Keeper's Knowledge (Balancer's Soul cycle)

by Lee Morgan

  Sarah asked “How long have you been waiting for a child of your own.”

  “Close to two thousand years.” Connor said absently.

  The entire table was stunned into silence. Suddenly Firon looked at Connor with a flame of danger burning in his eyes. His lips drew back to reveal his menacing teeth and a deep rumbling emanated warningly in his chest. “How do you know of this, Child? Who told you? A Keeper hold onto their age as one of their most guarded secrets. Answer me.”

  Connor leaned forward and set his piercing hazel eyes on the angry Keeper. His voice took on a calm, cold and threatening tone. He was the perfect predator that shook everyone to their core. Connor radiated power and authority to which Firon just realized wasn’t an act. “I will answer your questions. First though, stop baring your teeth at me or else I will rip them out one at a time and force them down your throat.” Everyone gasped, and that meant everyone, except Connor as he didn’t even flinch or blink. “I will not say it again. Put. Your. Teeth. Away. Now.” Firon’s eyes lost their fire under Connor’s intense glare. His leathery lips drew back down over his teeth in a tense submission. Connor’s tone became much lighter and filled with positive emotion. “Now isn’t that much more pleasant. Conversations are much more enjoyable than threatening each other like mindless beasts.” Connor smiled and placed a calming hand on Sarah’s lap. “Now back to your question. I can roughly tell how old someone is simply by looking into your eyes.” Connor looked around to see that no one else was paying attention to their conversation. “What I say will not leave this table.” Connor’s hazel eyes looked calmly at everyone and softened when he looked at his love. “Sorry for scaring you like that, Princess.” He said in a private part of her mind that didn’t echo where the Keepers listened. He looked back to the largely muscled Keeper. “I have estimated the ages by the depths of someone’s eyes from studying my friends and family. Your eyes are no exception, Firon. I can even tell that you are about five to six thousand years old.”

  The atmosphere changed as Veronica made a rumbling and hissing laugh. Sarah’s eyes shifted up to her and her jaw tucked itself to her chest. Her eyelids were tightly closed and her teeth were showing as she laughed. When her eyelids finally opened her gold eyes looked over Sarah’s head and at Connor. “You got it right, Connor. Firon is indeed within that age range.”

  “Mother, how can you tell him such things? He is not one of us, our secrets must be kept.” Firon’s scaly brow furrowed and his jaw dropped slightly.

  “Can’t you see how different these two Hatchlings are? Or have you reached the point in your life where you cannot accept certain truths in change. Have you already forgotten what your father told you when you finally left your nest? He said; Never close off your mind to new possibilities else you will find yourself on the brink of death.” Then things became awkwardly silent.

  She placed her clawed hand behind Sarah’s back with careful gentleness. A feeling of safety blossomed. “Go ahead and just look at them.”

  Sarah interjected into her conversation by looking at her son. “Firon?” His yellow eyes cautiously looked over at her. “Before you look at our aura, you must never say anything to anyone about what you will see; without our expressed permission.” She said, using telepathy.

  At this time, only five beings were linked by minds; the three Keepers, Sarah and Connor. Sarah could see that much because her parents looked suddenly confused and left out of the conversation. She felt even more afraid to see Kara’s annoyed expression.

  Firon’s eyes went wide. “What do you know about Aura?”

  She focused energy into her eyes and looked directly at him. “I can tell that your energy is slightly larger than Veronica’s and your color is a dull yellow.”

  He took a deep breath and sighed. “How can I trust you with this secret that only we should know about?”

  Her eyes shifted to her mate. Connor nodded for her to continue and she then turned to look at him. “How about we make a small deal?” Firon put both arms up on the table and laced his four black clawed fingers together. He studied the two for a moment with his large yellow eyes and then he seriously nodded once with his large head. “Here is the deal for both you and Clarein.” Sarah smiled when she looked up at Veronica. “I already know I can trust you, so you’re safe from this deal.” Veronica smiled and winked. It went right over the others heads. “When you look at our aura, you may never tell another soul without our permission. If you tell even a single person I’ll tell every single Balancer we come across about this skill. Do you accept my terms?”

  Clarein placed a hand on his forearm and looked at Sarah. “We can accept those terms if it is necessary.”

  Sarah’s eyes zeroed in on her. “Then look at me first and judge if we are only speaking halfheartedly with you.” They nodded and Sarah felt their power rising and then they both looked directly at her. Simultaneously their eyes widened and shot up towards the ceiling and their large jaws dropped as far as they can go. Sarah smiled smugly. “Will this deal work or wont it?”

  With her mouth open Clarein said “Just how is this possible? No being can have so much…it cannot be…”

  Connor chucked at their expressions.

  Firon’s eyes looked to Conner and his eyes shot up to the ceiling for his energy as well; his breathing quickened in his large chest. “So you weren’t bluffing when you said you could rip my teeth out?” His thick throat swallowed before he finally looked at Sarah. “I will hold to the agreement that you have placed.”

  Connor spoke aloud “Good. Now everyone can join back in the enjoyable conversations.” Sarah noticed that both of her parents were a little perturbed with being left out, but they couldn’t learn about Aura for the terms to remain. Their minds are weaker and have no control to bar an intruder and it would be all too easy to learn if they know this skill. She couldn’t see either Mark or Kara, but Sarah knew Kara would be getting anxious and a little upset by now. She loves being part of conversations.

  Veronica changed the subject. “Connor, I have a question for you. Can you guess my age?”

  Connor smiled playfully. “Of course. I can guess that you are just over nine hundred thousand years old.”

  Veronica threw her head back and let out a laughing roar. It echoed inside the cavern and every head in the room turn in their direction. She beat the top of the table with her free right hand and the entire bench under them all bounced slightly for every hit she made. Her lips drew back to show Connor a playful smile. “You’re so extremely close, Connor. I am nine hundred thousand and two hundred years old.” Veronica looked over at Clarein and calmed her expression. “Child, just as Connor just revealed I have had to go eggless for hundreds of thousands of years until I could finally conceive. Do not worry about raising a child at so young an age, but if you would like I will let you watch over my child every now and then, while I raise it. It will give you better practice when your day finally arrives.”

  “Really?” Her purple eyes started twinkling. “That would be such an honor. I will be on my best behavior.” Veronica only smiled softly and inclined her head.

  Then the conversation changed.

  “Firon, I have two questions for you.” Connor started off. “Firstly, what does the Immortal Guard actually do?”

  He gave Sarah’s mate a leathery half smile and touched his pendant with a single black claw. “The Immortal Guard’s have three main duties that must be performed at any cost. Our number one duty is the protection of all of the Elders first and foremost. Their life will never see danger so long as we do our duty. We gladly lay down our lives so that they will live on and keep our way of life going for generations to come. Our second responsibility is being peace keepers during the meetings and our last task is to keep all humans away during the Mélange meetings. Don’t worry we do not hurt them usually, all we do is make the terrain unfavorable to hunters and hikers. There has been only one death of a human who saw too much, but that was over two hundred years
ago… What is your second question, Connor?”

  Connor smiled. “Up on the first floor, where I saw all the games,” Firon nodded. “This is my first time here and I don’t know what the special rules are. Can you explain them for me because I would love to play a little bit?”

  “Gladly.” Firon grinned. “We have fallen in love with your modern sports and have adapted our own regulations. For playing Baseball there are only allowed to be seven players on the field, when the other team is up to bat. All elemental abilities and powers are allowed, except for those who can fly. You may jump, but no flying. It keeps the game fair for those without the ability of flight. The bat and balls are a little different than usual. The baseball itself is made of solid steel and weighs approximately fifteen pounds and is the side of a cantaloupe. The bat is also made of solid steel and it is larger as well. Anyone may make a team if they get enough players to join them.

  “The wrestling platform doesn’t allow any ability’s to be used during the match. It is a test of strength and skill, nothing more. A Changer may change its shape before, but not during the match.

  “Finally the football and soccer field allows you to use every advantage you’ve got. There are only two rules; no fighting and no cheap shots. The soccer ball is made of wood and wrapped with rubber or leather. We learned quickly that claws puncture the normal balls. The football is also designed in the same way.”

  “Thank you for the advice.” Connor said sincerely.

  Kara changed the subject while speaking to no person in particular. “How come we have only seen two of the Elders? Do they come around here to eat too?”

  Mark answered for everyone’s benefit. “I’m sorry, but Elder Adela and Elder Alexander will be the only Elders that you will see until the meeting truly starts. They all reside in a restricted area that none may enter except for Elders or their Immortal Guard. Any person lurking around the restricted section will be escorted from the premises. The two elders we’ve met like associating with everyone. They like staying in touch with the people.”

  Sarah heard Kara say “That sounds logical. They are like government personnel who need protection from the outside dangers. I guess they must all have special treatments.”

  Everyone turned to Connor as he evenly said “I don’t know if they get special treatment, but I just hope that they see being an Elder as a burden and not a right.”

  “What do you mean, Brother?” She asked, trying to look around Veronica’s back. All Sarah could see was the very tip of her sandy blonde head as she leaned forward to better look. Veronica made a better wall than a window.

  “I mean to say that if they see their rule as a burden, they will rule fairly, but if they see things as a right they are easily corruptible. I’m not a person who tolerates those who gain status or power from hurting those below them.” Connor looked at Firon. “Do not worry, I will not hurt or even threaten anyone who is like that. I will remain polite as long as they are, even if I do not like it.”

  “I understand and agree with those words.” In a cautionary thought Firon said “Do me a favor. Do not say that to anyone else, especially to an Elder or else I or another guardsman will have no choice, but to detain you.”

  “I can handle that.” Connor grinned. “By the way, would you all like to do this again?” he meant gathering for a meal.

  “I find it refreshing and exhilarating. These discussions make my heart race with excitement I haven’t felt in centuries. Count me in.” Veronica said cheerfully. “I will be here for supper at around eight.”

  “I too will be here. You are all…unusual to speak with.” Clarein admitted.

  “I cannot sadly.” Firon said with a sigh. “I am on guard duty once I leave here. I won’t get relieved until midnight or so.”

  “We understand Mr. Firon.” Kara chirped. “We will all keep Clarein company. I think we could become good friends.” Veronica chuckled at her daughter-in-law when her jaw dropped. “What’s so funny about what I said, Veronica?”

  “Dear child, even as old as I am I have only seen a claw full of persons and Keeper befriend another, but your group makes friends as quickly as a heart can beat. This is a very unusual case, but I’m thrilled to be a part of it.” Veronica looked at each one of her new friends. “I’m going to check out the games. Would anyone like to accompany me?”

  “Sarah and I will shortly, but first we need to clean our clothes first. We will meet up with you soon.” Connor said happily.

  “We all have to clean up from our trip.” Jack said evenly.

  “How about the sooner we finish, the sooner we can play?” Jillian said while wearing a playful grin.

  Connor grabbed the trays and dropped down to the stone floor. Sarah grabbed the mugs he left behind on the table and landed as well. Soon everyone else did. The three Keepers simply stood up and carried their empty trays and large mugs. Then Sarah noticed something. The room had grown still and completely silent. She looked around to see every eye in the room silently watching as they walked across the ground. The Keepers table looked confused, the Changers silver eyes looked dangerous and the Balancers seemed slightly amused.

  Connor bumped her with his right hip. “Don’t worry about them. They won’t try anything until they figure out why we were all sitting together.”

  Feeling reassured, she followed him over to the return area. Each one of them put away their things and walked back to the pillar. All the while she felt almost naked under everyone’s silent stare.

  They arrived back on level two again and the younger immortals separated from the group. Veronica and the others continued climbing up.

  Sarah grabbed her smelly and previously worn clothes and so did Connor. They made it to the bath house before the others. Both bowed to the Keeper and received two boxes of detergent in a large plastic bucket and went their separate ways. Sarah filled the bucket up half way with warm water and poured in a few small scoops of detergent and threw all her clothes inside. She hand scrubbed every article of clothing, careful when scrubbing her undergarments since lace is delicate material. During scrubbing her mother and sister-in-law silently sat close by and did their own laundry. Sarah then poured the soapy and dirty water into a drain and washed each piece of clothing until the soap detergent was all washed away. She folded her wet clothes and concentrated. Sarah easily steamed out every single drop of water from her clothes using the ability of Fire to evaporate the water from the fabric. She remained careful so as to not burn the clothes to ash. Both Jillian and Kara saw this and asked for help and she did it for them gladly. Soon after they had pleasant and warm clothes.

  Connor waited outside again for Sarah, but this time not alone as her father and Mark sat with dry clothes themselves. She guessed Connor had the same idea, only he must have used Liquid and pulled the moisture out from the clothes themselves. Then they soon departed together and put their clothes in their rooms.

  The six of them made their way up the steps and back to level one for some fun.

  Kara and Mark took the lead to the top level cavern. Sarah walked in front of Connor and he could feel her excitement building. Behind them followed his in-laws talking amongst themselves. Connor kept changing his mind about which sport he’d like to try out first. He eventually ended up deciding to watch and learn from others until he felt comfortable enough to try it out for himself.

  Connor finally saw a pair of Changers walking down the stairs and passing them. Then they heard the roar of a Keeper and the loud cheering of a crowd. He saw the lights at the end of the tunnel and they all walked out of the stairwell. In front of him was the playing fields and Connor remembered the wrestling arena lay behind them.

  He became surprised and a little shocked to see how easily it was to distinguish between Changers and Balancers without looking directly at their eyes.

  Changers wore the least amount of clothes possible and they didn’t carry weapons. That is because their bodies are the weapons. Connor saw that almost every Change
r in the room was transformed in some way and most looked like some kind of hybrid animal. Winged humans were also common. Some had colored their skin like vibrant fish. It became unsettling seeing some women with blue and red hues, but they were stunning. One male stood with arms twice as long and thick as they should have been, he was covered with brown hair and his hands were twice the size of a large man. He looked like a gorilla as he walked on his knuckles and short back legs. One or two other wolves of almost similar build to Mark and his sister’s were meandering about, but their fur wasn’t as developed or as streamlined. It must be Mark’s special trademark signature. There were many feline hybrid Changers who walked on all fours. Some males had manes like a lion and the shoulder muscles to back it up. Then there was this Changer with a long snout, tusks and coarse hair; he mirrored a boar. Connor saw a group of female Changers walking over towards the football arena and four of the women looked like leopards and the other two females were the same, but they also had wings that were tucked against their sides. All of the women wore leather bikinis with a hole in their bottoms for their tails. No one seemed to care because this is the one place where they didn’t need to hide who they were or what they could do.

  Kara noticed others of her kind and grinned at Mark. “Race Ya!” She stepped over to her left and her eyes began to glow. They heard her bone’s fracturing all over her body. She started to steadily get taller and her fingernails started growing to become claws. Her mouth and nose grew and became a muzzle. Her rounded ears curved and became pointed. Her ears then swiveled back and forth as she tested them. The hair on the back of her head grew down to the middle of her shoulder blades. Her human teeth grew and sharpened into canines. Connor then saw Kara produce a tail from the back of her pants as her fur began to grow. She dropped down to all fours just as wings started protruding from her back and they were sandy blonde colored. The wings she made were like that of a hawk; sleek and speedy. Her feathers were all glossy and the shapes of her wings were perfect for flight. Her pupils were no longer circular, but were now almond shaped slits. Her lips pulled back to reveal sharp canine teeth. Then her expression dimmed. “Aw man, how did you beat me?” She said in her deep animalistic voice.