Keeper's Knowledge (Balancer's Soul cycle) (22 page)

Before
them
stood
a gigantic mountain that was one of the biggest ones that
they
’ve come across on
their
journey. The slope face
stood
covered with trees that reached almost half way up the mountain. The top was capped with snow and the peak of the mountain was shrouded in cloud cover
. The sun was beginning to set and it cast an orange glow that gave the mountain an eerie look to it. At the base between the mountain
s
they
stood up
on and the one that laid before
them
sat
a thick evergreen forest.
From the tree tops Connor
could tell there was a light breeze coming through the valley.
It held a majestic beauty
that only nature could bestow. He
couldn’t
resist
smil
ing
at the grand design.

Jillian and
his
sister became overly excited
once they too realized
they
were almost finished
. Jillian threw the hood of her cloak back and said “
We haven’t used this mountain for a meeting in four hundred years.”

Kara
pushed her hood back and asked M
ark “Is she serious.”

Mark crossed his arms and grinned. “Close.
It’s been four hundred and twenty five years since we last used this base
, but who’s counting?
”

Sarah leaned her shoulder into
Connor’s
and spoke with her calm and smooth v
oice. “We might finally get the
answers
we’ve been searching for
..
.”

He
had an id
ea, but
didn’t
know how the others
would take it. “Speaking of answers
.” Everyone turned to look at Connor
. “I’m not sure if we should show people that we are different
right of the bat
.
It might compromise our safety.
We should try and blend in so as to not draw too much attention
to ourselves
.”
He
looked down at Sarah a
s
she still leaned on
him
for support
, but her eyes were looking up
casually
. “For now
,
I think we should stick with one element
,
until we have to meet
with
the Elders
.”

“Why do
you think we should do that?” S
he asked.

“I think we might get into
a little
less trouble
this way
. We are traveling together and we need people to underestimate us. If they think we are weak, they
might
think that we are not worth the trouble and leave us alone
; hopefully
. If we were to show everyone
our strength
, some of them will be looking for a fight just to challenge us.”

“That is a good plan.” Mark said and he turned to look at his mate. “Don’t show your bone manipulation until you become registered
either
.
”
They discussed what to do quietly
between themselves.

Sarah regained
his
attention by weaving her arm in
his
. “I’ll go along with your plan. What elements should we choose
to stick with
?”

Connor
turned
his
eyes to her parents as they looked
across
at the other mountain. They each had their own smile as they felt the nostalgia from past meetings.
He
gained
their attention and
simply
asked “What are the weakest Balancer traits?”

Jack adjusted
Haunt on his shoulder and cautiously answered. “Well you must have the opposite abilities
for starters
. And of those
,
the
weaker elements would be Fire and Liquid.
Most of us have these elements at our disposal.
”

He
thanked him with a smile and a nod. “Sarah, how about you only us
e Fire and I will use liquid.” Connor
looked up at the failing light and quickly said “We had better hurry or else we’ll have to stay
here
the night.”

Understanding
the
caution,
they
started
their
way down the mountain.

When
they
hit the base of the mountain
they
entered the
forest
.

About a minute later
Connor
felt
that there was at le
a
st two people
following
them
. They weren’t amateurs and they were strong
; his
instincts
explained
that much
clearly
. As
they
ran in the same formation
Connor
entered all of
his
companion’s minds
to alert them to the danger
. He
thought
with caution.
“
Everyone keep your pace and do no
t turn around.”
The only p
erson who barely stumbled was his
sister, but she quickly regained her composure.
“We’re being followed and they are good.”

Mark jumped into
the
conversation.
“I don’t hear or smell anything.”

“That’s because they are down
wind from us.”
With that out of the way
he
continued.
“Mark, I will need you to take the rear. Everyone else maintain your placement. I’m going to pay a little visit to our stalkers.”
He
coul
d feel that Sarah
grew
worried. He
exited everyone’s minds except for
her
s.
“I don’t sense that they are a threat, but I’m not going to
take that chance.”

“Be careful, Connor.”
Her mental voice was strained. He
then cut
the
conversation
and prepared for the encounter
.

Mark slowed his pace and ran
at his side in the rear. When the line
went
through
the thick of the trees Connor suddenly
veered to
the
right.
He
could tell that they ke
pt going at a reasonable pace. He
then fou
nd some loose snow and buried him
self
inside
. The light from the sun finally fell behind the edge of the
horizon
once all things seemed to stop
.

It
continued
getting da
rker by the second which gave him
a huge advantage.

About a minute later
he sensed
the
followers
were close. They rushed right by
his pile of snow and he
could see both of the dark figures
. They were moving
close together and that
made things all too easy
.
They went past
him
silently and with a fluid grace
impossible for a human
. Just as they
were ten feet away Connor
launched
him
self out of the snow.
Wit
h a burst of speed and stealth he
closed the distance instantly. Before they could
react
to his movement he
grabbed the
back of both of their necks. His
left hand wrapped almost all the way around the neck of the smal
ler figure and his
right hand wrapped to each side of the
other
’
s
throat. They were both short a
nd from the body of the one in his
left hand was a girl and the other a guy.

“Why are you following us?” Connor
said in a calm voice while lifting both of them clear off the ground.

“Let me go or I’ll kill you!”
T
he man said
and tried to struggle out of his
grip
in vain
. His voice
grew
stra
ined with pain, but his voice hel
d a heavy
European
accent.

Connor
tightened
his
grip even more
from
the
outburst
and he screamed
out
in
heightened
pain. He
eased the pressure on the back of his neck and spoke in a dangerous
, but calm
tone. “If you keep struggling and threatening me I
will
snap your neck. I’m in no mood for anyone who makes a threat with me at the moment. And I’m not going to like it if you lie.
Do you understand me?
” The two of them quit struggling and went silent. As a reward
Connor
eased the pressure even more, but didn’t let them go
n
or set them back down on the ground
. “That is a good start. Now tell me why you were following us?”

The girl spoke. Her voice
w
as
also
accented. He wasn’t sure but he
believed them to be Balancers and mates
for their earlier show of speed and strength
,
but
weren’t
as powerful as a Changer’s would be
. “We are
part of the Immortal
Guard
and we are tasked with insuring that the
immediate
area is cleared of
all
humans. We were heading back to change shifts
and as we were coming back we spotted your group
headed through the forest
. We meant
you
no harm.
Please release us.
”

Connor
knew she was telling the truth and took
his
hands off their necks. “I’m sorry for attacking you two, but I had to be sure that you didn’t have any ulterior motives.
You can never be too careful.
Please accept my apology.”

The two of them stumbled forward after landing on their feet. They both started rubbing the bac
k of their necks with one arm. He
could see them
clearly
, but from the way they s
tared at him
said
he
wasn’t clear to them
, just a large form
. They both had short black hair and a slight tanning to their skin. The girl
’
s
irises
were black, but his were dark brown. They both stood about the same
height now
, but they were
both
even shorter than Sarah, but not by
very
much. They were both wearing long
white
sleeved shirts
to blend in with the snow
. They both wore golden necklaces and a pendant was held there. The pendant was made of gold and it had two swords cros
sed over a shield.

At one look Connor
knew that
i
s the
symbol for
members of
the Immortal Guard
.

The girl stepped forward. She said “We accept your apology. It has been over nine hundred years since anyone got the drop on us
so easily
.
I’m Cassie and this is my mate Marik. Might I get your name and age?” She sounded pleasant.

Connor
s
tood up straighter and offered a
hand
in greeting
. “I’m Connor and I am nineteen.”

“You
’
r
e
just a
child
!” Marik’s voice was astonished
as Cassie shook his
hand
. “What is your affinity?”