Keeper's Knowledge (Balancer's Soul cycle) (85 page)

Jillian
looked up into
Jack
’s eyes and said “I haven’t remembered you ever looking like such a huge Viking before.”
She
batted her eyelashes
timidly
. “Care to do a little pillaging and rob these people of their spotlight?”

“As long as you don’t allow anyone to touch you or else they will burst into flames.” They took each other
’
s hand and left.

Connor looked her
up and down with a wry smile tou
ching his lips. “You’re a Wood N
ymph are you not?”

“You’re the
Greek God Pan right?” H
e sat a hand on his hip and laughed
. She
had to ask. “Where did you get your idea from? I remembered you weren’t too good at history.”

He broke into a full fledged smile. “Actually I had a little help. I asked some of the guys about the gods of nature and they knew quite a bit about those myths and legends. I decided to go with the god of nature and the wilds. I thought you would like the irony a little bit.” He pulled a single oak leaf out of
her
hair and looked at it. “It seems like you favor a little irony yourself.” He looked around as the music began a strong and fast beat and people started dancing. “I think we should show them how the creatures of nature dance.”

She
took his hand and said “I couldn’t agree more.”
She
pulled him into the crowd and
began dancing to the beat. It became so much fun.

About three hours into the dance Elder Alexander stood once the music stopped. The crowd quieted and he raised his voice so all could hear. “This will be a slow dance. Also it will be the last dance of this meeting. Please enjoy this last piece I created so that your love can be shown through your
bodies
.”

The moment he sat down and grabbed a violin the music from the stage became slow and beautiful.
The song was an original
one
that she
’d
never heard before, b
ut
it was so deliciously beautiful.
It was as if the music in everyone’s heart had turned into a audible composition.
Connor’s hazel eyes gazed at
her
and his smile was worth more than life itself. Even those ridiculous silver horns looked good on
him. He entered her
mind and said
“Sarah, I want to dance like we did at our home. Would you like to do that?”

She
whispered “
Without a doubt.”

They
brought
their
powers forward
as one
,
while
h
olding hands. She
focused on Pressure and made t
w
o streams of energy escape
through the bottoms of
her
bare
feet.
They slowly began to rise and once they cleared everyone’s heads they began to twirl slowly. She
wrapped her
hands behind his neck and looked up into his perfect face.
Even his horns couldn’t diminish his handsomeness.
He wrapped his arms around her
lower back and smiled genuinely.

The music made
their
aerial
dance perfect.

About twenty seconds later they
felt Sorono’s mind.
“Now that is a dance.”
Sarah
pulled back and saw the entire crowd looking up at
them
.
She
felt instantly self conscious.  T
hey were
n’t
dancing
at all
, but
they were only
watching
their flying
dance
.

She then
spotted Sorono and he was holding his claw
s
out to Veronica. She took it
with a smile
and Sarah
felt them summoning their power. While the music
continually
played
,
they began to rise. They wrapped their arms around each other and began twirling themselves.

Connor and Sarah
began spinning again
with them
and soon
there were many Keepers and a few Pressure Balancers dancing in the air. It was the best endin
g to a meeting she
ha
d
ever
seen in
her
three hundred years.

She
whispered “Thank you for doing this for me. It was a perfect dance.”

When the music complete
d
everyone returned to change back
into their usual attire
and pack up to leave. Even Connor and the rest of the men left to
change
.
Sarah
went b
ack to level four and grabbed her
clothes.
She
jumped back up on the platform and made
her
way back to
their
room. While
she
was changing into
her
clothes Connor came in wearing his normal dark clothing.

They
put everything in
their
packs and clos
ed them tightly. They
slung
their
packs over
their
shoulders and left
the
room for the
very
last time.
Both of her parents stood with
Veronica and Sorono
and
were all waiting
by the sanctuary
. Her
parents wore their matching
hiking clothes, Veronica wore her usual white robe and her egg was still covered by the blanket, Sorono wore a similar white robe, but his belt was made of solid silver
this time
.
They were all talking amongst themselves.

Sarah
asked “Before we go
,
can we get something to eat first.”

Sorono nodded and said
“That won’t be difficult, but Kara said
for all of us
to wait here. She and Mark just ran into the history room. She said that her painting she made for me is finally complete.”

Connor and Sarah
tossed
their
bags against the outs
ide sanctuary wall. They
held hands in silence until Kara and Mark showed up a few minutes later.

They carried a large covered painting
that stood
nearly
ten feet tall.
Everyone
moved
away
as they sat the painting against the wall for support. Kara wiped her forehead and sighed. She whispered “Good
,
the move
didn’t warp the framing
.” She turned around
swiftly
and looked up saying “Sorono, this was part of your agreement when you gave me the painting equipment.
I call this painting
Harmonized Brother
s
!” She grabbed the
large
black sheet and pulled it off in one fluid stroke.

This large picture centered
on
Connor and Sorono when they showed their mark’s to everyone in the painted room.
The detail alone was staggering.
Sorono’s back show
ed off
his
branded
mark
ing
and his
reptilian
head turned to the
right
and down
.
Sarah
could even see the
piercing
hazel eyes of the giant. Connor’s chest was facing
the front of the painting and she
could see every perfect detail
and contour
of his muscles. Connor was looking straight up at his brother and their face
s were both blank
, stoic
. Behind them she
remembered the painting from the room and they were copied perfectly. Even the black cross on the floor
beneath their feet
had been
rendered
flawlessly
. Kara’s painted picture was even
more stunning
than if she had taken a picture with her digital camera. Her painting revealed not only her soul, but that of the
confident
men in the painting.

Connor and Sorono stepped forward as they
openly
gawked at her artistry
.
Sorono
knelt on a knee as he studied the entire painting. She giggled and chirped “I’ll take
your expression
as a compliment. I’m glad that you like it.”

Sorono turned to look at her.
“There aren’t words that could express how this makes me feel
, not even in the Keeper language
. I am honored to know such a talented artist. I will have this painting sealed properly so that it wil
l remain perfect forever. I shall even
put this in my home so that I will always appreciate it.”
Sorono put his head to the ground on a prostrating bow
. “I will treasure it always.”

“I’m glad to hear it. Now I’m hungry and I want to get started on going home.”

Sorono called
for
two Guards and told them to place the painting in his room
for the time being
. He gave them a stern warning to not harm any
part
of the painting or
there will be severe consequences
.

Before they
left
,
Kara brought out a pack full of four foot paintings. Mark carried both of their bags.
They
had all of
their
things ready and left level four.

On level three, Elder Adela quickly made all of
them a quick and large meal. They
weren’t the only ones who needed to eat before leaving
so Sarah
didn’t feel so bad
. After they
all finished
their
meal
they
left both level three and two behind.
Now
they
were walking down the
entrance
hall of level one. Sarah
could feel Connor’s e
xcitement building the closer they
approached
the outside world.
The tunnel was filled with many people leaving to return home, but there was plenty of personal walking space.
A minute later
Sarah
saw sunlight at the end of the tunnel.

Secret and Tell

Before
he could even see
the e
xit
of the tunnel
Connor
could hear the sounds of wind
in the trees
. The air had become
crisp
and fresher
and
the
sounds of chirping birds
had never sounded so beautiful
.
He
then realized that winter was long over if birds had returned
this far north
.
He
realized
soon after that Sarah was looking at him
and when
he
turned to look
directly
at her she was
already
smiling. She said happily “Go on. I know you want to get out as quic
kly as possible.” She swatted his
bottom.

Connor
looked up at Sorono and he grinned down at
his younger sibling
.
Connor felt him entering his mind and
said
“I’m coming with you. I miss the outside
just
as much as you do.”
So
rono increased his stride, but Connor flat out
ran. He tried catching up, but
Connor
had already made it out of the tunnel.

The first thing to be
felt
c
ame from
the warmth of the
direct
sun kissing
their
face
s
. The winter had turned into spring and
nearly
all the white
snow
had
melted and beca
me green and healthy once again. The air was comfortabl
y cool
and the
fragrant
smell of evergreens and the other plants were magnificent. The pillars that made up the runway weren’t lit, but the stones were pure white so they were a perfect contrast
to the ground. The ground’s level stone was dark brown and
Connor
noticed only a few tiny cracks from the water damage the harsh winter caused.
He then
spotted many northern wildflowers and they added their own
smells to the mix.
S
mall animals
were
scurrying away as more and more immortals l
eft the mouth of the mountain
like ants in an anthill
. He
walked forward so everyone wasn’t bothered and could walk around.
Connor
stopped and closed
his
eyes, just enjoying the freedom of being outside
once again
.