Morana couldn’t believe what she was watching. Somehow the warlord was holding off her entire force of crystal soldiers by herself. She’d been certain hurling the ghouls over the wall would distract them enough to allow her forces to get a foothold on the first wall and maybe even force them to fall back to the second wall. But no, that infuriating woman raced around so fast Morana could barely follow her movements and sent every demon tumbling to the ground. It wasn’t human.

What was she going to do now? Morana should have had the fortress secured already. She knew she wasn’t a great leader, but with the forces available to her three defenders should have been nothing.

As yet another rank of soldiers went tumbling down Morana stiffened. She recognized the approaching power. A mental command stopped the futile assault and recalled the soldiers. No way would she face the insectoid demon and its minions without her forces by her side. She ran a hand over the urn and debated taking it out before deciding against it.

Having the weapon in hand seemed like too much of a show of weakness. If the demon sensed her fear it would put her at a serious disadvantage. Morana didn’t think it would attack her since she was the only one that could command the crystal soldiers, but then demons weren’t known for their logical thinking.

An approaching black cloud resolved itself into eighteen distinct shapes. So it had only managed to find one new recruit. That minor failure was something she could use if it started pushing her too much. This was going to be tricky. She didn’t want to antagonize the powerful demon, but she couldn’t let it run over her either. For a moment she wished Connor or even Mikhail were here with her. The black knight had been too stupid to fear demons.

The massive creature landed a few feet from her. Morana steeled herself. Neither of them were here; she’d have to manage on her own, just like always.

“Why are you still in the pass and not in the fortress?” the demon asked.

“The wall combined with a small, but skilled, group of defenders has proven to be a greater challenge than I expected.”

The demon looked up at the wall then back at her. “There are three humans up there. Are you saying three humans have held you up for a day and a half?”

“There were four to begin with. I eliminated one.”

Its high-pitched laugh pained her ears. “You killed one human in a day and a half. That is your great accomplishment? Pathetic.”

Morana didn’t rise to the taunt. Neither did she point out that she hadn’t killed the girl, only rendered her unconscious. She hated to admit it, but her results were kind of pathetic. Connor was right, she’d been far too confident in the power he’d given her.

“Now that you’re here we can defeat them together,” Morana said.

It laughed again. “We do not require your help to deal with three humans. We will rend them limb from limb then open the door to the fortress for you. Can you at least manage to lead your toy soldiers up there on your own?”

“I’ll manage.” Morana clamped her jaw tight to keep from saying something that might get her killed.

“Now watch how you go about killing humans.”

The demon lashed its wings and leapt into the air. Arrogant monster. She hoped the paladin split its ugly skull in half. She’d turn it into a lamp and put it on her nightstand back in Port Valcane.