Demon Hunt

Chapter 12 Part 3

It was their last night on Luten Isle. Kado considered allowing Auren to keep her memories. He knew she would not tell anyone who they were, but he finally decided it was too much of a burden for her to shoulder. Her last year of school would be stressful enough without having to deal with this as well. Besides, she hadn't asked him yet about what would be expected of her when she finished school. She still believed she would go to college like her friends. He wouldn't lie to her, and then she'd have to deal with the fact she would be saying goodbye to her friends for good.

No. He wouldn't put her through that. She deserved to enjoy her last year with her friends on Appolia. When the time was right, he could return her memories for good.

"It's time, isn't it?" Auren asked as they settled by their last campfire for the summer.

"Yes."

"You know I wouldn't tell."

"I know, but it's still better this way."

Before Auren could argue further, Kado reached into her mind. She resisted at first, but she didn't have the skill to push him out. His foster daughter was in tears by the time he wore her down enough that he could finally do what needed to be done. He had to be careful how he did it. It was similar to storing pictures in a box. He took every memory that had anything to do with her being a shadow stalker and packed it away. Then he had to fill in the blanks so the remaining memories would not appear to have holes in them.

So the demon attack became a bear attack. They didn't follow a beast up the cliff wall, they had simply gone rock climbing that day. Going down the waterfall became cliff diving. And, of course, no camping trip would be complete without a day of whitewater rafting. He let her keep the memories of all the training that was unrelated to being a shadow stalker. She was used to that. He knew she thought he was a little eccentric for insisting on teaching her those things, and he was happy to let her think so.

When he was done, she wiped her tears in confusion.

"Why am I crying? Damn, you'd think I was a little girl again or something."

"Well you never liked ending these trips."

"It's because it's the only time we really have a chance to have fun with each other. During the rest of the year we're both so busy, but this is our time."

Kado smiled. "I'm glad you've enjoyed yourself. Now, we have to leave early so time for sleep."

Kadodidn't sleep that night. Too much was changing too fast, and he had a naggingfeeling time was running out. Once again he questioned the wisdom in raisingher among the people of the Serpent Isles. Sometimes he felt he should havejust hidden her on one of the smaller islands and trained her properly. She wasso far behind, he worried she wouldn't be prepared if something happened. Hecouldn't change it now though. All he could do was take things a day at a timeand hope he wouldn't come to regret his decision.