His moment of distraction was no doubt calculated, for the enemy ruthlessly took advantage, attacking from all sides with utter abandon as they answered the Demon's call. And out of the trees came great black ravens, hundreds of them, croaking like peals of doom.

Wielding its short staff, the warlock hurled Belloc back with pale blue fire that clung to the

wizard like dozens of strangling hands or snakes.

Fighting off attacking ravens with her long knife, stumbling, flailing wildly, Lily suddenly found herself alone. She wanted to cry out for help but couldn't pause for breath to cry out, and everyone else was fighting desperately for their own survival, regardless.

And then, a black shadow that was not a raven flew past her, causing her to utter an inarticulate sound of abject terror. She looked about, wildly, when suddenly the ground beneath her feet lurched. As though stunned at being thrown hard to the ground, she sat as if in a trance as the Demon reared over her. Looking up into its eyes, her will deserted her, and she was unable to look away or move. As from a great distance, she heard Anest cry out her name as he fought wildly to come to her aid. At the same moment, Brogan had evaded his attackers, and with a lunge, hit the ground rolling, bowling the feet out from under a goblin Dorain was contending with, and come to his feet with a rush directly between Lily and the Demon. With a savage yell he slashed at the Demon's belly. In a frozen moment, Lily saw Anest as he shouted, "No!" as Brogan's sword struck the Demon.




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