Harmonizer's Evolution (Balancer's Soul cycle)

by Lee Morgan

  Knowing exactly where Deputy Burrow’s home is, Connor began running in that direction. Sarah easily ran by his side. The four volunteers also ran behind them, but he needed to slow himself so that they could keep up. Soon they left the clearing to enter the dark forest. He knew Sarah, Cassie and Marik couldn’t see in the dark so he created an orb of fire as a light source so that they wouldn’t accidently run into a tree. They weren’t in a major hurry, but they didn’t slack off either.

  Within ten minutes they had made it into town. Connor killed the light source because there was fair lighting for the continuing run. They didn’t stick to streets. The six of them silently ran between homes and over fences with childlike ease. Another two minutes later they made it to the back yard of the Burrow’s residence.

  Everyone followed his lead as he slowed to a human walk. They made their way over to a window that remained dark. Through the window he could hear two distinct snores. He stepped up to the window, reached up and knocked without shattering the glass. After five more knocks one of the snorers slowly awoke. He was unable to see inside so it was impossible to tell who had awoken.

  Then they distinctly heard a click click once the person exited the bed.

  It was the sound of a gun being checked.

  He turned around and calmly said “Guys, take a few steps back.” and they did and Connor knew that they wouldn’t be seen within the shadows.

  “Who’s out there?” a deep male voice asked.

  “It’s just me Deputy Burrow, Connor. This was the only time that we could visit you. Can you please come outside and meet your new recruits?”

  “Connor, it is almost twelve thirty.” His friend stated while turning on his bedroom light. He walked to the window and opened the curtains. Connor saw that he held his shotgun across his exposed chest. Mrs. Burrow was still dead to the world as she continued sleeping soundly on her belly. He then lifted the window to speak through the screen. “What do you mean about my recruits?” It took a few seconds for his sleep to wear off and for him to understand the meaning. Once he did, he looked past me. “Where are they?”

  He then said “Put on a pair of pants and come out here. We can discuss this without your popgun too.”

  “Oh sorry. I’ll be right out.”

  Connor returned to the silent group just as he shut the window. A minute later he arrived at the back door of his home. Once he understood why they met at this hour he finally relaxed and met everyone. They spoke together for close to an hour and sorted out some details.

  Before they departed, Deputy Burrow’s told them to rest up and meet him at his home by seven in the morning for work. He would also get new uniforms for the four immortals so that they could work inconspicuously with the other officers of the law. He’d also issue them guns for they couldn’t carry swords and daggers around. He mainly wanted for Michelle to wear more clothing.

  Once the four found the trail they used, Sarah and Connor flew home.

  Once they arrived there Mark and Kara were in the living room, watching a crackling fire to pass the time. They told the parents that the twins were fed and went straight to sleep. They wanted to know what went on inside the meeting, but Sarah said that she would explain tomorrow. After Connor’s sister and best friend left they checked and both Darrel and Pearl were still fast asleep.

  Before they went to sleep around four in the morning he showed Sarah that he could last for far more than a minute and she couldn’t have been more thrilled.

  Sarah woke him up after only about three hours of sleep. They took a quick shower and grabbed the kids before heading to the clearing. Sarah had told him to have a good day. He kissed her and made his way to the Elders cabins. Waiting on the side of the wall stood Head Elder Raphael as he watched the sparring matches that were already underway.

  Silver eyes met Connor’s not long after. He noticed that the Elder wore a gray t-shirt and blue jeans to blend in more effectively. His long, straight black hair hung down to his shoulder blades. Connor had never seen him wearing anything but his robes. It was a remarkable change of wardrobe. Raphael recognized him with an acknowledgeable nod and Connor returned the gesture. The very first question he asked was “How far away is this establishment that we are going to?”

  “About thirty minutes away by traveling in my truck.” Raphael shook his head slowly while maintaining constant eye contact. “What does that mean? Don’t you want to get there?”

  “That isn’t what I meant. What I meant was that we cannot travel by a motorized vehicle.”

  “Why’s that?” He looked away in shame for a moment and Connor realized what the actual problem was. “You aren’t afraid of traveling that way, but the real reason is that you honestly can’t.”

  “That is correct.” The most obvious is question, why. “There has been only one mode of transportation that is capable of carrying me. That is a train. My weight is too much for just about every carriage and automobile.” Raphael’s silver eyes met his and his expression was asking the old Elder a question that didn’t need to be spoken aloud. “If you must know, I weigh over five thousand of your pounds.”

  f… five thousand!!! That means he’s two and a half tons. What…? How can he weigh so much and be smaller than me? His height is similar to Mark’s, but his musculature is barely above average… Connor shook his head in attempts to clear the thoughts that were running rampant. He returned his sights on silver ones. “Since that is the case we can travel on foot. Your enormous transformation will be too easily seen.”

  “Agreed. Please lead the way so we can get this over with.”

  Connor conceded and began leading the way. In his peripheral vision two Changer Guards were moving in, to escort their elder, but Raphael waved them off. It looks like it will just be the two of us on this trip, huh.

  Raphael soon began walking by Connor’s side with an ancient pride that all of the oldest immortals have in common. Before he knew it they entered the forest.

  Once in the privacy of the wooded area Connor started talking. They were walking far faster than a human, but it was a comparative stroll. “Raphael, would it be permissible if I asked you a question?”

  His pace didn’t change as he looked over. “By all means.”

  Connor’s tone and voice was perfect to hold a pleasant conversation. “When you first arrived here at my clearing, I was astounded at your transformation.” Raphael smiled while returning attention to walking. “You see, that is what I’ve always imagined dragon’s to look like. It was difficult for me to see that Keepers were dragons, but you show up looking just like one. All that I can say is wow! … Then Mark explained how you are the only one capable of creating such a form and that you are a Bone Changer as well. Then you tell me of your extraordinary weight and I hear you speaking about the other Changers as Your Children.

  “Knowing this I’ve come to the realization that you were the first Changer, or at least one of the firsts. What I would like to know is how you became the first Immortal that doesn’t have a single link to the Hallowed Mother. Keeper’s today are descendants of Afleen, Ragke, the third or Sorono. Balancers were granted immortality from the Keepers and you already know about me. But I do not understand how your species came to be. It isn’t anything like evolution, that much is certain. Can you please enlighten me?”

  Raphael didn’t glance at him once as they continued journeying. He was unsurprised at the subject matter. Several seconds later he finally spoke.

  “Everything you have said is correct. I truly am the first Changer and am the father of our race and no, my kind isn’t a product of evolution. What I’m about to tell you, only a handful of people know. I have only told the other Elders and my direct children this story. I’m honestly surprised that Marcus hasn’t explained this to you already.” He finally glanced at Connor, but only for a moment before starting his story. “Connor, keep in mind that I’ve had to hear this from someone who is no longer among us and also some guesswork on my part because at t
he time all this occurred, I was still within my mother’s womb.

  “Several thousand years ago was when my race began with me and me alone. My human people lived on a very large island, slightly smaller in size to Oahu, one of Hawaii’s smaller islands. Many of my people were fishermen, but we didn’t know how to farm so we traded a special ore with the other islands. We sold raw gold ore. After some time we realized its value. Soon my people became greedy in trading because we wanted more things that our gold paid for. We then gradually became miners rather than strictly fishermen because the gold could bring in more food and supplies than fishing for ourselves.” His silver eyes met Connor’s when he said solemnly “Somehow in my peoples excavations they released a plague upon the living. It spread into the island and infected every living thing for a short time.

  “This original plague is no longer airborne so the pathogen cannot be spread like that, but it still now runs through my very veins. This plague is now called a virus. When my mother first inhaled the plague, and it entered her body, I was close to be birthed anyway. Somehow by body survived the plague, while my mother’s didn’t. I don’t remember what happened exactly, but I assumed that the plague in my blood gave me the strength needed to break free of my mother’s womb. Then the strange blood in my veins did something I didn’t comprehend until studying the lifecycle of humans.

  “The plague had made me grow into adulthood within a week’s time.

  “I learned quickly and watched as everything living on my home begin to die and rot away. I didn’t understand what was happening, but I quickly learned of my abilities to survive on a dying island. I could fish underwater and breathe like the prey I was after. I never traveled further than where my birthplace was because leaving the safety of one’s home frightened me. Within a month of my life, the island had completely died of all life and greenery. It was another two weeks after my island became barren that I met my first living human and learned that the plague disappeared because he survived once he made landfall.

  “He was a traveling fisherman of my people. His name was Zeke. When he arrived I was wary of this strange creature that looked like the rotting corpses that laid within my village. It stunk so I stayed away from the huts as much as possible. Zeke had gone straight to his home to find his wives and children all dead and rotted beyond recognition.

  “During the mourning of his family I revealed myself to him after changing my shape to look like him.” Then Raphael pointed to his face. “I didn’t know what I was supposed to look like so I copied his features perfectly, except for my eyes because his were brown.” He went back to the horrible story of his beginning. “When Zeke saw that I looked exactly like him, he started making weird noises that I quickly learned was his language. He grabbed a sharpened stick and tried stabbing me until I broke the shaft with my teeth. I saw him as food right then, but stopped when I realized that he was trying to protect his dead family. I then went back to looking like him and sat down several strides away.

  “He stayed where he was for a very long time while watching me strangely. Then he stood up like he was testing if he should run or kill me. He then did something strange to me at the time. He moved away and grabbed a flat piece of wood and began digging in the dirt. He then put his entire family in the pit and covered them with the dead foliage that covered the entire island. He then lit the brush to send his family off to the next life. Seeing what he did gave me an idea. I grew my hands into flattened claws and began digging a very large pit in the center of the village. Zeke stood off into the outskirts to watch as I carefully laid each and every dead thing into the hole, just like he did. Only I also put animals and people in the pit together because they all looked the same to me. Once everyone was in the pit and the brush had been laid, Zeke cautiously came up to my side and lit the fire. We watched the blaze in silence and I soon began mimicking what he did.

  “Several weeks had passed when he finally decided that I wasn’t the cause of his entire family’s death. He would slowly spend time with me and make the strange sounds again and I imitated them. Zeke was honestly trying to teach me and on the night of the third day of his lessons we were speaking clearly.

  “He first asked if I was a demon sent by the gods and destroyed the village because of their greed. Then he began thinking that I was a god because of my extreme strength and my abilities to alter my physical composition like those of the sea creatures or those that could fly. Soon he began thinking that I was both his guardian and demon because I looked exactly like him and was the only thing that remained on our island that still lived. I was a reminder of the village’s greed.

  “We had become friends in time and looking back we were together for about five years. He didn’t allow me to have any contact with any visitors who came regularly to our home to trade, but that didn’t stop me from listening to him when they arrived for our gold. He never returned to the dig sight, but he gave away what remained in the village and bought plants that grew quickly and our island began returning to life once again. We were together like brothers. That was until I killed him.”

  Connor stride faltered for a moment, but Raphael didn’t miss it. He moved around a tree and spoke cautiously. “How were you able to do that? Wasn’t he your first companion and teacher?”

  The Head Elder’s tone remained cool and nonchalant. “It remains my fault even if it was an accident on my end. Zeke had taught me how much better food tastes when it is cooked and one night it all happened so fast. He was cleaning a fish with a bone knife that I figured how to make from my very body. It was very sharp and he accidently cut the palm of his hand.” Raphael sighed heavily. “I wondered what my blood looked like so I cut my hand too and saw that our blood looked exactly the same. I then touched his wound with my hand and my blood entered his.”

  Hearing this brought back the mental accounts of his sister’s transformation. She was fastened to the table and Mark pressed his bloody hands into a wound on her sternum. Then her screaming… he’ll never forget…

  “I can tell by that look that you’ve seen what happens when my blood enters another human’s.” Connor nodded while still walking because his throat grew swollen from that hard time. “That’s right, Marcus’s mate is also your sister. You were the one she said brought her back to life. I thought she was joking until I saw that electrical demonstration you gave us at the meeting.” Finally he went back on his original subject. “As what mostly happens when my blood enters a new host. Zeke died after being in agony for two days. I gave him a proper sending like he was my family. I keep this face as a constant reminder of all he gave to me and as a remembrance to his life. After his death I secluded myself onto our side of the island. I never ventured further than what my body needed for nourishment.

  “After twenty years of grieving in solitude, I began hungering for companionship once again. Because of my loneliness I ventured around the island. About four weeks later I found something I’d never hope to see. There was another village settlement on the opposite side of my home. The whole island’s ecosystem had healed to a livable extent. They had only been there for no more than two or three years. I studied them and their habits for over a month and learned their new language and how they socialize.

  “Remembering how frightened Zeke was of me the first time we met I didn’t reveal my powers to them. Once I introduced myself and welcomed them to my island they didn’t trust me and their greatest warrior tried killing me. The warrior was stopped when one of the elders of the village told him to. The elder knew that his village’s greatest warrior would have been disposed of if he were to face me. Apparently the old one saw my weight as I stood in the sand of the beach.

  “Soon the old man had me accepted into the village as his surrogate son. Then my time in the village as a human was changed after only six months of living with them.

  “A rival tribe approached and began an unprovoked fight against us. I cared for these new people and didn’t want to see them hurt. My decision was made
up when one of them killed the old man who took me in. I transformed in front of them all by turning into my dragon form. I took the head and scales of our lizards, the tail and curved teeth of a snake, the talons of a flying raptor and the large leathery wings of a bat to carry my weight. Once my transformation had finished I completely obliterated the other tribe by myself.

  “My people were afraid of me and I could see the resentment in their eyes for allowing me to enter their community. I returned to my human look and told them that it was understandable. My hopes for companionship were crushed again and I began walking back into seclusion, but something miraculous happened.

  “The village’s chief had twin daughters. They told me to wait and not to leave, so I did. They had pleaded with their father to allow me to stay.” Raphael smiled despite himself. “The old chief could never tell them no. Thanks to their efforts I was able to stay a member of the village on one condition. I’d take them both as my wives.” He chuckled in amusement for some reason, but it soon became clear. “I was so naive back then. Of course I accepted his offer and they accepted me. I didn’t understand what they wanted of me on our wedding night because Zeke didn’t teach me about mating. My wives knew just what to do and I went along with their desires and innocent coaching.

  “That all changed when I figured out that it wasn’t only my blood that caused the problem. I spilled my seed inside them both and they began screaming in agony an hour after my seed took hold. Luckily all new husbands and wives must leave the village for seclusion for over a week. I did what I could do to ease their pain, but as you can attest there isn’t much to do. I cried like Zeke did with his family because I knew they wouldn’t live like my friend didn’t.

  “You have no idea how I felt seeing them in such a state. They had convinced there father to let me stay as one of them, become their husband and this is what I did to repay their generosity. How could I go back to the village or face their father? What could I do besides leave them and never contact another person for the rest of my life because whoever was around me died.