Keeper's Knowledge (Balancer's Soul cycle) (33 page)

“Really?”
H
er purple eyes started twinkling.
“That would be such an honor. I will be on my best behavior.”
Veronica only smiled softly
and inclined her head
.

Then the conversation changed.

“Firon
,
I have two questions for you.” Connor started off. “
Firstly, w
hat does the
I
mmortal Guard actually do?”

He gave
Sarah’s
mate a leathery half smile
and touched his pendant
with a single black claw
.
“The
I
mmortal
G
uard
’s
have three
main
duties
that must be performed at any cost
. Our number one duty
is the protection of all of the Elders
first and foremost
.
Their life will never see danger so long as we do our duty. We gladly lay down our lives so that they will live on and keep our way of life going for generations to come.
Our second
responsibility
is being peace keepers during the meetings and our last
task
is to keep all humans away during the
Mélange
meetings. Don’t worry we do not hurt them
usually
,
all we do is make the terrain unfavorable to hunters and hikers. There has been only one death of a human
who sa
w too much, but that was over
two
hundred
years ago
…
W
hat is your second question
, Connor
?”

Connor smiled. “Up on the first floor
,
where I s
aw all the games,
” Firon nodded. “This is my first time here and I don’t know what the special rules are. Can you explain them for me because I would love to play a little bit?”

“Gladly.”
Firon grinned.
“We have fallen in love with your modern sports and have adapted our own regulations. For playing Baseball there are only allowed to be seven players on the field
,
when the other team is up to bat. All
elemental
abilities and powers are allowed
,
except for those who can fly. You may jump, but no flying.
It keeps the game fair for those without the ability of flight.
The bat and balls are a little different than usual. The baseball itself is made of solid steel and weighs
approximately
fifteen pounds and is the side of a
cantaloupe
. The bat is also made of solid steel and it is larger as well. Anyone may make a team
if they get enough players
to join them
.

“The wrestling platform doesn’t allow any ability’s to be used during the match. It is
a test of
strength and skill
, nothing more
. A Changer
may
change its shape before, but not during the match.

“Finally the football and soccer field allows you to use every advantage you’ve got. There are only two rules; no fighting and no cheap shots. The soccer ball is made of wood and wrapped with rubber or leather.
We learned quickly that claws puncture the normal balls.
The football is
also
designed
in
the same way.”

“Thank you for the advic
e.” Connor said sincerely.

Kara changed the subject while speaking to no person in particular. “How come we have only seen two of the Elders? Do they come
around
here
to eat
too?”

Mark answered for everyone’s benefit
. “I’m sorry, but Elder Adela and Elder Alexander will be the only Elders that you will see until the
m
eeting
truly
starts. They a
ll reside in a restricted area
that none may enter except for E
lders or the
ir
Immortal Guard. Any person lurking around the restricted section will be escorted from the premises. The two elders we
’ve
met like associating with everyone. They like staying in touch with the people.”

Sarah
heard Kara say “That sounds logical. They are like government personnel who need protection from the outside dangers. I guess they must
all
have special treatments.”

Everyone turned to Connor as he
evenly
said “I don’t know if they get special treatment, but I just hope that they see being an Elder as a burden and not a righ
t
.”

“What do you mean
,
Brother?”
S
he
asked,
trying t
o look around Veronica’s back. A
ll
Sarah
could see was the very tip of her sandy blonde h
ead
as she leaned forward
to better look
.
Veronica made a better wall than a window.

“I mean to say that if they see
their
rule as a burden
,
they will rule fairly, but if they see things as a right they are easily corruptible. I’m not
a person who tolerates those who gain status or power from hurting those below them.” Connor looked at Firon. “Do not worry, I will not hurt or even threaten anyone who is like that. I will
remain polite
as long as they
are, e
ven if I do not like it.
”

“I understand and agree with those words.”
In a cautionary
thought
Firon
said
“Do me a favor. Do not say that to anyone else, especially to an
E
lder
or else I or another
g
uardsman will
have no choice, but to
detain
you
.”

“I can handle that.” Connor grinned. “By the way, would you all like to do this again?”
he meant gathering for a meal.

“I find it refreshing and exhilarating.
These discussions make my heart race with excitement
I haven’t felt in centuries
.
Count me in.”
Veronica said cheerfully.
“I will be here for supper at around eight.”

“I too will be here. You are
all
…
unusual
to speak with.”
Clarein admitted
.

“I cannot
sadly
.”
Firon said with a sigh.
“I am
on guard duty
once
I leave here.
I won
’
t get relieved until midnight or so.
”

“We understand Mr. Firon.” Kara chirped. “We will
all
keep Clarein company. I think we could become good friends.” Veronica chuckled at her daughter-in-law when her jaw dropped. “What’s so funny about what I said
,
Veronica?”

“Dear child, even as old as I am I have only seen
a claw full of
person
s
and Keeper befriend another, but your group makes friends as quickly as a heart
can
beat. This is a very unusual case, but I’m thrilled to be a part of it.”
Veronica looked at each one of
her new friends
.
“I’m going to check out the games. Would anyone like to
accompany
me?”

“Sarah and I will shortly, but first we need to clean our clothes fi
rst. We will me
e
t up with you
soon
.” Connor said happily.

“We
all
have to clean up from our trip.”
Jack
said evenly
.

“How about the sooner we finish, the sooner we can play?”
Jillian
said
while
wearing a playful grin.

Connor grabbed the tray
s and dropped
down
to the
stone
floor. Sarah
grabbed the mugs
he left
behind
on the table
and landed
as well
. Soon everyone else did. The three Keepers simply stood up and carried their
empty
trays
and large mugs
. Then Sarah
notice
d something. The room
had grown
still
and
completely silent
.
She
l
ooked around to see every
eye
in the room
silently watching as
they
walked across the
ground.
The Keepers table looked confused, the Changers silver eyes looked dangerous and the Balancers
seemed
slightly amused.

Connor bumped
her
with his right hip. “Don’t worry about them. They won’t try anything until they figure out why we were all
sitting
together.”

Feeling reassured
,
she
followed him over to the return area. Each one of
them
put away
their
things and walked
back
to the pillar. All the while
she
felt almost naked under everyone’s silent stare.

They arrived back on
level two again and
the younger immortals
separated from the group. Veronica and the others continued climbing up.

Sarah
grabbed
her
smelly
and previously
worn clothes and so did Connor.
They
made it to the bath house before the others.
B
oth bowed to the Keeper and received two boxes of detergent in a large plastic bucket and went
their separate ways. Sarah
filled the bucket up half way with warm water and poured in a few small scoops of detergent and threw all
her
clothes in
side
.
She
hand scrubbed
every article of clothing
,
careful
when
scrubbing
her
undergarments
since
lace is delicate material
. During scrubbing
her
mother and sister-in-law silently sat close
by
and did their own laundry.
Sarah
then poured the soapy and dirty water into a drain and washed each piece of clothing until the soap detergent was
all
washed away.
She
folded
her
wet clothes and concentrated.
Sarah
easily steamed out every single drop of water from
her
clothes using the ability of Fire to
evaporate the water from
the fabric
.
She remained
careful so as to not burn the clothes to ash.
Both
Jillian
and Kara
saw this and
asked
for help
and she
did it for them gladly
.
Soon after they had pleasant and warm clothes.

Connor waited
outside
again for
Sarah, but this time not alone as her f
ather and Mark
sat
with dry clothes themselves.
She
guessed Connor had the same idea, only he
must have
used Liquid and pulled the moisture
out
from the
clothes themselves. Then
they
soon
departed together and put
their
clothes in
their
rooms.

The six of
them
made
their
way up the steps and back to level one for some fun.

Kara and Mark took the lead to the top level cavern.
Sarah walked in front of Connor
and
he
could feel her excitement building. Behind
them followed his in-laws
talking amongst themselves.
Connor
kept changing
his
mind about which sport
he’d like to try out
first.
He
eventually
ended up deciding to wat
ch and learn from others until he
felt comfortable enough to try it
out
for
him
self.