The First Book of Demons (The Book of Demons Saga) Read Online Free PDF Page B

parents?” Alex asked between panting breaths.
    At first he said nothing.  Alex wondered if he had even heard her.  Finally, he glanced over his shoulder at her without slowing his pace.
    “ Now is not the time for that,” he replied.
    They came to a clearing in the forest with a rocky outcrop, and one massive boulder in the center.
    “Where i s the dagger?” He asked, looking down at her with ashen eyes as he extended a clawed hand out to her.
    Alex rummaged in her bag, and a moment later produced the small silver box. Handing it over to the man in front of her, she watched as he removed the dagger from the box.  Two cloaked figures stepped into the clearing. 
    “It is time for you to meet your destiny, Alexandra,” the man said.
    She felt a sharp sting in her chest.  She looked down to see the glittering gold handle of the dagger sticking out of her chest.  Her eyes followed the hand that grasped the hilt to the face of the white haired man. 
    “I know this part can be painful,” he said.

Chapter Eight
     
    Heavy footsteps roused Alex from her unconscious state.  Her eyes cracked open to see the landscape slowly passing by.  Her mind was cloudy, and she struggled to move.  It took her a moment to realize that she was tied down.  The men carrying her noticed she was awake and stopped their marching.  A man approached her, the pointed tips of his ears showing through his chin length silken locks of hair.  His eyes were a peculiar golden hue, with a black slit for a pupil that was trained on her.  He looked young, with a quirky, dashing look and broad shoulders that tapered to a narrow waist.  Alex felt her face heating up.  He bent down to look Alex in the face.
    “ What are you?” Tavi demanded.
    T he tone of his voice clearly told her that he expected an answer.   Alex stared dumbfounded back at him, unsure of how to answer. 
    “Answer ,” he barked.
    “I…I ’m Alexandra,” she sputtered.
    “From what land do you come ?” He asked, his eyes examining her carefully. 
    “Where am I?” Alex asked, her voice cracking.  “Who are you?”
    Tavi narrowed his golden eyes at the young girl before him.
    Without another word he straightened and turned away from her, speaking over his shoulder at the others in a strange language.
    The small group marched most of the day and partly into the night.  Aside from the few words that were exchanged earlier, she was pretty much ignored the whole time.  She tried to speak with some of the men that were marching in close proximity to her, but they did not speak back.  They continued to march on, acting like she wasn’t even there.  When they stopped for the night, the men went to work putting up tents and building fires.  Alex was left alone, still tied to the makeshift litter she was being carried on.  She shivered, the chill in the air biting through her thin pajamas.  Her stomach churned with a mixture of hunger and anxiety.  She wasn’t aware of it, but all the men in the camp could smell the fear in her aura.
    Once the camp settled down, pots of food cooking over the open campfires, Tavi made his way once more over to Alex, a bowl of stewed meat chunks and a crude gravy paste.  He stood over her, studying her for a few moments before untying her and handing her the bowl.  Alex gazed helplessly back up at him, wondering what his intentions were for her.  He abruptly sat cross legged on the hard ground in front of her.  Alex blinked and rubbed her eyes.  His movements were so fast that she hadn’t even registered him moving until he was already sitting. 
    “I will ask you again, girl.  What are you?” he said.  The girl’s scent was strange, nothing he had ever encountered before. She had an even stranger aura.  He inhaled deeply.  Her scent was almost intoxicating.  Tavi found himself growing slightly uncomfortable at the intensity of it.
    “I don’t understand,” she said, shaking her head helplessly, her eyes misting