Harmonizer's Evolution (Balancer's Soul cycle) (80 page)

They
were all flying together and the closer
they
got the louder the cheers came from
the clearing and from behind
.

Connor
could see green eyes o
f love and almost immediately they
were in each other
’
s arms and ju
st held each other in the air. He
closed
his
eyes and took in her unforgettable scent of apples and strawberries.

Their
reunion was cut short as Sorono announced
“Everyone may go down and rest. Your journey has been long and fruitful. Please take the day to do as you like. Remember what I’ve said as rules for the duration of our stay.”

Sarah and Connor
held each other and watched as the former prisoners landed. Mates quickly found each other and began reuniting with those they love. Those who had
voluntarily
given their bond up, had begun reestablishing it. There were so many tears and kissing that it put a smile on
his
face. This unforeseen event had
raised
every single person
’
s spirit
. This i
s what was needed to bolster their
will to fight
a
common
enemy. This wa
s
n
’
t only a fight for survi
val, but also a fight to keep their
loved ones safe and alive.

He
had lost track of time before someone thought
“Father,”
Connor
looked over to see Sorono and Veronica holding one another in an intimate embrace. He too looked up and towards Damian and the other Elders who were flying with
them
. Damian
continued
speaking with a curious mental tone.
“there has been a unique situation
arise
since you and Connor left us to bring in our much needed reinforcements.”

“What has happened, son?”
Sorono now held the small of Veronica’s back and gave his attention to his thirty million year old child.
“Explain the situation.”

Damian smiled and showed a
ll of his pure white and dagger-
like teeth. He glanced over at Sarah and
Connor
and then back to his father.
“The day you
both
left both Veronica and Sarah found and
captured a spy.”

S
orono and Connor
looked at each oth
er and immediately knew that their
instincts were warning
them
of the danger in
their
midst.
They
didn’t find it, but the situation had been taken care of, without
them
.

“Sa
rah?” she slowly looked up at her husband
with a proud smile. “Tell me everything that happened. How did you take care of this spy? Did you get hurt? What was said? What did he or she want? Has anyone been hurt before you captured this person? How…”

Sarah closed his
lips with her delicate fingers and spoke so calmly like nothing had even happened. “It would be quicker if you read my thoughts.”

“May I see as well?”
Sorono asked while drifting towards
them
,
with Veronica by his side.

Sarah nodded in permission

She allowed them
access witho
ut shielding much. She showed
everything that she saw, smelt, felt and even what she was thinking
at the time
. His
wife showed every detail of what happened that night. By the end of her accounts
Connor’s
forehead rested atop hers.

He
clutched her to
his
breast and whispered “That was very foolish of you, but you did do the right thing. I’m glad your wits were leading you down the right path, but let
’
s just hope that ther
e
will never be a next time.”

After a few moments of silence Sorono asked
“Have there been any
more instances with more spies?”

“No Father.”
Damian said calmly.
“The prisoner is being secured in a hut that we made the very night she was found and brought
before
us.
She had a bond so we had it removed because we need to keep our location a secret as best we can. Plus I and three other elders removed much of her energy. She has not been harmed or tortured as is the law, but she is very aggressive
and tests even my patience
.

“
As a precaution I
also
had every Keeper at the meeting checked for any
physical anomalies
and also did mind sweeps just to be on the safe side.
We haven’t found any
more
luckily and our boarders are secure.”

“Well done Damian. Now take me to
this
Agnes. We will be able to get some information out of her.”
Sorono turned and met
Connor’s
stare.
“Do I need to ask?”

He
shook
his
head slowly. “She tried to kill and
eat
Sarah. Of course I’m going with you.”

Damian and the other elders flew down towards the jubilant
crowd. They began parting as they
landed in front of a heavily guarded hut. It was tall enough for a Keeper to enter, but
wasn’t very spacious.

T
en
Keeper
Guard’s moved away as
they
approached.

Sarah tugged on
his
arm as Damian explained
the
things he’s learned to S
orono. She held the sleeve to his
parka. “You didn’t leave with this. At this time of year I’d say you went further north than the previous meeting. How did it go?”

“Let me show you.” She smiled as she read
his
mind about the ice prison.

All of the elders moved to allow only Sorono, Veronica, Sarah and
C
onnor
to enter
the growling and hissing hut
.

Once inside
,
the door shut
behind them
and Connor
spotted the spy.

Ascertain and Speculate

The spy, Agnes, w
aited and
securely
chained in
thick
steel
links
that started from
around
her
neck and
continued to be
wrapped around her entire body
like a cocoon
. She sat directly in the center of the room and her gray-white eyes were h
ard and angry as she followed everyone who entered
in
her holding area
. The collar a
round
her neck was tightly tethered by four more metal chains that were secured to four thick
metallic
poles
set
deep in the ground
that would be difficult for eve
n Connor
to break.
Then there was a steel bar
between her back teeth and allowed the
realiz
ation
that they didn’t want her to bite off her tongue in the attempt of suicide.
All of her movements were locked
away
and she
sat
helpless
, but still angry enough to growl and hiss
.

Agnes
recognized Sorono first and then
Connor
.
S
he barely
moved her leathery lips to
bar her
hideous
teeth
that
still
couldn’t move
. The metal chains
rattled and
clicked as she tried struggling, but they held secure.
She couldn’t gain any leverage to free herself
, that was the point
.
Then her eyes closed
for a moment
at realizing the futility of her efforts.

Then Connor
looked down at Sarah and was taken aback. Her green eyes were
glaring,
hard and unforgiving. Then there
were
her facial features, it was empty. She no longer cared if this creature lived another second.
He
felt her emotions and knew what they meant. This deformed Keeper almost took her
precious
life and that of her family. There wasn’t even a fa
int hope of forgiveness within his
wife.

V
eronica a
lso
held the
same
unforgiving expression.

Connor remained
back
and off to the side
in the
relatively
small room as
Sorono stepped forward. He stood between two of the thick chains and dropped to one knee to get a closer look. He rested both of his
hands on the knee that
bent
up to show how at ease he
felt
.
Then his mind touched only those in the room and it was serene
while holding
ultimate
authority
.
“I have just been told about your
recent
actions
and transgressions,
Agnes
, and I’m willing to offer
you a
simple
choice. Either you tell me what I want to know and give every detail or I’ll penetrate
the entirety of
your mind and still get the answers
I seek
. It won’t be pleasant
if you choose the latter
nor will you be capable of surviving
my
full
intrusion. If you choose to speak
,
remember you cannot lie because I’ll know if you do.
Either way
,
you’ll tell me
exactly
what I want to know.
”

Silence reigned as
Agnes deliberated her choices. Finally she
thought
hesitantly
“I’ll talk.”

Neither Sorono nor
Connor
were surprised at this outcome, but Sarah
finally took a step closer to him
and wound her fingers with
his
. She continually squeezed
his
hand, but it wasn’t for comfort. She was holding herself back
,
even though her left hand clutched the
dark
hilt of her dagger
with white knuckles
.

Sorono stood up and too
k a step back, but all eyes remained
sharply
on the spy.
“If that is your choice then let’s get started. First question. Why did you come here and what did you hope to accomplish?”

Agnes went quiet for too long and when Sorono growled she realized
she was taking too much time
to answer
him
.
“Because I made a mistake.”
They
were quiet as she continued.
“We were told to find a
rich
place
with much food”
she said ironically and they
knew she meant
humans
as
t
he main source of food
.
“
and hide ther
e
to
gain as much strength as we could
,
until we were given the go-ahead to begin our attack.
I felt the attraction
sent by the three pristine ones
and knew it was too soon, but I left my mate to find out what was going on
for myself
. I got here and saw this military and hoped to gain intelligence
for my people
.”
Then her gray-white eyes glanced over to Sarah and then back to Sorono.
“Then I knew that your group had fighters capable of putting up a serious problem for our cause. I hoped to take out that strange human
female
before finding my commander and explaining what I saw…”