As his dad's familiar crashed to the ground, Ryan stared in disbelief.
It had started as a typical afternoon's training; he'd gone to the family arena to try out some new spells against Dad's familiar, Magnus. As a golem, Magnus had some of the toughest defenses out there. Any attack able to hurt him would no doubt tear a certain homunculus knight to pieces. No way was Ryan going to fall for such a stupid trick next time he fought Theo Hua. Which would be soon. Very soon.
But before that happened, he needed to master the new spell. And he'd been doing pretty well for himself, even managed to put a scratch in Magnus' diamond-hard skin.
Until this stranger had crashed their party and proceeded to wipe the floor with Dad and Magnus.
She stood before the fallen Magnus, a humanoid figure of average height and build. Not a monster, but an ordinary Tielan – a nephilim. Judging by the battered state of her rust-red armor, she couldn't possibly come from a high-tier stock.
But Ryan's eyes didn't lie. She was standing while Magnus was not, smoke still curling from the tip of her spear.
"Magnus!" Dad yelled. "Stand!"
A strengthening spell glowed beneath Magnus, the signature green of Crowley Levia. Magnus twitched, but before he could move the enemy jumped onto his chest and jabbed the spear into his throat.
It sank into a crack one of her earlier fire attacks had created, making Magnus roar and convulse. The spell sputtered into nothing.
As Dad gasped for breath, sweat beading on his forehead, dread twisted in Ryan's stomach. Dad was nearly out of power, and Ryan couldn't help either. Behind the enemy and Magnus, a massive crater gaped in the cracked earth – the result of his attempt at attacking her with his new spell. Combined with all the times he'd practiced it on Magnus, he had scarcely a drop of Levia left.
Avia hovered above the enemy, bow aimed, but Ryan wasn't sure if he could manage even a basic arrow.
"You wanna go?" Speak of the devil, the enemy cocked her head at Ryan. "Result'll be the same."
"Don't mock us!" Dad barked. "We Crowleys will never lose to riffraff like you!"
"Big words when you've already lost." The enemy kicked Magnus' chin. "Are all wizards as dumb as you?"
"The hell did you say?" Ryan's rage boiled over. What right did this random nephilim who'd fished her armor out of a scrap heap have to mock any wizard, let alone the Crowleys? She'd only won because she'd gotten the element of surprise. Ryan would put her in her place –
But as he gathered his remaining Levia, the enemy flicked her spear and an ember flashed around its blade. Before he could stop himself, he stumbled back.
That was the most insane part of it all – she could summon an elemental attack without a single wizard in sight.
Which meant she must be ungodly powerful. Yet every ounce of Ryan's being refused to accept it. Just look at her! Not a homunculus, not a demon, not a golem, not even a were, only a low-class nephilim.
"Running away? Coward." The enemy's voice rasped against his skin like sandpaper.
With that, she leaped straight toward him.
Ryan's heart froze. No way, no fucking way. Familiars didn't attack wizards. It was one of the most basic rules of the arena.
"Ryan!" Dad roared, but it sounded far away indeed. All Ryan could see was the armored nephilim's spear racing toward his heart.
Then metal wings blocked his vision. The sudden draft knocked Ryan onto his ass, making him curse. He heard a clang of metal, then a hiss, like steam. Heart hammering, Ryan lifted his head to see Avia in front of him, blocking the enemy's spear with crossed wrists.
The enemy doggedly pushed against Avia, and Ryan's heart sank when he saw the spear digging into Avia's gauntlets, cutting a gash that glowed livid red at the edges. Shit, if Ryan didn't stop her she might really end up breaking Avia.
As he prepared to cast the strongest shield he could manage, he felt a surge of Levia. Not his own. Instead, a green diagram raced across the arena floor, covering it with waves of pulsing light. A crackle filled Ryan's head, followed by a pop in his ears and a rush of wind.
"Hey, wait – " he shouted, but his voice vanished beneath the roar of the collapsing arena. The light swallowed his vision before fading away just as suddenly as it appeared. Ryan staggered backward, bright spots swimming in his vision.
When it cleared, he saw he was back in Dad's study. Avia floated in front of him, arms still crossed; Magnus' sprawling form covered most of the floor.
His heart still racing, Ryan rounded on Dad. "What the hell? Why'd we run away?"
"It was the best option," Dad said sternly. "You saw how powerful she was. Neither of us had the strength to endure a longer fight."
"But – " Ryan protested.
"Best case scenario, the collapsing arena traps her within the interdimensional barrier." Looking more haggard than Ryan had ever seen him, Dad wiped his brow. "But we can't be complacent. In the meantime, we'll put out a rogue Tielan alert among all the wizards of this city. As Crowleys, it is our responsibility to protect our community."
The last rogue alert had been called before Ryan's birth, for a rampaging demon that had forced the Crowleys to team up with their greatest rivals the Wetherills in order to stop it. Wasn't it kind of overkill for some nephilim nobody? But Ryan only had to remember the flames flickering around her spear to see the sense in Dad's words. If this nephilim was strong enough to defeat the Crowley head and heir, ordinary wizards wouldn't stand a chance.
"Got it," Ryan said, nodding. Dad was always going on about responsibility; pretty boring, but he supposed it made sense.
And, he decided, as a Crowley he had one other responsibility: he was going to defeat this nephilim. Not only would he be helping out all wizardkind, he'd be getting revenge. Win-win.
If he thought too hard, he could still see the burning spear aimed at his heart, and it sent a shudder down his spine. Damn it! He didn't want to admit it, but he'd never been more afraid in his life. Then again, who could blame him? That psychopath definitely needed to be stopped.
Who better for the job than Ryan Crowley?