He gestured to the carnage around them.
"You have twelve soldiers left. I have forty. You can hold for a while. Maybe even until dawn. But your reinforcements aren't coming. Because your supply line is cut. Your forward base is destroyed. And even if you survive tonight, you'll die alone in hostile territory with no support."
The commander's jaw clenched. "Then we die holding our position. It's what paladins do."
"No." Liam's voice carried something like regret. "It's what you were trained to do. But training doesn't account for this. For the thing standing in front of you that looks human. That can smell your fear. That can tell you with absolute certainty—"
He raised Igar's Shard.
"—that I'm not going to give you a glorious death. I'm going to have my demons collapse that light circle inch by inch. I'm going to let you watch your brothers die. One by one. Until you're standing alone in the dark. And then - only then - will I let you die."
