Lyra dropped from the tree, landing on the neck of the demon. She slashed at the face and head of the demon again and again, causing it to swing wildly at her, trying to raise its hands above its head and knock her off. Lyra realized that if she leaned hard, she would be able to drag the demon along with her.
“Come on, you big ugly shit!” Lyra yelled, pulling her claws and shifting her weight as it lumbered over to another juggernaut.
As it swung its hands, it slammed into the other juggernaut, sending it reeling. Lyra seized her chance and leaped off the one she was fighting, driving her knees into the chest of the next one as her hands ripped the face of the demon apart. She did a backflip, landing on one leg before kicking it hard across the jaw, sending the large creature to the ground.
As she got to her feet, she moved her hair out of the way and turned just in time to take a blow from the last of the creatures. The impact sent Lyra into a rock. She broke right through it and fell to the ground on the other side, feeling a lot of broken bones in her back.
The demon walked over, moving slowly as it came to finish the job. Lyra growled in pain as her bones moved. The demon swung at her, and Lyra hopped backward, just out of reach of the blow. Its fist slammed into the ground, throwing up dirt and sand. It looked up, saw it had missed, and continued its slow march forward before it brought its hand down again.
Lyra forced her body to move, jumping away at the last second. The demon saw it had missed again and let out a low growl as it moved to try again. Lyra watched, and as it raised its arm, she rolled forward between the legs of the demon. She drew her claws deep into the back of the demon’s knees, ripping out flesh and blood. As the creature swung forward, momentum made it fall forward further. Lyra jumped up on the head of the creature, shifting into her wolf form and taking a large bite off the head of the demon.
Lyra shifted back and fell to the floor beside the demon, breathing heavily. She could feel the bones moving in her body as her healing had already begun. But it was incredibly painful and unnerving to hear the sounds of bones cracking and being put back together filling her ears. Lyra looked to see the demon she had blinded crawling back up to Val, who was still unconscious on the ground.
“No!” Lyra cried out. She didn’t care for the woman, but letting the demon win wasn’t an option either. Lyra cut a branch from a tree, breaking it off with a single arm. She threw it across the forest, missing her target. But as the branch landed in front of the demon, its attention turned to Lyra. “Come on, you big oaf! Bring it on!”
She was pushing herself entirely on adrenaline, knowing she had to stay alive. She had to be there to take care of Adam, to spend time with Levi and her family. She wasn’t going to lose to this creature, no matter what. It bent its head at the sound of her voice and quickly charged at her, like a raging bull.
Lyra leaped out of the way at the last moment, but the demon kicked up sand into her eyes, blinding her for a moment. Lyra turned around, using the sound of the demon to tell her where it was. She didn’t act fast enough, and it plowed right through her, sending her up into the air. She fell to the ground, crawling as she felt her chest heave.
“Shit.” She spat out blood, wiping at her eyes and looking up to see the demon listening for her.
It swung an arm at her, but Lyra didn’t run. She lifted her clawed arms above her face, waiting for the demon to impale its own arm on her own. The creature yelled out in pain, staggering backward. Lyra rolled onto her back and leaped forward, slashing at the legs of the demon. Each cut was deeper than the last. The demon tried to walk quickly, swinging its arms and trying to get away from her, but Lyra took the blows to her body, continuing her own attack. She took a blow to the side of the face, dazing her completely.
But the demon finally succumbed to her attacks, staggering forward for a bit before falling face-first into the dirt. Lyra could barely stay on her feet, breathing heavily as she stared at it, chuckling. She had taken down three juggernauts on her own, and had the wounds to prove it. The chuckle turned to a laugh as she turned around. “Holy shit.”
The entire area of the forest had been destroyed—a large boulder shattered to pieces, and several trees broken in half, or missing branches from the fight. The carnage was all her, and Lyra had come out victorious. It was the greatest battle she had ever been in.
As she took a step, she heard the sound of footsteps rushing toward her, and Lyra turned to see a bloody Val striking her across the face. Lyra fell backward, slamming into the ground. She looked up at Val, seeing the woman wipe the blood from her chin.
“You thought I was done with you?”
“I saved your life,” Lyra replied weakly, watching as Val looked around at the dead demons.
“Well, at least now I know I will always owe you my life, as you owe me yours right now.” Val chuckled as she moved in for the kill.
Chapter 15 - Levi
“You know, I always wanted to do this. I always wanted to put you down, and it’s not even about who you want to fuck or anything.” Garret sneered as he stretched his arms. “I just hated you so much. You thought because you were the leader, you could just push us all around?”
“I was doing what I had to do to protect the pack, and yes, I’m not perfect, but I know I did my best. I’m going to give you a chance to stand down, Garret. This isn’t what we should be doing,” said Levi, bringing his hands down. “We don’t have to fight.”
“You don’t, maybe. But I need to kill you, or make sure you leave Ridgeshire. So which will it be? Be ostracized from your pack, or die?” Garret asked.
Levi stared at him with flames in his eyes. “I’d rather kill you.”
Levi rushed at him again, swinging his claws at Garret’s arms before he could let out a flame. He struck his arm to the side, and the fireball rushed off into the forest. Levi drove a knee into his chest before shifting his jaws and taking a bite of Garret, tearing into his shoulder. Garret yelled and punched Levi across the face.
Levi swung a wing, getting in Garret’s face. The dragon let out a fireball, searing Levi’s wing. Levi jumped up in the air, gliding for a moment before he dropped down to the ground, bringing a powerful punch down onto Garret. Garret brought up both his hands to block, and the impact of the blow sent leaves flying as Levi struck him.
Garret fell to the ground, before looking to see that the hand which he had used to block the attack had shattered, leaving his entire arm dangling oddly in an awkward position. Garret screamed, his eyes going wide as he took a step forward. “Die!”
Levi was caught in the storm of fire that the dragon let out at him, shooting from his mouth. Garret’s flames were so hot they began to singe Levi’s skin, despite the fact that he was a dragon as well. Garret was a gifted man, he just lacked control, and that was why Levi made up his mind at that moment to put him down once and for all.
He waded through the flames, walking until he was right up in front of Garret. He reached his smoldering hand through the flames and grabbed Garret’s throat, squeezing as hard as he could. Garret choked as Levi lifted him in the air, and with his free hand Levi punched Garret’s face again and again and again until there was nothing but smoke emanating from his mouth.
He tossed Garret to the side, but the dragon managed to remain on his feet. In one final attack, Levi rushed with all his speed, punching Garret as hard as he could. The impact sent the man through some bushes and completely out of sight.
Levi rushed over as he heard the sound of Garret screaming. It was a two-hundred-meter drop, and the only thing waiting for anyone at the bottom of a fall like that was certain death. A second later, the sickening splat of Garret’s body hitting the ground reached his ears.