by Lee Morgan
Reluctantly Zeheil turned to them and obeyed the captain’s order. Carefully he slid his right hand out of his robe and his facial expression couldn’t hold its shape any longer and became pained. His teammates all gasped as they looked at his hand wrapped in a towel and soaked completely through with dark red blood. It was all too easy to differentiate the shiny red blood from his glossy black claws. The guys all tried moving their heads to get a better look, but they were in Connor’s way. He spoke aloud again. “Everyone stop!” They all did and turned to look down at him. “I want all of you to block me and Zeheil from the onlookers. Allow him to keep his dignity. And we might need to get something for him to bite down on because I’m going to work on his hand. I’ll fix his hand back to normal.” They didn’t move to do as he ordered until he said “Unless you want me to cut off his hand so he could re-grow it or would you rather let me fix it for him and ease his suffering down to a day instead of a week?”
One of the members had another towel he brought with him from the bath house that was made for the size of a Keeper, but it looked more like a king sized bed sheet. He wrapped it up into a long rag and folded it in half. His almost black eyes looked at his comrade and said “Bite down on this, my friend” Zeheil opened his large mouth and his friend slid the towel to his back grinding teeth. Connor told Zeheil to sit on the bench and he did so without protest. Connor looked at the others and they took the unspoken hint. Three of them stood behind the bench and blocked the view from the back. Xaon and the remaining two knelt behind him and blocked his side. Their wide torsos blocked out the still excited crowd, but left more than enough ambient light to see by. He looked into each of their worried eyes and admitted “Zeheil, this will hurt. I’m not going to lie to you, but you need to remain calm and let me do it. I will work as quickly as I can to lessen the pain.” He nodded and held out his bloody wrapped hand.
As Connor began unwrapping the cloth, each of their teammate’s eyes widened once the broken hand was revealed. The three long bones in his palm were all broken and painfully out of place. The most gruesome sight came from his middle bone that broke through the scales, on the back side of his hand. Connor closed his eyes and used sonar and to see that he had three bones broken and one clean break in each where the brunt of the impact from where he caught the dense baseball. Once he figured what the damage is Connor looked up at Zeheil’s pained expression and his scaly brows pulled together. Connor smiled and said “This is the price you paid for winning the game, big guy.” Two of the keepers behind Zeheil chuckled; in their way. “I’m going to start resetting the two minor breaks first. He nodded once he prepared himself.
Connor took the bloody and wet hand into his own and started with the outside bone of the clawed hand. This bone and the inside one were both fractured in an up and down fashion. Connor placed his right hand under the leathery palm and the left on the top. His hand was just over an inch away from the protruding white bone. Using an incredible amount of strength to squeeze his bones back together, an instant POP happened, locking the bones back and Zeheil roared out in pain, but it was muffled from the towel on his mouth. He jerked his hand away from Connor’s and held it to his chest. He panted in renewed pain and his eyes closed and began tearing at the corners.
Connor turned around to look at Xaon pointedly and he understood what was needed without words. He reached over Connor’s head with both arms and grabbed Zeheil’s wrist to bring back to where it could be fixed. All of the other team members restrained his movements by holding his shoulders, legs and made sure that the arm wouldn’t go anywhere.
Connor grabbed his hand again and popped the other bone back in place. His hand didn’t jerked away, but it was enough to get the others attention that their grips weren’t good enough. “Alright, guys. Hold him as tightly as you can. This is going to be the hardest part for him. He cannot move at all until I’m done.” Their grips all tightened into immovable reptilian vices.
He used the palm of his right hand to push against the end of the bone and the other used to push down. Connor instantly pushed the thick bone back and with, the other hand, pushed it back under the scaled skin. Using the speed and strength of a Balancer the top and bottom bones once again to popped back in place. Zeheil tried thrashing and roaring, but he was completely restrained by the others. Sarah’s worry began flooding into his system, but he pushed her emotions away knowing a distraction wouldn’t aid anyone. They went to let go of him until Connor said “Hold him still! I have two more things to do.” Their grips returned.
Moisture out of the air converged above his hand and grew into a beach ball in size. He imagined a focused stream coming from the bottom of it, like a garden hose, and his instinct followed through. The stream of water washed away the blood on his hands first and the remaining was applied to Zeheil’s bloody claws. He also used Liquid to remove the blood quicker with the water so as to not show the others around him and to finish quicker. Blood continued pouring from the open wound, but it had slowed dramatically. “That’s finished.” Connor looked at each of them while asking “Do any one of you have anything we can use as a compress to stop the blood and a bandage to wrap up his hand?”
“Will this do?” The one guarding his left stood and reached in his robe and withdrew a white silk sash. It was wrapped up like a rope and he leaned down to offer it to Connor.
“Perfect.” He felt the softness of the silk and knew it was expensive and well made, but it had a new purpose to accomplish now. Connor unbound the wrappings and wrapped the one end of the sash into a fist sized knot. He sat the knot into Zeheil’s open wound and began wrapping it around his hand. He made sure it was tightly bound to hold the bones in place for awhile and to hold the knot as a compress until the blood ceased escaping. He gave the giant a simple instruction “Don’t remove this until your bones are healed. Have someone use sonar on you periodically to check if the damage has recovered and only then should you take it off.”
Zeheil spat out the towel and panted. If a reptile had sweat glands they would all would be swimming in his right about now. His teammates released their hold and allowed him to take his hand back. He clutched his damaged hand to his chest. He looked at it and said “That was more painful than catching your hit, but I am grateful for your assistance and compassion.”
“Since you actually caught it, allow me to give you a small reward.” Zeheil eyed him cautiously. “Give me your hand again.” He looked at the others and then humored the Balancer by extending his hand, but this time with the palm up. Connor placed both of his palms onto his and focused. He summoned a set amount of energy and poured it into him. Less than a half of a percent was transferred, but that would be like Jack doing it and winding up unconscious. “That should help you out for a little while.”
Sarah read in Connor’s mind how the right fielder broke his hand and Connor wanted to help. She returned to the others and told them what happened and Veronica was the one to tell them that they should see what assistance they could offer.
The six of them now stood behind the chain-linked fence, looking in. She couldn’t see Connor because he was blocked by a wide backed Keeper, but she was able to see one of his pants legs. It was painful to hear bones being reset. Sarah glanced down at the stone floor to see bloody water soaking the ground. She became worried, but could feel Connor’s confidence and it was reassuring. Kara stood in her normal human state now and she had a hand on her sister’s seemingly frail shoulder. All of the others also stood and looked into their dugout wanting to know what was happening.
Then there was some movement as the three Keepers stood and Sarah could finally see her mate. Her heart and worry vanished as she saw him again unharmed. She grabbed and held onto the fence for support and realized she’d been holding her breath. His clothing made him look like the shadow mixed in with the other players, but his stature couldn’t be missed by anyone. He took a step back and splashed his foot in the red water. As a player arose from the bench Connor looked at
her and smiled my smile.
Sarah couldn’t stop herself from asking aloud “Is he ok?”
All of the others turned to look at her and then to the rest of them as they all stood looking in. Connor then spoke saying “There aren’t any more problems in here. Everything is back to the way it should be.” She looked behind him to see a Keeper putting a wrapped claw inside his robe. Her mate looked up and said “Xaon, it has been a pleasure, but we need to get going. I hope to see you again.” He started making his way out of their territory.
“Have a safe stay while you are here and we will be sure to see each other again.” Xaon smiled calmly.
Connor stepped out of the opening and Sarah made her way around to get to him first. She wrapped her arms around his middle and squeezed. “Princess…” He spoke shallowly and through gritted teeth. “It is getting quite hard to…breathe with you squeezing…me like that.” She eased her arms pressure and he took a deep lungful. “Thanks for letting me have another lifesaving breath. What was that for anyways?”
She looked up into his sharp blue and brown hazel eyes as he put his hands on her shoulders. “Next time you do something like that, I’m going in with you.” Her heart leapt as he kissed the top of her head.
“Next time I have to do it I will be happy with your help.”
“So, Connor…What are we going to do next?” Jillian asked with bubbling excitement.
She let go to turn around. Mark stood behind Kara looking normal. She had been so focused she didn’t realized he had done so. Veronica stood behind Sarah’s parents and she too was still revved from the intense game. She leaned back into her mate’s chest and his warmth was just what she needed to relax. Even the chainmail she wore felt remarkably comfortable. She rested the palms of her hand on the round pommels of Fangs as Connor spoke. “How about we just wing it?”
“Now that is a plan!” Mark said and began laughing.
“I’m confused. What does ‘Wing it’ mean?” Sarah told Veronica that it was a related meaning that meant they will see what happens and do it then when an if they want to. “Oh I get it now…Can we meet up later? I need to go check up on Clarein, Firon and my egg.”
“Go ahead.” Sarah wondered what kind of a mother she would be like once she had Pearl. No one was perfect, but she knew she would do her absolute best. Veronica left and disappeared into a crowd of Keepers.
Sarah moved forward and snagged Connor’s hand. He squeezed in appreciation. She turned to the others and said “I have an idea. How about we all go and see what is happening with the other games?”
“Football or Wrestling?” Jack asked and adjusted Haunt behind his shoulder.
“Why not go see a football game first?” Kara asked and that’s what they did.
The moment the gate of the baseball field opened they were assaulted by a throng of cheering and excited fans. They were clapping, cheering and calling out their names. There were so many people it was hard to imagine. They all asked questions like ‘How did you do so well?’ ‘Did you stage this for our amusement or cheat?’ ‘What kind of training did you have to do to play against the other team?’ ‘May I have your autograph?’ and so on. The Changers took the liberty of chatting with Mark and Kara and everyone else congratulated them over and over. Sarah remembered half of the people and most of them never even bothered to talk with her because they were stuck in their worlds. Now though, they were getting their fifteen minutes of fame, but it’s not what it is cracked up to be. It was hard to get away from everyone and she wanted to go back to their quiet cottage and sleep in her bed, holding Connor in ever blissful silence.
They somehow managed to get away from their new throng of fans and made their way to the football/soccer stadium. They found a secluded section on the top back row and watched a team of Changers battling against their own kind. Sarah really wasn’t paying too much attention to the game as she kept replaying everything in her mind from playing the fun baseball game.
Sarah was rudely brought back to reality when she realized that their secluded section became packed with people wanting to sit and talk with them. She didn’t realize how much time had passed, but there were two new teams playing on the field. She looked at all the faces staring at them, asking ridiculous questions. Now I’m getting annoyed…
She felt Connor reading her thoughts and didn’t disagree. He leaned forward and she saw both her father and Mark look at him simultaneously and nod just as quickly. Connor turned to her and stood up. He slid his hands under her legs and around her back. He lifted her up like a breeze to a feather and scooped her into his massive arms. He turned and jumped off the back ledge of the bleachers. It was at least a thirty five foot drop, but it was strange, she wasn’t scared from the suddenness. She felt the lightness of the fall, but also the security of being in his arms. He landed on the ground and made the softest of sounds with his feet. Sarah wasn’t jarred from the impact, but did feel as gravity took over her again. Connor sat her down on her feet again and he had a playful smile dancing on his lips.
Sarah turned to the sudden loud noise and saw Mark carrying Kara in his arms and their combined weight made the loud noise. She looked up to see her father dropping down with her mother in his long arms as well. His landing was half as loud as Mark’s, but nowhere near as quiet as Connor’s. They sat the girls down and smiled. Kara chirped “Let’s go do that again!”
“Kara, it is almost dinner time. Let’s go get something to eat first.” Sarah said because she was getting another powerful craving for more apples.
She looked up at the top of the bleachers and so did Sarah. Peoples heads were staring over the edge and gawking at them. “I agree, Sarah. We need to get away from them and I need to replenish my nutrients I used up from today.”
“Come on then.” Sarah began walking after joining her hands with Connor.
On the way to the central stairwell they only met five people who congratulated them. They descended down to level two and someone was waiting for them. Jillian said cheerfully “Good evening Veronica. Are you waiting for us?”
“Indeed I am.” Veronica stood from a bench close to the stairwell and made her way over to the group. Her egg was still wrapped in the space blanket and tucked into the curve of her left arm. Her head twitched as she said “Have all of you been approached by many people today?”
“We have.” Connor said plainly.
“It is quite difficult to get around after the game. Even my own brethren have been how do you say it Kara…hounding me?” She self-consciously looked over her left shoulder and saw two other female of her kind waiving in her direction. “Can we eat and retire for the night? It is difficult being asked so many questions by so many.”
“Hurry on up then. We had the same idea. Things might settle down by tomorrow.” Sarah said, making her way down the stairs again.
The seven of them wound their way down the spiral staircase to the third level. Soft Victorian music was currently playing again and crowds of people chatting away. The moment they all got off the stairs they stopped once a new noise replaced the usual kind. Sarah looked up to see the entire cafeteria looking at them and clapping. Some people whistled or banged on their tables from all three rows. She still was not expecting such a welcome from so many others. Her heart swelled with joy. Two nights ago they had to fight for their lives, but now were being congratulated by all. It was something she never considered to see with her own two eyes.
Eventually they made their way to the line and waited for their turn to eat. The applause slowly died away and everyone returned to what they were doing before they made an entrance. The line moved rather quickly thanks to Kara’s talking to keep their minds distracted.
They finally made it to the front desk. Connor and Sarah bowed to Elder Adela and she smiled. “I heard all about the game today. I’m sorry I couldn’t make it. I was shocked to hear my second youngest and youngest granddaughters were part of the team playing against Xaon and his crew. I couldn’t be more p
roud.”
“Thank you for your kind words, Elder.” Sarah said and bowed again. Adela smiled innocently and then said “What can I get for you today?” Sarah gave her the order and soon ate with everyone at the usual table. Once they ate and separated upstairs, Connor and Sarah went to the bath house and soon after went to sleep.
Over the next week very little has happened to her and the family. Sarah was right in saying that the crowds excitement would die down. Everyone now either smiled or said “Hello” and then they left. Every morning they ate breakfast and in the evenings they’d spend supper together as a group. Firon was the only one who couldn’t be there every time. A few nights ago they saw a drunk Changer named Bryce. He looked like a brown gorilla with long legs and feet. He was where the actual Bigfoot legend originated. He danced on top of the table with a mug of mead in his hand. Connor laughed and clapped along with everyone else as Bryce tried dancing to the tune that the musicians played. Unfortunately an inebriated Changer couldn’t dance, but it was still funny and doubly entertaining. During the days, they would watch the sports and see the different variations of abilities and how they were used. Also during the week more and more immortals showed up, now reaching into tens of thousands. The bathing room began to get a little bit crowded, but she expected that. Sarah began to see more and more female Keepers show up and Connor got to meet a seventeen year old female Keeper, thanks to Veronica’s help with introductions. The young Keeper and Connor were the same height and about the same size. Her parents both watched Connor’s interaction with their curious daughter. Connor thanked them and they went on their way. Also there was a new Balancer and she was about twelve years old, but looked more like five or six.
During this time a slight change in Connor’s behavior became evident when they were alone and had no company. He has become very edgy for some reason and highly temperamental, like a person who’s in the first stages of withdraw from drugs. He remained calm and collected when he was around others, but Sarah could feel his slight inner turmoil through the connection steadily growing. She blamed it on those weird dreams he’s been having every single night, but as time progresses she wasn’t as certain. The dreams about shadows and encircling arms became more vivid and frequent, she just wished whatever was going on with him would pass away quickly. Even his lovemaking has become slightly off and more animalistic.
