With a wave of his hand, the demon before us had his army advancing. He was still staring me down, trying to control me. I stared back, concentrating hard on keeping his spell away from me. I could see Lisa and Evan fighting, trying to keep as many people as possible from reaching us. Several still managed to trickle through, but Sebastian was able to keep them away from me.

As the fighting continued, the constant stress on my mind as I fought for control over myself was beginning to become more painful than I could bear. I felt my eyes squeeze shut and my face contort in pain.

"Sebastian," I whimpered, "please, make it stop..."

Suddenly, the pain intensified, and I cried out and dropped my swords, holding my head and falling to my knees.

I heard someone shout my name, then gunshots ring out in the large lobby. People screamed, and eventually, the pain dulled.

When I was able to open my eyes and look up, Thomas was in front of me, shooting anyone who came close to us. Evan and Lisa were slowly but surely taking out the horde themselves, and Sebastian was now locked in battle with the silver haired demon.

I took a deep breath, then once again reached for my swords. I stood on wobbly legs behind Thomas.

"Thank you. I'm alright now," I told him as I regained my balance.

He glanced back at me for a quick moment, his eyes unsure as to whether or not to leave me. I gave him a second to think, then stepped beside him. If he wanted to fight with me, then I wouldn't stop him. With this many people attacking, the more hands on our side, the better.

I turned my gaze back to the fight in time to see the silver haired demon throw Sebastian into a wall.

"Sebastian!" I screamed, and before I knew it, I was running.

I dodged blows from demons and humans as I ran toward him, then stopped, shielding him just as he had always shielded me. I raised my swords, ready to attack as my headache was forgotten to the adrenaline that was finally taking over.

The demon stared at me, and his eyes began to glow again, and I felt his spell creeping in on me. "It's best not to fight it, Your Highness. Give in, and we'll rule together."

"Nice try," I told him, the strain of fighting him off clear in my voice, "but I saw what will happen if you win this fight, and I'm not planning on putting any of my friends through that."

"Pray tell, Your Majesty. What did you see?"

I didn't want to tell him. I knew he was trying to distract me. I could feel his pull on me become stronger as he talked, his words causing me to lose focus. He was winning. I told him.

"I saw myself, locked away in a dungeon. I was scared, because you had hypnotized me to love you, and I was confused as to why you'd chained me to a wall. But Sebastian and the others found me. I was too far gone to be helped, but they still managed to save me."

The demon scowled, his eyes glowing brighter, and the hold over me becoming too much to fight. "How did they save you?"

I gulped. "Sebastian fulfilled his final order. I told him that if I was ever taken away and locked under a spell that they couldn't save me from, then he was to consume my soul." I shook my head quickly, once again finding strength to fight. "Don't you see? No matter what you do, you won't win!"

He smirked suddenly, and I felt his pull vanish. "It seems I only have one other option, then. I must kill you where you stand!"

The next thing I knew, he was in front of me. I screamed and swung my swords fast enough to block his punches. I heard several people shout my name, but I couldn't find an opening in his barrage of attacks to escape. If this kept up, he'd back me into a corner and kill me.

I continued to block his attacks, looking for patterns or anything I could use to get him off me. I had to try something.

Then, I saw it. He took a split second to recover after each blow, and it left his stomach exposed. I'd have to be fast. If I didn't time it right...

He sent his punch, which I quickly blocked, then he pulled back his arm to prepare for the next one as he swung his other fist my way. I used one sword to block the oncoming attack, and my other quickly pulled back and thrust forward into his side.

He only stopped for a second, and it wasn't enough time for me to escape. He angrily reached out and grabbed me by my hair, and I cried out in pain as he pulled me roughly against him.

"I'll admit, I'm surprised you were able to strike me at all. You are most definitely worthy of becoming our queen." He grabbed my sword and placed the cold metal against my neck. "Too bad you won't live long enough to see that fate."

I froze, terrified, trying to think of a way out. He held my back against him, one of my swords held up at an angle that could easily slit my throat. My other hand still clung tightly to its sword, but I didn't have much room to work with. One wrong move and he'd kill me without even meaning to.

I looked forward and made eye contact with Sebastian. He watched me, seemingly waiting for an order. I knew the demon behind me could move just as fast, if not faster, than Sebastian. If he tried to save me, then I'd be killed by my own sword.

Sebastian looked around for a moment, then returned his gaze to me. His eyes were telling me to stay calm, but the cold metal of my sword was then pushed closer. I felt my neck burn as he began to slice at my skin.

"What?" he asked as he began to slice my neck repeatedly. It was never deep enough to kill me, but the pain was real. "Have you lost your fight? What was that you were saying about me never winning?"

I felt blood running down my neck as I continued to stare at Sebastian, desperately seeking for him to tell me everything would be okay. His eyes never left mine, and I could tell how badly he wished he could do something.

Suddenly, something happened behind us, and I was shoved away, my sword once again slicing my neck in the process. Sebastian was in front of me in a heartbeat and caught me before I fell to the floor. He immediately began checking my neck. He sighed in relief.

"Nothing life threatening, which means we can treat you once this is over," he told me.

I nodded, then stood and looked back to see what had forced the demon to push me away. I gasped at what I saw.

Evan, Lisa, Thomas, and Sarah had all attacked him at once from behind. Thomas was now firing at anyone who came close to them, while Evan and Lisa were trying desperately to keep the demon distracted. But what hurt the most was the sight of Sarah, motionless on the floor, a large red blood spot on her clothing.