Harmonizer's Evolution (Balancer's Soul cycle) (20 page)

He
glanced at Sorono and he too was enjoying the cool flight.

A few minutes later
they
saw the old rocky clearing. There were still patches of melting snow scattered along the ground, but
it was familiar.
His
family had
become lax in
their
trainings due to
his
mate’s pregnancy
. Even if
he
hadn’t seen it in a year it still looked the same; except for Sorono’s makeshift cabin. It was situated on the north side of the clearing. Only it
appeared
subtly different
since he and Sorono worked together on constructing it
.

They
flew in close and landed together in perfect synchroni
city. Two nights ago they
did all
they
could, but Sorono has been working on it since
the
last time. He’s trimmed the corners of the fifteen foot cabin and even added a thatched r
oof made from dead bamboo, but Connor has
n’t seen any sections around here with enough to make the roof that
i
s
now
finished. It was still squared off and made with just enough room for his family to be sheltered for the night.
He could see that Sorono
has resealed the
horizontal trunks that made up the wall
s
. He did enough work to make this cabin habitual for months if not years to come.

Sorono noticed Connor’s
critiquing, but said nothing.

Finally he spoke.
“If there is much to discuss
,
should we stay out here or go inside?”
He already knew the answer. Connor
followed him to the only door that pointed into the northern trees.

He opened the large vertical door that ha
d
been latched together with
the
rope Connor had to get from
the
truck before
they
even f
lew out here. Then he allowed Connor to go inside. Once inside he
smelled
the heady scent of pine and smoke. Sorono
had littered pine needles over the hard ground and a small fire
hearth sat
in the center of the room. The smoke from the fire
rose straight up and
exit
ed
from
the central point in the roof. Connor
looked around the inside and didn’t find a single open spot that leak
ed
in
the
outside sunlight.

Connor
walked around the fire,
sat down
cross-legged and sat the steel cube
off
to his
side,
just as Sorono entered the room by ducking down and shutting the door.
He then turned around and the flame seemed to make all his visible scales shimmer eccentrically. The next thing he did was match
his brother’s seating posture. Sorono
sat across from
him
with crossed legs, a straight back and had his hands resting on his thighs. His head tilted down so he could look at
Connor
and his hazel eyes would be inti
midating if he wanted. Luckily they
both were on the best of terms
and had compatible personalities
.

“How should we start?”

Sorono
smiled graciously because he
i
s
much
older tha
n
Connor
and he deserved the upmost respect
as an elder
. Tr
y sixty millions years older. They
both
naturally
walled certain
parts of
their
mind
s
by habit
, but
they
allowed each other to ask what
ever they
wanted.

“First off, I would like to see your weapon
that
you discarded last year when you fought a Changer
Guard
during the meeting.”

“I call it
Tool.” Connor
pulled
his
closest physical protection from
his
hip and held it out. Sorono reached out his left hand, palm up.
He
knew th
is would be the only way for Sorono
to hold it because his hands were too large.

Connor
placed
Tool in the center of his palm and he drew his hand back. He then brought it up close to his left eye. As he studied my weapon
,
Connor
studied him.
Sorono
began
critiquing
the
weapon just like
Connor
did with the cabin. He then rais
ed himself again and returned the
multipurpose weapon
to its rightful owner. Connor then
laid it right by the large cube.

“This Tool
of yours, when was it made
?”

“My grandfather made it for me when I was eleven years old.”

“Indeed. That explains much. It isn’t suited for you as you are now. When you were younger it was a perfect fit, but now you are older and you need something more suited to your new strengths. Right now your weapon is useless in a battle where your life is in danger. The crescent blade is
much
too small to do
any real
major damage
,
as is the hammer’s side
s
mediocre diameter. Yet you’ve done nothing to it. That leads me to believe it has a deep sentimental value.”

He wasn’t trying to goad Connor
into anger, simply
stat
ing
facts. “You’re right. It is a treasure that my grandfather made with his
own
bare hands. What is it that you would like to ask me?”

“We can both sense that you need a new weapon because it must be of some use. We need thin
gs that cannot hold us back if
our energy’s are ever depleted. What I would like to as
k is if you would like to give
Tool an… what is that word… ah yes, would you like to give it an upgrade?”
Connor
picked up
his
companion for over a decade and went through all the decisions. Th
en Sorono brought him
out of
his
thoughts by
asking
“Did you give your weapon a name because it in some way has its own unique personality?”
Connor
nodded.
“Well think of how
it feels. Imagine if you were
Tool and you were a hindrance to your master. Wouldn’t you do everything in your power to try and be useful?”
Connor’s
eyes reconnected with Sorono’s compassionate ones.
“That is why I asked for you to bring more steel with you. What I would like to ask is if you would
combine
Tool’s essence with the cube and make it a larger version of itself?”

It was hard to fathom just how much this
simple object has done for
him
. I
t ha
d
allowed
Connor
to survive in the wild and saved not only
his
life but also the one
he
love
s
more than anything. It has never failed
him
, but it will someday and that could prove disastrous.
Connor
didn’t truly wa
nt to change it because it is his
most prized possession, but it had to be done.
Sentimentality is sometimes weakness.
He
ha
d a deep rooted
feeling it needs to be done because some part of
him
knows something bad will happen one day.

He
looke
d down at
Tool once again and said “Neither of us are as we once were
, are we? Just like I’ve become stronger so too shall you.”

Sorono silently watched as Connor lifted up the cube from his
side and held each item in a hand. Now it
i
s time for
Tool’s
ascension.

Connor
closed
his
eyes and focused
his
m
ind for the upcoming task. In his
mind’s
e
ye were the separate images of
Tool and the large cube of steel.
His
mind watched how the separate metals began melding together and chan
ging into a larger version of his oldest companion. He
felt the enormou
s flow of energy flowing down his
arms and int
o the metals. It was then that he
reopened
his
eyes.

Tool floated above his
left hand
,
just as the cube
began
doing
in the other
.
Each of the separate metals started
from a cold and rigid state and its temperature increased until they were both burning
cherry red
. The heat they gave off overwhelmed the small wood fire
,
that sat only
a few feet away
. Once their heated intensities
were sufficient
,
they started drifting together. The moment they touched each other, several
metallic
shards sparked off them. Connor and Sorono
watched as Tool
and the cube began consuming each other and soon a perfect sphere of molten metal
hovered
above
his
upturned hands.

The slightly different metals began blending
and mixing
together until everything
became
perfectly balanced
,
both
inside and out.

It was then that the red hot sphere of steel began its final shape change. The sphere slowly turned into a tear shape and the smaller diameter began to turn into a cylinder. The large head of the tear began widening. On one side it began turning into a sledgehammer. The head
of the hammer
became
as thick as
Connor’s
fist where as it was
originally
only
two and a half
fingers wide
in Tool’s previous life. On the backside of the forming metal
flared
the axe side that was still forming its crescent blade. The original hatchet’s length was measured at four and a half inches from
tip to tip, but now its length i
s closer to seven inches. The blade continued forming and sharpening to a fine and razor sharp edge.
They
then looked back at the handle to see that the diameter was the perfect shape for
Connor’s
hand to fit comfortably and
its length had grown from six
inches to ten.
It could now be
used as
a two handed weapon, if the need arose.

Once its new shape had been finalized
,
it continued floatin
g above Connor’s
hand until it cooled. It took five minutes to
evenly
c
ool down and during that time they
both silently watc
hed the floating weapon. Then his
instinct knew it was safe enough and t
he steel drifted back down to his
waiting hands.

The new weapon had gained at least ten pounds, but it was proportionally the same
as was its balancing point
. It was smooth, undamaged and perfect. The new axe
revealed itself to be
extremely sharp because a pine
needle was
e
ffortlessly
cut after
Connor
gently rubbed it against the curved blade.

“Now that is a weapon that is more suited to you. It is now only half complete.”

“What do you mean
,
only half
?”

“As Harmonizers, our strength
overwhelms all
ordinary metal. What must be done next is to use Metal’s next level to strengthen the steel’s density.”