Harmonizer's Evolution (Balancer's Soul cycle) (98 page)

Before either of them
could ask anything
thei
r attention
diverted as
another roar filled the sky. He
looked above to see two floating figures and quickly realized what had happened and who the new person was.

Xaon had showed up out of nowhere and in the back of
Connor’s
mind
he
realized
Xaon
had been
the one who follow
ed
earlier
. His reddish orange eyes were both alight and focused. His katana was being firmly held in both of his claws and it looked to be stained and dripping with fresh blood.

They
looked at Ranvan and realized how Xaon had rescued
him
. Ranvan was looking in both pain and unbridled rage.
Xaon had cut off almost all of
Ranvan
’s tail and left
it
a useless
and bleeding
nub. Their
friend had bided his time and struck once he had an opportunity. Xaon did two things that changed
Connor
from
feeling
pain to hope. He not only saved
his
life, but also dealt real damage by severing off one of Ranvan’s primary weapons.

Suddenly Xaon mentally shouted
“LET’S PLAY!!!”
Just as the
rescuer leaned forward for another fight with his blade, Ranvan struck without remorse.

Connor’s
mind
kept
running so fast that everything was slower and clearer
, but that made what
he
saw even worse.

Before Xaon could even see or avoid
the attack
, Ranvan clutched his throat single handedly. And with a single twist, snapped Xaon’s neck and he went instantly limp. He just killed one of the oldest keepers
Connor had
ever met and one of the most personable and playful, without hesitation.

Sorono and
Connor
watched as
their
companion was thrown away like garbage and
fell to the earth, lifeless. The
friend had saved
him
, but ended up getting killed.

Ranvan was still too preoccupied because of the pain from his severed tail. He ripped a piece of his red robe in a long strip and
began
trying to make a tourniquet to stop the bleeding.

While he struggled Sorono said
“Connor, I’m sorry you were hurt and
Xaon lost his life. I am capable of defending myself now, but I cannot hold you and take him on.”

“Drop. Me. And. Go!
” Connor
yelled
through gritted teeth.

“Staunch your bleeding and wait for an opening. I will do what I can.”

Sorono’s
grasp opened and he dropped
him
. As he flew up to Ranvan
Connor
managed to fly on
his
painful left leg and hover.

Just as Ranvan made the final knot on his tail, behind his back, he and Sorono began fighting furiously.

Connor
knew that
his
ripped
shirt wouldn’t be strong en
ough to make a tourniquet for his
legs
,
he had on something
stronger.
After sliding
Tool on his
hip,
he
ripped
the
mangled
shirt off from the collar and
held it between his teeth
.
He
loosened the strings on
the
armguards,
knotted the cloth around each punctured leg
and pulled the
chainmail links
ends tight enough to slow the bleeding.

Connor
looked up and saw that
his
two elder brothers were dead even in terms of the battle. Now all there was to do was wait for an opening
to exact justice and his personal
revenge
.

Now all he
could do was watch as Sorono fought with all he had.

Ben, Amphrite and
Sarah
covered each other as
they
flew around the city and drew
in
t
he unsuspecting Keepers into a
trap. So far
the
trap worked well
, most of the time, but some of the
enemies needed to
be taken care of if they knew they
were setting up a trap. Those that weren
’t killed by her
family
,
on the top floor
, felt
the bite of
Fangs and
none
live
d
long after the meeting.

So far
they
’ve taken down over four hundred Keepers together.
This location truly was one of their primary targets.

The city
remained
a
live battlefield and it was a good
sign because that means that they
haven’t lost as many as projected. The sparing t
hey got from fighting the good
K
eepers and the lessons Connor gave them had tipped the odds in
their
favor
that much more.
M
any opponents
still remained
, but at least
their own forces remained
strong.

During one of
thei
r ru
ns with ten or so Keepers on their
heels
Sarah
felt
Connor
in pain. Sensing this put their
live
s in jeopardy because it made her
have a moment of hesitation. Just before anything could happen to
her
or
her
companions
she
turned around and slit the throats of
their
pursuers. If it weren’t for having the speed and ability from being a mate to a Harmonizer
they
w
ould have all been killed for her
actions.

Once they
were
in the clear
Poseidon
almost chewed off
her
head for getting distra
cted, but
he went silent when
Sarah
told h
im
that Connor was hurt and in pain. After a few minutes
they
returned to th
e top floor and explained what she
felt to the others. At l
east they were sympathetic in her position and didn’t give
much grief. After all
she
was the only one among
them
who f
ought
alone.

Suddenly someone outside the window yelled “SARAH!!!”

They
all turned to see
her
grandfather Ryan barreling his way towards
them
. He was frightened and covered in blood, includ
ing his. He flew directly for them
and when he landed he was panting heavily. He ran straight up to
her and quickly grasped her
shoulders.

Jillian
became
worried and almost yelled in asking “Father, what is going on?”

Without looking at anyone, but
his granddaughter
, he stated after a deep breath “Sarah, we need your help. There is a Keeper stronger than all the others we’ve
come across
. It moves like you and we cannot keep up. It has already killed
nearly
a hundred of us and isn’t showing any signs of weakening like the others.”

She
asked in a surprisingly calm voice “Where is this Keeper?”

“Laura is with the others to try and stall the Keeper.” He pointed
to the southeast
while saying “It’s that wa…”

His words cut off suddenly and
as
his eyes un-focus
ed and rolled up in his head
. The grip he held on
her
shoulders relaxed. Then it was like someone cut the strings that held him up and his knees buckled and began to drop.

Sarah
grabbed his body as
her
heart raced at re
alizing what just happened. As she
slowly helped him to the floor
Jillian
shrieked “
FATHER
!!!”

Jillian
was by
her
side and her fingers went straight for
her
grandfather’s throat
,
to see if there was a he
artbeat. In a few seconds she
announced through tears and a sob “
He’s gone. That means…Mother?” They
all understood what had happened as
Sarah’s
mother turned around to bury her face in
Jack’s
chest.

This
i
s the fate for all Balancers
,
should their mate perish.

Her
grandparents were gone from this wo
rld and they at least made amend
s to their unjustifiable ways of treating all of
them
.
Their
heart
s
went out to them.

Sarah
slowly stood up a few moments later
,
after closing
her
grandfather’s
lifeless
eyes. She
turned around to see the heartbreaking scene and announced “Ryan, came here for a reason. If I don’t go
,
his warning would result in more deaths. Don’t worry Mother, I’ll
kill the Keeper who did this.” She
glanced at the others and said “You know what to do. Keep luring our enemies in and taking them down.”

Before anyone could
say anything or try and stop her
,
she ran and launched her
self out of the window and headed to where Ryan pointed.
Sarah
needed to get there quickly so that this murderer didn’t have time to escape.

She
streaked
high above the individual battles
and saw that they were just as intense as the next.
She
needed a better way to find
her
target. Using
her
aura
she
saw where the most likely fight
i
s. There were hundreds of auras battling one big one. This enormous aura was blood red. Fright struck through
her
because Sorono said th
at Ranvan’s color was crimson. Sarah
thought that Ranvan had come here, but upon a closer look this Keeper
appeared
indeed
a female.

This female stood in the wreckage of a building. She was surrounded by rubble, trash and over a hundred Balancers using the debris as cover to attack her. She just stood there and
Sarah
assume
d
she was laughing, but she was laughing as weapons and elements were being thrown,
spewed,
volleyed and launched directly at her, but were all ineffective as they hit an invisible barrier that completely surrounded her body.

Sarah
then pieced things together.
First
, this female
ha
s
a large aura like Veronica and
her
self.
Second
,
she
i
s strong enough to hold a barrier capable of rendering her attackers ineffective. Third
,
she wasn’t concerned with her opponent
’
s strength. Fourth
,
she wasn’t deformed in any way so she
i
s most likely an Original. Fifth
,
all Keepers stayed far away from her and didn’t attack in pairs like the others did and that meant that she is the one leading this attack.

Putting everything together
Sarah
realized that Ranvan had chosen a new mate.
They
didn’t count on this, but in battle you cannot for foresee every eventuality and tactic
an
enemy has.
She was like
Sarah, mate to a Harmonizer, and they
are as strong as those
they
have bonded
their
souls to.