Free The Lord of Shadows Rises by James Terzian Page A

them. Otherwise, they’ll fail you,” he said with a smirk.
    “Don’t question what I do, Kyral,” the voice was irritated.
    “My Lord,” said Kevin. “Why go after the small fry now?”
    “They are away from civilization and we can kill them with no attention drawn to us,” said the voice. “We can retrieve the key the boy has on him. How's my army coming along?”
    “The men are almost ready. They are now ten thousand strong with access to modern weaponry and there are still more to come.”
    “Excellent. I want them ready by next January,” said the voice.
    Kyral bowed. “Of course, my Lord.”
    ***
    In the rain forest, Alexander and Lenora continued their trek. A nearby roar bringing them to a sudden stop.
    Alexander turned his head. “Did you hear something?”
    “You mean the roar?” asked Lenora.
    Alexander shook his head. “Well, yes, but not just that. I can hear human voices as well."
    Following the sound, the two young Masters snuck towards the edge of a small clearing. Three men armed with rifles stood over the bodies of several jaguars, some being so small they could only be cubs. The forlorn roar was emitted by a lone, injured jaguar in a nearby trap. They listened to the men converse as they circled the wounded cat.
    “Man, these jaguars sure are a pain to kill," said the largest of the three men, as he looked down at the injured female jaguar lying on the ground. Toying with the scope on his rifle he prepared to finish the job.
    The two Masters saw the jaguar vainly struggling to get free of the trap. “Poachers,” said Alexander as he turned to his companion. But the girl was gone.
    “Lenora, where are you?” he whispered. Turning back to the clearing he saw his friend stealthily approach from behind one of the three poachers, knocking him out with a punch to the back of his head. “She's going to get killed if she is not careful,” Alexander stressed as he followed after her.
    The two remaining poachers heard the sound of their friend hitting the ground and turned around.
    “What're you doing here, girl?” accused one of the men, fully decked-out in camouflage gear, his finger firmly on the trigger of his rifle.
    “These animals are protected from hunting and smuggling,” she replied. “But then I suspect you already knew that!”
    The two men laughed.
    “We were going to sell the babies but they got a little rowdy so we put them down,” said the camouflaged poacher’s associate from under his safari hat. Lenora saw red and attacked the first of the two men, knocking him out with a quick knee thrust to the chest followed by a swift kick to the head. In her rage she lost focus, the second poacher hitting her in the temple with the butt of his rifle, and knocking her to the ground.
    The man stood over her, rifle pointed between her eyes. “So long, girl,” he grinned, his finger on the trigger.
    Lenora, still dazed, closed her eyes and readied herself for the end. But it never came. Before her attacker could fire the fatal shot he collapsed across her. Behind him was Alexander, hands raised in a karate chop stance. “You know I really hate those who tear apart a family. They're lower than dirt,” he said, reaching down to help his friend up.
    Getting the rope from his bag the pair tied the three poachers together. Lenora tried unsuccessfully to get close to the injured jaguar, but it snapped at her, warning her to stay away.
    Alexander walked up to her. “You're approaching her too fast.” Slowly he crept up to the giant cat, careful not to make any sudden movements. The jaguar continued to growl at the two but was no longer snapping. Alexander approached the trap and released the injured cat.
    He saw the animal’s leg was bleeding and maybe broken, so he took a clean cloth from his bag and once again approached the cat, gingerly tying the cloth over the wound. Snapping a branch from a nearby tree and cutting down some vines he fashioned a makeshift splint onto the