Keeper's Knowledge (Balancer's Soul cycle) (2 page)

Going back
to just
a week ago
as he leaped a fallen log frozen in place
,
Connor
received the greatest news
of all
when
he returned
home.
He
found out that
he
was going to be a father. It w
as the second happiest day of his
life. The
happiest would be when
he
fell in love with Sarah and it was requited.

Yesterday
was
Sarah’s birthday and
she
was
show
n
a
special
present that
he
had been working on for months
in advance
. It was a dome that none but Sarah or
he
could get to because it
had been created and
hidden
deep with
in a ravine
and would require very
unique
talents to enter
.

Earlier this
morning every immortal in the world
was
unable to resist the
awful sound
created
via telepathy
. It was a loud
Dong
!
like that of a large metal bell
being struck
. The Keeper’s Call
,
as Jack called it
,
i
s the
initial
signal for
beginning of
the next Mélange meeting. Even now
,
Connor
could feel the
unpleasant,
temporary and relatively weak
bond that the Keeper placed
,
leading
north of
their
current position
. Jack said that
the meeting
will be held in northern Canada
this time
.

But the heaviest thought remained on what he had done just after sensing
the Keeper
’s call
as he
unintentionally
conjured
a blue fame
that
emanate
d
from
his
hand
which has
also never been done before
by a Balancer
.
C
oncerned about what it meant
lasted for merely a moment
, b
ut for some reason
it
felt right and natural
despite
the
earlier
apprehension
.
The problem he faced was how he could do what his father-in-law couldn’t. Hopefully light could shine on their situation.

Together they
passed the final trees
of the woods
and s
tepped into the clearing where Connor
built
their isolated
cottage. The stream
to
west
lay
frozen solid
because of winter.
The water wheel
that powered the house’s electrical systems was already taken down before it became frozen in the stream and
i
s
currently
leaning on the side of the house
,
covered in snow. He
took it down because
he
didn’t want the wheel stuck in the ice and have it ruin the wooden paddles
any faster than necessary
. The roof
of
the small
home
stood
caked in snow as
i
s everything
else
around
. The flowers that
once
wrapped around
thei
r home were all probably killed by the
heavy
snowfall.

Sarah stepped up in the entryway and grabbed the doorknob silently. She twisted it slowly and in a whisper said “Connor, I locked the door before we left.”

What!
R
eality
returned
when
he
understood
the nature of
what was going on.
B
oth
packs
s
ilently slid
off
his
shoulders and
were
gently sat
down i
n the snow
. W
ithout making a single sound
he
looked up at the chimney to see
a
constant
stream of white
smoke
rising
out of the shaft
and then the wind shifted to allow
the
smell
of
burning oak
to assault the senses
.
T
he snow
leading to the door revealed
the
intruders
ha
d
been here for a while because the prints were completely covered
over
.
At the rate of snowfall it’s been nearly two hours since thei
r home was violated. Whomever waited
inside had some large stones, entering a Balancer’s home
without permission
.

As Sarah took a step away from the door
Connor
extracted
Tool
silently
from
his
belt. Tool is
a uniquely crafted
multipurpose weapon. One side is
made up of
a razor sharp hatchet and on the other is a solid hammer. The shaft of the weapon is also made of metal
yet as he grew into adulthood it felt small and not nearly as useless as it first did when his grandfather created it
.

Connor’s
eyes and mind
became
focused
and heavy thoughts finally slipped away
as
he
took
the
first step on to the entryway and
gripped
Tool tightly in
his
right hand.
Hypersensitive hearing gave him knowledge that
someone
was
breathing inside the living room
when
he
put
an
ear to the door.
He
gently grabbed the door handle and very slowly turned it counterclockwise
and felt grateful it didn’t make a sound
.
There wasn’t
any
sense of
danger behind the door, but
he
wasn’t
going to
tak
e
any chances.
With
the latch now inside the door he
suddenly rushed
in
. With eyes searching for the threat
he
looked to
the
left
and
into the living room.

“Hi
,
Brother!”
Connor
instantly recognized that familiar chirpy
and annoying
voice.
He ungracefully
tripped and fell flat on
his
face
because of
the
rubber
hiking boots
were
slick with snow
and he moved to quickly to counter the slippery effects in time
. “
Smooth move!”
She said
humorously while
laughing
uncontrollably as he
pushed
him
self back up
on his
feet
, completely unharmed
.

His
little
sister Kara s
at on the sofa
w
earing
a goofy grin etched on her mouth
with her silver eyes
twinkled mischievously
.
The top of h
er head barely came up to
the center of Connor’s
chest
, if she were standing
and in her normal form
. She has
sandy blonde hair
which c
omes
down to her shoulder blades
, for now
.
Her hair was pulled back into
a single braid which i
s held together
by a pink hair
tie
.
A l
ong sleeved pink shirt and white pants
attired her athletic and feminine frame
. Her feet were both kicked up on the coffee table with her bare feet aimed at the fireplace.
A
heavy pink jacket
hung
on the rack
by the door,
along with a brown
leather
one
that didn’t belong to either him
or Sarah
. The clothes rack
stood
beside the front door
,
beside the desk
where
they put the
keys and weapons
away
.

Connor
practically yelled
at her.
“What the Hell are you doing in my house
!
? I was about to remove whoever was
in
here!”

Kara
giggle
d. “Yeah right
!
With that spill you just took
,
it didn’t look all that convincing,
Brother
.”

“Kara, be nice.”
Came
Mark’s
deep
voice as he
exited
the bathroom.

His
best friend Mark came into the living room wearing black pants along with a silver t-shirt. He stood
about
an inch taller than
his new mate
and
j
et
black spiky hair
crowned his skull,
which
i
s
usually kept somewhat short. He has
a large
,
well muscled
chest and large arms. His legs were covered by his pants, but
Connor
knew how muscular they were
as well
.
He
designed his body to be
a smaller version of Connor
for reasons only he knew
.
Mark explained once
how he changed his body to mirror
Connor’s because of how efficient his
muscles were
, but it sounded more like a younger brother trying to emulate an older sibling even though he’s over nine centuries older.
He also had mo
re hair covering his body than Connor
did
,
even before
bec
oming
an immortal.

Connor
yelled out the front door
as he
put Tool into the front desk
s
drawer
. “All clear, Princess. It was just Kara and Mark
barging in
.”

Suddenly Sarah
poked her
petite
and heart shaped
head around the door. Her long brown hair hung to the side as
her green eyes surveyed the room
. When she spotted Mark making his way to sit down next to
her
sister
-in-law
,
her
body followed her head
as she rounded the front door. Connor
on the other hand walked back outside and retrieved
their hiking packs
before they got wet.

As he
returned and stepped out from the constant snowfall
he
heard Kara
chirping up a conversation
. “Sorry for the intrusion, but I wanted to come over.
It was
so
worth it to see Brother make himself look like an inexperienced ice skater and bust his butt on the ground.
It would have been funnier if he slid all the way into the kitchen…
” Then she immediately went to a different mental channel. “
I have a question.
”