Prologue
She kept running, even though it was useless and she knew it. She swerved around stalagmites and crystal pools of ice-cold water.
"Come back, silly girl," the demon taunted her. "Come back to me."
"Never," she panted. She glanced behind her, but all she saw was a shadow: her own. Then out of the blue, a red hand with curved black nails shot out from the floor and made a grab for her cloak.
"No!" she yelled, jumping out of the way just in time. "I'll never help you!" The hand retracted into the shadows, and she stopped. Panting, she put her hands on her knees and took in deep, ragged breaths.
Then the cave disappeared. All she could see was darkness. Then there were four red eyes. They found her, and a demonic laugh boomed in her head. She tried to cover her ears, but she couldn't move. No, she thought stubbornly, I will not give in.
The darkness receded, almost recoiled, from her. Just as she thought, I'm winning, a dark form crashed into her side, knocking the breath out of her and slamming her into a wall.
She found she could move and pushed herself to her feet, clutching her throbbing right arm with her left. The object hit her again, and again, hurting her more and more each time. "You will bow to me," the voice bellowed, "and there is nothing you can do about it!"
All she could say was "No…" Then the form of a giant, a red demon with horns and hooves appeared and laughed a great, mean chuckle that rattled her bones. "You will help me, and then you will die."
"NOOOO!!"