Holy power flooded through Kendy as she sped across the sky on her conjured mount. The demons were close enough now that she could make out their various forms. They were as motley an assortment of horrors as you could hope to find. The largest and closest had the head of an insect and its body was covered with black plates. Corrupt power burst from it in almost visible waves.

It was strong, perhaps as strong of an opponent as she’d ever faced. The creatures on either side of it were the typical collection of monsters: goblins and the like, transformed into more suitable hosts by their demonic occupants.

Kendy grinned. It would be a glorious battle.

Hellfire burst from the hands and mouths of the demons. Kendy shaped her power into a white shield and her companions did the same all down the line.

Black flames broke on the glowing barrier like waves on a cliff. The initial clash was a draw.

The two sides came together with a mighty crash. Kendy met the bug-headed leader at the center of the melee. No other demon approached and the paladins were too busy fighting their own battles to lend her a hand.

Kendy wouldn’t have had it any other way.

She leveled her sword and searing white light streaked out at the demon. It lashed its wings and her blast flew under it.

Its counter blast of hellfire splashed over her shield without penetrating.

Paladin and demon chased each other through the sky, exchanging blasts, neither making a dent in their opponent’s defenses. Kendy’s frustration grew. The demon was too fast for her to hit with a ranged attack. She needed to close and attack directly.

She willed her mount to turn and charge the demon. It appeared as eager for hand to hand combat as she was. Six-inch talons had sprouted from its fingertips and curved, chitinous blades sprouted from its forearms.

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They came together. Her sword swooped in toward its neck.

The demon batted her blade aside with one hand and countered with the other. It shredded her barrier, but the holy energy slowed its attack enough for her to lean back out of the way.

How could anything that big be so fast?

All around her shouts of pain mingled with snarls and shrieks. She wished she had a spare moment to check on her people.

She blocked two more swipes, just as fast as the one that almost gutted her. Her arm was growing weak. Her power couldn’t be running out already. The battle had only just begun.

Kendy slashed again. The power behind it was feeble.

The demon caught her sword on the curved blades covering its forearms and ripped it from her grasp. Kendy stared as her weapon tumbled to the gray sand.

She willed her mount to dive. An instant later she screamed as talons ripped through her mail and plucked her from the back of her white horse. Kendy struggled, but the demon’s grip was like iron. Her remaining strength leaked out along with her blood.

A high-pitched whine filled the air. It took her a moment to realize it was the demon’s laughter. “Stupid human. This place drains your strength and feeds mine. You should have stayed in your castle and cut your own throat. It would have been less painful.”

Kendy spit at it. A minor, pointless act of defiance, but all she could manage. It ignored the saliva running down the shiny plates covering its chest and spun around, forcing her to watch the rest of the battle.

She could have cried, but refused to give the monster the satisfaction. How had her glorious battle come to this? Her comrades were being slaughtered one after another. A pair of demons that resembled wild boars grabbed Harry and tore him in half.

Another that had certainly been a goblin at some point ripped the head off a young woman who’d received her holy spirit less than a year ago. Kendy focused through the blinding pain in her shoulder and counted. Seventeen demons remained. At least they’d managed to kill three.

Fifty paladins and they’d killed three demons. She’d go down in infamy as the worst commander of the fortress in history, assuming the kingdom had a future in which to remember her fatal error.

“Just kill me and have it over with,” she said.

“Oh no, that would be far too generous. Don’t you want to see how the warlock’s new toys handle your soldiers on the ground? I’m certainly curious to find out what happens.”