Keeper's Knowledge (Balancer's Soul cycle) (18 page)

Connor
spoke for the
whole
group. “You
’
r
e
safe now.
There was an avalanche
and you were buried. We were able to avoid the slide
…
We found you and brought you inside to recuperate.”

Her golden eyes widened with the fear for another.
“My egg! Did you find my egg?”
Her mental voice
grew
loud and frightened.

“It’s right here!” Kara said calmly. “Brother was the one to find the two of you
buried
. He said that your baby is alright.”

The K
eeper’s eyes went dark because someone
other than she
was holding her child
, but she didn’t dare move
for fear
the humans
were malicious
. So he did. Connor
walked up to
his
little sister who held an egg
that was
much
larger than she was. “May I?” He
held
his
arms out. Kara smiled as she handed the oversized egg over to
his care
.
He
easily cradled the eggs and turned
back
arou
nd. The mother’s eyes watched his every move as he
walked in her direction.
A quick
glance
showed
her tail moving sl
owly into a striking pose, but he
smiled and
tried to
look friendly.
For some reason
the sight
of her tail twitch
made it look like a spear
and
would
skewer
him
.
He understood he
would be in serious trouble if
he
made
even
a single mistake during this time.

Walking away from the group and closing the distance her whip-like tail twitch
ed
just
as his
instinct warned
, but
he
continued walking normally;
disguising
the
fear
in a
pleasant
mask
. As
he
w
alked up to the worried mother he
told her “This is
my
first time meeting a Keeper. So I don’t know anything about your physiology
. We first warmed up your egg with body heat and then close to the fire to keep it warm. You on the other hand were cold as ice. I decided to allow your body to warm up gradually
so that your
system
didn’t go into shock.” He
stopped
three yards away
and her intense eyes softened.

He
held out her egg with both arms.

With both of her large clawed hands she reached forward and gently cradled her egg
out o
f his possession
. She brought it to her chest and a deep and low purr escaped her
leathery
lips.
Then she looked down at her egg and
he
suddenly began to feel
rapid
pulses like
he does
when
using
sonar, but it originated from
her
. Then her golden eyes began to glow
just
like
his
does.
Connor
turned to look at
his family
and waived them off.
He
sec
retly entered their minds saying
“Don’t say anything. We need to keep our secrets until we meet the
Elders
.”
Everyone nodded slightly and turned their eyes to the Keeper
again
.

There was something similar about her technique…

She looked at him
with bright and warm eyes and then
turned
to
the
companions
after her glowing eyes
returned to normal
.
“
My egg is perfectly healthy
and unharmed
.
Thank you all for saving me and my
little one
. I am in your debt.”

For no reason in particular
Connor
started laughing a
loud. Her eyes shifted down to him
and blinked in confusion. When
the fit came to an end he
explained
.
“I’m sorry for laughing… I’m sorry, but can
I have your name? Calling you K
eeper just doesn’t feel right.
You do have names to identify yourselves right?
My name is Connor.”

Her leathery lips drew back slightly
,
revealing
the points of
her teeth. He
r eyes said she was pleased so he
knew she was
simply
smiling and not being
threatening
.
“
Yes, we all have names.
Very well, Connor. M
y name is Veronica.”
Her smile widened and revealed more teeth.
Muscles around her eyes and cheek gave a wide range of emotional representations
, similar to humans
.
Poss
i
bly it meant some kind of
evolutionary convergence.
“So this
really
is your first time meeting one of my kind?”

“It is f
or both myself and my sister.” He
pointed over
his
shoulder.

“It is a pleasure to meet you
,
Veronica.”
Kara walked to stand next to
him,
completely at ease. “I’m Kara.”
His
sister offered her right hand.

“And just what do you want me to do with that Hatchling?”
Her eyes
seemed
confused yet amused.
“Am I supposed to eat your limb or something?”
V
eronica
crossed her large legs and re
sted
the
egg between the void
her legs
created
.

Kara laughed and playfully slapped V
eronica
’s leg. Her golden eyes went wide at
his
sister
’s
playful
tap
. “Don’t be silly. I was wanting to shake your hand. It is just a simple custom
we do
when greeting another
for the first time
.” Kara
grinned up at Veronica
expectantly
.

Veronic
a leaned forward and examined his
sister
more
closely.
Their faces were barely an inch apart.
She breathed through her
nostrils
and
Kara’s
hair billowed out with each breath.
Then
his
sister decided to smell the K
eeper herself.
Veronica
then
leaned back and smiled.
“You’re an odd one aren’t you? Very well I will try out your custom.”
Veronica reached
out
her large clawed hand and Kara
took it and shook
one claw
twice
, proudly
. When Kara released the claw she walked back to Mark’s side
; grinning from ear to ear
.
“Might I ask t
he rest of my heroes
names?”
Connor
realized that Veronica was asking
him
.

“Of course.” he
pointed to Sarah’s parents. “That is Jillian and her mate Jack.” The two of them graciously bowed
their heads
to Veronica
for some reason.
He
then pointed again. “This is my best friend
,
Mark.” He also bowed with
the same
respect.
“You’ve already met Kara.”
He
then
held
his
hand out saying “And this is my mate Sarah.”

His wife looked at him
and smiled once she realized
his
intensions

Sarah cautiously
stepped forward. When she took his
hand
,
her green eyes were guarded
as she looked up at Veronica
. “It is a pleasure to meet you.” Sarah bowed her head.

Veronica too bowed her head at
his
mate.
“The pleasure is mine as well.”
Veronica looked up
at the closed entrance
and her eyes narrowed
.
“May I leave?”

“I’m sorry, but I would rather you wait until the blizzard ends
for both of your safety’s.” She looked down at him
and nodded
with her large head
. “
Tell me, h
ow are you feeling?
I checked and you don’t have any broken bones.
”

Veronica cocked her head.
“I think I struck my head and my tail is also sore, but other than that I’m glad to be alive.”

He
lifted a free hand
and pointed to the flames. “Would you like to sit by th
e fire? If you wouldn’t mind
,
may
I ask some general questions?”

She peered at the fire then at
him
.
“I think I can allow that, but I must warn you
…
”
She held up one of her clawed finger
pointedly
. Suddenly her eyes became ageless and
he
knew she was far older than even Mark.
“If you ask me a question that is too valuable and I don’t answer, don’t
pursue
it. That is our rules.”

“And the same goes to you
,
Veronica.” She blinked again with surprise. Suddenly
,
she started laughing and it
came out as
a
deep
, hissing sound
. Her mouth opened completely and she continued laughing
while her voice reverberated in the room
. He then
noticed her
pink
tongue was rather flat and looked extremely abrasive.

When Veronica finally stopped laughing she easily
stood on her back legs and being so close
to her
made
him
feel tiny
for the first time in
his
entire life
. She had to duck her head as she walked with
them
over to the fire carrying her egg with gentle care.
He
had to dodge her
long
tail because it almost smacked
him
across the face.
They
allowed her to sit first and the six of
them
sat comfortably around the remai
ning fire.

Sarah
sat cross legged in front of a large fire. The warmth and light given off were so relaxing.
She
looked up at the cave roof and the fire’s flickering light
continuously
ma
de
all of the shadows
up
on the wall
dance. She
sat close to Connor’s right side and untied the string that held
her
cloak and let it fall to the ground. Off to
the right were her
parents and they too untied their cloaks.
Jillian’s
hair looked black in the firelight.
Jack
pulled the string that held his silver hair
together
and he shook his head to loosen the
fine
strands. Across the fire w
ere
Mark and Kara
and they sat like Sarah
did
. They both had their eyes glued to th
eir right. They were looking at the Keeper, Veronica. Even as she sat she was still taller than
Sarah
. Her glossy black scales flickered some of the light given off from the fire. Since Connor cleaned her up she had a menacing beauty that
Sarah
ha
d
n’t seen in two and a half decades. Her white robe and golden belt were the perfect contrast to her skin. She sat with the
ancient
authority of a Keeper; even as she held her white egg in her lap.