The castle was burning.

The land, ruined.

Everything they did was in vain.

Despite it all, the king's men were putting everything they had into one last-ditch effort to turn the tide. An idea that many in their right minds would deem too dangerous to try or even outright insane, yet these men were desperate.

They were attempting to summon a hero without the proper safeties and constraints.

As everything they knew crumbled, the king oversaw the mages as they hastily created the summoning circle and offered the sacrifice the knights had randomly grabbed in their rush to reach the relative safety of the throne room. No amount of true effort had gone into this. This was an all-in, say-your-prayers attempt to save their hides.

As the mages continued chanting, there was a massive explosion that shook the castle. The enemy was near.

"Can't you go any faster?!" the king cried from his throne as dust and chunks of the wall and ceiling fell around the room, one block almost clipping his head.

"We're already working nearly as fast as the ritual could possibly allow, and even this is making our attempt all the riskier," the head mage retorted dryly.

Just then, a particularly large piece of debris crushed the ornate cresset to the king's immediate right, throwing embers onto his robes.

"EEEGH!" The king quickly stood and brushed off his robes as fast as he could, patting out what would otherwise have become flames on his attire. "I don't care if it makes the ritual more dangerous, work FASTER before we all die here!"

The great mage sighed in annoyance. "You heard 'His Royal Highness,'" he said, throwing a glare the king's way. "Channel all your mana into this, and chant as one with all your speed! We must put our all into this if we are to have a chance at survival!"

As the mages around the throne room began channeling every last bit of their mana into the summoning circle, it became clear how heavy a toll they were taking. The knights standing guard at the massive doors shifted nervously, praying to whatever gods above or below would listen that the mages wouldn't collapse or otherwise botch the summoning. Another explosion rocked the throne room as a portion of the ceiling collapsed, letting in the light of the burning sunset and crushing a few unfortunate guards.

Beyond the castle walls, monsters swarmed. Feral beasts ransacked the outlying farms. Malevolent humanoids tore apart shops and homes in the inner sectors, littering streets with bodies and rubble. And deviants of all kinds were rushing the castle.

An archer fired a shot that took out a winged imp that had been peeking through the room's brand new skylight.

"Your Majesty, the monsters are right outside!"

"Hold them off as long as you can!" the king ordered. "Knights, make sure the doors to this room hold! Mages, pour your damned souls into this if you have to! And everyone, under no circumstances are you to allow anything to interfere with the summoning circle!"

Just as the first of the mages seemed ready to pass out, something changed within the blue glow of the summoning circle. The wooden staff the knights had snatched from one of the nearby halls began to glow a light purple, and a low wind was rising and electricity flying within the great chamber.

"It's working! It's working! Hold on just a little longer, soldiers! We might just get out of this alive!" the king frantically yelled, seemingly overjoyed.

As a body started to form, starting with a hand to hold the staff, there was a noise from beyond the grand doors.

Something was coming down the halls.

Alarmed, the king cried out, "Knights! Bar the doors! Make sure they stay sea-!"

THUD.

The king's eyes widened.

BANG. BANG. CRASH!

Just as the summoned being was taking shape, something broke down the doors to the throne room.

One of the attackers had reached them.

The guards stared in shock at what their petrified minds assumed would be their demise. The king yelled in outrage. "What are you doing?! Kill it, you fools, and block the entrance before more come!"

As the guards came to their senses and prepared to strike it down, the being snickered. Before their very eyes, it prepared a magical attack and launched it into their midst with a triumphant cackle.

The guards saw it coming.

The mages did too.

What they saw was an immediate threat to their well-being.

What they did?

They dodged.

Every. Last. One of them.

That is, every one of them in the direct path from the intruder to the being they had been summoning.

"NO!" the king and head mage said in unison.

It was too late. The summon had been tainted. One knight had come to his senses and beheaded the thing in their midst, but not before the magic had gotten through the group. The summon took the projectile head on.

It was too late for the mages to stop channeling their mana into the circle, yet too early to stop. The summoning ritual they had used did not bring a soul from another plane. No, it created a new soul entirely and formed a body for it. The effect the magical attack would have was unpredictable.

"No, no, NOOO!"

Anyone could see the silhouette changing. They just couldn't be sure what was happening to it.

Suddenly, the circle dispelled and released its pent-up energy, throwing everyone to the ground and extinguishing most of the light. Even the light from the sunset seemed to have been blotted out. All that remained was the waning blue glow from what remained of the circle and a few scattered and fallen candles.

Moments later, a guard cried out. Then another. As the king and his men began to get their bearings, the sound of a bow being pulled taut and released could be heard, followed by the fleshy CHNK of an arrow finding a home in a body. Occasionally, a pair of twin dull lights could be seen darting around the room.

'It's the summon. It's after us! I'm sure of it! That damned monster, that invader, tainted the summon and turned it against us!' the king thought in a panic. He could hear occasional cries of pain and alarm, and what sounded like slicing, throughout the room. Hardly anything could be seen in the low light besides silhouettes, and the summon was moving much too fast to catch more than a small glimpse of its silhouette.

"Someone give us light! Use a light spell, for gods' sake!" the king shrieked.

Around the room, a few orbs of light appeared. Visibility had been slightly increased, but the summon was still too fast to catch more than a glimpse. That is, until one knight managed to land a hit.

"Hold.. STILL!" The knight swung his sword at the dark again and again, hitting nothing until another explosion rocked the castle and sent the summon toppling into the blade.

SNK! STAB!

A small cry of pain could be heard in the dark. The knight's sword had cut into the summon's shoulder before stabbing into its side, lodging itself there.

"Get me eyes on it!" the king ordered. "Now, while it's still!"

Drip, drip, drip.

Quiet dripping could be heard, the sound of blood droplets hitting the stone floor. A few of the mages using light magic made their way through the bodies on the floor to where the knight was calling out from.

What they saw was surprising. It appeared to be…a small girl? Her eyes glowed golden in the dark, and blood could be seen dripping from her hands…claws? She was clearly struggling in an attempt to get away. The light didn't quite reach her face.

'What's this?' The king asked himself. 'It's… just a young girl?'

Hesitantly, he commanded the mages to bring the light up to her face. What he and his men saw was simply a scared and confused child, the details of whose appearance couldn't be made out despite the soft glow of magical light.

However, they couldn't deny that this child had killed several of the kingdom's best men just mere moments ago.

"Who are you?!" one knight barked into her face.

"Do you have a name? I ask, no, DEMAND to know, as I wish knowledge of what to put on your headstone!" another yelled at the top of his lungs.

All they got in response was a pained whimper.

"Back up, you t-" the king started to say, before yet another explosion shook the castle. The knight holding the bloodied sword fell back, pulling it free from the summon's body. The summon fell back onto its butt before scrambling to its feet and darting off into the dark once more.

"Why, you little!" Another angry knight rushed after the summon, only to let out a pained cry and tumble back into the light with a slash across his face.

The two glowing eyes stared back from the dark corner.

Out of nowhere, the wall nearest the soldiers collapsed, as if opening the floodgates for the monsters outside. Even as the sounds of conflict rose up once more, no sunlight entered the room. The king heard what sounded like wood being smashed. He returned his focus to the side of the room where the summon had retreated. A child-sized hole had appeared in the grand doors and the summon was gone, leaving nothing more than a trail of blood to prove she was ever there.

He cursed under his breath.

The throne room collapsed in on itself, solidifying the fall of a kingdom.