abilities?
Although Nadia wanted to know for herself how far she could push the demonlords to death, Je'Rekun was the last of them for whom she wanted to demonstrate the abilities of the Adepts.
A whispered word changed the spell the moment before she drew blood. The tiger thrashed and howled in mournful agony. Unlike her first attempt, his body didn't blur. Instead, he flopped against the chains for a few seconds and fell still, his sides again rising and falling rapidly.
Nadia sheathed the dagger at her hip and waited.
Je'Rekun strode around the panting tiger and stopped opposite her. "Prepare to depart, Huntress. You have a half-blood to kill."
Lord Je'Rekun had wanted to see if the dagger could kill. She had wanted to know too, but that had changed. Now, she hoped it couldn't and wouldn't risk another testing it on those she cared about. Destroying it would be the surest way to know that no one could use it. She had seen what happened when items or living beings passed through the arch of the Nik'Terek Gate—they didn't emerge on the other side but disappeared. It would be best for their world if that dagger disappeared.
Dangerous sounds from nearby stirred her from the memories. Over the rustle of horse legs and the accompanying tigers through tall grasses came the clicking, slurping, chittering sounds of hungry natters.
"The natters have reclaimed their preferred breeding ground," Lord Je'Kaoron said, his eyes on the barely seen opening behind a tuft of tall grasses, which moved in a way unnatural to the waving from the breeze. The single line of movement split into four lines moving towards them.
Nadia's horse stood with ears pricked at the top of a head held high.
Something hissed nearby, but several tigers broke off to take on the attacking demons.
From a distance, she could help. Using the dispirit power she was born with, she reached out to the simple minds of the approaching demons. They were focused on the smell of living flesh, their ravenous desire for fresh blood driving them from their den, from being eaten by others. The simple instinct to feed and to defend their nests drove them into the open.
A sense of fear spiked when she touched their minds, but it hadn't come from her touch. She felt the confusion already sweeping through them and looked aside. Kaelen had turned his mount to face the cavern.
Two demon hunters. She had almost forgotten about him.
The cavern soon exploded in a wave of skittering, crawling, slithering, oozing monsters that could overwhelm an untrained Adept and easily kill anyone without the dispirit power to stop them. Natters had an uncanny sense of self-preservation that drove them out in hordes when an Adept was near.
However, she wasn't the helpless girl of around the same age as Je'Surana that Je'Rol had saved long ago when a similar swarm attacked her, before she was discovered to be an Adept.
Nadia choked away the memories and the flotsam of regrets they stirred up and refocused on the horde as tigers roared and lunged at the beasts. The natters slowed, many freezing while the demonlords transformed into armored warriors to fight them off.
The battle soon ended, leaving the grasses flattened with various parts of at least a dozen different natter types strewn across a wide area and discoloring the hides of demonlords in the forms of lords and ladies and tigers.
"The caverns must be purged once more," a voice muttered next to her. She turned but Lord Je'Kaoron watched the returning tigers with his nose wrinkled. Even she found the odor of dead natters overwhelming and couldn't imagine its assault on the sensitive noses of the demonlords. "But this has decreased their numbers. The aid of demon hunters is appreciated." His eyes slid from her.
She followed his gaze to the other black-clad rider. Kaelen approached with a scowl on his face.
"Come, Huntress." Lord Je'Kaoron turned his mount in the direction of their travel, and Nadia gladly turned her back to
Although Nadia wanted to know for herself how far she could push the demonlords to death, Je'Rekun was the last of them for whom she wanted to demonstrate the abilities of the Adepts.
A whispered word changed the spell the moment before she drew blood. The tiger thrashed and howled in mournful agony. Unlike her first attempt, his body didn't blur. Instead, he flopped against the chains for a few seconds and fell still, his sides again rising and falling rapidly.
Nadia sheathed the dagger at her hip and waited.
Je'Rekun strode around the panting tiger and stopped opposite her. "Prepare to depart, Huntress. You have a half-blood to kill."
Lord Je'Rekun had wanted to see if the dagger could kill. She had wanted to know too, but that had changed. Now, she hoped it couldn't and wouldn't risk another testing it on those she cared about. Destroying it would be the surest way to know that no one could use it. She had seen what happened when items or living beings passed through the arch of the Nik'Terek Gate—they didn't emerge on the other side but disappeared. It would be best for their world if that dagger disappeared.
Dangerous sounds from nearby stirred her from the memories. Over the rustle of horse legs and the accompanying tigers through tall grasses came the clicking, slurping, chittering sounds of hungry natters.
"The natters have reclaimed their preferred breeding ground," Lord Je'Kaoron said, his eyes on the barely seen opening behind a tuft of tall grasses, which moved in a way unnatural to the waving from the breeze. The single line of movement split into four lines moving towards them.
Nadia's horse stood with ears pricked at the top of a head held high.
Something hissed nearby, but several tigers broke off to take on the attacking demons.
From a distance, she could help. Using the dispirit power she was born with, she reached out to the simple minds of the approaching demons. They were focused on the smell of living flesh, their ravenous desire for fresh blood driving them from their den, from being eaten by others. The simple instinct to feed and to defend their nests drove them into the open.
A sense of fear spiked when she touched their minds, but it hadn't come from her touch. She felt the confusion already sweeping through them and looked aside. Kaelen had turned his mount to face the cavern.
Two demon hunters. She had almost forgotten about him.
The cavern soon exploded in a wave of skittering, crawling, slithering, oozing monsters that could overwhelm an untrained Adept and easily kill anyone without the dispirit power to stop them. Natters had an uncanny sense of self-preservation that drove them out in hordes when an Adept was near.
However, she wasn't the helpless girl of around the same age as Je'Surana that Je'Rol had saved long ago when a similar swarm attacked her, before she was discovered to be an Adept.
Nadia choked away the memories and the flotsam of regrets they stirred up and refocused on the horde as tigers roared and lunged at the beasts. The natters slowed, many freezing while the demonlords transformed into armored warriors to fight them off.
The battle soon ended, leaving the grasses flattened with various parts of at least a dozen different natter types strewn across a wide area and discoloring the hides of demonlords in the forms of lords and ladies and tigers.
"The caverns must be purged once more," a voice muttered next to her. She turned but Lord Je'Kaoron watched the returning tigers with his nose wrinkled. Even she found the odor of dead natters overwhelming and couldn't imagine its assault on the sensitive noses of the demonlords. "But this has decreased their numbers. The aid of demon hunters is appreciated." His eyes slid from her.
She followed his gaze to the other black-clad rider. Kaelen approached with a scowl on his face.
"Come, Huntress." Lord Je'Kaoron turned his mount in the direction of their travel, and Nadia gladly turned her back to
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