by M. A. Nilles
Kaelen stepped back and pulled his hood away from a face displaying the surprise she felt. "Old Ones?"
"The Master Race," Nadia answered and turned back to Wark. "Is that why the goblins serve the demonlords?"
"Yes," he said as relief washed over him. "Goblins are keepers of ways of Old Ones, you call Master Race. You must tell demonlords. I travel to Gung Horsh clan."
"Who are the Guardians?" Kaelen asked.
Wark looked from him to her. "Leader does not know."
Kaelen stepped closer, his eyes spitting fire on the small demon. "Tell me."
The goblin stared at him, his eyes lulling into the familiar emptiness of a demon dispirited. "Demonlords."
"What demonlords?"
"Wark not told."
Kaelen glared at the goblin for several seconds but the goblin said nothing, until Nadia broke the spell by pushing Kaelen aside. The fool should have known better.
"He can't tell you what he doesn't know. Do you think their leaders would be stupid enough to reveal that for an Adept to discover? It's enough that he told us this much without—"
A rustle of grass drew her attention to where the goblin had stood.
Not a trace remained.
"You let him escape. We could have learned more," Kaelen growled.
"No, we couldn't," she argued, despite the guilt that she had broken the spell for the goblin to escape. She shouldn't have let him slip away like that, but at the same time, she wanted him to get away from Kaelen. If his purpose was to contact the Guardians he mentioned, maybe they were meant to stop the spiral into darkness she saw coming in the conflicts among demonlords and the Adepts who hoped to use it to their advantage. Maybe that's what the goblins also saw. It both relieved her and scared her that she might be right.
Kaelen directed his burning glare at her and returned to his horse. "Our leaders will need to know this."
"Great. Return to tell them."
"Not until…" He swung into the saddle. "…I get that dagger."
Nadia led her horse away to wait for the demonlords' return in the open, where any natters that approached would be easy to spot and destroy. "Then it looks like I'm stuck with you a while longer."
"I'm not complaining."
She was, but she refused to give him the satisfaction of seeing her upset.
"Start cutting up some wood if you're staying. We could use a fire."
He made no move, nor did the horse. Nadia waited as the song of the night played softly over the land with the gentle rustle of the wind through the grass, insects chirping, and occasional bird or ground squirrel squeaking faintly.
But she saw no indications of the demonlords returning yet.
They would return. Lord Je'Kaoron wouldn't abandon her, unlike the man left with her.
After a long silence, the creak of leather preceded the thump of feet on the ground. Steps shushed through tall grass to right behind her. A set of reins landing on her shoulder startled her and she whirled.
"Hold him for me."
Nadia took the reins as Kaelen returned to the copse while unsheathing his sword.
With both horses grazing beside her, Nadia watched Kaelen hack at the lower branches. She winced at the thought of what that would do to his weapon, but without the demonlords around, it was their best chance for getting a good fire going.
Kaelen dropped a branch from the tree when a noise arose from the direction the demonlords had gone.
It could have been something far worse, but the emergence of the large cats calmed the fears arising in her mind. The riders in the group burst from the darkness with a familiar figure cast in the moon's glow heading towards her.
"Huntress." Lord Je'Kaoron stopped his mount before her and jumped from the saddle in the same motion, a worried look on his face as his eyes searched her. "Are you all right?"
That he cared enough to worry about her teased a smile from her lips, and she nodded. "Yes."
Amid the tromping of many tigers and horses, he leaned close and in a low voice asked, "Was there any trouble?"
"No, my lord. The goblin cooperated without any persuasion."
"I didn't mean the goblin."
Nadia followed his gaze to the trees, where Kaelen helped pick up branches broken off by the demonlords, who had taken over breaking off branches.
"No," she said with full understanding. "He…No." Kaelen had been strangely cooperative. He could have tried to take the dagger when they were alone, but he hadn't.
Je'Kaoron nodded and straightened to his normal manner. "And what of the goblin?"
Nadia blinked away her thoughts of Kaelen, glad to have something else to discuss. "Yes. He brought a message. He said his clan observed some things that worried them and that they want to find some First Ones that are Guardians to do whatever needs to be done to stop bad things from happening."
In the darkness, the man stared at her, but in the moonlight, those pale blue eyes grew distant.
"He couldn't tell me who these Guardians are, and when I argued with Kaelen, he ran off."
In his usual pleasant manner, he tipped his head. "Thank you, Nadia."
Thank you? For what—letting the goblin go or for getting the message? "Do you know who the First Ones are? He said they were Guardians of the lesser races."
"I know of them, but they don't want to risk discovery. Those who have been revealed in the past have been tortured for their knowledge." The look on his face in the moonlight tugged at the pity inside her. Sorrow or fear, she couldn't discern, but she wanted to console him as he had provided her solace in her grief. After all he had done for her, it was the least she could offer.
As she would have done with the girls whose half-blood newborns she had taken or the families of demon victims, she reached for his hand in a simple show of sympathy. He had been there in her distress, and she wanted to give him some sign that she understood. He had obviously been close to some these Guardians, whoever they were.
He curled his fingers in hers, his hand warm.
"Did you know any of them?" she asked hesitantly.
His eyes fell to their hands and she noted the repeated sliding of his thumb over her hand in the seconds that passed.
"Please don't ask me about that," he said in a quiet voice and broke away.
The shimmer of magic transformed him and he bounded off to blend in with the others still in tiger form around the low fire they had started.
Nadia watched him, unaware of the shadow creeping upon her.
"Not in the mood tonight?"
Emotions spiked at the accusation. She jabbed her elbow into the gap in his armor, making an adequate but less than satisfactory contact against Kaelen's ribs. "Leave me alone!"
Needing space from him, she marched away to the fire. At least Lord Je'Kaoron had a heart, which was much less than she could say for Kaelen.
Chapter 5
The next day came too soon after a sleepless night pondering what Lord Je'Kaoron might know of the First Ones. An avoidance of a subject like that was easy enough to interpret. And then there was his avoidance of her, which concerned her with worries that she had upset him. He had remained a tiger through the night, an easy way to avoid conversation, even if he stayed near.
He was a demonlord, and she shouldn't worry. The lingering stare from Kaelen while he lay on the opposite side of the fire had said it.
In the quiet of the night, the dagger's darkness had invaded her thoughts, twisting them into hating both men, until she realized what was happening. She wanted to toss it, but that would involve admitting that Kaelen was right and that she was weak.
Rather, she tolerated its presence for the sake of proving herself to him, although she had nothing to prove. She had taken down Je'Rol, the half-blood that no Li'Ador or Adepts had survived in encountering, of those who had actually caught up to him. That counted for something.
She thought of him in the quiet of the morning, the grief gnawing at her once again, and it passed into oth
er thoughts and memories. At least while hunting Je'Rol after he escaped from Je'Rekun, she had something to occupy her mind and give her purpose. Now, she could only wonder what would happen after she destroyed the dagger and what Lord Je'Kaoron knew of the First Ones and what that meant for their world.
As the journey resumed, she let the thoughts slide, but while traveling, the weight of the dagger grew heavier in her mind. Kaelen said nothing, but he would take what he wanted when it suited him. When that was, Nadia couldn't be certain, but as long as the demonlords stayed close, he wouldn't get anything.
On the fourth day since leaving Acropa Je'Gri, she started to think they would reach the Nik'Terek Gate without any trouble.
She was wrong.
During the midday break, the tigers stirred. One in particular moved in close to her, one whose stripes she recognized from the many times he had stretched out next to her, his fur soaking up her tears as she cried herself to sleep. After spending so much time among the Je'Gri, she had come to recognize the subtle differences in some of their markings.
In his tiger form, Lord Je'Kaoron moved close to her, his head high and nostrils and whiskers twitching.
After several seconds of sniffing, his ears went back and his tail started lashing.
The others did the same, their teeth bared while they faced outward at the brush and trees around them.
Kaelen rose from the ground and drew his sword. He'd do better with a bow and arrows against trouble—his most proficient weapon—but she supposed he'd left that behind in his haste to catch her. And demonlords didn't use external weapons, not that she had ever seen, since they couldn't effectively carry them in their natural forms. They only used what they were born with, but mortal weapons couldn't hurt them.
Mortal weapons.
Nadia reached down at her side to the dagger. It was more than a mere mortal weapon. Whatever could rile the demonlords might require something more powerful, like the spirit blade.
Lord Je'Kaoron hunched, his lips curled back from pointed teeth in a snarl.
"I wish you could talk like this," she said in a low voice. "Tell me what you sense. Is it natters or something else?"
The tiger's tail lashed and, in the midst of a growl with his ears pinned back, he shook his head as if clearing something away…or shaking his head.
The other tigers positioned themselves to attack.
Their horses stood with their heads up and bodies rigid. The guards holding them had transformed their simple clothes to armor, but they gave the horses their full attention, likely using some form of magic to keep them from fleeing.
The tension thickened around her.
With one hand, she flipped the covering from the top of the dagger and pulled it. Power pulsed through her to hold it in anticipation of battle.
The sudden roar from Je'Kaoron startled her, but she stood ready.
A second later, the clearing where they rested exploded in white and orange as tigers poured from the trees and brush.
Like the battle of the Nik'Terek Gate all over again, the melee took her back.
The tiger-form Je'Kaoron stayed by her, and Kaelen joined them. The tigers didn't seem concerned with them as much as mauling each other.
Nadia caught Kaelen's questioning glance.
"What are they doing?" he asked, his sword in his hands.
"I'd guess Je'Rekun's supporters," she said. The realization twisted her stomach. If Je'Rekun's allies were determined to undermine High Lord Je'Dron, they would want revenge on the man who had taken out their leader—Lord Je'Kaoron.
"They're after him. We have to protect him."
The tiger glanced at her, those pale blue eyes meeting hers with understanding. Already, many of the guards lay wounded, but they took down many of the other tigers with them.
However, it seemed that the others had a larger force; more emerged from hiding and joined the fight, overwhelming the numbers who had accompanied her and Kaelen.
"There are too many," Kaelen said.
"We can't let them take him."
His face hardened.
"Don't even say it!" He'd done enough insinuating of her and Je'Kaoron already.
Two orange tigers made it past the falling guards and approached them warily, tails lashing and teeth bared.
Nadia swallowed her anxieties about facing the demonlords and tightened her grip on the dagger.
Je'Kaoron snarled, teeth bared and ears back as he put himself between the other tigers and her.
The bloodlust of the dagger called to her to protect the one person there she cared about, but she didn't need the dark power to realize that he couldn't defeat them and needed help. And it would test the extent of the dagger's power, which might not be as powerful as its aura projected.
The tigers circled wide to where Je'Kaoron couldn't protect her from both. They would attack together, she was certain of it.
Nadia moved with the tiger nearest to her, and noticed the tall shadow next to her. She didn't have to look to know it was Kaelen sticking next to her as if she couldn't protect herself. He said nothing, but the sword made it clear.
The tigers snarled at them and continued moving.
Something brushed along the back of her legs, Je'Kaoron's tail most likely.
A white tiger approached, its teeth bloody and bared, and joined the others circling them. None attacked, but other white and orange tigers joined, until the three of them in the center of the circle were too far outnumbered and Lord Je'Kaoron pressed into the back of her legs, nearly knocking her forward.
"They want him alive," she said aside to Kaelen.
One of the white tigers blurred and transformed, a woman of scathing beauty with a white and black tail of hair from the top of her head. She stood in white leggings and a coat belted at her slim waist with a back that hung behind like half a skirt, white with jagged horizontal stripes. "He will pay for his crimes against High Lord Je'Rekun. You are another matter." Her voice was smooth and calculated.
Behind her, Je'Kaoron transformed.
"Lady Je'Diri," he said calmly.
The snarling around them ceased as the others transformed.
"Lord Je'Kaoron. It is my pleasure to bring you to justice before Lord Je'Tiren."
Her pleasure. Nadia bristled at the brutality which that "pleasure" might involve.
Kaelen adjusted his sword, and Nadia imagined him trying to behead the lady with it, and failing utterly. Those who supported Je'Rekun considered humans no better than livestock. Their lives meant nothing. They were lucky not to be dead already.
Not wishing to start a fight they couldn't win, Nadia reached over and pressed the sword down. He turned with a cold fire in his eyes. She shook her head. His hatred for the demonlords would get its chance, if he stood down this time.
After several seconds, Kaelen sheathed the sword.
"Wise choice, Hunter," Lady Je'Diri taunted in her smooth voice.
Kaelen's eyes narrowed and he stood rigid and ready to fight.
The lady's lips curved into a malevolent smile. "Your pets may leave."
"No." The word left Nadia's lips without hesitation, the dagger hilt biting into her tightening fingers.
Je'Diri scowled. "Do not argue, Huntress." A second later, her expression changed as she looked Nadia up and down. "You are the one I heard about. Did you too betray High Lord Je'Rekun?"
"I am a demon hunter," she said with confidence. "I serve no demonlord. I only do what must be done, whether it be for Je'Rekun or Je'Dron."
The lady's lips curled in disdain. "So you say, yet you travel with this traitor."
Nadia clamped her jaw on a rebuke. Her only defense would get her killed.
"Adepts claim no alliance to any demonlord," Kaelen said with a warning glance to her.
"This is not your fight, Hunters." Lord Je'Kaoron gave her a scolding look, but she knew him better than that.
"But it is." Nadia searched her head for an excuse. "You have a promise to keep."<
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His face darkened. "You cannot force a promise from a dead man."
Je'Diri snickered. "None of us are indebted to any human." Her face darkened. "Leave, Hunters, before I change my mind."
"Nadia—" Kaelen reached for her.
"No." She stepped away, unafraid of her own mortality or the air of superiority of the lady, typical of most demonlords. She had almost taken her own life in her grief for taking Je'Rol's life, when Lord Je'Kaoron had lifted her from that despair. It would mean nothing if she let him suffer.
"Go, Huntress," Je'Kaoron growled. He shoved her away so hard that her feet tangled and she fell to the soft grass.
Kaelen rushed to her side. "Nadia," he murmured.
She shoved his hands from her and sat up herself while the demonlords closed in on Je'Kaoron and secured his arms.
Pale blue eyes caught hers for only a second before they escorted him away. She saw the sorrow in that instant. He didn't want to go, but he couldn't fight that many and win, nor could she; but she would find a way to rescue him.
"We have no supplies. At least return our horses," Kaelen said.
The demonlords said nothing but continued away with Lord Je'Kaoron at the center as others gathered around them in tiger and in human form, many bloody and injured.
Kaelen helped her to her feet. "Let them go."
Nadia stood and shook off his hands. "They'll kill him."
"What's one less demonlord?"
An orange tiger passing them snarled but continued on its way.
Nadia grabbed the cloak at his throat and pulled him close. "One less demonlord ready for peace. Do you want a war we can't win? That's what we'll get if Je'Rekun's allies take over. Lord Je'Kaoron is working to make this world better for everyone."
His eyes studied her with the same disgust she had seen when she first admitted her feelings for Je'Rol, after she had mistakenly trusted Kaelen enough to reveal that.
If that's how he felt, he could stay there. She shoved him back and started after the demonlords through the killing fields. Bloody orange and white tigers lay strewn about the area, their bodies already attracting swarms of insects. It wouldn't take the natters long to catch the scent of fresh blood. The bodies would likely be gone within a couple of days. She didn't intend to be anywhere near it to be attacked as fresh meat.
