“Gap!” Jen shouted. She was running on the last drops of her soul force, but she’d managed to destroy over twenty of the crystal demons while keeping the losses in the front line to a minimum. It was a relief to have Marie-Bell back beside her. She’d caught an occasional glimpse of the paladin and warlock battling through the skies.

The warlords shifted, opening their line to allow a demon through. It hadn’t taken more than a single step before it twisted and ripped a warlord nearly in half.

That was new. They had always come straight for Jen before this. Marie-Bell rushed over and smashed the demon to pieces with a single blow. The demons were moving as well. Instead of a long narrow line they fell back then in behind a single construct in a narrow wedge.

Jen didn’t even have to give an order for the warlords to change their formation to meet it. They stacked up, eight across and fifteen deep. At a moment like this Jen wished more warlords used shields. If any of them lived through this she’d have to make a suggestion to the masters at The Citadel to include more defensive training.

The opposing forces came together with a thunderous crash. For a moment the warlords held then the demons pushed them back. First one then a handful of warlords fell under the demons’ claws. She shook her head. They couldn’t fight head to head like this. The enemy was too strong.

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“Fall back! Regroup behind the keep,” she said.

The warlords accelerated, there one second and gone the next. When the last one disappeared she and Marie-Bell joined them. They all paused behind the keep, some gasping for breath, others clenching wounds they didn’t have enough soul force to heal.

They were proud warriors one and all, but the majority had reached their limit. If they’d had a day to rest Jen wouldn’t have hesitated to take them back into battle. As it was, going back after the constructs was suicide.

“What now?” Marie-Bell asked.

“We need a new position. Somewhere they can’t come at us from every direction.”

“Why not just flee and take up the fight another day?”

“If we lose the pass every nasty thing in the haunted lands will come pouring through. Packs of ghouls, zombies, minor demons, you name it. Things that wouldn’t cause you or I a moment’s grief, but could slaughter an entire village of regular citizens.” The other warlords had gathered around to listen. “We have to hold them here. Everyone’s counting on us. If we can last until the sorcerers finish with the flying demons they’ll make short work of these things. Many lives are depending on us. Will we let them down?”

“NO!” everyone shouted in unison.

“Damn right we won’t. Everyone up on the wall. I’ll take ten volunteers to hold the gate.”

Every hand went up forcing her to choose who she wanted. Jen couldn’t have been more proud. She took Marie-Bell and nine more around their age. Men and women she thought most unlikely to have families.

Crystal constructs poured around either side of the keep. This was it. They’d make the monsters pay for every inch.