Keeper's Knowledge (Balancer's Soul cycle) (73 page)

Sarah
realized that
they
were now outside and close to the front gate.
Sorono sat them
down and said
“Sarah, turn your palm to the stone wall and force the flame in that direction.”
She
imagined it and the heat of the flames were only on the
palm of her
hand and aimed at
the wall.
Her
heart
continued
racing
in fear
as he said
“Connor, I will make a Pressure wall for all three of us at the very moment you release that shell.”

“One…two…THREE!” Conno
r jumped back to stand beside her
and the orb disappeared, allowing the
untamed
flames to go where
ver
they pleased.
Sarah
didn’t see it, but the wall Sorono made wrapped aroun
d her wrist
and blocked the flames
from traveling back at them
. The flames roared forward and
slammed into
the stone wall. It traveled halfw
ay up the wall and she
cut the power
when Connor rested a hand on her
shoulder.
Sarah
withdrew
the
hand
back
and watched as the blue flames slowly suffocated
because there wasn’t any more fuel for it to feed off of
.
Not even the petrified log held fuel to burn

Tears started welling in her
eyes
so she
turned to
put her
face in his che
st. He wrapped his arms around her
and rubbed the back of
her
head
tenderly
.
Sarah
knew when Sorono released his shield because a rush of heat slammed into
them
.

“What just happened
!
?” Jack
demanded.

Sarah
looked up to see that e
veryone had fo
llowe
d them
outside. Every single one of them had a worried look
written on their faces
.
She dabbed at the tears with her
sleeve
and
was barely able to control
her
voice
.
“I
… I
don’t know what went wrong. Everything felt right as I made the blue flame
like I did before
. I don’t have a clue as to why my flames flew out of control like that.”

“Sarah, it wasn’t your fault. It was an honest mistake on my part. I didn’t think about it until you started making th
at flame.” She
looked up to see
Connor
smiling reassuringly
and his eyes looked relieved.

“Neither did I. I am also to blame for the incident.”

“What are the two of you talking about?
Did you know this would have happened?”
Jack
demanded again.

“Yes, we did J
ack. That is why we had to contain it as quickly as we possibly could.” Connor looked up. “Go ahead and tell them why it happened. Sarah needs to sit down
and collect herself
.”

“Very well, brother.”
Sorono turned his attention to all pr
esent. Connor sat down right on the stone floor
and brought
her
to sit in his lap.
Her m
other and Kara came over to tend to
her
because
she
started shaking
from the
violent
experience
.
“What just happened wasn’t Sarah’s fault. She didn’t take into account the ozone saturated room. It was trapped because I shut the
temple
doors and it didn’t have anywhere to dissipate to. Ozone is highly flamma
ble and when she used her
blue flame
,
Connor and I reacted to contain it. If we didn’t
,
every single one of us would have been incinerated by the wild flames.”
Sarah
actually saw a female Immortal Guard faint in her mate’s arms.
“I am sorry to say this, but I made a mistake.”

Sarah
felt sorry for the giant.
She
still shook, but her
voice no longer
quiver
ed
. “Don’t go beating yourself up.
I’m the one who made the fire. I’m just thankful that you and Connor acted so quickly. You both saved our lives.”

“You’r
e damn right it’s your fault!” She
looked to see a Changer baring her teeth at
her
. She was shaped like a lioness.

Sarah
felt Connor’s power rising
while
he
began
rising to his feet as well. She
knew he didn’t like anyone to demean
her
in any way
and this situation held all on edge
.
What was worse is that he hasn’t been completely himself for awhile.
Her
shaking stopped and
she turned around to stop him. Sarah
placed both hands on
his chest and pushed with all she
had
, after feeling his
tremendous
rage
.
She
pinned him to the wall and managed to see his eyes. They were wild
like
she
thought
, but he only looked straight ahead at his intended victim. His muscles were locked because
she
knew he wouldn’t hurt
her
, but if
she
released
her
gra
sp something
horribly
bad would happen.

She
yelled
over her shoulder
“Everyone must get out of here now! He needs to calm down.
He won’t unless everyone who isn’t family isn’t gone in one minute.”
She didn’t care how ridiculous she
looked pinning
her
overgrown mate to the wall, but it was much better than the other option
s he was considering
.

“This has been an interesting day. You all have a lot to think about from this meeting. Please return to your posts or get some rest if that is what you were doing before you were all called
…
Follow me.”
M
any
sets of
feet
began walking away. She
heard the
ancient
latch open and the gate swinging.
“Remember, if you see either Connor or Sarah, they have the authority as I do. If anyone stops you to ask what went
on down here
, you can tell them or you can tell them to wait until tomorrow
morning
. I will explai
n it again in
the meeting
anyway
.”
After a minute the gate shut and locked.
“Listen
,
everyone must retire
for the evening
… Damian just go, I will handle this.
It would be best to do as Sarah says.
”

Soon several more heavy footfalls began walking away.

Sarah
watched
Connor’s
eyes the entire time and the wild look didn’t fade until the gate closed, but it didn’t completely go away
.

She
spoke as calmly as he usually likes. “Connor? It’s me, Sarah. Your Princess, remember? Everything is ok, now. Come back to me. I need you to calm down and look at me.”

Ever so slowly his hazel eyes came down to meet
hers
. His locked muscles slowly relaxed and he cleared his throat. His voice was straining as he said “I’m sorry, I don’t know what came over me?”

“I do. You’re starving, my brother. Please follow me because I know just how to
sate your hunger
.”
Sarah
finally eased
the
pressure off his chest as his sanity returned
,
to an extent. She
turned around to see only those close to
her
. Mark and Kara were both on their hind legs looking up at Sorono and Veronica.
Jillian
looked almost in tears as
Jack
held her
close
to his chest. Sarah
figured she was worried for
her
.

Sorono started walking toward the largest building in the center
,
with the open roof. Connor gently grabbed
Sarah’s
hand and he was the one now shaking.
She
had to start walking because he looked frozen in place, but not with fear it looked more like sorrow for what he
almost
did.

Everyone silently followed Sorono up to a large
,
simple wooden door
made for
the size of a K
eeper. Before he
opened the door he looked at us and said
“This is my personal sanctuary. I grant all of you permission to visit any time you like,
but you mustn’t destroy anything
. That is my one rule
.”
Then he looked at
them
.
“He needs to go in first.”
Connor’s wild eyes glared at
Sarah before she
smiled. He let go and walked up to the
entrance
. Sorono opened the door and gestured for Connor to go
ahead. He followed Connor and she
quickly followed after.

Sarah
immediately
caught the scent of
flowers and other wild scents.
It was a strange turn of events as of late and was remarkably a great change.
She
stepped to the side a
nd saw what was laid before her
. There were trees of all different breeds and heights. Shrubs grew as wild as the grass and the wildflowers
were all blooming and filling her
lungs with a clean and pleasant s
cent
.
There were
fruit trees and
she
immediately
saw an apple tree a
nd
her
stomach started rumbling
in excitement
. Everything was so green and calming.
C
rickets and
other
small
scurrying animals
lived
all around
them in perfect harmony
.
B
utterflies
kept flitting
from flower to flower. This room made so much noise it was almost like being out in the wild itself.

Then she spotted
Connor just standing in the center of
the clearing looking blankly into
Sorono’s sanctuary.
She
then tried making
her
way to him
to see what the problem was
.
A black claw swooped down
in front of
her and she
stopped to
look up at Soron
o as he stared only at Connor. She
knew
that only
he was
in her
mind because Connor didn’t flinch
from a mental
intrusion
.
“Wait a minute
…
and watch what happens.”

They
all waited silently together for five minutes before Connor finally took a step forward
,
after removing his shoes and socks
. Then
Sarah
saw what Sorono was trying to show
them
.
Jack
was the one to speak aloud. “How are the leaves moving without any wind
or enegy
? Is Connor the one doing this?”

“Indeed he is.”
Sorono looked down and addressed
Sarah
.
“That look he had will be gone soon, my dear. We Harmonizers have a deep connection with nature and if that connection is lost for an extended amount of time we become
extremely
dangerous. He is a good man and I know how strong he is because I am the same way. He needs the calming effect of life to
dissipate
his rage.”
Sorono look
ed back into the trees
and it
seemed as if
the plants were welcoming home a long lost friend.
Suddenly Connor disappeared into the thick woods.
“I know you
two
live
together
somewhere with much
raw
nature surrounding your home. I know because I have many homes and they are all isolated by nature. I am surprised he hasn’t killed anyone to get back outside. I suspect his tension
was greatly
tempered by you, Sarah
..
.