Part One:

*******

         The information that Katia and Letitia had just heard was troubling. An attack on their kingdom was inevitable, but they never thought it would happen so soon after the last battle. They had only just got their houses and institute back to normal, buried the dead and protected their town with spells. Spells that can only be broken by one man, and he was coming for them. Again.

Two weeks ago Katia led her team of fighters into battle and Letitia held back with her team until she was given the order to go. The whole town was out to battle, and they even had help from others like them from another town and kingdom. They were Demon Hunters, and the best in the world lived here. They travelled all over the world through portals, fought Demons and every now and then, a werewolf would show up to help. And you're probably wondering why you've never seen a Demon Hunter, Werewolf or Demon walking the streets. That is because unless you have Demon Hunter blood, you can't see them. But they can see you.

        "So, what do we do?" Letita asked.

"We wait. And start the training. They're still young despite having defeated these monsters before, but they still need to get training. Take them over to the gymnasium. I'll be there as soon as I can. I just need to send a message to Jovah." Katia told her. "We'll need all the back up we can get this time."

Letitia left Katia's office, which looked more like a small library with all the books, most of them old and dusty. On her wrist she had a hair band which she used to tie her waist-length blonde hair up. On her way down the dark corridor, with its dark red painted walls, and black chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, she came to a metal staircase, which spiralled down to at least fifty separate rooms, all of which had beds, wardrobes and a shower-room in. She walked past five of the doors and knocked on each one as she went, then waited outside the last one for eveyone occupying them to come out into the hallway. "Get your training gear on and meet me in the Gym." She said.

The five young Demon Hunters in training looked at each other a little confused, then as they turned back to ask Letitia why, she was gone. They mumbled to themselves, then went back into their rooms.

The first room was Zavier's. He was nineteen and had been training for a year but had already been in battle numerous times. That was the thing about being a Demon Hunter. It was already in your blood, but the additional bit of training never hurt anyone. He opened his wardrobe and got out a black vest, black trousers and boots. A belt, which held weapons, and fingerless gloves, just for grip. He removed his jewellery and tied his brown shoulder-length hair back. He was almost six foot tall and wide-shouldered, brown eyed, with rock hard abs and bulging biceps. His friends always said he was a natural born fighter. Even before he started any training he took down a Demon by himself, no weapons other than the knife he pulled from his ankle hoster once the Demon was on the ground beneath him. Kaine had arrived a little too late to help.

Kaine was also nineteen, but he had short black hair, and bright green eyes. He was in the second room getting his training gear out of his wardrobe. He was a little shorter than Zavier, only by a few inches, and was slim and not very toned at all, despite the three years he'd been training and Demon hunting, and killing.

The third room was occupied by eighteen year old Samia. A blonde bombshell of a girl who was totally badass. She was quick, strong and extremely quiet, sneaky. She would find the Demons most of the time and let the others know where they were to attack. She was quite small, for a 'warrior'. At five foot five she was the shortest of the five Demon Hunters in training that lived in this institute. Her long hair always hung to her lower back, in beautiful shiny waves, her blue eyes shone out like diamonds and her petite frame was what helped her get away most of the time. She was thin, flexible and easily able to crawl through small spaces and run faster than even some Demon's could. Her training gear consisted of much the same as Zaviers and Kaine's. A tight black vest, with tight black leggings. She also had a belt and ankle holsters, completed by a black jacket, like leather, but much stronger. After smoothing down her hair, she was ready.

The fourth room was Jayden's. He, like Samia, was eighteen, with brown hair, but his was short and spikey. He was six foot two inches tall, with a slight hint of a beard trying to grow. He was slim but had muscles almost everywhere. Broad shouldered, and wide eyed. His brown eyes were his secret weapon, apparently. He always prided himself on having fantastic eyesight. He could 'see for miles!' He threw on his training gear, too, slower than the others, but he eventually was dressed. He may be big and intimidating, but he was slow, and very clumsy. He joined the others in the hallway while they waited for the last of the Demon Hunters to join them for training.

Tria eventually emerged from her room. Her long red hair tied up in a messy bun. She wore a black T-shirt, not tight but not too loose either, a black hooded jacket and black jeans, with knee high black boots with a small heel. She had the same bright green eyes as Kaine. It made sense, she was his sister after all. At twenty-one years old, she was older than the rest. But certainly didn't act like it much. She was fun and bubbly, but when it came to battle, she was a menace. A warrior by blood.

Katia's mother and father had both been leaders of this institute. Until they died a year ago while trying to save a newcomer in the town called Toby. He had lived thinking he was human all his life until he started to see things that he couldn't explain. People in public with swords and what he could only describe as wands, fighting and stabbing, killing people who just disappeared in a cloud of dust soon after.

He questioned his mental state for some time, until one of these deadly warriors spoke to him. "You can see me?" She had asked. Toby couldn't speak, all he could do was nod. "Then I guess you need to come with me." She led him into an alleyway, surrounded by bodies, two of which he recognised as the people who pulled him away from the Demon, saving his life, and suddenly after a flash of light, he was in the town of Aura, in the market square, face-to-face with more of these fighters. Then at age fifteen, he started his life as a Demon Hunter.

Part Two:

*******

         Toby, who had just turned sixteen, was already in the gym when Letitia arrived. He was running the perimeter of the hall, panting and sweating. He stopped when he noticed her. "Oh, hi Letitia. Sorry, am I late for something?" He glanced up at the clock, trying to remember if something had been scheduled for today.

"No, we're just coming for some training. You're welcome to stay." She smiled. "How are you finding your new room at the Institute?" She added.

"It's okay. But there's no shower room like in my old one at your place." He moaned.

"I'm sorry we had to move you when the battle was announced. You just weren't ready to fight. But I'm glad to see you've taken upon yourself to train." She walked towards him. "How many laps have you done?"

"Twenty." He said, still trying to catch his breath.

"Well, go get yourself a drink, and rest while we wait for the others and Katia. They'll be here soon, I think." She paused, then quickly added. "I hope." She also glanced at the clock on the wall that told her it was three in the afternoon.

Toby quietly left the hall and walked across the courtyard. He came to a large metal door that was heavy and creaky. He managed to pull it open and went inside the Institute, making his way to the kitchen. In the fridge there were many bottles of cold water, he grabbed seven; one for him, one for Letitia and the other five for Zavier, Kaine, Samia, Jayden and Tria. Hopefully they would appreciate it. He still hadn't managed to get too friendly with them, but he owed it to Kaine and Tria. After all, their parents did save his life.

As he made his way back to the gym, he bumped into the others in their training gear just walking across the courtyard, "Hey, guys!" He called out. "Letitia invited me to your training session, so I brought us all some water." He said as he made his way towards them, one of the bottles falling onto his foot.

Tria jogged over and picked it up, then took a few off him to help him out. "Thanks," she smiled. "You know, it sucks you had to leave our institute. We never got chance to get to know you. And I know you never met Zavier."

"How you doing?" Zavier asked as he took one of the bottles of water from Toby.

"I'm okay, thanks. How are you guys?"

"Well, not gonna lie, I'm a little bit worried. Letitia never told us why she wants us all in the training hall. She literally banged on our doors ten minutes ago and told us to meet her there." Zavier said.

"Then the woman just disappeared!" Tria exclaimed, although it was nothing new in this world. "She knows how to make us worry, that's for sure."

They got to the hall to find it was just Letitia there. "Is Katia coming too?" Samia asked.

"Eventually. She's sending a message to Jovah and I guess she's just waiting to see if he replies right away. He usually does." Toby handed her a bottle of water. "Oh, thank you Toby."

Everyone stood in a huddle in front of Letitia who started explaining what would be happening. Five laps of the hall, followed by practising on the climbing walls, jumps and falls. Then they would start the weapons practice. Something Toby didn't have much experience in.

The young Demon hunters were busy running that they didn't notice Katia arrive.

"Bad news. They can't send any back up for two weeks. Good news, they found out that Lima is basically making rounds on all the towns and cities. Ours is one of the last so we must have at least a week or so, depending on how strong his army are and how prepared the other towns are. I sent out a warning to everyone to get ready."

Letitia nodded, she didn't want the youngsters to worry so they tried to keep it on the down-low. But Zavier, being curious as ever, asked as he ran by. "So what's this training for?"

Letitia called everyone back to her and said, "Well, with how unprepared we were two weeks ago, I want us to be ready for the next attack. We don't know when it will be. So the more you train, the more ready you will be if an unannounced attack does come. Okay, next, is climbing. Katia, can you help me bring the climbing walls and apparatus out?"

While they did that, it gave everyone chance to get a drink and talk. "Do you think she knows something? We don't normally have impromptu training lessons." Zavier said.

"Well, you heard her. It's because she wants us to be prepared." Samia replied.

"Um..." Toby started, unsteadily. "So why am I here? Does she want me to fight next time too?"

"Well, it wouldn't hurt to do some training." Tria said to him. "Don't worry, we're here. You'll be fine."

After the training, they sat down for some food, Toby still with them. "How did you find weapons training?" Jayden asked him.

"It was okay... Until that throwing knife attacked me." Toby moaned. The others chuckled, knowing what really happened.

"You mean, instead of throwing it at the target, you threw it at a wall while standing too close and it rebounded and stabbed you." Samia smirked.

"I'm a newbie! All right!" Toby was finally getting along with these guys. Despite being younger than them he was finally somewhere he felt accepted. Once they had finished eating, they had some free time. They didn't exactly have a bedtime but Letitia did prefer it if they went to sleep before two in the morning. "I know, teenagers will be teenagers, you all want to stay up late, watch movies, gossip and all that, but in this world anything could happen at any time. And I want you to be ready." She would always say.

Toby was still tending to his wound, which wasn't too bad, but it stung like mad. He held a tissue on it to stop it from bleeding. It was only five o'clock so they decided to venture out. To the Human world.

Part One:

*******

        Toby hadn't seen this part of the world since he was taken to Aura. It was strange. Scary. Now he knew what could be lurking around any corner. A Demon. Werewolf, though they generally weren't dangerous, it depends on their heritage.

As he had learned recently, some werewolves were part Demon, which made it scarier. Some demons were able to disguise themselves, put on a good act, like they were on your side, just to gain your trust, then they attack. Imagine a werewolf with the same mindset... Scary, right?

He stayed close to Zavier. He seemed to be the leader. Well, he was the one who talked the most. Although Jayden was the tallest, with muscles popping out of everywhere, he didn't seem too dominant.

They were in a small park, with a small pond, with a few fish swimming around, and children playing on some swings on the toddler park. He wondered if they could see him, or the others.

"No." Samia said. "They can't see you, or us."

"How did you-"

"I'm good like that. I always know what people are thinking." She smirked. It was true. She was somehow psychic. Or maybe just clever. Good at reading people's facial expressions and determining what kind of thing they'd be thinking.

But with the weird things Toby had seen since he had arrived in Aura, he wouldn't be surprised if she was actually psychic. Zavier could even be made from steel, his abs were that hard. It's obvious that Toby was still so confused and overwhelmed by it all. His new life. His parents had been killed while he was at school. He had been told they had a car accident. Now, though, he wasn't so sure. Could it have been demons?

He had the demon hunter blood in him, it must have come from somewhere. He could see other demon hunters and shared their talents. One of his parents, if not both, must have had Demon hunter blood.

He jumped and shuddered at every noise. Someone closing a trash bin lid, a car backfiring, a guy whizzing past on a skateboard. Everything made him jump. He was naturally uneasy.

But that's the way the Demon's like it. There's nothing more tasty than a scared, confused, trainee demon hunter.

But at the moment, this park seemed safe enough. The parents of the children playing had started to get them ready to go home for supper and bed. They had school the next morning. They hadn't been seen. "So why did we come here?"

"Well, there's practice in the Gym, then there's practice out here. Where it really matters. Where you could save someone's life." Samia told Toby, who looked distressed and scared.

"So what are we doing here then? Just waiting until something happens?" Toby asked.

"Well no, not really. Kinda just chilling, away from the institute, away from Letitia's boring rules. We probably should be back by two though, she'll freak."

"Ummm.... Guys? There's someone over there, looking at us." Jayden said. "Straight at us."

The others followed his gaze and saw a man, maybe late thirties, staring straight into Toby's eyes.

"Do you know him?" Samia asked.

"No." Toby shook his head.

"Well, get ready, looks like it's time to fight." Zavier said, adjusting his belt so his weapons were easy to locate.

"Wait, I'm not ready for this." Toby said, his voice wavering.

"It'll be okay. One of him, six of us. I'm sure everything will be okay." Tria said, walking to stand beside Toby. He already thought of her as kind of a big sister, she seemed so protective and brave.

The man at the other side of the park began slowly walking towards them. His steps were more like stumbles. And when he got a little closer, they knew why.

Demon.

His face started to distort, becoming pale and the skin stretched. The teeth turned a yellow stained with red, possibly blood. His nails turned into claws and instead of standing, he was hunched over, a large hump in his back. His hair disappeared and suddenly, he started howling.

Zavier swung at him with a long sword, which shimmered like it was covered in glitter, and Tria tossed her throwing knife, missing the demon by inches.

It grabbed hold of Zavier's throat and picked him up, at least five feet off the ground, and stared into his eyes, breathing his nasty, bloody breath all over Jayden. Growling like a hound.

"Where are those guys?" Letitia asked, mainly to herself, but Katia overheard.

"They're still not back then?" Katia asked as she turned from her desk where she was writing yet another message to Jovah, who still hadn't got back to her.

"No... It's nearly one in the morning." Letitia sighed. "I can't even call them." She was about to leave to check their rooms once more. Then turned back to Katia who just finished sending the message to Jovah. "You don't think they've run into trouble, do you?"

"I doubt that. And if they did, I'm sure they'll be fine."

"What if they went venturing out of town? There's no telling what's going off in the rest of the world."

Katia stood, taking off her black-rimmed glasses. "Give them another hour, then go looking if you must."

Katia left Letitia standing in her office, not knowing where she would even start looking. The town? Or the rest of the City? It wasn't that large, but there was the possibility that if they weren't there, they could have been taken by someone, or something. Or had they gone off on their own, showing Toby the rest of the city?

Toby!

"Oh, what have they done?" She rushed out of the office.

Part Two:

*******

       Samia raised her sword, again, glittering like diamonds in the moonlight, and brought it down hard on the Demon's back. Instantly she was covered in a green-black liquid, sticky and slimy. Demon blood. It started to slide down her forehead into her eyes, she wiped it away with the back of her hand, smearing it over her forehead and into her hair. She raised the sword again as Kaine lunged forward with a small glinting knife, stabbing the Demon repeatedly.

After the third blow, the Demon reeled back and howled, an ugly and shrieking noise. So loud that Toby, who was not used to this, had to turn away and cover his ears. He shrunk down in fear.

Jayden was released, and he pulled out a short, thin wand type weapon, that he pointed at the Demon and a bright, electric-blue light shot out the end of it. It burst into a bright white as it hit the Demon in the chest and propelled it backwards, at least six feet.

It landed with a thud on the ground, and Tria calmly walked over, pulled out a shimmering golden ring from her belt, and held it onto the Demon's head.

The Demon shrieked, and started twitching, like it was having some kind of epileptic fit, until steam, or smoke, Toby couldn't tell, started rising from it's body as the shrieking grew louder, and more intense.

Suddenly it stopped. And the Demon lay motionless on the ground in front of them. Kaine kicked it, just to make sure. After a moment or so, it slowly disappeared, leaving just a pile of dust where he had lain.

       They entered the Institute. Jayden, with red marks and claw imprints in his throat, Samia covered in Demon blood, Kaine was still silent as he had been all day, and Toby still shaking with fear. "What the hell happened to you!?"

"Stealth Demon." Jayden said. "It grabbed me by the throat, And squeezed. But I'm okay." Jayden gasped. "It's all taken care of."

Part One

*******

       Toby was home and safe in his room, but in the Institute, he had a feeling, the others were in trouble with Katia and Letitia. As he was leaving he heard Katia call them all to her office, and from what he had heard, that was never a good thing. He assumed they'd be getting 'Why did you take him there? You know he's not ready for that yet? You lot ought to know better! What were you thinking?!' 

He couldn't help but feel a little guilty. He shouldn't have gone with them, but how was he supposed to know what was going to happen. He sure as hell wasn't expecting to bump into a demon on his first trip back to the Human world, especially not as soon as they did.

As well as feeling guilty, he also felt ashamed. Instead of helping, he'd ran away, and hid. Leaving the others to fight that monster. He could see from his hiding place, Jayden being picked up by the throat, Samia struggling with the sword, and the others holding it down while Tria finished it off.

That was the worst part. The shriek that came from that Demon was ear-splitting, like sirens right next to your ear. The smell it made as the smoke rose from its body was so horrible, it nearly made him vomit. It was like rotten eggs and out of date cabbage, or something gross like that. He gagged just thinking about it.

The red marks around Jayden's throat were quite severe. Toby was surprised that Jayden was still breathing. But glad that he was.

Why can't I be like them? He thought to himself, sadly. I want to be as good as them.

When he awoke the next morning, he walked towards the kitchen, he could smell something. Rhona was making breakfast. And as he got closer, he could hear voices. That's strange. There's only me, Rhona and Eden in this place at the moment.

As he opened the kitchen door, he was greeted instantly by Samia. "I told you he was on his way!" She jumped up from her seat and walked over to Toby. "How are you doing? Last night was pretty scary, right?"

"I'm good. And yeah, that thing was disgusting."

"We got in so much trouble after you left." Zavier smirked. "But Katia loves me so we're forgiven."

"No, she does not!"

"She does! How else do you think we always get out of everything?" Zavier boasted.

"Anyway, we won't be taking you back there any time soon. It was too much of a close call." Tria said.

"Damn right." Samia said still stood beside Toby, her arm draped around his small shoulders. "But, we have got some good news... You're coming back to the Institute to train with us!" She beamed.

"Really?" Toby's face lit up. "That's awesome! I was thinking last night that I wanna train with you. I want to be just as good at fighting Demon's as you guys."

"Well, living with us you'll get plenty of training and tips." Zavier said.

"Living with you?"

"Of course." Tria said. "We weren't expecting you to come to our place everyday, train, and then come back here. You get your old room back! Don't worry, we've cleared it with Eden and Rhonda-"

"Rhona." Kaine corrected Tria.

"Whatever. Anyway, they said it's fine. So pack your bags, kid!"

They were crossing the marketplace, Toby struggling with a large duffel bag and a backpack. Zavier wheeled a suitcase for him, instead of helping with the heavy bags Toby was hauling behind him. Tria noticed, and grabbed the heavy duffel bag from him and threw it at Zavier. Then took the suitcase on wheels for herself to bring.

Suddenly, Samia, who was in front of the others, stopped dead and spun around on her heel. "You don't have battle clothes and weapons yet, do you?" She asked Toby.

"Uh, no." He didn't want to buy anything without Katia or Letitia's permission, or maybe it was him being a scared newcomer. "I didn't know you had to have special clothes and stuff for battle."

"Of course you do! We're not going to get you any now, but I think we should get your measurements for when we do get you some."

"My measurements?"

"They have to be tailor-made so they fit properly." Jayden said, still with a red mark and claw marks around his throat.

They led him off to the edge of the market, where, instead of stalls, there were large clothing shops, and weapons dealers, and on the doors of those there was a sign saying "Under 18's Must Be Accompanied By Their Trainer". So they'd be staying clear of the weapons for today.

They went inside a small shop where clothes, mostly black and heavy looking, hung on rails and a small changing room in the corner. It was deserted apart from a middle-aged lady standing behind the counter. "Hey Madame Greta." Samia chirped.

"Oh! Hello, young ones!" The lady smiled, showing gaps between teeth, and the teeth that were there were yellowing slightly. She may have looked around fifty or so, but sounded much older. 

She was around five foot three, with long frizzy dark ginger hair, and a pair of silver rimmed glasses perched crookedly on her nose. She wore a long dark red coat, down to her ankles, a bright green flower pinned onto the collar. Gold rings decorated her fingers, each with a brightly coloured gem in the middle. All different colours. Her necklace had a large bat hanging from it, which looked remarkably real.

Toby soon found out why.

"We would like it if you could measure this guy up for some battle gear?" Samia asked, unusually politely.

"Well of course! My pleasure, darlings." She rushed from behind the counter. The glasses making her eyes look huge and staring, but luckily she blinked, making Toby feel a little less tense for some reason. "Come. I'll get a tape measure, my dear." She bundled him off towards the back of the shop, stopping along the way to rummage in a draw for the tape measure. Then carried on into the dressing room.

While in there, Madame Greta measured the length of his arms, legs and around his waist and chest, then biceps and thighs. "We don't want them being too loose." She muttered, then looked up at him, baring those ugly teeth. She noted down the measurements. "Or too tight." She cleared her throat and stood up. As she did, the bat on her necklace opened it eyes. Suddenly it's wings flapped and jumped off the chain, almost hitting Toby in the face as it flew.

He let out a little scream, more girly that he'd hoped for. Outside the dressing room, he could hear the others chuckling to themselves. The first time he'd heard any noise come from Kaine's mouth, other than when he corrected Tria about Rhona's name. He's obviously not much of a talker.

They knew that would happen... Assholes. But he couldn't help but smile.

"Will you need boots too?" The strange looking lady asked.

"Yes." Toby nodded.

"Okay, slip your shoes off for me please." She said. "I'll hold my breath." She measured the length and width of both feet and wrote it down.

Part Two

*******

"Bringing Toby back... Is that a good idea? You know he's not had much training. He's behind on everything, doesn't even have and gear or anything." Letitia said to Katia, this time the were in the library.

"Well, I can tutor him privately, and we can go out tomorrow to buy him his things. Letitia, the more hunters we have, the better. Espescially with these threats we've had."

"It'll be nothing. Probably just trying to keep us on our toes." Katia shrugged, as she searched the bookcase.

"What exactly are you looking for?"

"A book on those Stealth Demons that attacked those guys last night. Just wondering if there's any way to spot them before they attack, or start to turn." Katia said.

"I doubt it. Hence the name Stealth Demon." Letitia said, slightly sarcastically.

"Yeah, I'm not counting on it either. But I guess it wouldn't hurt to get Toby a few book to do a little research while he's training. And if those idiots decide to take him back to the Human world again, he'll be more aware of what to look out for." A door slammed and made the Trainers jump.

"Christ! Jayden, what in the world are you doing? Trying to give us a heart attack? Again?!" Letitia recalled the time he stalked into the office without them hearing, when they turned around he was just standing in the shadows, his eyes shining in the candle light. He had apparently looked like some sort of Demon.

"Sorry. Toby is here." He said, grinning slightly. "We decided to pop into Madame Greta's on the way here to get him measured for when he starts training."

"And let me guess, the bat did the same thing it always does when it comes to new Hunters?"

Yup. And it was great. He squeals like an old lady." Jayden chuckled.

"Thought as much. I'll be right up." Letitia said. "Katia is just looking for some books for him."

Jayden nodded then left the library.

"You don't have to stay, Leti. I got this." Katia said.

"Right well, do you want me to see if Jovah ever got back to us?"

"Yes, that would be great. If he has it'll be on my desk." Katia said.

"Red ribbon, right?"

Katia nodded. She carried on searching the bookshelves, picking out a book every now and then. One about Demon Hunter rules, one about Limus's Demons and one very thick, heavy book, about all the Demons, their powers, forms and how to kill them quickly and easily. That'll have to do for now. On her way out of the library, a book on a nearby desk caught her eye, one that she hadn't noticed before. The Demon Angel.

Is it a fiction book? She wondered. She picked it up and read the back. Turns out, no, it was not a fiction, but a non-fiction about something she had never heard of, which was rare for Katia. She had studied Demons and Angels almost all her life, since she could read. But she had never heard of a Demon Angel. She took it, for herself to read.

Upstairs in Katia's office, Letitia did find a rolled up parchment on the desk, wrapped in a red ribbon. Red ribbons were used when the contents of the message was important. Or a threat. She picked it up and stared for a moment or two, wondering whether she should read it or give it straight to Katia. Curiosity got the better of her. She opened it. And soon wished she hadn't.

Part Three.

*******

        "Hey, Toby!" Katia beamed as she entered his bedroom, right next to Tria's. "All unpacked?"

"Almost." He smiled. "It's just strange being back here. But I'm glad you wanted me back here."

"Well, we need to start your training. Jayden told me you've already been measured." She tried, and failed, to hide a smirk.

"Oh, he told you what happened with that damn bat, didn't he?" Toby moaned, slinging his arms down by his sides, hands banging off his hips.

"Uh, kinda." She giggled a little. "Don't worry, that bat is a little bastard. He does it to everyone." Katia smiled. "Madame Greta, though, is the nicest woman you'll ever meet. Ironic, really, considering she's a Witch."

"She is?"

"You couldn't tell?" Katia raised an eyebrow. "You need some glasses picking up, honey?"

"Well, she looked like one but I didn't want to - you know, insult her." Toby said, shyly. "You know, I'm still getting used to this place. I haven't really ventured out much. Until yesterday."

"Yes, I've had words with those utter reprobates. I told them not to take you again until you had training. Idiots, what were they thinking? Are you all right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. They wanted to hang around after it happened to see if there were any more."

"Stealth Demons normally come alone. That's tip number one from me. Just because someone, or something, is on their own, that does not in any way mean it isn't dangerous." Katia said. "Anyway, I found some books for you. About Demons and the Rules of being a Demon Hunter. We will go through the Law when you're more at home. It's tedious and I can't be bothered today. You'll be trained privately for a while then join in with the others when you've improved. Not that you're bad, I mean, like because you're new-"

"I get what you mean, Katia, don't worry."

She smiled and said, "Anyway, I'll leave you to get settled in. No training today, for anyone. But tomorrow, Letitia will tutor you from nine in the morning until noon." She left the room and went to her office to find Letitia, and see if Jovah has replied to her message.

As she opened the office door, the room was cold, despite the heat outside and the fact it was only a small room, so any heat should be closed in. Letitia wasn't there.

On her desk, Katia could see the unrolled parchment, it's red ribbon binding on the floor beneath her chair. She picked it up. There was nothing written on it. Just a blank page of parchment...