It had gone South-East from here.

The demon was on the trail.

It was fresh but nearly undetectable.

The young demon had not seen anything like this before.

He could feel the strength of his prey. No normal demon would just waltz in here, knowing the Clan operated in this place, and yet this could not be a coincidence.

Kilbas clutched his sword handle.

"He's good" he muttered with a smirk.

Drawing out his blade, he approached the intruder. His step was as quiet and nimble as a cat's.

His research had been successful. The demon had managed to slip through, not only dimensions, but time as well. However, there were complications.

And the hunter after him was the least of those.

The good thing was that his past self should be in a glorious mess in another world as well, so they were not in danger of meeting and blowing up the entire time-space-continuum. He was also looking forward to talking to this Kilbas he was yet to meet.

The young Hunter readied himself for the strike.

His presence was perfectly concealed and not a single sound escaped his control.

Khepre sighed. The success of his experiment had left the elder demon overjoyed, but a shadow loomed over him. He couldn't leave this world now if he wanted to.

There were things he had not realized to take into account; such as the energy needed for the shift he created. The universe would need time to recover, but how long? He did not know. It could be weeks, years or decades. Until then, he was stuck here.

The young demon was well-trained.

He took his time observing the prey in dead silence, and waited for the wind to favour him.

The only thing he did not notice was the silent warning the blade gave its owner just before the Hunter leaped.

Even in the air the demon was silent.

And yet, when he struck his target vanished causing the blade to sink into the wet forest floor.

A surprised grunt escaped the demon's lips. That had not been the feeling of a blade sinking into flesh and bone.

Kilbas looked around and then down at where his target had been just seconds before.

Illusions?

[Do not attempt to strike me again. It is unpleasant.]

The calm voice echoed openly in his mind, which did not fail to irritate the demon. The young warrior had been going for more than 'unpleasant'.

[This is not the time and place at which the two of us clash swords.]

"And why is that?" Kilbas snarled through gritted teeth.

[You will have a world of your own, and you will have to thank me for it.]

Not that he cared about thank yous. And not that Khepre would ever get one from him.

"This Kilbas does not take favours from strangers." He did not want be indebted to anyone. Ever.

Nor did he care for cryptic messages.

[You misunderstand me. It is not a favour, just an accident. A pure coincidence that brings down a stroke of luck for you.]

A stroke that he had surely earned by then.

"Tch!"

Now he claimed he could predict the future? Such things were ridiculous. Kilbas did not need to believe any of it.

Seeing as the stranger was not about to drop his guard anytime soon, the younger demon sat down against the tree.

His curiousity overcame his pride: "Who are you and what do you want?" he demanded, gripping his sword.

[I only want knowledge of the world, and all of the universe. I am not here to fight anyone.] He paused, [In truth, I wasn't supposed to be here at all.]

What was he... about three hundred and fifty years old now? The elder demon's aim had been off by a few centuries, it seemed. This was not quite when he was trying to be, nor where. But then again, dimensional portals were not known for being predictable.

Khepre stood up, [I will not bother you any longer, and you are not likely to see me again for a very long time. I advice you to not waste your time looking for my trail.]

There wouldn't be one.

[Oh,] he added, [Just a friendly piece of warning; be wary of the partner you will be given, she will betray you.]

It had happened just before he'd leaped and thus he didn't have all the details. Nor knowledge of how bad it was, but the demon still felt the need to lay it out there. He harbored no ill-will towards anyone outside of his home-world.

"This Kilbas works alone."

There was no need to believe his pregognition crap. He would never have a partner.