Harmonizer's Evolution (Balancer's Soul cycle) (57 page)

“We are!” The sheriff announced with a bright smile and then corrected himself. “The human race I mean. There are some animals
that could kill us, but our minds
allow us to reign supreme o
n this world.”

Connor smiled, leaned back in his chair and his tone almost became threatening. “What if I told you that humans were actually third or even fourth on the list? What would you say to that?”

The sheriff’s smile didn’t waver. “Then if that was the case, I’d like to see some definitive proof. Do you have any to back this hypothetical question?”

Connor smiled wryly. “In
fact I have proof because I’m
part of the upper food chain. Actually I’m probably at the peak…”

“With that body of yours I wouldn’t doubt it
.” Mrs. Burrow said with a light laugh that seemed strained
.

Everyone was smiling at the moment, but that was until Connor’s voice became deadly serious. “Now the two of you must listen to me very carefully. We have a secret that will be revealed to the entire world soon enough, but until then we must
remain inconspicuous to the public. If word was to be spread
, I would instantly know it came
from the two of you.” There wasn’t even a hint of a smile on anyone
anymore
. “We wouldn’t even tell you this if certain events haven’t been put into motion. This secret will put not only our lives in jeopardy, but also yours. If you can understand that, would you like to hear our families’ secret?”

The middle aged looking couple glanced at each other for a moment. They then reached for the others hand and returned their eyes to
him
. Sheriff Burrow then said “We want to understand what is going on and why things sound so very out of hand. We think of you as family and family don’t keep secrets like the ones that
are making
you speak like this.”

“Alright then.” Connor looked at everyone and then down to
Sarah’s
feet.
“Darrel, Pearl, go ahead and say hello like you normally do.”

Both of their
children opened their eyes and turned their heads to look at their father. Connor nodded reassuringly and both of
the law upholding
friend
’
s brows were furrowed. Darrel took the initiative by lifting his hand and waving
in a way that no child should,
to the now stunned couple.
“Hi guys. I know this is a shock to the two of you, but let me introduce myself to you
,
for once. I’m Darrel and it is nice to finally meet you like this.”

“And I’m his big sister, Pearl.”

“
big
sister? You only beat me by a minute, sis. Don’t get all high and mighty all of a sudden.”
Darrel criticized.

Sarah
warned “That is enough you two. Remember what you want
later
?”

They turned their heads to see her
raised eyebrow. Together they said
“Sorry, Mommy!”
She
nodded in acceptance of their understanding.

Things became quiet for
sever
a
l
second
s,
until Mrs. Burrow asked “Did they just talk…?
But how?
Their
lips didn’t
even
move…”

Sarah
project
her
mind to
her
human friends.
“They can speak with their minds. They are very gifted for their age.”
Mrs. Burrow and
her husband locked eyes with her
and
Mrs. Burrow’s
jaw dropped before his
could
.
“What you need to understand is that the world is much more different than you can poss
ibly imagine. Now there is
more that you need to hear.”

She
glanced at Connor to see him smiling. He smil
ed
her
smile and then turned to
their
companions. “As you’ve just witnessed
,
there is much to discuss. Now would you like to understand what is going on or hear it all from the beginning.”

Together
,
the Burrow’s’ declared “We want to hear
everything
!”

Connor smiled pleasantly. “If that is what you want.”
Her
mate leaned back and spoke with complete authority.
“In this world there are three races of Immortal beings known as the Keepers, Balancers and Changers. The three classes live…”

For the next three hours Connor and the rest of
the
family explained about
them
selves. The
guests
were stunned speechless on more than one occasion and entranced with some of the stories
her
mate spoke upon. They were
very
interested in how Connor and Sarah
made fire and
Jillian
made an orb of water
, in a simple demonstration
. They we
re curious as to Sarah’s
age and la
ughed when she told them that she
was
over three hundred
years old
. They didn’t laugh when
Jillian
explained that
she
was her daughter and that she is over seven hundred years of age
herself
. Then there was Kara. She had asked the Sheriff how heavy
he thought
she was. When he made his guess, she told him to try to pick her up. He about
gave himself
a h
ernia in the attempt. Then
he learned about Changers and what they were capable of
. Then finally
they
all went outside to show
off
Clarein and Shannon. The sheriff literally
stumbled back and landed on his bottom when the giant creature
,
known as Clarein, revealed herself.

Very soon everyone met one another.

Once it started becoming dark
,
David offered to take the Burrow
’
s home.
Connor
heard this and
went inside
their
home
for a minute, used his
powers and came back outside. They
all stood in a very loose circle as he called upon everyone’s attention. “Deputy Burrow, as you can plainly see, there are many things in this world that have been kept secret from humanity. There is going to be a major event soon and we need to prepare ourselves for it. I cannot tell you all the details, because you need to trust me
on this
and understand that it is for your saf
ety as well
. I
honestly
need to know if you’ll help keep the peace betw
een the immortals and the mortals with me.
”

“As the Sheriff of this town I’ll do what I can, but how can I help you?”

Connor smiled
,
walked up to him
and
placed something in his hand. “That is the human equivalent of a badge of the Immortal Guard we spoke earlier about. If you have any problems with a suspected immortal, show them that badge and if they understand
what the badge signifies
,
tell them to come with you
peacefully
. I’ll need you to bring them here for now. When things settle down
,
I’ll dispatch one or two actual Guards to the station as a liaison to aid you if any trouble arises. Plus I’ll need you to keep as many people away from the section of forest we discussed about earlier.
Quarantine the area if need be.
If any humans do arrive close enough to be suspicious, I’ll
assure you
that they will be escorted safely away from the area.
But if they resist and try to go where they shouldn’t, you can guess the consequences.
”
In the hands of the sheriff was a steel pendant that looked exactly like what the Immortal Guards keep on a necklace.

Sheriff Burrow finally looked up into Connor’s eyes and broke into a smile. “I’ll do whatever it takes to ease the burden off you, Son. I’ll do it for family. When I get a day off, we
wi
ll
speak more on these things.”
The Sheriff put
his new badge away
in his breast pocket
and embraced
Connor.

Mrs. Burrow walked back to Sarah
with Darrel in her arms. She looked at him with a smile “You better be good now, Darrel. Listen to your mom.”

He smiled widely.
“Yes ma’am!”

She handed Sarah’s
baby over to
her
and smiled lovingly. “Sarah, I have many thing to ask you, but it really is getting late out right now. I’m also really grateful that you are trusting me with all this. My kids won’t believe this so they won’t even be told about all this craziness. I cannot even begin to understand what you’re going through, but I’ll be there if you ever need to talk with me. And if you need a babysitter
,
I’ll gladly keep an eye on the rug-rats.”
She
smiled and wrapped
her
free arm around
her
friend. “Thank you.”
Mrs. Burrow
hugged
her
back with a grateful smile.

After the Burrow’s left with David and Rhoda
,
to get a ride home
,
Sarah
looked up at the remaining giant
ess
on the premises. “Clarein, earlier you said that you had a debt with me. What did you mean by that?”

The tall Keeper turned her purple eyes
on Sarah
and smiled without showing her teeth. By the feel of her mind, she
they were
speaking private
ly
.
“Actually I meant that I owed your family much. You see
,
I’ve been with my mate for several centuries, but I’ve never had a female relationship outside of my mother. The Honored Mother never spoke to me the first time since I became Firon’s mate. When she met you and your family, she changed and I gained a companionship with her for the first time last year. And I also gained you as a friend. It was always a lonely feeling and now it’s gone. Firon’s my mate, but you know that to make our lives better, we need variety. Now that I’ve finally achieved that, I feel indebted to you. Now my life feels…more broad.”

Since t
hese were her private feelings Sarah returned the favor by thinking privately
.
“I’m thrilled you think like that, but you should forget that debt. Were friends now so don’t feel
obliged
. Friends do things because they want to, not because they have to.”
She smiled and took
the
words to heart.

Jillian
spoke
a few minutes later
. “Clarein, it is getting late. Would you like some company to go find our men?”

Before Clarein
responded
Sarah
said “They must still have a lot to do. Why don’t everyone go see what they need help with. I’ll stay back here with the kids and see that they get something to eat
and then put them to bed
.”

Before Connor left he
walked into
their
home and grabbed his large
axe that he uses to chop fi
rewood. He made his way up to Sarah
and
whispered in
her
ear “We’ll have to postpone the sl
eeping research until later.” Her
face flared. H
e then kissed her
fore
head and caught up to everyone and was then part of the shadows
, as were everyone
else who left the clearing
.

Shannon knew
that
she should stay
behind
,
so she did.

As a reward for a good job all three children received their very own popsicle. Each one received a cherry flavor. Shannon enjoyed it most of all, but Darrel made the biggest mess.
He had a hard time holding the handle in his little hands.
He didn’t
intentionally
to soil his bib, but he enjoyed
the
prize nonetheless.

When it
came
time for dinner
Sarah
made a meal for
only
Shannon and her
self, because Connor telepathically
explained
that he would be staying the entire night to finish building one of the large cabins with the other men.
They had a lot of work that needed to be accomplished.