Harmonizer's Evolution (Balancer's Soul cycle) (77 page)

“Ok, Agnes. Take the lead.”

The Keeper turned around and finally took those
unsettling
eyes off
her
.

“Veronica,”
Sarah
said with a closed telepathy that only she could hear.
“
t
his Agnes
person
just asked me for a walk out of nowhere. Before Connor left with your mate he looked like something was off.”

“I noticed it in my mate as well.
He was searching for something.
”
S
he a
dmitted
.
“Is something the matter?”

Sarah
began walking behind the Keeper while thinking
“I’m not completely sure, but
this Keeper is making my insides
very
queasy. The way she looked at me just gave me an uneasy feeling. Despite this feeling I’m going
to go with her
.”

“Do you want me to come with you?”

“Yes, but keep a safe distance and be sure the kids have someone watching
over
them. I think something strange is happening
around here
and Agnes could be involved
. Plus completely seal
off
your mind
and don’t use your abilities
so that she has nothing to read and give away your position.
I’ll speak aloud for you
.
”

“Very well.”
They
ended
their
conversation and closed the link.

Bef
ore Sarah
started walking up to Agnes’s side
she
made sure that each of
her
daggers were free
in
their scabbards. This sickening feeling
Agnes is giving off has
put
her
defenses up.

Agnes led the way to the north
side of the clearing and soon they
were in the confines of the darkening forest.
They
had a quiet and pleasant walk for an hour and it had indeed become dark outside.
Sarah
made a fireball in
her
hand to give
them
a light source.
They
continued walking through the forest even then and
in a straight line. While in the walk, she
never once heard
,
saw
or felt
Veronica’s presence, but i
t was comforting to know that the
c
lose friendship with her kept Sarah’s
apprehension from making
her
make a run for it.

Then before she
knew it
,
the
y came upon
a tiny clearing that look
ed
to be used quite often. It was so far out of the way that no one has been here, but her. It made
Sarah
wonder what she was doing living out here.
She
then scanned the ground and said “Oh good. You already have some firewood.”
Sarah
tossed the fireball and soon the fire brightened
up the darkness of the clearing.
It was unmistakable to see that she
is
alone because only one side of thick grass has been spread and crunched under a heavy weight that match
ed
Agnes’s size.

Everything about this place was giving
her
the creeps as much as it did from Agnes herse
lf. Sarah
then had an idea to get a conversation going.

“Thank you for such a lovely stroll through the night, but I must get back a
nd go put my children to bed.” She
took a small flame from t
he fire and made it grow with her
energy into another small fireball.

A
s she
turned around and began walking
,
Agnes
finally gained
her
attention. Her tone had become strange and detached
“Before you make your
final
exit
,
there is something that I need to hear from you.
”
Sarah
stopped and returned
her
vision upon
the Keeper
and noticed that she stood between
her
and the fire
, about twenty feet away
. She stood tall and rigid while her grayish-white eyes still looked strangely at
Sarah
.
“I’ve seen you
entering the establishment, along with
those that wear the black robes that have gold engravings
,
for the past week. I am going to hear what has been going on in
there
.”

“You
’
r
e
sounding a little forceful.”
Sarah
spoke calmly and lazily placed both of
her
hands in the hilts of
her
dagger
,
after dispersing the fireball
in the air
. “You will be
told
,
just like everyone else
,
and wait for the news on the plans that have been put into place.
I’m sorry, but I cannot give anything away.”

The K
eeper didn’t
show any reaction to hearing her
words. A few moments later she began slowly walking back and forth while keeping he
r sights fixed completely on Sarah
like a tiger stalking prey
.
“I have also been watching your lessons with the old-one
’
s mate. You are a very dangerous creature despite your size and lack of coordination. What is unfortunate is that your strength rivals that of our kind and that is unacceptable.
We are the supreme species of the world.
But lucky for me you aren’t at your peak like you were. Using Dark Steel was unfortunate for you
,
puny thing. Right now I’d measure our strength
s
to be relatively close. I won’t be able to get another chance like this ever again.
”

Sarah’s
hands gripped the handles of
Fangs much more tightly.
Her
heart began racing at getting conformation from this sickening feeling.
Agnes kept
walking back and forth like a predator, playing with its food. The way
Agnes
spoke said that she wanted three things
.
First she wanted insider information
on
the
plans
concerning
their
strategies
. Next she wanted to remove
Sarah as her threat. Finally Sarah
understood that look in her eyes.
Agnes
was hun
gry and saw
her
as a food source. Only Ranvan and his followers could see the world of man as a buffet.

Sarah
unnoticeably pulled
Fangs from their scabbards by the smallest of measurements.
Her
voice hardened as
her
body prepared itself for a fight. “So what are you going to do about me? Even if you do get me to speak, what would you be able to tell Ranvan about us?”

Agnes’s leathery lips pulled back in a grotesque smile
at hearing his name
. She looked completely normal as a female Keeper should, but her crooked teeth would be a dead giveaway that she
i
s an enemy
spy
.
“So you dare speak the name of the one who freed us? It doesn’t matter much because our exalted one will bring us back from hiding and make us the rulers of this world once again.”

Then the Keeper dropped down on all fours and continued pacing.
“Now tell me what you know and your end will be quick, meat
thing
.”

She finally stopped moving once a choked la
ugh escaped
Sarah’s
lips. “Do you honestly
believe
that you have that capability? To think that a spy would be stupid enough to take out someone much stronger than they are
,
let alone confirm that they are
indeed
a spy who is trying to gain intelligence directly
from that person
. You and the rest of your breed must be truly
pathetic
if you believe those tactic
s
will work.”

“If you
’
r
e
through mocking,”
Agnes lined her body straight towards
Sarah’s
.
“tell me your secrets or things will get bloody.”
A threatening hiss passed her mangled teeth.

As a result
of her threatening words
Sarah
instantly cleared
Fangs from their home and took
a
defensive
position. “Forget it, Freak!”

Apparently she didn’t like being called that terminology.
Agnes
growled and
suddenly launched herself.

At the exact same time there
came
an explosi
ve movement from the woods and her
rescuer Veronica flipped midair and struck
with
her tail like a whip
,
that
had gone
supersonic
,
across the back of Agnes’s
skull
and the only ones to remain conscious were Veronica and
Sarah
.

The danger has been quelled
before any blood
could be
spilt
.

They
locked
their
eyes on Agnes incase she should react. Once
they
were sure she w
ould
n’t, Sarah
said lightheartedly “Veronica, it seems like we have a present for our men when they get back.”

She hissed a laugh.
“That they will. Now we have proof for everyone to see the enemy we face. Now we need to get her back to camp and set up some procedures for our
guest
as long as needed. I’ll carry her back, but stay close incase she wakens unexpectedly. We cannot afford to lose such precious information
on our
enemy
.”

She
walked up to
V
eronica and patted her cool scaled thigh. “Thanks
.”

She nodded in understanding of
the
words.

“It seems like it
’
s over.”
Connor
thought to Sorono as
they
continued flying north
at incredible speeds
.

“Indeed. Veronica seems much more relaxed than she was a few minutes ago. Now that our worry is over, we should move more swiftly.”

Their
speed instantly increased as
more energy funneled down their
legs and out of the soles of
their
feet and boots. S
ince Sorono knew the location
of the prison,
he took the lead. He made a Pressure shield to aid in
the
flight north.

They
crossed the Canadian
border
hours ago and were
still
flying after the sun finally set. Then the scenery slowly became familiar
in the darkness
.

They
passed the large mountain that
they
resided in during t
he Mélange meeting. Neither of them
said anything, but
they
did look at it until it
dropped
out of sight.
Connor
continued remaining quiet as
they
still flew and the air continually became cold
er
. As a response
Connor
used
his
control over Fire to cocoon
himself in a thin layer of his
own body heat and didn’t allow it to radiate away.