Hunters (Spirit Blade Part 1) Read Online Free PDF

Je'Kaoron stepped out and closed the door behind him.
    Kaelen froze, not daring to breathe. The demonlord paused and turned his head as if aware of something, but after a couple seconds, he strode away. He must have noticed Kaelen's presence.
    Now was Kaelen's chance to speak to Nadia, but he also wished to speak to Lord Je'Kaoron, specifically to learn Nadia's role in the defeat of Je'Rekun, whose allies might seek her head or those of any other Adept if they suspected them of taking sides in a dispute. It had reached the Kodre noct du Te'Mea that she had been present at the battle of the Nik'Terek Gate, where Je'Rekun had disappeared and many of his supporters were killed. It was also known that Je'Kaoron had deceived Je'Rekun and that a half-blood girl had possessed an ancient object meant to control demonlords.
    He could find Nadia again, but locating a particular demonlord could be difficult among so many who could hide in their natural predator forms, and Nadia didn't want to talk to him.
    Confronting Lord Je'Kaoron would be another matter. That required a certain sense of submissiveness, something that went against Kaelen's defiance to their authority.
    Before the demonlord put too much distance between them, Kaelen stepped out quietly and followed past Nadia's door. A simple spell from the elder sorcerers in the Kodre noct du Te'Mea whispered from his lips. Sorcerers didn't like to share their spells, but they had been known to help demon hunters, only because they were also Adepts. In his case, the elders had felt it useful for him to possess that knowledge. If it worked as they had taught him, it would obscure his presence to blend with his surroundings, his black cloak being ideal for hiding in shadows. If he moved quietly, the demonlord wouldn't even realize that Kaelen followed him.
    Lord Je'Kaoron led him through corridors and down a set of stairs to a wider level, where a boardwalk lined a garden to the cliff. Je'Kaoron halted behind a white and black figure sitting at the far edge of the garden.
    Kaelen ducked behind a tree and waited. His interrogation of the demonlord would have to wait. Luckily, shadows were long with the sun behind the mountain, and night approached in the east like a predator stalking its prey.
    ["I thought I might find you here,"] Je'Kaoron said in the demonlord Lexic.
    ["It clears my head. You might try it."] The man twisted and, in the mix of light, revealed the face of High Lord Je'Dron. ["Sit, old friend."]
    Je'Kaoron took a place next to the High Lord of the Je'Gri. Although they sat with their backs to Kaelen, the breeze blew from their direction, carrying their voices with it.
    After a period of quiet filled by the few remaining leaves rustling in the tree where Kaelen hid, Je'Kaoron said, ["The time has come."]
    ["You're ready to investigate rumors of a sakul m'rath ?"]
    ["I am."]
    Je'Dron turned, black and white hair partially hiding his face. ["Je'Surana is ready?"]
    ["She is. Nadia has prepared her sufficiently."] In a low voice, Je'Kaoron said, ["She can protect herself."]
    Je'Dron's brows lifted in question.
    ["Winter will come soon. We cannot afford further delay,"] Je'Kaoron finished.
    ["No. We can't."] Je'Dron turned forward again, facing the valley with its webs of roads connecting human communities and fields stretched out below and making his words harder to understand with his back to Kaelen. ["But I wonder if you are truly ready."]
    ["If what I have seen is a warning, then my suspicions are correct. It must be stopped."]
    ["I may be far younger, old man, but even I have learned the difficulties of separating emotion from duty…and paid the price."]
    Je'Kaoron nodded and fell still for a while. The soft chirrup of insects sang in the gap, while the last light of the day slowly faded from the stars twinkling in the darkening sky.
    When Kaelen thought they might not speak again, Je'Kaoron said, ["I can do no more for Je'Surana. She must live her life, with or without