
veins
from simply imagining what she was about to try and she
could feel
her
heart beating rapidly
behind
her
ear
.
This was going to be a very intense experience
and one she’d
hope to always remember
.

He lowered his left wing and a
llowed
her
to leap onto his back
. He tucked his wings in again.
She
could feel the soft feathers
of his wings
kissing
her
thighs
as they touched.
H
is deep breathing
became slower in preparation
as
her
legs
clutched
tight against his ribs. He looked back at
her
with one eye as he said
deeply
“Here we go.”

Kara
saw
her
brother’s eyes on
her
as well as
her
extended families
. Mark turned his body and she
saw which way he was going to go. It looked like an airport runway.

When
she
leaned forward and tightened
her
grip Mark dipped his head and with his back legs
,
he rocketed forward. He gained a remarkable amount of speed
in such a short distance
.
Kara
felt
grateful that
she
had a good grip with both
her
legs as well as
with her
hands or
she
would have fallen off after the
initial
lunge. When he was blazing down the clearing
,
he unraveled his enormous
black
wings. With one powerful beat of his wings
she
knew
they
were airborne. With two more flaps
they cleared
the tree t
ops. Kara
could feel the
pleasant
wind against
her
face
and the cool breeze was refreshing. When he stabilized
their
altitude he turned his head and winked at
her
.

She
wasn’t upset any longer as
she
started to laugh.
She
took one hand o
ff the reign and looked down. They
were now high above the clearing as
she
saw what it looked like from thi
s new angle. She
could see where
her b
rother made small holes in the ground and
she
could also see the actu
al size of the explosion that her
brother later explained in detail about. All
Mark
did was circle the clearing and flapped his wings periodically.
She
also
noticed why his tail was longer because
he used it as a rudder as he flew high above the ground.
He relied heavily on it.

She
said aloud “If I were to be like you, could I do this as well?”

He turned his head and asked “Is that what you want?”

She
said in honesty “Yes I do, but I was wondering if you have ever tried to change someone else before?”

He closed his eyes for a moment and beat his wings.
That pained expression showed itself again.
As he opened them
again
he said “Yes
,
three times
,
and no one
has survived
. It seems to
b
e
that two factors are needed to
help
someone survive the change.
Or so I’ve been told.
”

“What are they?” She
asked in simple curiosity as
she
could feel
her
heart rate slowing
back to normal
.

“You must have an unwavering will to live and a physically fit body.” He said
,
still looking at
her
with one silver eye.
His calm
,
catlike eyes made
her
heart leap and also showed how much he cared for
her
.

She started laughing and
saw him blink in confusion while raising an eyebrow. “You might have found the right woman.” He stared at
her for a moment then
started barking a deep laugh and it was incorporated along with
hers
.

Kara
put
her
head on his back and listened to his
large
heart beating
,
his deep breathing a
nd his wings
began
flapping in
a
perfect
, musical
rhythm
as
they
continued to fly.

She
lost track of the time
as
she
had fallen asleep
until
she
heard a curious male voice. “Well what have we here? A little girl riding a flying beast.”

Kara
turned
her
head and saw
her
brother flying all the wa
y up here. She
looked the other way and saw Sarah
floating
as well.
They were both smiling softly.
She
looked back at
him and saw that he held both her
bow and belt of arrows in one hand.
“Brother
,
what are you doing up here you should still be resting.”

He raised hi
s ankle and she
saw that it looked almost completely healed. “It’s almost dark and both Jillian and Jack already went home.”

Kara
looked at the sky and
saw it was about five o’clock. She
looked at Mark as he looked at
her
again. “How long have I been asleep?”

He had been flying for awhile, but didn’t look any different.

“About four hours. You looked comfortable so I continued to fly and let you rest.” He said while studying
her
with one silver eye.

“Aren’t you the least bit tired?”

“Sweetheart
,
I could fly for five days straight
at this pace
before I felt the least bit of exhaustion.
I’m not completely human anymore, remember?
” And for some reason she
knew he wasn’t being factitious.
He could
actually
fly for five days
straight
.