Harmonizer's Evolution (Balancer's Soul cycle) (54 page)

“Bite me.”
Pearl harrumphed and stopped transmitting. Then she took her bottle back and slowly finished it off.

Sarah looked at
Connor
while smiling and shaking her head.

Around ten in the morning
Connor
felt the approach of someone.

Shannon sat be
tween Sarah and him
self
, on the sofa
.
He
was holding
his
daughter
while
his
son rest
ed
contently
in his car seat.
Jenny
called earlier and said she couldn’t miss another day’s work. She said she needed to keep up
appearances. Jillian contacted them
by telepathy and said if something comes up to contact her so that she and Jack could c
ome over then. Mark, Kara and his
grandparents were all sitting around the dining room table
,
playing poker with no stakes
. That didn’t make it any less fun. Actually
Rhoda
was in the lead.

Connor
stood up slowly an
d caught everyone’s attention. He
spoke evenly “Someone is on their way. Come with me to see who arrived first.”

Kara was the first to the door and grinned. She
was out first and the rest of them
followed her outside. “Brother, where are they coming from?”

His
feet crunched the grass as
his
stride walked right past her. She and everyone followed all the way to the center of
the
yard.
He
spun around and looked north
, above his
home. Sarah
came
by
his
side as she
now held Darrel in her arms. S
he smiled as he
projected
his mind to the south, established connection and
said
“Jillian, our first guest is on the way.”

Her mind w
ent
immediately on alert.
“We’ll be right there.”

Less than a minute later
he
sensed their approach. Soon
the
in-laws arrived and stood beside Sarah.
What was surprising was that Jillian wore her dagger on her hip and Jack ca
rried his metal club,
Haunt. Connor
didn’t have
the time to ask as he
felt an active energy coming in
their
direction. Looking to
the
side, Sarah sensed it too and was looking directly
towards
the source.

Sarah then stated. “I only feel one person heading our way. It
must be Xaon.”

Two minutes later
,
a large shadow arrived.
Connor’s
instinct told
him
it was a benevolent creature. It was a large male Keeper with long and well muscled arms. He swooped down and landed before
their
stationary line. His large
,
black scaled head was glossy as it reflected the sunlight.
He had something large strapped to his back because rope crossed over his sea blue robe. Then
Connor
looked into
a pair of
large
,
reddish orange eyes.

Then a familiar mind reached for
theirs
when the eyes connected with
Connor’s
.
“It is very good to see you again, Connor. The Head Elder requested that I search you out for further orders. Apparently this is an emergency
situation
. Before we greet each other, may I ask what is going on? I do not need all the details, just a simple overview of the situation.”

David stood to his
right and was looking at the Keeper before him, but his look said he didn’t hear a word. “Granddaddy, please hold Pearl for a minute.” He blinked and took over
the
care of
his grand
daughter.

Connor
took a few steps forward. “It is good to see you too, old friend. If you want a simple answer, we are preparing for war!” Xaon stepped closer in wonder. He then
knelt to look more closely at him
. “We have
approximately three months to prepare. Is that enough of a simplification?”

“Will this be a worthy fight?”

“That it will. There will be many lives lost, but maybe you might survive.”

Xaon’s lips drew back into a barred
and excited
smile.
“Then this will be the challenge of a lifetime. Will it be more exciting than our last match?”
Connor
grinned back.
“Then I’m in. I haven’t had a decent
life or death
battle in over millennia.”
Xaon looked behind him
and then back.
“So what will you have me do?”

“First we wait until our other guests arrive. I’ll explain what to do after that. In the mean time, I’d like to introduce you to my grandparents
,
who are human so don’t
forcibly
enter their minds
,
and my childr
en.” Connor
then raised
a
hand to him.
“Before you meet them, how have you been, Xaon?”
He only smiled happily.

He offered his clawed finger and
they
greeted one another. He then greeted everyone in the line. He was deeply fascinated with meeting Shannon and bot
h of his
children.
Xaon seemed
only mildly surprised to hear that
Connor
had a son. While he did the rest of his greetings
,
Connor witnessed
that
Xaon
had a Japanese katana strapped to his back.
T
he sword was the longest he’d
seen and also made from Dark Steel.
He
remembered Xaon
once
saying he spent time studying Japanese baseball, but he also must like their trademark weaponry.

About an hour later Xaon, Sarah and
Connor
sensed two
strong
energies coming this way.
They
all lined up again as the two figures appeared and landed approximately where Xaon
first
did.

As they landed, Shannon broke from the group shouting
“Big Brother! Clarein!”
The two tall keepers dropped to their knees and allowed Shannon to visit them. After their short reunion
,
they looked up at
the others
.

Firon’s
large eyes were a
lighter
shade of gold than his mother’s and his sister’s. Even as he knelt
,
he radiated strength and absolute pride.
Around his throat hung his necklace with a pendant made of gold
, designed
with a shield with crossed swords. It
i
s the crest of the Immortal Guard.
Hung around his left shoulder was a large bag that clang with metal when it moved. His
mate Clarein looked at all of them
with a calm pride.
Her amethyst eyes swept over the
group and returned them to Shannon who just climbed into her lap.

Xaon and Connor
walked closer to t
hem for a greeting. Firon met his
eyes and stated
“Connor, it is heartening to see that you are well. My mother has explained the situation and ordered me to listen to your command until the Head Elders arrive. What is your first order?”

H
e
looked at the three Keepers and sighed. After bolstering
him
self
,
he
managed to speak with complete authority. “Since time is a major factor
,
I
’ll
need you three to help me. W
e need to
summon every immortal to this location. The only way to do this is to initiate an emergency Keeper’s
Call.” Everyone went silent as he
continued. “As all Keeper’s know
in their laws
, when three Keeper’s send out this message
,
it is an emergency gathering of all immortals. The three of you have the strength to accomplish this task. The sooner everyone gathers
,
the better chance we will have
of survival
.”

Xaon was the first to speak.
“Connor, there has only been one emergency meeting
even
in my
life
time
. Are things
truly this
serious?”

Firon answered for
him with the upmost seriousness
.
“From what my mother has
explained
, this isn’t some game. You know she is the mate to Head Elder Sorono. If he is doing what I think he is, this situation is
more than
dire.
We must to this immediately.”

Xaon took those words to heart as he realized the gravity of the situation. But it took only a few seconds to see a challenging fire light in his eyes.

“Little one,”
Clarein said to Shannon.
“I must stand
alone
to do this. Please hop off and stand back
… thank you.”

Connor
held out
a
hand and Shannon took it.
They
moved away as her brother and Clarein stood up in perfect synchronicity.  Firon dropped the large bag on the ground and he stood between Xaon and his mate.

The three sleek looking Keepers stood almost shoulder to shoulder as the rest watched
on
quietly. Each one of them closed their eyes as an enormous amount of power was being summoned. Wherever their skin and claws showed
,
it began to brighten. Xaon gathered his power much more quickly th
a
n Firon and he did so faster than Clarein. Soon their bodies glowed a bright white. Then when Xaon reached his peak
,
a
mild
shockwav
e released from his body.
It felt like a single blast of wind.

The first Call was sent out.
And every immortal present heard
a
sound that was similar to a grand
iron
bell
being struck
and
then felt
an
immediate
attraction to Xaon. They
each received a temporary bond
from his call
. Sarah and Connor
prepared the twin’s
for what to expect last night
and they didn’t cry
o
ut
in fright
thanks to
the forewarning.
It still scared them a bit, though.

Xaon dropped heavily to his knees
as his body ceased to glow. Then Firon released his Call and he too dropped to his knees. Finally Clarein released hers and stopped glowing.

As all three calls were sent, there was no turning back whatsoever.

The three Keepers were all on their hands and knees while panting heavily. Each on
e
of them had almost completely drained their energy levels. Sending out a Keeper’s
C
all drain
ed
the caller of almost all their
inner
strength, but it gives an attraction
to
every immortal in the world
,
directly
to them.

Rhoda
broke the silence. “Are all of you ok!? Why did you collapse!?”

Kara looked at her and asked “Grandma, did you hear or feel anything?”

“Nothing except
for the
three
large
gusts of wind.”

Kara crossed her arms. “Huh, so humans really cannot feel the bond. Don’t worry, they will regain their strength soon enough. Soon this place is going to be crawling with other immortals. If you or Granddaddy come around here, stick close to me
for protection
.”

David
still
cradled
Pearl as he asked “Why do we need a babysitter?”