Keeper's Knowledge (Balancer's Soul cycle) (86 page)

“Are you boys finished yet?”
Connor
turned around to Veronica along with everyon
e else standing beside her and he
realized that Sorono was standing right beside
him
,
also enjoying the outside freedom.

“We are now, Veronica.”
Sorono looked down and smiled.
“Ready to go, Connor?”

“Yep.”
He
tightened the straps on
his
pack
and
turned in the direction
they
came from
until Sorono put his claws in
his path. Connor
turned back around and asked “What’s wrong?”

“We are not traveling on foot. It will take too long. We are going to fly.”

Jack walked up to them
and said “Sir, my mate and I cannot fly and Mark and Kara cannot possibly carry their things
and
us.”

Sorono grinned at Connor’s
father-in-law.
“That will not be a problem because you and your mate will be riding
up
on me.”
Sorono turned around to show his
wide
back.
“As you can see I could carry six of you easily on my back. You and Jillian will hold on to my collar until things stabilize. Connor will carry Mark and Kara’s packs
so they may fly
and Veronica will hold Kara’s painting pack
and her egg
.”
He turned back around with a wry grin on his leather
y
lips.
“Do
any of
you have a problem with my plan
?”

Connor
about
doubled over in laughter
when Jack realized he was going to get a ride from Sorono. Jack smiled and bowed
hesitantly
. “
It will be a pleasure to ride with you.”
Both he and Jillian hated flying with a passion.

For the next few minutes Mark and Kara walked up to
Connor
. Mark had to take off his shirt and he stuffed it in his bag. Kara also took off her hiking shirt and stuffed it into her bag. While Kara walked over to Veronica, Mark’s eyes began glowing as he went into his Fwen form. Veronica carefully held the straps of the pack
full of paintings
gently in her claws
. A
s Kara began turning into a Fwen, Veronica adjusted her egg more securely in her arm. Once they were finished transforming Sorono walked up.

The Head Elder
grinned as he dropped d
own to all fours. He looked at the frightened
in-laws
of his brother
and said
“All aboard!”
Jillian cautiously walked close and jumped
up
with one bound onto Sorono’s shoulders. Jack followed with both of their packs slung over each of his shoulders
and Haunt hung under his left armpit
. Sorono twisted his head so he could peer at them with his one large hazel eye.
“Hold onto my collar
because
we’re taking off.”
Sorono waited until their hands were firmly
grasping
the collar of his robe.

He dropped his front
down
a little bit and
Connor sensed
his power rising.
Sorono’s
head tiled up
to look
over
the tree lines
while
his limbs with huge
muscles
began bunching up
. Jillian’s eyes squeezed shut
because she knew what was
to happen
next
. Sorono pushed
up
with his front legs and jumped
skyward when his leg muscles released
. The moment his feet left the ground his power over Pressure released out of
the
soles
of
his feet and the loose sand bl
ew
away like a shockwave. They easily cleared the trees
in the next instant
and once Sorono leveled out his flight
,
he slowed and circled
above
everyone
. His
legs were together
as he sustained his flight
and Sorono’s arm
s were crossed over his chest.
The robe he wore was fluttering from the movement of the air and his crossed arms k
ept his robe from billowing apart
.
H
e was using his long tail like a rudder
to make minor adjustments in his flight.

Veronica slowly flew up and hovered in the sky as she waited for everyone else. Mark and Kara unfurled their impressive wings. Mark began running on all fours and
Kara
sprinted
right behind him. With two beats of his wings he w
as above the trees and so was Connor’s
sister. They also circled
the area with Sorono
because they couldn’t hover in one spot easily.

Sarah smiled and said “At least we’ll get home quicker
this way
.” She summoned her power and took to the sky.

Connor
grinned and slung the other packs over
his
shoulders and joined them
in the air
. Once
he
made it
up
to everyone Sorono said
“I’ll follow you
to your home
.”
Sorono glanced at the sun and said
“We
’ll
have about three to four hours before it gets dark.”

“Alright then we had better get moving.”
Connor
increased the energy to
his
feet and began flying south.
He
knew higher altitudes would make it easi
er for Kara and Mark to fly so Connor
slowly began rising.
Soon it was like everything
on the ground
had become tiny dots once
they
flew just above the scattered clouds.

They
flew in a V
formation. Connor took the lead with Sarah on his
right as
his
wingman. On
the
left
drifted
Mark and to his left flew Sorono and his passengers. To Sa
rah’s right flew his
sister and Veronica.
He smiled because he
’d bet that no one has ever flown with a group like
this
.

The wind was stinging everyone’s eyes so
Connor
projected a
wedged
pressure shield and it diverted the wind
, but allowed enough passing air to keep those with wings afloat in the sky.
It made
the
flight easier and more comfortable.

About an hour
and two small Canadian citie
s later
Connor had thought about something he
’d
almost forgotten.
He
turned
his
head
and yelled so she could hear his words
. “Sarah, take the lead! I need to speak with Sorono for a minute!” She nodded and flew into
his position once he
started breaking
off
to the left.
Her long hair was tucked in her shirt because it was getting tangled from early on in the flight.
He
kept
banking
to the left and slowing down until Sorono caught up.

Sorono
turned his had to
focus on his new wingman with a raised brow. Connor
saw Jillian and Jack laying on their backs and
their heads
turned over to look at
him as well
. He entered
Connor’s
mind and asked
“Is there a problem?”

Yelling was difficult so Connor
decid
ed to rely on telepathy and
entered everyone’s mind so they could listen in.
“Not really, but I do need to explain a few things
before we get there
.”
Sorono
nodded for
him
to elaborate.
“When we left we told my
parents we went on a trip to S
outh
America
. Things would be to
o
conspicuous if we
just
showed up out of nowhere. My family and I will need to get my truck and drive it home. First off you’ll meet my family in the morning because it is too late for them
right now
, trust me you’ll want them with clear minds
.
First thing in the morning is usually the best time
for everyone
.
We’ll stop by my home
first
so you and Veronica can rest until we get back. I’m still planning on how to do everything
properly
, but I wanted to fill you in.”

He looked at Veronica an
d the others and then back to Connor
.
“I understand your concerns and I’ll wait at your home.”

Mark asked
during the linking of minds
“How are you going to explain all of this to your family anyways? We
’
re not exactly going to be an easy pill to swallow.”

Connor
told everyone
of his
plan in
as much
detail
as he was currently sure of
and what
he
needed for them to do
until
he
thou
ght through
every eventuality.

Sarah allowed him
to retake
the lead position
again
a
s
they
continued flying home.

Before long
most of them
recognized the ter
rain and it was the park where he
teach
es
survival lessons.
He
turned
over
on
his back and flew backwards so he could see them all. Connor
pointed downwards and they all understood
what it meant
.

Connor
began descending to just above the tree tops
and everyone joined
him
.
They
were flying just over the trees so
that no one could easily spot them
from the sky
and fast enough so that if
they
were seen from the ground the
people
wouldn’t know what they saw
. He
recognized the terrain and found a small clearing.
He
yelled “WE’RE HOME!”

They
made it with about
an hour of sunlight remaining. Connor
saw the roof of
his
cottage
and was glad it remained intact. He
flipped
himself in the air so his
feet were aiming at the grassy clearing.
T
he stream by the house had thawed and was
already
flowing
freely
once again. The grass
around the property
was almost to
his
knees and
he
knew
it needed to be cut
soon. Before
he
landed nostalgia washed over
him
and
he
was so happy to finally see
the
house.

Connor
landed first and crunched the grass under
his
feet.
Their
home looked
relatively
unscathed from the winter which helped ease
one of his
worries. Sarah landed right
beside her husband and he
could feel her happ
iness rising as she looked at their
home once again. Mark and Kara reared up as they
landed so they could land
without putting holes in the ground
. Veronica landed
near
by and
everyone
gave Sorono plenty of room so he could land. Once he did Jillian and Jack jumped off so he could stand up.