Harmonizer's Evolution (Balancer's Soul cycle) (43 page)

“I know…
I was there to hear you say the same thing to Veronica.” Then he blinked when he had a thought. “Now that we know that this was a trap, why did Ranvan capture Sorono? Why not kill him out
right
?”

“I’ve got a feeling that something big is in the works. If I was Ranvan
,
I’d take out my only competition and right now that would be Sorono. Only a
H
armonizer is equipped powerfully enough to take on another brother. I seriously doubt he knows about me and that will be something of an advantage. But if he captured my brother
,
I’d guess it would be to keep him alive to see something that will cripple his convictions
. Just like how Sorono came runnin
g after the tsunami to save lives
, I’m afraid Ranvan is up to something even more diabolical.”

Mark
became
quiet and then turned to look down the pure darkness of the tunnel. “If you honestly believe that
,
th
e
n so will I. If Sorono is still alive right now I think two Harmonizers should work together and take out this homicidal reptile. We’ve spent enough time talking, now’s the time that we need to hurry.”

“Alright, from what I’ve seen, the tunnel heads directly west towards the tsunami’s destruction. We run together.”

Mark liked the
unsophisticated idea.

Soon they
were running and he stuck to
Connor’s
left.
He
placed a small Pressure shield in front of the fire so it wouldn’t flicker out when
they
ran as quickly and as safely as possible.
The fir
eball was a life saver because they
were able to see a few hundred feet ahead. Luckily the tunnel was straight and perfect.

They
ran for over an hour and
then
the tunnel began to decline
slightly, but uniformly
.
They
both knew by the increasing coldness that
they
were now under the ocean. Mark stuck closer, if anything should happen he knew h
e would be completely safe by
his best friend’s side.

They
then continued going deeper for another three hours.

Suddenly they
had to stop.
Mark and Connor
were barely able to manage
it
before slamming headfirst into a stone wall.
Connor
walked
up and felt the stone
to find
it had
never been altered. Mark sat on his haunches and
they
were both breathing heavily
, but not in an exhausted way
. “What do we do now, Buddy? We’ve reached a dead end after all this work. Maybe we’ve just taken another false trail?”

He
then began looking around
,
fearing
Mark’s
question wo
uld prove to be true. And then he
looked straight up. “Maybe. Maybe
not
.”

“What do you…” He was silenced when he looked up to where
Connor
pointed. Mark blinked several times
b
efore
finally being able to speak. “What is up with the ceiling? Is it cracked? Where does it lead to?”

“Let me check.” He
activated sonar and
his
jaw dropped. “Mark, you are really not going to like this
…
I’m
so
glad you’re not a feline.”

He then let out a worn out whine. “What
now
?”

“Above this roof is
about a hundred feet of sand
or so
, but
above that is about
t
wo
and a half
miles
of ocean water bearing down on us. It will take far too much energy for me to create a tunnel that long while holding back that much seawater. I could do it, but I would become
practically
useless
afterwards
.”

He sighed and looked down. “Great… What other option is there?
At this depth it wouldn’t help even if I made gills to breathe. There wouldn’t be enough oxygen
down
at th
is
depth. And w
e will
be too tired if we have to run all the way back
to the starting position again
.
”

Connor’s
mind instantly came up with the only reasonable solution.
“There is only one option left to us
then
. Ranvan had help making a tunnel to the surface where as all there is, is me. Remember how I made a Pressure shield to search
up in
the
upper
atmosphere?” He no
dded hesitantly. “We can use that
same possibility. Nothing would be able to breach the shield and if I use the same atmospheric pressure, we won’t need to worry about decompressing
or hypoxia
. We would be safe when breaching the surface and not worry about dying.”

Mark then raised his clawed arm to
wards
the darkness
of the tunnel
. “Even if your plan
were
possible, we would be washed
all the
back
up
the tunnel because the rushing water would carry us that way
anyway
.
We would be stuck for a ride that is several hundred miles long.”

He shook his
head. “Not if I make the stone rise and make this piece of tunnel into a dive chamber. It would only take seconds for the room to fill and then I could manipulate Liquid to make a current and lift us away to safety.”

Mark’s jaw
hung
. “You can really do that?” Then he shook his head in attempt to clear it
and not look overly astonished
. “Never mind. You wouldn’t say something with such conviction and not be able to come through.” He sighed deeply. “Can you give me a minute to think?”

“Sure, and I’ll join you.”

They silently
walked over to the solid wall
that ended the tunnel and sat against it. Connor
continued using a miniscule amount of energy to keep the flowing fireball alive
,
over
his
left hand.
They
the
n finally were able to catch their
breath and Mark looked at
him
.

“This Pressure bubble thing, are you sure it can withstand the oceans compression without
it
collapsing?” Connor
nodded
because last night’s feeling
really
was unbreakable
.
“Does t
hat also mean that we have to l
o
se our only light source too?” He
nodded again, but grimly. Mark sighed and looked at his claws. “I guess that it wouldn’t really matter because we wouldn’t be able to s
ee more than a few inches in the dark abyss of the ocean
.” Mark
then looked deadly serious at him
as he spoke in his deep animalistic voice. “I’ll do it, but only if you are sure we won’t die.”
He
did
n’t sound worried for himself.

Connor
spoke in all honesty. “I am completely positive in my strength. Sorono is my brother, but Sarah is my life. I would never risk anything if it meant that I couldn’t come home to her. She needs me
,
as do my children. And it is the same with you and Kara. I can see that you’d do this
without a thought
, but you’re worried for your mate
’s future
. Trust me. If I cannot bring everyone home alive safely I wouldn’t even try a foolish stunt. I’ve reserved that right for my sister.”

Mark let out a choked laugh.
“You know her so well.” he smiled for another minute and then stood up. “What can I do to help?”

Connor
stood up and patted his bulky head. “Just stay there and be a good boy.”
Mark
shook his head
and sighed
as
his friend
turned
his
back to him.

This next test would be the ultimate performance of the defensive properties of Pressure. Feeling a
nxious
i
s an understatement. Connor’s
heart
best with
fear, but the rest of him
felt remarkably calm. If Sarah was here rat
her than Mark, she would tell him
to run back to the beginning and fly westward. She
i
s cautious wher
e as he
liked a challenge. Now
i
s
the
time
to
face it head on
.

He
looked down the dark tunnel and focused
his
mind for this insane task. The ground began to shake once Terra was in use. The tunnel began slowly collapsing from both the top and bottom for over a hundred feet.
His
control was perfect because the entire tunnel didn’t collapse in on
them
. Soon the back end of the tunnel sealed.

Now
they
were in a sealed compartment
that was about to become a
makeshift
dive chamber.

Connor
turned around to see a frightened yet calm Fwen. “Mark, come and hold onto my shoulder because it is going to get very dark.”
Mark
pushed himself on his back legs as
his friend
turned back around. He then plac
ed his clawed hands on each of his
shoulders and told
him
that he was ready.

After the power to the flame
stemmed and winked out
. Darkness completely enveloped
them
in its embrace
. It
i
s one of the first times that
Connor’s
sharp
sense of sight was completely useless. This
i
s total darkness. Mark didn’t like it ei
ther because his hand squeezed Connor’s
shoulder a bit tighter, making sure nothing would separate
them
.
Mark’s
breath
felt
hot and slow on the back of
his
neck.
Mark
actually began shaking nervously.

Connor
began activating
his
sonar and knew the room would be lit from
his
glowing eyes.
W
hile seeing
everything
,
he
began creating an impenetrable bubble of Pressure to surround both
him
self and Mark.

Soon the sphere
became
complete, without any imperfections.

Once the shield finished
growing
he
began using Terra again. This time
he
began spreading the earth apart in a wide circle. It started opening from the ocean’s surface and began basic
ally drilling its way down to them
.

When all the hairs on the back of
his
neck began standing
he
said “
Mark, hang on. Here it comes!” H
e held on just a little more tight
ly.
Luckily
the
chainmail kept his
sharp
claws from digging into
his
shoulders.

Moments later
the ceiling began to
crack, but because of the shield
’s construction
they couldn’t hear anything. Connor
then killed the flow of energy
over Terra
once the first drop of water entered the chamber.

Without any more help
,
the ceiling’s crack blew into a raging torrent. The force of the water knocked the bubble back against the wall
,
while
also knocking off Mark’s and his balance. They
cursed, but the shield held. The water battered against the
bubble
and Connor
could quickly feel the pressure of the
water trying to crush them. Mark and he
then quickly stood back up while still hearing nothing.