From the moment Marie-Bell followed Jen out of the keep gate she knew what she had to do. The warlords could handle the crystal demons, hopefully. What they couldn’t deal with was the female warlock. She had to be here somewhere and when she showed herself Marie-Bell planned to be ready.

A conjured mount appeared and Marie-Bell wrapped both of them in invisibility before taking to the air. She couldn’t detect any sign of the warlock, but she’d show herself sooner or later. She was probably invisible, like Marie-Bell herself. She flew over the melee, wincing when one warlord after another fell under the claws of the crystal demons. As badly as she wanted to help there was only so much a single paladin could do. She might blow away one, maybe two of the constructs, then she’d be helpless for hours. No, better if she kept alert for the warlock.

A burst of corruption drew her attention to the battlefield. Jen had found a way to destroy the demons. She directed the warlords, making order out of the chaotic battle. Marie-Bell smiled at her friend’s leadership abilities. Jen was a natural, people followed her instinctively.

Another demon shattered. It wouldn’t be long now. The warlock couldn’t allow her troops to be wiped out.

Sure enough, less than a minute later, corrupt energy gathered in the sky above the battlefield. It seemed to come from nowhere, but when a black ball appeared and roared at Jen the warlock became visible as well.

Marie-Bell conjured a shield above Jen and the hellfire splashed against it. The warlock spun to face her. Marie-Bell tensed her jaw. It was time for her battle to begin.

The warlock agreed. Black serpents flowed from her hands, lengthening and growing thicker as more and more power ran into them.

First one then the other snapped at Marie-Bell. She bashed them aside, her holy energy smashing chunks out of them with every impact. The damage didn’t last.

Corrupt energy flowed and repaired the constructs as fast as she could hit them. The right-hand serpent darted in.

She brought her hammer around. An instant before it struck the serpent split, revealing a second head.

The one she targeted vanished in a cloud of sulfurous smoke, but the second clamped on to her leg. Her armor stopped its fangs from piercing her skin, but the pressure brought a snarl to her lips.

The second serpent dove in, taking advantage of her predicament. Marie-Bell ignored the one trying to gnaw through her armor and hammered the second with a burst of holy light. It was blown away in an instant. She ran a second pulse through her body and blew away the second serpent.

Marie-Bell charged the warlock. The slender woman wouldn’t last long once she brought her hammer to bear directly. A single blow would crush her to pulp.

The warlock fled, leading Marie-Bell a merry chase through the sky above the battlefield. A corner of Marie-Bell’s mind registered the deaths of warlords and the destruction of demons, far too many of the former for the number of the latter.

If she killed the one controlling them, maybe Marie-Bell could turn the tide. Unfortunately the warlock showed no sign of tiring as she evaded Marie-Bell’s attempts to close the distance. She couldn’t keep this up forever. Eventually the demons would overwhelm her allies and it wouldn’t matter if she killed the warlock or not.

Marie-Bell sent more power into her mount and put on a burst of speed. She covered the distance between her and the warlock in a blink.

Her hammer went back then hurtled forward.

The warlock spun and grabbed the haft, stopping her swing dead.

The pale witch sneered in her face. “Thought I was too weak to fight face to face, bitch?”

The warlock breathed a gout of hellfire in Marie-Bell’s face. She flinched away from the black flames. The warlock ripped her hammer from her grasp and flung it away.

A small fist struck Marie-Bell in the face, snapping her head back with enough force the blow might as well have come from an ogre.

How could such a tiny woman be so strong?

A second blow crashed into her armored torso. A rib snapped, drawing a pained gasp.

A third punch raced for her face. Marie-Bell charged her gauntleted fist with power and swung.

The impact sent her flying back, mount and all. When Marie-Bell got herself under control she found the warlock clutching the ruins of her hand. The fingers were twisted every way but straight.

Before her opponent could recover Marie-Bell blasted her again with focused holy energy. The stream of light hit a black wall. The two opposing energies swirled and fought before bursting in a shower of gray sparks.

The warlock dove toward the melee, disappearing amidst the churning statues. Marie-Bell muttered a very un-paladin-like curse and directed healing energy to her face, rib, and leg. The pain soon faded.

She flew towards Jen’s side of the line, pausing long enough to collect her hammer. No way the warlock would show herself again. And if she did attack Marie-Bell could still protect Jen while she smashed some statues.