Changer's Blood (Balancer's Soul cycle) (4 page)

“We only tell you the harshness of our laws
now
so that you understand why you’ve never heard of us before
tonight
. We do this to protect you.”

“And because we all love you.” This
came stron
gly from Mark as he smiled at Kara
.
H
is icy tone
had
disappeared and was replaced with a calm warmth.
Her
soul had begun defrosting
, but the fine hairs on the back of her neck remained erect
.

An idea came rushing in
. “Sarah
,
how old are you
…
really
?
You’re not really twenty two are you?
” Kara
just had to ask.

The
way Sarah comforted her
was a little to
o
old fashioned for how young she looked
and spoke
.

She smiled softly
and shook her head
. “
No,
I am
actually
three hundred
years old.” She said gently while
removing her hand from
Kara’s
back to put her hand
s
i
n her lap.
Her grandmotherly touch was
an
accurate
analogy
.

“HA! You’re just an adolescent!” Mark said loudly and laugh
ing at the same time. And then Kara knew Sarah
was
actually
telling
the truth.

You have got to be kidding me…?
“What about yo
u
,
Mark?”
Kara
asked
.

He stopped laughing, but he still wor
e her
favorite smile. “I am just over nine
hundred years old.”

“You old geezer
!”
Connor
said
while
gently punching Mark
’
s shoulder
. Meanwhile everything inside Kara
went
utterly
blank. “That gives a whole new meaning to robbing the cradle.”
Her b
rother actually started laughing
after saying it
.

“It
’s
better than robbing the grave!” Mark retorted with his own punch.

“Mark
,
you mean to tell me that you’re still unmated at your age?” Sarah
asked
evenly
and her eyes were gentle
.
She changed the subject so quickly.

Mark
’
s eyes dropped to the floor in
a
sadness that
Kara
didn’t
yet
understand and his voice matched.
“Yes
,
I am
unmated.
Please don’t ask
any more
of me on that subject.
It is something I wish to forget, but my mind won’t let go.
It is not something I wish to elaborate on, Sarah.
”
Connor
stopped laughing and
gently squeezed Mark
’
s shoulder in empathy.

Kara
had to change th
e mood quickly. “Mark
,
what are C
hanger
’
s exactly?”

His head quickly rose to meet
hers
.
Kara
smiled and
tried conveying
that
‘
W
hatever happed in your extensive past is yours alone
unless you want to tell me about it
.
’
He smiled
softly
after his haunting expression dissipated,
then
he
said “Changers were
human
once upon a time
too
and when we become Changers
,
we gain
ed
the ability to mold our bodies into
pretty much
whatever we like.
I tend to like changing into
a wolf
. We cannot completely mimic the exact shape of certain animals, but we can come close
; some more than others
.
A
nd we can sometimes mix up animals like adding wings on a horse.
T
he Greek myth of a Pegasus
stemmed from a Changer actually
.
Same with a unicorn, griffin and many other manner of mythical creatures.
Once we get in the habit of changing, we usually find certain characteristics
more appealing than others
and can change into them much quick
ly
with practice.

“Changers have the ability to augment their features
to serve different purposes
. We can look however we want; we can look like teenagers and over time we can add wrinkles and change our hair pigmentation
to look old
. There are two things we cannot change
though
and that
i
s our sex and
color of our eyes
. We are able to blend into a society longer than Connor and Sarah
ever could
.” He said smugly.

“What do you mean stay longer in a society?”
Kara
looked t
o
her b
rother
for clarity
on that subject
.

“Kara
,
we
can no longer age. Within a few years people will
start to
notice that we still look like this
,
” H
e pointed to his
handsome
face
.
“
when our peers start getting wrinkles. I would say that Sarah and I would have to leave in five to ten years from now.
It is inevitable, but it is for our safety
and
for
those we know
.
” He said evenly and without emotion.

She
turned
her
head to see Sarah watching and studying everything
she
did. Suddenly her eyes shot to
Connor’s
and
Kara
saw her nod silently.

“What did you two just do?” She
looked between them.

“Sarah and I are different from any Balancer’s that’s known. When a pair of mated Balancer’s become one; they are unable to read their mate
’
s minds. Sarah and I
can
.”
Her b
rother said happily
while
pointing between them
.

“You mean to tell me that you can read
minds
?”
Kara
looked at
her b
rother skeptically.
She
couldn’t tell if he was joking or telling the truth.

“Yes Kara
.
I can read minds and project my thoughts to you.”
She
heard him speak
like he was talking right next to
her
, but his lips didn’t move
until
a smile of satisfaction
crept in at her openmouthed expression
.
He wasn’t joking, but he was playing around with
his sister
.

“No way
, that is really something
.” And she
felt
her
jaw hanging open.

“Yes way.” Connor
said back at her and smiled even more when her mouth hung open.
Her sandy blonde hair
hung
wild
and she made
him
smile brighter.

“Connor
,
you were
really
serious about reading your mate
’
s mind?”
He
turned to look to
his
left and saw Mark’s
own
dumbfounded expression
as he sat shirtless at
his
side
.
Mark’s
shoeless feet were stretched out towards the fire.
He still looked astonished and a little skeptical now.

“He is telling you the honest truth.” Sarah said backing
her mate
up with a smile
of her own
. “We don’t know why we are different, we
just
are.”

“I can honestly say that I have never seen your kind’s eyes glow
before…
S
omewhat like ours
,
I mean
.” Mark said
before
scratching his chin
with regular fingernails
.
“I also have never seen a Fire Balancer
accumulate flames
that big and
that quickly before.”

“You’re wrong about him being a Fire Balancer.” Sarah said
in correction and
w
earing
a
new
smile.
She smiled his favorite
smile.
S
he grabbed a lock of her hair and started twirling it with her fingers.
She was trying not to laugh.

“What do you mean by that? I saw hi
m use fire with my own eyes.” Mark
sounded appalled like he was
just
called a liar.
He firmly placed his hands on his knee
s in preparation to defend himself
.

“Connor can manipulate all of the five elements
,
and I can
as well
.” Sarah beamed with more pride
as she looked at
both men
.
Connor and Sarah
were becoming used to
their
differences and it wasn’t as difficult to accept new things.

Mark turned to
Connor
with wide eyes. “Really? Show me.
I need to see this for myself
,
B
uddy.”

“Brother? What are you three talking about with the five elements?
I don’t understand your meanings…
” Kara said
,
hating to be left out of the loop.

Connor
looked at Sarah.
“I think I can kill two birds with one stone?”

She looked between Kara and Mark before mentally replying.
“Do you have enough energy? How are your reserves
holding up
?”

“I feel that I have enough, but stand behind me just incase.”
Sarah nodded and quick
ly moved behind
him
after jumping over the fire.
Connor
watched Mark
’
s eyes as he
easily
kept up with each of Sarah’s movements
.

Kara’s eyes went wide as she noticed
that
Sarah
appeared to
standing behind him
. She turned her head where Sarah
originally sat
and then back at
them
. “How…? How did you get over there so quickly?”
S
he
asked
in her chirpy and quick voice.

“Kara
,
we are
much
faster and stronger than humans.
And to answer your thoughts, we cannot teleport
either
. Magic isn’t real. All we can do is manipulate nature, that’s all.
No it isn’t telekinesis either, but if it helps you to understand go right ahead.
” Sarah stated from behind. Connor
felt h
er place both of her hands on his
bare
shoulders
, but she didn’t transfer any energy
.
She would wait for
the
signal.

“Both of you listen to me.” Connor
spoke
to
his
sister and
his
best friend. “I will show the two of you how different Sarah and I are.”