Levi went into the living room area, and heard Lyra on the other side of the house opening the door to Adam’s room. He listened with a smile on his face as they spoke.
“You’re still asleep, that’s what you get for not going to bed when I tell you to.”
“What? No…” Adam began groggily, his little yawn echoing through the house. “No, I went to bed.”
“And the mobile console Isaac let you ‘borrow’ for the night that kept me up? Super hearing, remember? Honestly, sometimes it’s a gift and sometimes I just want to sleep. Have you gotten yours yet?”
“No, but…you heard me all night?” Adam asked, scared.
“Yeah, which is why I need you to go to bed, so you can wake up early. You have to get back to training with Levi, so you need to be rested. But since you decided to stay up, you’re the one who’s going to deal with all of that, now brush your teeth and head down once you’re done, he’ll be waiting for you.”
“He didn’t leave last night,” Adam added as Lyra began walking away, making Levi raise an eyebrow. The boy hadn’t seen him since they finished training, and there was no way he would even know he was there, unless he had seen him. “I could hear two heartbeats while I slept.”
“It was yours and mine buddy,” Lyra replied.
“No, I could hear mine, the other was from upstairs,” Adam replied, raising an eyebrow.
“Yeah, well, Levi came by to discuss some important stuff, and we didn’t want to disturb you, now get to cleaning, come on. Chop chop! Make sure you make your bed before you leave this room too!” Lyra replied, shutting the door behind him.
“We’re lucky he was only listening for heartbeats,” Levi said with a chuckle.
“Personally, I don’t want him listening to anything,” Lyra replied, staring at Levi as he sat. “What are you doing?”
“Well, I’m waiting for him so we can…” Levi suddenly felt a shift in the air—a tingly feeling that told him there was another paranormal creature entering the vicinity. He zoned out, seeing Lyra speaking, but he shut his eyes, and tuned out all sound, trying to pick up what he was feeling. He felt vibrations underneath his feet, and before he could move the wooden board underneath his feet shattered.
Levi felt a powerful blow striking underneath his jaw, sending him up and into the roof. He slammed against the fan on the ceiling before he began falling to the ground. Levi took one look to see it was a demon. He landed on one knee, drawing his claws and baring his teeth, ready to go.
“Protect Adam!” Levi yelled to Lyra, rushing at the demon.
It was different from the others, lacking the sharp claws and teeth the others had. This one was a lot larger, and from the way it had hit him, Levi knew it was more powerful. It was the creature that had given off its aura, unable to mask itself once it was in his presence. Levi swung at the eyes of the demon, hoping to catch it off balance.
It took the blow to the face, too slow to get out of the way. Seeing he had blinded it, Levi followed up the attack, looking to land another blow and end the fight quickly. But the creature caught his arm. Levi threw his other arm, but the demon struck first, the blow hitting Levi across the gut and knocking the air out of him.
Dazed, Levi picked up on the sound of Lyra fighting in the corridor. Another demon had showed up in the corridor, the same as the one he fought. Lyra was flung through the wall and landed on the floor, right next to the demon that held Levi in place. Levi took one look at her, and she swiped at the foot of the one holding Levi. It groaned in pain, letting go of Levi for just a moment. Levi reacted quickly, slicing through the creature’s arm and getting free.
“Lyra, switch!” Levi yelled.
Lyra spun around, driving her claws into the gut of the demon fighting Levi. Levi jumped over the demon, using Lyra to lift himself through the air and straight at the one she was fighting. He brought both of his knees down on the chest of the eight-foot creature, causing it to stagger backward as he began slicing at its chest.
It shrugged him off with ease, and Levi did a backflip, drawing his claws down the side of the creature’s head. It reared its head, throwing a blow that missed. It slammed into the wall, breaking off a large chunk of it as it staggered, reeling in pain.
Lyra jumped to the side, moving left and quickly shifting, using her tail to balance herself as she leaned back, out of the way of the demon’s blow. She drove her claws deeper into the eyes of the demon and slashed downward, ripping into its cheeks before she punched it across the jaw.
The creature staggered backward, stunned from the blow, and Lyra leaped up onto the neck of the demon, wrapping her legs around it and twisting as hard as she could with her entire torso. A sickening snapping sound filled the room, and her claws sliced through the demon’s head, separating it from the body.
As it fell to the ground, Levi blocked a blow from his own demon. The impact sent him through the hole in the floor, and Levi found himself in the basement. Lyra rushed at the creature from behind, thinking it wouldn’t notice her, but it put out a hand and Lyra ran into a well-timed blow from the creature, knocking her to the ground instantly. Levi quickly tried to get up from the hole, but as he leaped out, the demon double-fisted him back down.
“Get away from her!” Levi yelled.
The demon didn’t listen or care at all about anything he had said. It began walking toward Lyra, stalking her as it got ready to take her out with one final blow. Levi picked himself up, knowing he wasn’t going to lose Lyra—never again, and not to some demon with half a brain. He crawled across the floor and grabbed the foot of the creature, holding it in place.
It turned around and kicked Levi across the face, sending him into the television on the wall. As the creature turned to him, Levi got on one knee, channeling all of his anger and heat. He knew that he had only one chance to take down the creature without hurting Lyra.
Levi shut his eyes and took a deep breath, channeling the fire to his hands, compressing it into a small fireball. Levi lunged with his hand, firing it right at the demon. It went through the side of the demon’s head, exploding out the other side. Levi dropped to the ground, breathing heavily, exhausted.
He looked up to see the creature still on its feet, using its last breath in the hopes of taking out Lyra. It raised its hand, and just before it could bring it down, Levi watched as Lyra raised a hand defensively. In a blur of motion, Levi squinted as the large demon which had stood over Lyra suddenly vanished into the wall on the opposite end of the room, pushed right through it.
Standing where the creature had been just a few seconds ago was Adam, panting quickly, the small hairs on the back of his neck standing up. Levi saw that his hands had turned scaly, like a dragon, but his hair, leading all the way down his back and to his feet had shifted like that of a werewolf.