Keeper's Knowledge (Balancer's Soul cycle) (28 page)

Hi
s
sister smiled as her silver eyes began to glow. Then came the snapping of
her
bones and
the growing of her fur and nails
. Soon she took the shape of a sandy blonde wolf. She kept her fur loose and long. She still stood
on her legs
and asked the elder with her deep animalistic voice “Is that a good enough
to
show?” For an answer she received an applause from the table row of Changers.

She smiled as the elder smiled and
he
nodded
it was enough
. He
then
looked
towards Connor
. “You’re next.”

Kara dropped to all four
s and walked back to everyone. Connor
hate
d
showing off in front of crowds when it doesn’t have
any meeting
,
for
him
though there was little
choice
. He
sighed an
d decided to get it over with. He
focused
his
mind and pulled the water out of the mug
without effort. Connor
collected the
water and ice into a ball in his
right hand
and
then threw the mug straight into the air.
C
arefully
he
watched the plastic mug
rotating
as it began dropping
back
down. At the right moment
he
threw the ball of ice and water. The ball perfectly landed inside the hollow of the mug.
He
caught it
before landing on the ground without taking a single step
and
felt
proud when
he
didn’t spill even a single drop
of
the clear
liquid
.

He
looked up to see and hear the table with Balancers clapping. The Changer’s didn’t regard
him
and the Keepers only glanced at
him
.
It
became
apparent
then
that although they would live under one roof, it would be like school all over again. The groups stay with their people. Connor turned to the E
lder a
s
he clapped weakly.
Alexander raised his hand and allowed him
to leave.

Connor
quickly made
his
way back to everyone.
Kara
returned
to her normal human self and her fur was already
disintegrating
on the floor.
Elder Adela gave Kara a broom and she swept her own mess and threw it in the garbage bin that
sat
beside the
building
.

Sarah
pleasantly
spoke first. “That was really good, Connor.
N
ow we can get our meals
.”

Over on the counter were two large circular plates. On the plates
sat
an entire shoulder of a cow with the bone still in it and it
had been
cooked well done. On top of the shoulder was a full rack of ribs
and
a
large
bag of plain
potato
chips. Three baked potatoes, two
full
loaves of
freshly baked
white bread, broccoli covered with cheese, ten bananas and
a whole
watermelon.
There was a set of plastic utensils in a plastic wrapping with a napkin
.

Sarah’s plate was the same except she
also
received her
requested
extra
fifteen red apples.

Sarah walked over
and easily grabbed her plate. Connor
did the same and started walking with her.
They
stopped to wait until
everyone caught up. Everyone received practically the same things on their pl
ates. Once everyone caught up they
searched for a place t
hat
they
could all
eat together
without being bothered
.

They
settled on eating in the back side of the
large
room.
Connor
had to jump over nine
long
tails and felt
as if he was
little kid playing jump rope
or not stepping on the crack
.
Eventually they
each used the ladd
e
r to get up to a seat. Behind Connor
stood a pillar that held
up
the ceiling
and a light on the pillar gave
them
a clear view of
their bench
.
He
sat between Jillian and Sarah as
he
slid
his
plate up on the table top.

They
all started eating and no one said a word
until the
frenzied
massacre ended
. Connor
started with
the
bananas and quickly finished thos
e off. It felt good to refill
energy
reserves
. And if Sarah’s apple cores were of any evidence, she was too. Each of
them
soon finished
their
first filling
meal
that
they
haven’t had
in days.
It was amazing how so much felt like so little.

Just before
they
were about to leave
Connor sensed
someone walking
in their direction
.
He
turned to see gold
en
eyes looking
upon the group
.
He
startled everyone by yelling “Veronica
,
you made it
here
safely
! How are you doing?” Connor then
noticed
another
,
taller figure walking
several paces
behind her.

Everyone turned to look at the first K
eeper he
got to meet. Her egg was
still covered in the space bag he
gave her. She looked so much better. Her glossy black scales were even shinier in this lighting compared to the cave. Her walk was sure and her posture perfect. When she became close enough she entered
their
minds.
“It seems that you have all finally arrived.”
She grunted as she sat down on the bench next to Kara. Veronica sat with her tail under the table and her legs stretched
out
in the walkway. She looked back at
them
with her big golden eyes.
“There is someone I would like for you
all
to meet.
”
She raised her palm at another Keeper.
“This is my only other child. His name is Firon.”

“These were the ones who rescued you, Mother?”
She nodded
with her large reptil
ian
head
. He turned his yellow eyes
upon their group
. Firon looked
similar to the
front
gatek
eeper
who removed
the
temporary bond
.
A
broader
chest, larger arms and a thicker tail
must be the
common
male trait
.
The only difference was that his eyes were
brown
where as Firon’s is yellow.
Firon wore a white robe like Veronica
’
s, but his belt was thicker and made of
seamless silver that clasped in the front.
He also stood close to fourteen feet.
T
he pendant of
an
Immortal Guard h
ung gracefully
around his
thick
neck.
He stopped his eyes on
Connor
and said
“Thank you all for saving her and my
younger
sibling.”

Connor
smiled. “Think nothing of it, Firon. All the trouble we had doesn’t compare to the
joy of meeting your mother. She is by far the kindest person that we’ve met so far.” His
jaw
dropped slightly
at
such spirited
words
. “We were just about to leave, but we could stay if you want to talk?”

“Thank you for the offer, but I have things I need to attend to.
I have to see to the border and
check
that the others are doing alright
”
He bowed as did
Connor
.
Firon
turned and walked to the central pillar
,
leaving all of
them
.

Connor
turned and looked over at
the scaled mother. “Veronica,” She quickly looked back at
him
. “why is your egg still wrapped
up
?”

She looked
down
at the egg held in the bend of her arm.
“When I settled in my room earlier today, it took some careful maneuvering, but I untied your string. I gently peeled the…what did you call it…? That’s right a space blanket. I felt my egg and it was as warm as when I le
ft all of you this morning. It i
s a wonderful gift.”
She grinned at
him
.
“All of the
females
asked what covered my egg and I told them what it does. Now all the other
females
want one for their future eggs.”

He smiled because he
didn’t know that Keepers also gossiped
like human women
. “That’s great, Veronica. I’m glad that you like the gift
so much
. We only have three more, but you
’
r
e more than
welcome to
have
them. We won
’
t need them because when we leave
here
it will already be spring
time
.”

Her golden eyes widened and started sparkling.
“Really? I can have them?

Sarah spoke up. “Of course you can. We have no need for them anymore and you
do..
. By the way who tied the top of it?”

It too
k a moment to understand what his
wife
asked
about.

The silvery blanket had a longer red string than he
put on and was wrapped in a bow so that all you had to do was pull an end and the knot would easily become undone.
“I couldn’t retie it with your first string so I found a longer string and did it myself. Does it look alright?”

Kara playfully slapped Veronica’s leg
again
, but this time it wasn’t so much a shock to her as it first was. Still, Veronica looked down a
t
Kara
with a large eye
. Kara chirped “You could wrap a railroad track around the top and still make your egg look pretty.”

The smile Veronica showed us was pure joy and relief.
“Thank you, Kara.”

Mark jumped in. “Veronica,
we are just about to
retire for the night
. If you’re not too busy, would you accompany us to our lodge? We all need to get some rest and you can get the other covers.”

“I’m free for a few hours. Firon will catch up with me later.”

Connor
grabbed
his
tray and Sarah’s. All that remained on
the
trays were banana skins, watermelon rind, apple cores, bones and an empty bag of chips.
He
walked over to the trash bin in the front and put the tray in the return bin. Jack did the same for Jillian and Mark for Kara.

They
made it back to all the women as they waited besid
e the central pillar
for their return
. Mark and K
ara took the lead and stayed on the inside row
of steps which were closest to
the pillar itself. Next went the in-laws. Then Sarah and Connor
went next and Veronica followed close behind.
He
barely heard
his careful
steps as
he
walked up the large steps because of Veronica’s heavy foot falls and her
toe
claws
were
tapping against the stone floor.