Harmonizer's Evolution (Balancer's Soul cycle) (66 page)

She
lo
oked up and smiled. “Good catch!
”

Veronica smiled back and a hissing chuckle escaped her throat.
“It was a close one, I’ll admit. I’m thoroughly impressed on how developed you are defensively. Even before I became Sorono’s mate I’ve never met a single person
who could fight
off
my moves
so well.”
Then Veronica’s eyes widened and looked to each of her sides. She then released her hold and
Sarah
regained
her
balance.

Sarah
then looked around like
her friend
. The first thing that
she
noticed was how
eerily
silent things were. Then her
sight explained why. Everyone in the arena and those outside were staring openly at the two of
them
. Every single species had on a dumbfounded expression in the exact same way that they showed during t
he fight between
their
two mates. It made
Sarah
feel extremely self-conscious
as her ears began to burn
.

Some quiet voice behind
her
asked “Sarah?” and
she turned around to see her
sister Amber. She
looked
as astounded like all others. Then her voice regained its usual life. “How did you…? When did you get so…”

“Connor.” She
said in answer. It took her
sibling
several seconds
for her
to understand what that meant.

Then her
eyes surveyed the ground. “Veronica, it looks like we’ve made a mess of our square.” She looked around and agreed.

Everyone gave
them
a wide berth as
they
collected the scattered debris with
their
powers and brought it back to
their
site.
Veronica had the honors of repairing the ground. It took only a few seconds.

Veronica looked around and stated to all
“Please, will everyon
e get back to work and stop gawk
ing
at us so oddly. We were only sparring. It isn’t like we’re going to grow another head or something.”
No one seemed to have heard her so she looked
down
.
“Sarah, shall we head back?”
She
nodded.

Everyone’s eyes remained fixed on
them as they
wal
ked off the stage and towards their
men and children.

By the time
they returned
, they were sitting side by side on th
e stone bench while watching their
approach. They both were showing smug expression. Then as
they
turned down the table directly towards them, Shannon was standing in the middle of the aisle.
She walked right up to Veronica and said
“Mother, what happened? Everyone suddenly went silent a few minutes ago and all I could hear were very loud cracking sounds like thunder after a lightning strike.”

Veronica looked over to the men and the twins and asked
“Sorono, did you see what we did?”
he nodded.
“Then why didn’t you tell her?”

“Because she wanted to hear it from you.”

She grunted and knelt down to explain what had happened. While she did that
Sarah
walked closer to
her
husband.

Getting closer to the table
she
saw that both of
her
c
hildren were both fast asleep. She
slid onto th
e bench and sat directly beside
her
mate
. She
whispered “What happened? They were both wide awake when I left them.”

He t
hen laid his left hand behind her
lower back and
put his lips close to
her
ears and a thrill shot through
her
body when he began to speak silently and softly. “They both became bored when they saw you waiting in line. They couldn’t entertain themselves for long and they drifted into their dreams. I was surprised
that
all the noise the two of you made didn’t wake them. I believe they could sleep through a cannon blast once they head into la la land.” Then he changed the subject, but kept whispering into
her
ear while exotic
sensations continued to excite her
. “By the way, I’m astounded at your progress. Those were very developed moves that you implemented out there. Your defensive skills have developed to perfection. I only showed you that stance once and you mastered it.
I counted that you parried three thousand six hundred and
nine
attacks that were thrown at you. Very impressive for a one minute fight. I’m proud of you.”

She
then turn
ed her
head and gestured for him to bring his ear closer. Once he did
she
used
her
most seductive voice while whispering. “So show me your appreciation tonight and I hope
you
can last longer than a minute.”

Connor’s face went scarlet after he
choked
on his brea
th. Then his hazel eyes met hers
and seemed to glaze over
with desire
. The smile he soon wore said
‘
I’ll take on your challenge, Princess.
’

They
both smile in a euphoric expectation.

About twenty minutes later Kara and Mark returned to
the
group. They sat across from
Connor and the kids
and she was the
only one who sighed heavily. Kara
looked
human again and her playful silver eyes met
Sarah’s
and then she grinned. “Sarah, after your demonstration earlier I finally gotten my match. I paired up with a Keeper named Josephine and she kicked my butt. I pulled everything my body knew and every single move that was made was thwarted by her. She sure gave me some lessons that needed my talents in
self-
healing.
She even broke through my armor
and dislocated my shoulder
.
” Then she looked over at Mark and smiled evilly at him and then
met Sarah’s
eyes again. “And this lug of mine actually taught his Keeper many lessons. He didn’t
even get a single scratch on his coat.
My Honey is an excellent hand to hand fighter
…” for the rest of the time Kara explained
,
in detail
,
everything she did. Mark just sat there while listening and not saying a word. He just allowed her to ramble
on
.

Two hours later Sarah’s
parents and sister and her mate had arrived and told
everyone
all that they had accomplished.

Elder Adela and Alexander found
them some time later
. They had brought
their
large group over
a
meal. It was unexpected, but graciously excepted. Then Darrel awoke at the smell of food and
Sarah
mashed up half of a banana and he liked its taste almost as much as chocolate or a
cherry
popsicle.
After
they
ate
a
meal Sorono said he had some duties to attend to. He th
en excused himself and allowed them
to remain with
their
company.

The day had progressed quite smoothly and only a few injuries needed to be tended to. All in all the day’s work was a success.

Then as the sun had begun to set behind the trees
Sarah
thought it would be close
enough
to head
home. That was until she
felt Sorono’s familiar mind. His tone carried complete authority.
“Attention everyone!”
T
he entire clearing had quieted and even some Keepers who were in their cabin had come outside.
Sarah
turned
her
head to see Sorono’s large form standing in front of the Elders cabins. He stood before the nine other Elder Keeper’s who
also
stood
with ancient authority
.
“
Please excuse this interruption. All Elders have finally arrived. Now I must ask that they join me in my cabin. I also request that Veronica, Sarah and Connor come as well.”

Sorono and the other Keepers turned around and headed
back
into the central cabin. Two Immortal Guard protected the entrance.

Fee
ling confused for some reason, she
sought Connor’s hand and found
it
exactly what
she
needed. Their
eyes met and
she
asked “What does he want with us?”

He spoke calmly and surely. “It is time that we start our strategizing.” He then turned his gaze on another. “Bud, will you…”

“Watch the kids?” Mark assumed. “Sure thing. I think Kara and I can hold down the fort until you arrive.”

Sarah
then added. “
If we don’t return by eight, you can go ahead and take them home for bedtime.
I’ve left their bottles in the fridge.
”

“Awe Mommy, can’t we stay up tonight?”
Darrel asked in a winy mental voice. He then pouted when
she shook her
head seriously.

Mark agreed as Connor and Sarah
stood up.

Veronica took the lead as they
began con
verging towards the cabin. As they
approached
,
the Guard
’s
allowed
them
passage and entered the room.

Inside it was basic and had very few comforts. The ground
became
solid and the walls remained how they looked outside. Inside were simple cots that would hold one Keeper apiece. The only form of privacy
came from
sheets that were hung up as a makeshift wall
and several fire lit torches
were used
for lighting
. The only other thing in the large cabin was a large table with a
colored
topographical
map of the United S
tates
. The tabletop
itself was as tall as the center of
her
abdominals.
The Keepers had to kneel or sit.

She
moved out of the way as more
E
lders arrived.
Sarah
managed to stand in a dark corner and Connor joined
her
. Veronica had moved
beside her mate.

Soon all thirty Elders had convened.

When the large wooden door had finally shut Sorono walked straight towards the desk to call the meeting to order.
“As all of you are now fully aware of the crisis at hand it is now time to make preparations to thwart the threat. I would like each of you to come forth and look at this map that I brought from my home.”

Sarah
followed Connor’s lead as he and everyone
made
their
way to the table. They
stood close to
corner of
Florida
and the
Gulf of Mexico. Sorono and Veronica stood over by Texas
and elder Alexander and Adela stood between
their
families
. Now that
Sarah
looked closer at the table
there were
three round discs made from wood. Sorono then stated
“As each of you can see, there are three
main
points on th
is
map. When I read my brother’s mind he had planned to take out those three locations first and foremost.
His initial plan is to cripple America’s three major advantages; defense, monetary and entertainment.
”
He then used his claw to point at California and then to New Yor
k
and then finally to Virginia.
“These are the targets that we’ll defend, but we need to come up with a plan to save as many lives as possible. Please listen carefully to what I’ve come up with.