Keeper's Knowledge (Balancer's Soul cycle) (54 page)

Impulsive and Patient

Connor
woke up from
another vivid
dream again to see Sara
h
already
sitting up
and
peeri
ng down at him
,
wearing only her black bra and panties.
Her green eyes were studying him
intently
, searching for something he didn’t understand
.
He
rubbed
the
crust
from the corners of his
eyes and sat up
,
feeling her worry
and uncertainty
over the link. He cupped his
hand to her cheek and she closed her eyes to nuzzle into it. “Sarah, why are you awake?
Are you still having those morning sickness heaves?
”

Her eyes
re
opened up slowly
and she shook her head
gently
. “Connor, I’m worried about
you
.” She
admitted
quietly.
Now it made sense
to
what her look meant. He took his
hand away as she pulled her hair behind her shoulders. “I can tell something’s wrong with you. I don’t know what it is, but I suspect it’s
because of
your
odd
dreams.”

He
smiled
absently
and shook
his
head. “
It’s not my dreams, Princess.” S
he turned to look at him with
a confused expression.
“I miss the outside
freedom
, it
’
s too cramped down here
. I want to see plants and animals all around me. This is only the second time in my life that I haven’t gone outside within
a
twenty four hour
period
. The first time was when I
received
this.”
He
pointed to the center of
his
scarred
chest. “I was in the hospital for
weeks
and wasn’t allowed to even feel the wind in my hair or the sounds of morning bird calls. I’m not claustrophobic by any means, but I just miss nature. I can see that you miss our quiet cottage as much as I miss the wild. Once we leave here
,
I’ll get better, I promise.”

“Just promise me one thing.” Her f
eatures
began
to flush and she couldn’t look him
in the eyes. “Can you please be a little more gentle with me in bed?
Like you usually were
…
If I were anyone else I’d sport bruises from our time as one flesh. I’m alright now, but it still hurts afterwards…
”

He
lifted her chin
for her to look at
him schooling his
anxious
features
.
He lowered his
voice to be as gentle as possible
though the agitation to leave the mountain remained
. “I’m sorry
if
I hurt you, Princess. I promise to be much
more gentle. Let me show you.” He
leaned forward and gently pressed
his
lips to hers.

Connor
pulled away and she giggled. “Not that gently, my Knight. Let me show you what I meant.” She lifted her
arms and wrapped them around his
neck. She walked on her
knees and then straddled his
thighs. She sat down and wrapped her legs around
his
waist before
grasp
ing
his
hair wit
h her fingers and drew him
down to her awaiting lips.
They were soft, wet and passionate.
In response,
he
wrapped
his
hands around her lower back which greatly intensified her kiss. It was like her lips were made to perfectly fit
his
and
his
rapidly racing heart agreed.

The
mood was instantly shot when they
both felt an intrusion
enter their
minds.
They
both drew back as the voice began to speak.
“The meeting of the Elders will begin in two hours. Please make any preparations you need and make your way down to level four with your tickets. I repeat, two hours until the meeting begins.”
The intruder left
their minds and left Sarah and Connor
staring at each other
in disappointment
.

“Just when things were just getting
good,
” Sarah sighed and her arms fell in her lap.

“You
’
r
e
telling me.”
He said and his
heart rate began to slow.
He
rubbed her silky smooth thigh and said “Looks like we need to get ready.”

She agreed and quickly kissed him
before she unwrapped her legs and walked over to the dresser to start sliding on all her armor and clothes.
Connor
slid out of bed and
pulled
his
boxers
on
first and then everything else.

About ten m
inutes later
they
were ready to depart
. Sarah had her hair pulled back into a single ponytail
that reached her lower back
. Her petite and fair complexion hid just how
immensely
strong she
truly i
s.
She adjusted her armguards until they fit and moved comfortably under her sleeves.
They each hooked their
personal
weapons to
their
hips.
Before
they
left
he
found
the large, folded
tickets and stuffed them in
to their
pockets.

They
walked out of
their
room to be greeted by
both
Mark and
his
sister in the hallway. They were both in their wolf forms and leaning against the wall.
Connor
asked “Why are you two looking like that?”

“Brother, Mark said it is our law to be transformed in the presence of the Elder Changers.” Mark nodded with his big bulky head
, still keeping his clawed and furry arms crossed over his barreled chest
. “Supposedly it is to represent us as no longer being human, but something more.” She scratched the top of her head with her claws and turned to look at Mark
for reassurance
. “Did I say that right, Honey?”

“I couldn’t have said it be
tter myself.” He smiled with
piercing teeth.

The four of them
waited
together
until Jillian and Jack left their room about ten minutes later.
Jillian and Jack both brought their weapons and waved once they saw
them
.
Jillian looked at Kara and
Connor
and asked “Are you kids ready to see all the Elders for the first time?”

“I am!” His
sister chirped and he
nodded
sternly
in confirmation
.

They
made
their
way outside and didn’t see Liz behind her desk.
She must have to go as well.
He guessed.
Once outside
,
several people
and giants were
heading their way to the central staircase
and disappearing below
. Connor
looked at
his
companions and kept walking t
o
the central stair
well
.

A line formed and t
hey
had to wait
a minute
until there was a break from people coming down from level one.
They
saw a slow Keeper making his descent and took the opportunity to jump in and make
their
way down.
V
ery few people
were
coming up
the steps
and those that were
,
was in a hurry
. They most likely forgot their tickets
when they were in the dining hall
. The opening to level three revea
led very
few people eating
.
They
continued past level three and
descended promptly
into level four
like all others
before and behind them
.

Connor
came to an abrupt stop, in amazement
once
their group
made it for the first time to level four. The diameter of the central support had doubled in size from level three to level four and
he
saw why. The room was by far the largest
yet
and
had
remained
both
the
grand
est
and
surprisingly
subtle at the same time.
They
all walked down the spiral
ed steps
until
they
reached the bottom of this floor.
The staircase was off to the far side of the room instead of being in the center like on the first three levels.

The li
ne slowed considerably and
they
came to a clear understanding
. There were four Immortal Guard Keeper
’
s looking at tickets and explaining where
everyone
were going to sit.
They
all walked up to a Guard and one that
h
e’
d
never
had the pleasure of
me
e
t
ing
. Connor
pulled
the
ticket out and opened it.
He
lifted it for her to see and she said
“You will sit in the middle
section
, row four.”
She said the same things to Sarah,
Kara, Jillian, Mark and Jack.
At least the tickets were sequential.
Together
they
made
their
way to
their designated
seats.

Along
the way Connor
received
a good look at everything. This room
had been
shaped
more
like a giant crescent axe
. The front section was somewhat squared and narrow. The back end of this room
seemed to have been seamlessly grown into stone bleachers for everyone to rest upon.
S
ix
large
ventilation shafts in the walls
showed
they were all blowing in fresh
outside
air.
The seating
for the crowd
was actually made of
black
granite
. The
r
e
were four
ascending
rows of stone steps going along the outside
and inside portions of the ancient seats
.
T
hree
large
sections
emerged from the four rows of stairs
and their group
had to take the middle. The
flat
ceiling of this room was at least ninety
to a hundred feet straight up. Connor
knew
they
were well below
sea level
,
even inside this mountain.
F
ifteen
large
pillars support
ed
the flat ceiling and
each one
were slightly thicker than the ones from the other
upper
floor
s
. On each pillar held five lights for this room. This room was well lit
,
even for a person with mild cataracts. Each pillar was placed at key point
s of the room
,
which alleviated Connor’s
growing
worry for a cave in.