Harmonizer's Evolution (Balancer's Soul cycle) (44 page)

“Connor, what’s happening? I cannot see what you can.”

“The chamber is almost through filling up.”

He let out a strained laugh. “At least you were right about
the strength of your shield. We are still dry, at least.”

Connor
watched as
they
began rising with the water and soon touched the roof. About twenty seconds more
came
the breaking point. “The shield is holding steady, even with all this water pressure. The room is also completely flooded. Now we can leave.”

Using the power over Liquid,
he
manipulated the water like a
n air current. Soon they
were carried a
long the roof and all the way under
the hole. Still using
sonar
,
Connor
saw that the hole was more than large enough to carry
them
.

Once the currents positioned
them
under the hole,
they
began to rise.

Within seconds they
were fr
ee of the underwater shaft and he
stopped using sonar. It was still so eerily dark around the sphere
now
that two of
his senses were severed. Knowing they
were rising,
he
felt
the level of his
energy reserves.
He
was still running
at
about
ninety percent. Then
the higher they rose
the gradual ease of t
he water’s pressure let up on the
shield. It
remained
completely dark, but
he
could swear “We’re going faster.” Mark stated
first
.

“Yeah, I can feel it too. The higher we go the less pressure holds us down and that also means our speed is increasing.”
Connor
admitted.

As the
ascent continued
they
saw that the
darkness
began peeling away
. He
looked up and
caught the
first glimpse of sunlight. The Pacific Ocean’s surface rapidly approached. Soon the water turned a dark blue and then it became brighter and brighter.

Suddenly
the
dangerous ascent
came to an end
when
they
broke the surface.
They
were assaulted by sunlight and the freedom
felt
ever so sweet.
Then as they
floated above the water
Connor
altered
the shape of the bubble into a
n open
cup. The salty fresh air seemed to make
his
body sing
for joy and the wind tussled his
hair.
He
was glad the air pressure in the tunnel
had been
roughly the same as it is up here
on the surface
. Otherwise
they
would be stuck in a decompression chamber for hours, if not days.

“Uh, Connor?” He
turned around to see Mark smiling. “Not to give you a big head or anything, but that was amazing. But now what? Look around, there is nothing
around
to see
,
except ocean.”

He was right. Surrounding
them
were only
salty
waves
and horizon
. “There has to be a reason why the tunnel was heading in this direction. I can
almost
guarantee that if we continue heading west, we will pick up the trail again.
I’m looking for aura, but cannot see anything from here.
”

“You’ve been right so far, but if I’m to fly I’ll need some assist
ance. If my wings get wet, flying won’t be an option.”

They
grasped each oth
er
’
s forearm. While holding him Connor
poured energy into
his
legs and began flying by using Pressure. Mark fo
llowed and he
then stopped the continuing energy to the Pressure shield and watched as the spread out water
collapsed and
returned to normal.

Once
they
were high enough Mark opened his wings and began flying. Soon
they
began flying higher while going west again.

Not even fifteen minutes later in
their
slow
ly sweeping
search Mark pointed. “Connor, look!”

His
best friend spotted a large island
in the distance that
looked
mostly green with a white sandy beach, but it had slopes like a
small
volcano in the center. But even from here
Connor
could tell it has been dormant for several hundred years. Then all the hairs on the back of
his
neck began rising. “Mark, Stop Right There!”

It was harder for Mark
to stop than for
himself
. He circled around while keeping an eye on the island. “Connor, what’s the problem?”

“Give me a minute.” He
tried using sonar, but
the island was too far out of his
fiv
e mile range.
Then his vision altered when searching for
aura. Mark listened as he heard
the tense
assessment. “That island has recently been swarming with Keepers. It’s hard to tell how many because all of the auras are blending together.
There are so many colors, but my instinct is also letting me know that we’ve caught the trail again.
But I can tell you
right now
that most of the
Keepers
have left within the past week. There are
only
a handful of signatures that are recent.
I’d guess no more than six are
still
present
ly down there
.”

Mark
made another pass around
him
before asking “Well what is the big problem? Between the two of us, we can handle six Keepers.”

Wi
thout taking his eyes off the target he
answered him. “I know we can take them on, but we wouldn’t be able to rescue Sorono if we
were to
just barge
in. T
hey would kill him if they heard us. Plus,
many
Keepers have the ability to sense when someone is using their energy. They would sense me if I went any closer.”

Within a second Mark camp up with the best solution. “If that is the case, then you stop using your powers and ride on my back.
Aren’t you glad I’m here or else you’d have gone for a swim?” He grinned. “
We cannot fly in from this height, but if we fly just above the water we can make a stealthy infiltration.
And j
ust incase things need to go the hard way…” Mark’s pupils lit up and all of his
loose
black fur began fusing together in
to
a strong
solid
armor.
Soon Mark’s body
became
perfectly streamlined and prepared for a fight.

Mark finally looked at him
and commanded “Get on.”

Not needing to be told twice
,
Connor
flew above him and stopped flying
. He
landed behind
Mark’s
wings and on his armored back. Once
Mark
knew that
he
was secure he dove at an angle and then leveled off less than ten feet above the water
’
s surface. As
they
made
a
swift approach
Connor’s
instinct told
him they
weren’t in danger at the moment.
They
still
had to be vigilant.

Mark’s wings beat, but the ocean’s sounds were drowning them out. He was like a swift and focused raptor
, ready to catch his prey. Now Connor had to rely on Mark
since he
had
put his faith in
him
not too long ago.

The island was large, but Connor
couldn’t see the first sign of
human
habitation
, but that was to be expected from seeing all of the local Keepers who most likely call
ed
this place home. The island was clad with palm and coconut trees. Just from the outside look, this place
seemed
like
an undiscovered paradise, but his
instinct let
him
know that it was more like a cursed island.

Thanks to his
best friend’s aid
,
they
crossed from water to land.

Connor
jumped off his back just and
Mark landed into a run himself. They
ran together
, straight into the tree cover. H
e slipped
Tool from i
ts loop and held it tightly in his
right hand. Mark also drew his we
apon and held it in his left. They
found a
thick
thicket and
silently ran for it. Once they
were there
,
it
grew
silent except for the sounds of the
nearby
crashing waves.

Mark spoke at an animalistic whisper. “What’s the plan, Buddy?”

It did
n’t take him
long to access the situation. “First, we aren’t going to split up in our search. It would be foolish to search the island in broad daylight so I’ll need you to see if you can smell us out some fruits
while we wait
. We’ll eat until nightfall and then begin our search.”

“That is a good idea. Normal Keepers see just as well in the dark as most humans. It seems Harmonizers can see at night just as well as we Changers can.”

Not long after, Mark caught the scent of fresh fruit.
Connor
used
Tool to effortlessly slice thr
ough the two hundred coconuts they
retrieved and Mark used his sword to cut down some bananas and he even found a
wild
patch of pineapples.

Within four hours
,
night had overtaken and
they
resumed
their
search.
They
stayed close to each other as
they
combed the island. Mark’s sense of smell collaborated with
Connor’s
assessment that many Keepers left a week ago. Soon
they
stumbled upon
an unbelievable amount of
Keeper tracks.
Connor
was taken aback upon a closer inspection of one of the prints. “Mark, come take a look at this.”

He trotted to his
side and looked closely at the print. “That’s strange. It is definitely a Keepers footprint, but it isn’t shaped right. This claw here is too short and this one on his other foot looks to be curved almost…sideways.” Mark’s head swerved to look up at
him
. “What do you think it means?”

He
crossed
his
arms. “Honestly, I haven’t a single clue.”

They
left the print and resumed
the
search.

They
stuck mainly to the shadows and found many
disturbing
things.
There were large huts made for many Keepers to live inside and they were built in inconspicuously with the palm trees. From the sky
,
the huts wouldn’t be seen. There were several large round stones
, like a platform,
that ha
s
been damaged by claw marks and dried blood. Mark said aloud that from the looks of it, they were fighting for a long time before
their
arriv
al
.
Connor
wish
ed that he
didn’t feel the same. There were also a few places that they grew food
like a farm
.

He
followed Mark when he caught the scent of something fresh
, but he said it
smelled like
cooked and decaying meat
. What it led to would make a human throw up the contents of their stomach. Mark led
them
to a place of carnage
and death
.