Keeper's Knowledge (Balancer's Soul cycle) (70 page)

She
happe
ne
d to glance up at Veronica and almost laughed
aloud in the silent hall
.
Veronica’s catlike
pupils were dilated and
were twinkling in the light. Sarah
knew
her friend
was instantly
and
sexually a
ttracted to her new mate. She
glanced around and every other
unmated
female Keeper in the room had the same lustful look
filling their features
.

Her
attention
returned
when Sorono started turning ar
ound. Once his back was turned she
saw the
brand
. It was
exactly
like Connor
’
s, but
marked
on his back.
Th
e
enormous
mark melted the scales on his back and looked
more
like melted skin. The
branding
was slightly blacker than the scales that covered his body. The lines started at his shoulders and crossed over his spinal column and wrapped to the base of his ribs. His back muscles moved with his shoulders and it made the mark
ripple and
move. He said
“
This
is the mark of a
Harmonizer.”

Once everyone had a chance to see
his back he stopped and looked down at
her
mate.
“It is alright, my brother. Show them your Harmonizers brand.”

Her Harmonizer husband turned to look at her
and
she
nodded. He sighed
,
grabbed the bottom of his shirt with both hands
and i
n one motion the shirt sli
d completely off. He dropped the
shirt on the ground and everyone saw his Armguards, sleeveless chainmail and the real size of
her
mate’s upper body. He loosened the strings and slid the armguards off a
nd after that did he pull off the
chainmail.

Connor stood tall and proud as the others saw the
contrasting
brand over her
mate’s godly
sculpted
chest. Most everyone gasped
at his
cruel
perfection,
except for those who have seen the mark before. He turned so everyone could see his tattooed chest.
Sarah
could easily see his armlet with a representation of
her
.
She
could then feel
the weight of her
anklet as it wrapped around
her
right ankle.

“As you can all see, he too is a
true Harmonizer.”
Then Sorono s
topped and looked directly at Sarah
.
“Dear child, will you please join us. There a
re a few things we need to discuss
.”

She
looked at Connor a
s
he
began
smiling
comfortably
and
took it as a good sign and started walking into the center.
Sarah
could feel everyone watching
her so she forced her
self to walk proudly and not
look as
scared
as
she
really felt.
She
made it
over
to Connor and
p
ut
her
back to his chest. He wrapped
is warm and loving arms around her
and kissed the top of
her
head.

Sorono looked at everyone now and said
“Please gather around and sit on the floor. I think you will like to hear this conversation
and gain some insight
.”
Sorono
grinned and sat down right where he stood.

Connor sat and crossed his legs.
Sarah
sat down right in his lap and leaned back into his warm chest.
She
had to concentrate beca
use his scent
started
overpowering her judgments. She
looked forward and Sorono sat before
her
very eyes and he was still showing his exposed chest.
She
could feel
Connor’s
muscles moving as he brought his shirt
a
nd armor to
rest by his right knee.

Mark and Kara were the first to sit and they sat to
Sarah’s
left
,
still in their Fwen forms.
Her m
other and
f
ather sat closely to
her
right and
Jillian
also sat in
Jack’s
lap. Veronica sat directly to Sorono’s left and she sat her egg between her crossed legs and waited. Then the other Elders sat in a wide circle around
them
and the Immortal Guards sat as closely as they could.

Sorono took another deep breath to start, but Connor interrupted. “Before you start asking us questions, I need you to answer a
few of mine first.” Sorono was caught off guard for a moment and then gestured with his claw for Connor to
proceed
. As he spoke
she
could f
eel the vibrations of his voice flowing through her
body. “First off, how many Harmonizer’s have
there
been?”

“Including you, ther
e have been a total of six
Harmonizers. I was the forth to be
given life
and the third taught me just about everything I know
about life
.
Our brother was more like a father to me.
He was killed by a poison
ous plant
that is now extinct
,
thankfully. That was about fifty million years ago. The fifth
i
s a
K
eeper as well, but he has been missing for at least twenty million years. I have been trying to find him, but he is elusive and constantly escapes my claws.”
For the first time she
saw anger fill the eyes of Sorono.
“
I am honestly worried because when I find where he has been, there is nothing except
total chaos left in his wake
. He likes to
cause much destruction
during large storms
, like hurricanes,
and make it look like an acc
ident, but it
’s
his doing
and there isn’t any doubt about that
.”

Sarah
said “You can see his
…” She
looked around the room
and all eyes were now on her so she spoke cryptically
. “special signature that he leaves behind when he uses his abilities, right?”

The large hazel eyes were penetrating, but
she’s
seen Connor’s too much and it’s not as daunti
ng as it once was. He studied her
before saying
“Yes, you are correct, Sarah. When anyone touches anything, they always leave behind a trace of their essence.
Plus all living things have a unique signature.
”
He turned his
large
eyes back to Connor.
“The
troubling
thing is, I’m afraid he might be like Ragke and is going feral. But we can worry about that
problem
later
... The thing that is so unique to me is that you are the sixth Harmonizer
,
Connor.
But y
ou are the first Humanoid Harmonizer. You and I might look completely different
in appearance
, but at the core, you and I are true brothers.”

“You have called me your brother several times now. My next question is, is my mom really my mother?” Connor’s a
rms locked their positions and Sarah
also couldn’t move.

“I am afraid that she is not. You are the biological son of the Hallowed
M
other.”

“
LIAR
!” All
eyes turned directly at Kara as she stood on all fours. The fur all o
ver her body
stood
on end like a giant powder-puff
.
And her
hackles were all pointing
.
“Do
n’t
you lie like that, old man!
” Sorono’s eyes went wide
at her bluntness
.
“
He is my
brother. Mom always said so. We even have the same hair color. And you
’
r
e
telling me that
he’s not my big brother?”

Connor’s voice was calm a
s
he said “Kara, he isn’t lying. I would know if he was
. Don’t you
always
agree
with my judgment
s
, Sis
?
”

Kara’s eyes went wide and she gasped. “But, Brother…”

“But
,
nothing. Please sit
back
down.” She did so reluctantly. “Listen
,
no matter what I am or who made me, you will always be my annoying sister and Jenny will always be my overprotective Mom.” Kara’s eyes closed tightly and
Sarah
saw a tear escape the blockade. Mark rubbed her back and
she leaned on him for support. Sarah
knew
her world had become cracked and what she now knew broke her heart.
Her own
was on the verge as well. Connor’
s arms unlocked and he rubbed her
thighs softly as he tried comforting
his love
as well
.

“Kara May, there is a simple answer to your question to the color of your hair.
When a Harmonizer is born
we are
usually
taken in by a surrogate parent, we adapt a certain way so as the parent will think that we are one of its own
kin
. When your brother first met you he adapted to certain changes like your hair color so your mother would think that the child is hers.
It is a survival instinct that presents itself in us for only the first few months after we surface. When we find a stable atmosphere our code locks in place so that we don’t constantly change should we come in contact with another parental figure or sibling.
”

Then it hit
.
Sarah
looked up and said “Connor those dreams that you’ve been having every night...” His hazel eyes widened has he caught
her
train of thought.

“Your right, Princess.
T
hat might have been an early memory of my childhood.
Maybe my first…
” Then he had that knowing look in his eyes. His head jerked straight up to look at his reptilian brother. “I have been having a
single
strange dream
lately. It is during the night and I crawled out of
the dirt
.
I could tell that I was a toddler and when I
escaped
I could see a shadowy figure hidden within the shadows and it was just watching me. Then a pair of soft arms p
icked me up and my dream
ends. That shadowy figure was
you
, wasn’t it Sorono.”

Everyone
turned to see Sorono smiling.
“Indeed
,
I was
there to be the first one to see you
, but you came out
differently than I expected
. I sensed a new brother enter
ing
the world and I waited for hours until you
finally
escaped to the
surface of the planet
.
Like me, you used
up
all
of
your power to reach the surface as a child.
We were
both
out in the woods and I heard
humans
close by
camping
out
in the woods
. I was going to take you with me, but I knew that you would fit in better with others of your kind…”

“Well you were very much mistaken
in your
first
assumption
.”
Their
eyes turned to Mark and even Kara opened her eyes to look at her mate. “There were only four
humans who ever accepted my best friend
and they were only his family
. Everyone treated him with disgust, malice and cruelty. He was an outcast of the society, but he never raised a fist in anger. When we
first
met I could tell he was different, even at the age of
thirteen
he was able to pick me up like I was nothing more than a sack of flour. His strength and compassion was something that
I have witnessed countless time
. I stayed close and befriended him a
s
he was the nicest human I had ever met. It wasn’t until Sarah came into his life did he truly find where he belonged.”