Balancer's Soul

by Jr H. Lee Morgan

  Connor waived her parents over to his side. “Come stand over here. She is going to try it herself.” And they moved quickly.

  Closing her eyes and focusing power to her eyes Sarah felt the pressure build. When she couldn’t handle it anymore Sarah opened her eyes and released the flow. Pulsations vibrated her eyes and she could see what Connor meant about the movie picture reference. Hearts expanded and contracted, wings flapped with powerful muscles, critters crawled all around and many other small oddities made the moving mental picture so much more enjoyable. “Your right, I did have to try.” Sarah giggled as she stopped the flow.

  He walked up to her, looking confused. “Sarah, did you know that your eyes could glow?”

  All of them laughed at his innocence. “Connor, your eyes also glowed as you were doing your little experiment.” Jillian couldn’t hold back another laugh.

  “Could you show us?” Jack conceded while wanting to know.

  “I can try.” Connor said.

  For the next thirty minutes they failed miserably until Jillian eventually managed to do it, but only for about two seconds. Her eyes faintly glowed, but at least she and her mate could work on this new trick. And ten minutes later Sarah’s father changed pace.

  “Next is target practice.”

  “Target practice? We didn’t bring any projectile weapons?” Connor said in honest confusion while looking at Jack.

  His smile matched his reply. “We are the projectile weapons.” He walked thirty yards away and lifted a piece of shale and stood it upright. “We will use that for practice.” Jack said while walking back.

  “Father, I’m confused as well. Could you elaborate?” Sarah asked, walking next to Connor.

  “Oh, alright.” He sighed. “How about I explain like this.” Jack raised his palm and conjured a fireball in his hand by pulling the heat out of the air and igniting it.

  Jack then stood like a baseball pitcher and threw the flaming ball, striking the target with relative ease, making the fireball explode on impact. He hit directly in the center of the target. As the dust and smoke cleared the target transformed into nothing but rubble. “Is that explainable enough?” He said, wearing a grin.

  “We get the point.” Connor walked over and stood several stone targets at different ranges and angles. He walked back a few minutes later and made a line for them to use. And Jillian was next.

  She walked up to the line without a word and shut her eyes. Making a flowing water ball by pulling the moisture from the air, she threw it and it landed to soak a target in the middle of the range. “I haven’t lost my touch.” And she skipped away shamelessly.

  Sarah walked up to Connor thinking “What element should we use?”

  “I think we shouldn’t use metal at all or we could drain ourselves too quickly. Let’s take your parents on with their elements and see how we compare.”

  “I agree.” She nodded with a half smile after glancing at them.

  She went first. Sarah closed her eyes and her power swelled. She opened her emerald green eyes and pulled the warmth from the air and made her own fireball. She threw it and did slightly less damage to the target, compared to her father, but she did the same range and hit dead center. Jack gave her applause and she turned around to bow to him.

  “My turn.” Connor pictured his surroundings and began collecting the moisture from the area and focused it to his palm. The air started to swirl and cool as he let the power flow. The air’s moisture condensed and beaded then they came together into a palm sized water ball. It gave Connor another idea, but first.

  Stepping to the line, with the water ball in hand, Connor took his position. Throwing the water ball and connecting on a target he heard Jillian whistle in awe. He hit dead center on the farthest target. “I have another question, Jack.”

  “Fire away.” Jack now sat in the shade with Jillian.

  “Is it possible to combine elements as a Balancer?”

  “Yes, but changing the nature of an object can be potentially dangerous if you don’t understand what you’re doing.” Jack said.

  “Don’t scare the boy, Honey.” Jillian chastised. “Yes Connor, you can. Let me show you how we kept our food fresher before the invention of the freezer.” Jillian stood as well as Jack. Jillian formed another water sphere and held it up for them all to see. “Connor, what happens when heat is taken away from liquefied water?”

  “Ice is formed.” He said. Connor knew that basic form of science.

  “Correct.” She turned her arm and put it in front of Jack. He put both of his hands above the current of liquid. Connor felt him gather a handful of power. Everyone watched in shock as the liquid started cracking, hardening and gaining a larger size as the frozen crystals expanded. When Jack took his hands away, the water ball solidified into an ice ball. “This is how we kept cool before electricity was harnessed. Here catch.”

  Connor caught the cold sphere of ice and studied it. “Sarah, come here I have another idea.” He flashed a wicked grin which gave her one too.

  “What do you have up your sleeve?” She whispered.

  “Here hold this.” He handed her the solid sphere. “Keep this in ball shape as I melt it back.” Calling fire to his aid Connor melted the ice back to water. Sarah’s green eyes looked at him in pride because she kept the moisture together. “What’s next?”

  “This!” He put both of my hands around the flowing water. Connor closed his eyes again and imagined an invisible shell covering the ball of water, using the element of Pressure. Releasing the power and the element he reopened his eyes. Connor felt the ball of water encased in the pure power of Pressure. Lifting the liquid ball of water out of his wife’s hand Connor gently said “You better get back. This might get a little dicey.” She took a few steps away, knowing he wasn’t using mirth.

  “Connor what are you...?” Jack said standing up.

  “SHH!” Sarah hissed, silencing her father.

  Connor focused the pressure gradually to compress the water to its limit; and to his own. The water ball was originally the size of a softball, but after the compression, it became the size of a golf ball. He walked up to the closest target and knelt on one knee two feet away. Complete silence watched from behind him and he could feel all of their eyes on him, waiting to understand the method.

  Delving into his own mind and picturing the sphere of pressure, Connor modified the image of the shell. A pinhead size hole began funneling in through the outside of the shell to make the pressurized golf ball of water flow out in the focused direction he chose. Connor opened his eyes just in time before the tunnel reached the water.

  The thread thin water stream shot from his hand and cut completely through the rock a foot away, like a hot knife through butter, but the rock didn’t fall. When all of the water had been forced through his hands he fell back on his bottom. As he tried catching his breath his new family rushed up.

  Jack spoke first “Connor, what magic did you just do?”

  When he was able to draw proper breath Connor answered him. “No magic involved Jack. You told me what we do isn’t magic. During science in my eighth grade year, we saw how with enough pressure on water it could cut any material better than any sword ever could.” he looked up to Jillian. “I bet you didn’t know that your element is also the sharpest!” he smiled up at his mother-in-law.

  “That was miraculous, but it only made a faint line in the stone.” Sarah’s thought to herself as she ran her finger along the straight line.

  Connor stood up quickly and startled her. “Excuse me please.” She moved to the side as he placed both of his hands on the top side of the line. With one powerful push, the rock slid back and crashed behind the now half stone.

  Jack walked up and ran his palm over the even surface. “The cut is perfect, clean. This is news to me. Does my fire act in the same fashion?” He asked in innocence.

  “NO!” Connor startled them and realized they didn’t understand that bit of science. After calming his vo
ice he said “Not in the slightest.” Connor looked at him seriously and the tone of his voice backed the conviction. “Jack, pressurized fire is dangerously explosive.” His expression looked skeptical and Connor looked around the clearing, judging the distance to the trees. “It looks like all of you need another demonstration. I’ve never met a person who didn’t understand that fire is hot without burning themselves.” Connor looked at Sarah and felt her in his mind. “You and your mother go hide behind that tree line and keep a safe distance.” Sarah nodded and took Jillian by the hand and ran for cover.

  She thought to him “Be careful. I read your mind – sorry – I now know how dangerous and serious this lesson is. Stay safe, Husband.”

  “I will keep both of us safe.” When they reached the tree line she nodded.

  Connor sighed for what was about to happen.

  He looked at a now worried Jack. Good, at least he understands some of the gravity of this situation. “I need to show you why this is so dangerous.” Jack nodded that knowing firsthand experience is always the best lesson one could ever receive. “First we need to build a blast shield for our protection. We need to make an angled shield wall as thick as possible. Otherwise we’ll be in a massive amount of danger.” His quick reply was “Ok, let’s get to work.”

  And together they began laboring.

  Twenty minutes later they made the perfect shield. It was five feet thick and the front had been angled to direct the force of the blast upwards instead of back at them. They had a reasonable bubble of safety. The wall’s back stood four foot tall and twelve feet across, made in a crescent circle to bend the force around them. If any flames came back on them they would be protected by the angle and design of the shield. Sarah and Jillian were far enough away that they could see everything and not come into any danger. Each of their faces were full of concern. Connor pushed his mind to Sarah’s. “Let me guess, you told your mom about how serious this was?”

  “Yes, she needed the truth.” He nodded and she smiled.

  “Jack, now you need to listen to me very carefully.” Connor had his complete and undivided attention. “I need you to stay below the barrier the whole time. When I let go of the contents, I will say ‘Now!’ and you will not wait a moment longer to pull me down or you could guess my unfortunate outcome.”

  “I understand. What do I need to do first?”

  “Make a baseball sized fireball for me to use.” Moments later he held a red hot flowing sphere of fire in the right size that had been requested. Connor put his hands to each side of the fire and made a shell of pressure around it, like he did with the water. Taking the ball of flames out of his hand Jack slid down on the ground and had a tight hold of Connor’s belt.

  Adding a massive amount of pressure to the fire changed its properties. Connor knew what would happen with the lack of oxygen, Jack didn’t. Looking up at him Jack said “Where did the flame go? It just vanished!”

  Out of the corner of his eyes Connor looked at him while concentrating on maintaining the pressure. “This is why I said it’s so dangerous. You can’t see it is the reason enough to frighten me, it makes it more deadly because you would be incinerated before you realized what happened. Not even you could outrun this explosion. It moves nearly at the speed of sound.” Connor took a step forward, to the very edge of the wall. “Are you ready?” Jack answered by tightening his grip even more on his belt. “Three… Two… One!” The element combination of Pressure and Fire was thrown nearly as hard as he could. At the same moment it left his hand Connor yelled “NOW!!!” and Jack didn’t hesitate. He pulled his son-in-law to the ground in one motion and pulled him against the wall, using the falling momentum. The only pain Connor felt was when he landed his right hip that held Tool.

  A moment later the very air erupted with an angry BOOM! and intense flames washed over their heads in a sheet of orange and yellow flame for several heart-pounding seconds. The heat and flames rolled over the top of the barrier and the angle’s design did perfectly because no direct flames came within the safety zone.

  When silence settled in, Jack looked at Connor with eyes full of fear and first hand understanding. Connor then felt Sarah calling into his mind. “Are the two of you safe? I cannot see you through the smoke.”

  “Yes, and your dad is just a little surprised. We knew he would be.”

  “Can we come to you yet?”

  “Not yet! Let me make sure it’s safe.” They wanted to check the damage for themselves. He told them to wait and give them an ok. Connor looked at Jack who then glanced at their impatient women. He looked back and nodded to make sure it was safe for them even though he still seemed somewhat shaken.

  They each slowly rose to survey the damage. The shield did its job protecting them and only managed to get slightly charred.

  Looking beyond the shield Connor knew what would happen, but Jack wasn’t fully prepared for the severity of the consequences. Where the epicenter of the explosion took place now held an impression in the ground. There were burn marks in a one hundred foot circumference and some of the weeds were still on fire, but they couldn’t start a forest fire because there wasn’t any close vegetation to spread to. That’s why Connor chose this place and it worked perfectly for this demonstration.

  In a calm, but quiet voice Jack asked “Connor, can you explain to me what just happened?”

  “Sit down on this ledge and catch your breath.” He sat and Connor yelled “All Clear!” for the girls to come over.

  They ran at a Balancer’s speed to check on them and what really happened. When they were satisfied with their mate’s health and looking over the blast site Connor continued telling them about what happened. “That was known as the Back Draft Phenomenon. Watch the movie, it is remarkably similar. When something so hot runs out of air, it gets even hotter. When oxygen is reintroduced with the heat, the air itself literally explodes! Everyone and everything in its path is consumed from the intense flames.” He looked down at Jack to make a larger point. “Do you see that?” He pointed to the charred crater. “You could imagine how much more devastating it would be if your fireball was any larger.” And Jack’s face paled, imagining a bigger fireball.

  “I’m just glad you knew what would happen before you attempted this stunt uninformed.” Jillian said and gave Connor a grateful hug. “From where we were watching the two of you were gone in a sea of flames. We could feel the heat sting our faces, even from where we waited.”

  “Just be thankful I’m mated to the right man.” Sarah said in pride. As Jillian released her embrace, Sarah took her place and held him tightly. “I’m glad you’re uninjured.” Her green eyes looked up at him worried and filling with tears.

  “I knew what would happen, Princess.” He kissed her on the forehead and said with a smile “Now it’s your turn to mix some other element combos with me.” Her tears evaporated instantly and replaced with widened eyes. Connor looked at Jillian and Jack. “If the two of you have anything to spare I could use whatever you have to offer. Using an intense Pressure element twice was draining.”

  They both nodded and each took one of his hands to funnel in some stamina. Five minutes later they each released his hands. “Sarah, are you ready?” He asked and her head spun around to glare at him. “Don’t worry there will be no more explosions today.” She arched an eyebrow in provocative disappointment. Then he caught her train of thought and would amend those words later.

  “What kind of element combo do you have in mind?” She asked casually, but she knew that he caught what he had planned for later.

  “Making glass.” And she started laughing at the suggestion.

  “How do you intend to do that without a forge or a press?” Sarah asked.

  “I will manipulate Terra while you do Fire.” He turned to look at Jillian. “Can I count on your abilities as a Fireman?”

  She started laughing. “Sure just let me go get my Dalmatian.” She kept laughing until she saw that he wasn’t. She figured Connor was talki
ng about extinguishing the fire from the previous experiment. “Ok if any fires start I will put them out.”

  As Connor stood up he grabbed a handful of loose sand, walked over to Sarah and sat down before her cross-legged. “Ready to try?” She nodded. Connor felt her reaching in his mind for a private conversation first.

  “Is there any possibility for us to wind up hurt?” She asked worriedly.

  “There is always a danger when you’re experimenting. I told you to be my fire starter because I will know when something goes horribly wrong, when you heat up solid materials.” Connor stuck his thumb to his chest to remind her of the price he paid.

  “Ok, I trust you.” Her eyes softened.

  “After this I have only enough energy for one more test.” he stated truly.

  “Can I get a sneak peek of what you’ve got planned?” her green eyes searched for an answer on his face as she did her mental probing.

  “When we get there you’ll see.” And he smiled at her which she miserably failed not to return.

  Without closing her eyes Sarah made a one handed softball size of fire. Connor didn’t close his eyes either when he imagined all of the loose grains of sand stick together into a small ball. When the flames and sand came together he distributed the power flow through both of his hands to keep the sand sphere balanced between them. This required a steady hand, but two were better than one.

  Sarah used her left hand to steady her outstretched right arm that held the fire. Connor glanced over his shoulder to see Jillian standing next to the sitting Jack. She had accumulated moisture from the air and a small stream of water continued to flow up from under the ground. She soon had a cannonball size of water hovering in each of her hands. She wasn’t taking any risks.

  He lifted the sand ball over the flames with both hands and slowly brought the wad into the center of the red hot blaze. It would hold the most intense heat. Connor didn’t take his eyes off of the mass inside Sarah’s burning energy for an instant. If he did he would be liable to burn her badly.