Hunters (Spirit Blade Part 1) (5 page)

Kaelen clamped his teeth on the arguments burning his tongue. His fingers curled into fists at his side. Damn the demonlord and his twisted words. Kaelen had no patience for it. "What happened to Nadia? What did you do?"

One white eyebrow lifted. "It was not I or any demonlord, but the magic of your sorcerers that haunts her. It was her choice to seek refuge."

"Impossible." What did he mean by refuge? From whom or what?

"Is it? You asked about the dagger? You know of its dark properties? A weapon, certainly, to be used to kill demonlords."

Kaelen swallowed at the revelation of that knowledge. Nadia never would have shared its purpose. Would she?

"It was not difficult to ascertain. The weapon exudes the darkness of the souls it has captured. It enhances the darkness of the minds of those in close proximity. Once realized, she has been strengthening her mind from its influence. But it is a weapon that could take control over its bearer in the rage of those it possesses, effectively sending a human into something like the blood rage of the many half-blood souls captured."

A chill ran through him, but not from the cool autumn breeze. He believed Je'Kaoron, yet the demonlord could be lying to frighten him from completing his mission.

Worse was the demonlord's knowledge of the dagger's purpose and his casual way of speaking of it.

"The Adepts walk a fine line," Je'Kaoron said in a low voice that cut through the night. "For some time, we have been aware of the machinations of the sects and their plans to overthrow us. You do well to remember that it was a demonlord who trained the first Adepts and a demonlord who organized the first protectors. Even in the beginning, the demonlords were split. That rift has grown since Te'Mea proposed her plan. Some, like High Lord Je'Dron, believe humans deserve to govern themselves. Others say humans have gained too much freedom and use that to amass too much power. Like you, they close their minds without considerations of the merits of all concerned."

"And what of you?"

Je'Kaoron stepped forward to halt at arm's reach from him, putting Kaelen on alert for an attack.

It didn't come. Instead, the tall, beautiful man so deceptive in his grace and poise to be mistaken as weak had he been human looked down on him with a smile like that of a parent to a child. "I was the one who convinced High Lord Je'Dron of the merits of humans as potential equals and to open Tikeros to other clans. Until Je'Rekun's subversion, Tikeros thrived. Whatever you think of me, I am not who you believe me to be."

Kaelen glared at the man before him, a man who was part of the threat to humans all over the world but especially to Nadia; and he hated Lord Je'Kaoron more for giving him pause for consideration. He spoke of machinations within the Adepts but what of those of demonlords? What game did this one play?

"Demonlord lies," Kaelen ground between clenched teeth, ready to defend himself and to die if the man took offense. He had seen the demonlord's capabilities against Nadia.

Lord Je'Kaoron shook his head, his shoulders sinking. "Your mind is closed. That will be your undoing...Nadia has acted with honor to High Lord Je'Dron, to the Je'Gri clan, to Adepts, and to this world, but it was not without a price. That was what happened to her," he said in a quiet voice. "I suggest that if you wish to know more, you speak to her."

He would, if she would let him.

"What did
you
do to her?"

Lord Je'Kaoron tipped his head, his brows pressed together in a wrinkle of confusion. "I have done no harm. I can assure you."

Harm, nothing. The demonlords were nothing but a scourge on their world.

"As I said, your judgment is colored by your perspective. I will not speak for Nadia. That is her place." A shadow fell over the man's features as he took a small step closer, his posture setting off an instinct for Kaelen to defend himself. "Nadia is not yours to control."

"But she's yours?"

Je'Kaoron's face hardened in a threatening glare. "She is no one's to control."

Before Kaelen could argue, the demonlord blurred in the magic and transformed into a white tiger, which bared its sharp teeth in warning and ran off through the garden, putting an end to the confrontation.

Kaelen watched him disappear back into the corridors, certain that the demonlord was hiding something. Kaelen wasn't leaving until he had that dagger and Nadia away from their influence, especially from that one.

Chapter 4

Nadia tightened the strap of her second bracer bearing the demon head with sharp teeth. Arrow tips formed of green
imera
stones pierced that fearsome head, the same design as her belt buckle on the black uniform. With those secure, she adjusted the dagger sheath and hesitated at the darkness creeping into her mind. Lord Je'Kaoron's warning returned and she did what she could to push the effects of the dagger's magic aside.

Nadia slammed her fist against the wall, the turmoil raging inside questioning why the sorcerers ever created such vile weapon. Their search for ways to control or destroy the demonlords would only lead to bloodshed. They had cursed her and the world.

The weapon did this to her. The twisted cruelty of its power whispered of conspiracies and rumors. She hated it, but she couldn't let anyone else bear it.

It had to be destroyed.

How many other devices or talismans had the sects discovered or created?

The thought shook her to her core, not only in what it could lead to but also that only five months ago she had believed in their leadership and wholeheartedly supported the downfall of the demonlords.

Had she changed so much?

Nadia blinked and looked around at the room that had been hers for more than six months. In traveling across Tikeros, she had been summoned by then High Lord Je'Rekun to clean up that region of half-bloods.

Now, she pitied them, admired them even. Je'Rol had changed her. And Je'Surana had changed her. Together, they had each demonstrated the humanity within. half-bloods could live in peace if given a chance.

And Lord Je'Kaoron.

Nadia caught her breath with a hand over her heart as if to hold it in from the surge that passed through upon thinking of him. He had shown that demonlords could care about humans and half-bloods. They weren't all cold killers.

They had all changed her.

Letting go of her hatred for Je'Rol and time away from the influence of the dagger had cleared her head. She saw how twisted the sects had become. Someone had to stop them, and she would but only after destroying the dagger. The only way to be sure no one else could use it was to destroy it. Then she could return to the temple and try to talk sense into the teachers.

Nadia secured her cloak around her neck and wrapped her blanket to secure to her saddle for the chilly nights. She handed it to a young man in a brown leather vest over his blouse, one of many servants.

Under Je'Rekun's reign of terror over humans, the servants had cowed and quivered, even in serving her, but under Je'Dron as High Lord, they stood taller, more confident that a simple error wouldn't be their last. Je'Rekun had ruled as the demonlords had for more than two thousand years, believing that humans were nothing more than livestock. Je'Dron, however, treated humans as equals, resulting in humans asking to serve to gain better lives than most peasants. Lord Je'Kaoron had something to do with that.

Unfortunately, the progressive views of Je'Dron weren't held by all demonlords.

That was why the Adepts sought ways to overpower them.

She was tired of being used by their leaders. The elders needed to realize that some demonlords were allies. Maybe after she destroyed the dagger to keep their hands off it, she would return to tell them, but she doubted they would listen, especially to her, a woman.

Only the demonlords had any respect for women. Even Je'Rekun had respected her skills without judgment of anything but being an Adept.

She would make them respect her.

With the servant carrying her travel pack, she exited the room. He stayed beside her, easily matching her strides as she hurried through the corridor to an outdoor walkway and staircase of the cliffside city. A warm breeze lifted from the valley, sweeping away the chill of the late morning. She inhaled the fresh air, letting it invigorate her with the freedom it promised and cleansing her soul of the shadow from the dagger.

"Nadia!"

Her heart turned to ice at the voice shouting from above. She motioned the servant forward. "Step faster."

Kaelen must have been watching for her. The cliffside city was ideal for seeing everything that happened in the valley and along the outdoor stairways. Kaelen didn't have to work, only to watch and wait.

She refused to listen to him and his lies. As much as she would like to have a lord or lady to convince him to leave her alone, it would only add fuel to the fire started by the leaders of the sects. She didn't need him spreading lies about her like his implications last night. She had to face him herself, but she could avoid him as long as possible if she hurried a little faster.

Only a near tumble slowed her as she grasped the banister to keep from falling. How she hated those stairs!

"Huntress."

At the concern on the young man's face, she flashed a smile. Movement behind him fouled her mood; Kaelen descended towards them in a hurry.

"Leave me!" She directed her words at Kaelen.

The servant turned as Kaelen caught up to them.

"We need to talk." Kaelen took the blanket roll from the servant and frowned. She should have taken it herself. "Are you leaving?"

Refusing to answer, she snatched away the roll and continued down the stairs at a more cautious pace.

"Huntress?"

Stupid servant. She didn't need him. A kind gesture, to be sure, but he only slowed her down.

"You're excused," she snapped without looking back. The tromp of another set of steps followed.

"Get away from me, Kaelen."

"I can't do that…unless you give up the dagger."

Nadia turned on the landing to continue on the zig-zagging course of stairs. Perhaps she should have taken one of the inner staircases, but this was the easiest way to see the stables in the valley. It was too late to change her mind. He would only harass her worse in the privacy of the inner corridors.

"Where are you going?"

"Away from you." She continued her course, her boots clapping noisily on the last few levels of the outer stairs. He easily kept pace close behind, saying nothing.

Until they reached the valley floor.

Ahead rose the impressive structure of the stables, its tiled roof curving at the end to direct rain water into large troughs and away from the long arcade between the indoor training arena and the stabling area. In the circular area outside that passage with its doors open for morning activity, a crowd of tigers had gathered, most of them the orange of the warriors. Several of the stable hands held saddled and ready horses while other figures in orange and black armor waited astride their mounts.

"You're traveling with them?"

Nadia hurried forward, her boots crunching over the grass and her heart anxious to reach the demonlords and escape Kaelen.

A hand clamped on her arm halted her and pulled her around to face him. In the sunlight, the lines of his face looked deeper than she remembered from eight years ago. He had aged, but he hadn't changed.

"What are you doing with them?"

"It's not your concern." She yanked her arm, but his fingers tightened and he loomed closer, his face inches from hers set in a hard line.

"It is my business, Nadia. You're a demon hunter, an Adept. You serve humans, not demonlords. What happened to you?"

The instant his fingers loosened, she pulled away. "You did." Free of him and not wanting to argue, she jogged several steps before resuming her fast march to the stables.

He would never understand. He hadn't understood eight years ago and seeing him last night had only served to bring back memories she had tried to forget, the secret she had buried to save herself from emotional pain that would rip her apart if she let it.

And she had finally found some peace after resolving her issues with Je'Rol.

She didn't want anything to do with Kaelen, just like he hadn't wanted anything with her.

"Nadia. Nadia."

He followed but she continued to a sorrel mare offered by one of the stable boys and lifted her belongings to the back of the saddle.

A quick glance across her shoulder as she tied her belongings behind the high cantle made her pause. In white riding pants with a white and black coat belted at his waist, Lord Je'Kaoron passed Kaelen from behind, stopping the man in his tracks at the outer edge of the resting tigers, several of whom stirred. The demonlord's poise and fair appearance made Kaelen look churlish and stocky by comparison.

Black stripes raced along the white hair tied out of the cleanly-defined features to blend together loosely over the demonlord's shoulders. Upon catching her eyes, he smiled.

"Nadia," Lord Je'Kaoron greeted her and took the reins of the sleek gray from the stable boy who held her own mount. While his horse chewed on the bit, he led it near to her and said in a low voice, "What do you wish of him?"

She looked up to where Kaelen still stood at the edge of the stirring tigers. "Nothing." She yanked one of the straps around her blanket roll with more force than intended.

One white eyebrow lifted on Lord Je'Kaoron's face. He said nothing and led his mount away to where he could step up without the horses biting at each other.

"This is wrong, Nadia," Kaelen said. "Surrounding yourself with demonlords will not please the others."

Nadia huffed and finished tying her belongings onto the saddle, yanking the leather straps hard. He was lucky Je'Dron and his clan supporters tolerated such disrespect. "I don't care what the Kodre, Li'Ador, or any others think. I'll be safer with the Je'Gri where we're going," she said over her shoulder to Kaelen.

"Where's that?"

She clamped her jaw and with one foot already in the nearest stirrup, swung her other leg over the saddle. "It doesn't concern you." Leather creaked under her weight as she took up her reins from the stable boy.