Harmonizer's Evolution (Balancer's Soul cycle) (82 page)

Sarah
instantly
released her gathered energy and from her fist exploded a dark blue flame. The flame became a streamed jet that grew
,
the fur
ther away it traveled. The
flame
became
so large
and intense
that it engulfed the Keeper whole. Agnes’s mouth open
ed in surprise
and the raging inferno went down her throat
without any chance of being stopped
. The force
from
the blast of flames canceled Agnes’s swift movement
s and overwhelmed her completely
.

Sarah’s hair b
i
llowed behind her as she
appeared
a Warrior Goddess.

The Keeper dropped to the ground and writhed for less than a second as the extreme heat and
no oxygen could offer a life saving reprieve.
Connor
saw a flash to
his
right as Sorono barely managed to get clear of Sarah’s attack
before he too
found himself
consumed
. Everyone in the crowd watched in silence as the dark blue flame
s
devo
u
red
its target faster than any normal flame ever could have.

This was the very first time
Connor had
ever seen Sarah kill an opponent.
He
didn’t like seeing
his
loving and gentle mate do something that required her to do it, but in the coming fight she would be doing so much more than this. It would be ignorant to assume that she hasn’t done something worse in her long life, but
he
still didn’t ever want to see her stain
her hands in blood. That
i
s his department and one only he
should bear in consequence.

He
loved her through and through and hoped she wouldn’t need her warrior’s side much after the next month.

Everyone in the crowd
could
feel the
overwhelming
heat
that radiated from Sarah’s flame. Somehow she contained it in a way that only the focus
of her target would be engulfed
and would leave all other
bystander
s safe.
He added this form to
memory for it would be very useful
later
.

Connor
then saw Sarah clutch
each of her arms and began visibly shaking. She only stood a half of a step in front of
him
.
He
reached forward, grabbed both of her shoulders, twisted her
and clutched her
securely
to
his
chest
so she couldn’t watch anymore
. S
he continued shaking and then his
open parka allowed
his
shirt to absorb moisture. Even through
chainmail he
could feel Sarah’s
frightened
and relieved
tears.
He
continued to hold her securely
while
also giving soft emotions for her to feel. She still wept for what s
he just did as she listened to him
whispering words of reassurance.

He
met Sorono’s eyes while still clutching
his
princess.
They
both knew that Agnes
had been
completely enthralled with Ranvan
’s ideals
and would
have
never change
d
sides. She knew that they
would get whatever information
they
wanted. She also realized that her life
came to
an end and she already chose to die fighting. It was commendable on her part, but ulti
mately fruitless. And finally they
just s
howed every single member of their
immortal world just
what kind of enemy they will
face. Even if
they
offered
a second chance,
this is what they will do to all
.

Several seconds later there was a commotion over by the side of the arena.
The white haired Viking, Jack
,
quickly made his way on the stage and even side stepped an inattentive Guard. Before any could react
to his presence,
he was by
Connor’s
side and his azure eyes were asking if
his daughter
was alright.

He
nodded and
then
looked past him as two Guards were
coming up on him from behind. Connor’s
shaking head told them it
i
s alright.

“Sarah, look at me.” Jack said softly while petting the top of her head. After a few more coaxing words she finally turned her head to the side. Jack smiled approvingly
down at his youngest
offspring
. “That’s my girl. Come on and let’s get you home. You’ve had a difficult week.”

Connor
then looked up and said telepathically
“Sorono, we are going to take o
u
r leave for the rest of the day. I’ll leave everything else up to you.”

Without another word
,
the three of
them
began walking away. As
they
made it to the crowded side, the
crowd
parted ways
. Sarah kept her eyes on the ground as
they
walked through the silence. Kara, Mark, Amber and Ben quickly made their way
over
and
their
close-knit
family
made
their
way into the forest.

Sarah’s
feet crunched the dried
grass and twigs as they
walked in the failing light. With every step
her
mind went over and over
on
what
she just did. In her three hundred years she’s
never
once
kil
led a Keeper let alone in hate.

Agnes
would have killed
her
if she wanted. She could have taken
her
life or that of the ones that
she
cherish
es
. Agnes could have d
one
so much
damage
, but
Sarah
felt
so angry at what she could ha
ve done, but was it right for her
to kill
Agnes
like that? In a deep part of
Sarah’s mind she
felt
glad
Agnes
died by
her
hand, but the rest of
her
was appalled from
such
actions.

Connor held her
hand gently and his emotions were so warm and comforting
that it helped ease the
torrential
storm of confusing emotions
.

Her
internal conflict lessened as
she
beg
an hearing voices. It came from Jack
, Kara and Mark who were
nearby
.

“So what did you learn before Mrs. Hot Stu
ff here turned that spy into charcoal briquettes
?” Kara asked in here usual chipper tone.

They
were walking even more casually than a slow human as Connor explained what
they
learned from Agnes. It had taken up much time, but
they listened. Sarah
focused on
her
mate’s strong voice rather than what he had to say. His tone was soft and soothing.

After Connor ceased speaking Mark stated “I’m glad you and the Elders didn’t give us any more details of the planning. If you laid everything out to everyone then the spy could have left without
ever being noticed and gave the
enemy our intelligence. We got very lucky on this encounter.”

“What do you mean, Honey?” Kara asked.

Sarah
finally looked up to see Mark’s silver eyes scanning every
one and he saw her
. He winked and
then
turned his attention to his mate. “Because there was only one enemy in our camp. If there was actually more than one
,
then our efforts would be in even more jeopardy.
At least we can count on many of these mutated Keepers to not be
overly
smart. If the spy was
intelligent
then she wouldn’t have lured Sarah away. If it were me then I’d keep a low profile and wouldn’t have been seen. I would then have left and told my superior about the enemy numbers and also that they were preparing for a fight. We were just lucky that there wasn’t any
more problems.”

“That we know of.”
Jack ended
ominously.

Connor then changed the flow of the conversation. “By the way Jack, where are my kids and Jillian.”

Before
he answered, Sarah
did. “They are together with Mother.” Connor and everyone stopped when they heard
her
speak softly.
She
slowly looked up into his piercing hazel eyes an
d saw he was relieved to hear her
speak
ing
again. “When Veronica and I dragged the spy back to the clearing I had Mother take them to her house.
I didn’t want Agnes any
where near our kids, Connor. Since you left they haven’t been here, nor has Mother. I didn’t want to be near her either, but
I
needed to be
close
in
case something should happen
and I were needed
.”

He place
d his warm right hand against her
cheek and it was comforting. H
is smile made
nearly
all the pain in her
chest lift off without a word.

Jack
broke the mood by saying “Since we are so close to home we’ll get going. You and Sarah have a quiet night. Jillian and I will keep the kids at our house tonight. You two go home and get some rest. I can tell that neither of you have gotten much sleep recently.”

She
then felt someone touch
her
shoulder and turned to see Kara smiling at
her
. “Your Dad’s right. You two look almost dead on your feet. Oh and be sure to take a cold shower.”

Her
brow drew together as
she
asked “Why?”

She grinned
playfully. “Because if you get intimate I’d hate to see that blue fire destroy your home if thing
s
get a little…
Hot
.” Kara then fanned her face dramatically while showing that feral smile
of hers
.

Sarah’s
fa
ce flared hot and Mark came to the
rescue. “That’s enough, Sweetheart. Let’s go home ourselves and give them a break from all the drama.”

She smiled at him
. “Alright.” She turned back around
and said “Night.”

Everyone left except for Connor.
Amber squeezed her sister’s
shoulder reassuringly just before sh
e and Ben walked off with Jack
.

When
they
finally made it home there wasn’t any
sexual
intimacy
that night
.
She simply
clutched
her
self to
her
mate and held him close. Neither
spoke as they
held each other in comfort and support. It wasn’t long before
Sarah
eventually
fell asleep
without dreams
.

The next day
Jillian and Jack
brought the kids home. Both Darrel and Pearl were overjoyed to have their daddy back. He was glad to be home too.

When
they
made it to the clearing, things became a little tense
when Sarah’s
grandparents
introduced themselves during the
morning meal. They were terrified when Connor stood up and walked straight up to them with an expressionless mask. They apologized repeatedly while the rest of
them
just watched
in amusement
.
They both
just
about fainted as Connor placed both of his hands on each of their shoulders. He smiled and said “I never really cared about what you called me, but to speak to your granddaughter
,
and my wife
,
like that
was uncalled for. If she has accepted your apology, then so will I. As long as you are respectable then you may stay.” They s
ighed in relief and that made Sarah
and Kara laugh together.
It was worth it to see them sweat.