Keys to the Demon Prison

As Kendra watched, Gorgrog hacked an astrid from the air with his serrated sword. The Demon King towered over his opponents, stomping and slashing as they tried to surround him. The attackers looked like chipmunks assailing a gorilla.

A woman stepped up beside Kendra. Tall and graceful, wreathed in light, the woman shone with ethereal beauty. Kendra immediately recognized her from a vision she had experienced while using the Oculus.

Rostimus dropped to one knee, head bowed. "Your majesty."

"Rise," the Fairy Queen said, her voice rich and serene amid the cacophony of battle.

"It’s you!" Kendra exclaimed, entranced by her presence. "It’s really you! Why did you come out?" Worry filled her voice. The advance of the wave of reinforcements had already begun to slow.

"I am acting in accordance with our plan," the Fairy Queen replied. Her eyes regarded the fight with Gorgrog. "But I may have to deviate. Brave and capable as my son may be, Gorgrog is too much for him. I will not stand aside and lose my son as I lost my husband."

"Why is he fighting Gorgrog?" Kendra asked.

"We must at least injure the Demon King for our plan to have a chance," she replied. "Kendra, when my people retreat, go with them. This shrine will shortly be overrun."

"I will see her to safety," Rostimus pledged.

The Fairy Queen gave a nod. She turned to a slender, beautiful fairy warrior. "Ilyana, oversee the retreat if I am unable."

"Yes, your majesty," the fairy replied firmly.

The Fairy Queen drew a shining sword and took to the sky, flying without wings. Gorgrog, noticing her approach, sent Bracken tumbling with a vicious kick. The Fairy Queen swooped at the Demon King, and her sword clashed with his. Her bright blade looked tiny against his monstrous weapon, but the great force of his blow did not overpower her. Their swords connected again and again, each clash resounding loudly. There came a lull across the rest of the battlefield as many of the participants turned to watch.

At that moment, Peredor landed beside Kendra with her brother in his arms. The astrid placed him gently on the ground.

"Seth," Kendra gasped, kneeling beside him. Her brother was a mess, his face pale, his shirt tattered, his shoulder and sides drenched in blood. Vasilis glowed dimly in his grasp.

"I need a unicorn!" Peredor shouted.

"Hey, Kendra," Seth murmured weakly through chapped lips. "I got Graulas. We got the artifacts."

A handsome warrior came and knelt beside them, touching the tip of his sword to Seth’s forehead. Then he placed a palm against his chest.

Some color returned to Seth’s face.

"The poison had almost taken him," the unknown unicorn said. "I’ve purged the venom, but considerable internal damage remains. I have stalled the bleeding and tried to stabilize him. You need to get him to the Sands of Sanctity."

"Thank you," Kendra said as the man hastened to rejoin the battle. The forces that had rallied from the pond were now being pushed back. The Fairy Queen had lost the initiative with Gorgrog and was struggling to survive his incessant blows. As Bracken sought to aid his mother, Gorgrog struck his sword from his hands. Kendra watched in horror as a follow-up swing whistled toward Bracken. The Fairy Queen partly deflected the huge sword, but the stroke still sent Bracken reeling to the ground with a gaping wound across his chest.

"No!" Kendra cried, feeling useless.

Warren and Vanessa frantically helped the astrids, fairies, dryads, and lammasu hold back the encroaching demons vying to come to the defense of their king. The Fairy Queen stood over her fallen son, desperately deflecting mighty blows from Gorgrog.

Kendra had no way to help! She was about to witness the demise of the Fairy Queen, Bracken, and the rest of her friends. If only there were something she could do!

Her eyes fell on Vasilis. The weapon held her gaze, and the sounds of battle receded. She had a peculiar feeling that the weapon was calling to her. She made up her mind in an instant. "Seth, can I borrow your sword?"

"Vasilis?" he asked.

"Bracken and the Fairy Queen are about to die," she urged.

"It may not work the same for you as for me," Seth warned, sweat beading on his forehead. "But sure, take it. I’m in no shape to use it."

Kendra glanced at Peredor. "Get my brother to the Sands of Sanctity."

Seth held out Vasilis, and Kendra accepted the weapon. The dim blade flashed to life, shedding a brilliant white radiance. Kendra immediately felt galvanized, her senses sharpened, as if her whole life had been spent half asleep, and only now had she truly awakened. As blinding light beamed from her sword, the demons nearest to the shrine faltered, turning their heads away and trying to shield their eyes. Astrids, dryads, unicorns, and fairies once again drove them back.

But Kendra was focused beyond the nearby demons at the contest between the Fairy Queen and the Demon King. All her most desperate hopes and desires–to see her parents again, to rescue her grandparents, to protect her friends, to save the world from this demonic invasion–converged on the antlered form of Gorgrog. He was trying to kill Bracken and the Fairy Queen. He was the leader of the demons. He embodied the threat they had to overcome.

Vasilis towed her forward with such violence that her feet hardly touched the ground. She skipped ahead in huge bounds, much faster than any mortal could possibly run. Demons parted before the intense fervor of her blade, and, as Gorgrog drew nearer, rather than fear, she felt elation. All of the energy others claimed to perceive inside of her seemed to have suddenly surfaced. She felt no hesitation, no worry, only an overwhelming euphoria at finally being able to help the people she loved.

Sensing her approach, Gorgrog backed away from the Fairy Queen and turned to confront the newcomer. Kendra rushed at him, demons blurring by at either side, Vasilis shining like a white sun. The demon stood many times taller than Kendra, but she jumped before reaching him, gliding up so that she was almost level with his head as their swords clashed explosively.

The impact sent Gorgrog staggering backwards amid a coruscating shower of sparks, a white-edged notch in his monstrous sword. Kendra landed lightly, Vasilis humming in her hand. Behind the Demon King, Kendra noticed the Fairy-Queen chopping at one of the black chains dangling from his belt, attempting to free a dehydrated corpse from its tether.

The Demon King was entirely focused on Kendra, eyes squinted against the brightness of Vasilis. The surrounding demons cowered back. Kendra stood her ground, and the Demon King charged her. Guided by an impulse from Vasilis, rather than try to meet his blade with hers, Kendra stepped aside as he swung his sword in an enormous overhand sweep. The blade plunged deep into the ground beside her. Springing forward, Kendra hacked at his leg. Flashing brilliantly, her shining blade sliced through fur and flesh like light through shadow.