Percey, the path of a Paladin

Percey stood rooted to the ground as he watched Amaryl walk up to the Dark Portal.
Is she mad?!
It wasn't the first time he had seen the Portal, but had seen it only from a very long distance as a child. Even from that distance it had left a haunting memory and a sense of foreboding in his mind. And now... she ordered him to walk through it.
She's not mad... This is insane!
She beckoned him and disappeared in the green smoke till it devoured her and left only a pitch black void. Percey felt his knees shake.
And now she's lost.

The way she had spoken of the other side had made clear she'd been through this before. But that didn't comfort Percey a lot. He always pictured being a paladin would keep him on this side of the portal and sea.
Hesitantly he tried to shake away his fears, or simply ignore them. The Portal's dark air made the blood leave his face. Step by step he approached it. Green mists slowly creeped out of the Portal's void, like a large hand trying to grab him and feed the hungry mouth. A low trembling resonated in his ears, sounding like a large dragon's stomach rumbling from hunger. Step by step, the green smoked engulfed him till he disappeared in the portal's dark mouth.

Percey blinked. He looked at his gauntlets. Despite the overwhelming sense of darkness creeping in his heart he felt relief at the sight of seeing himself safe and sound. The feeling evaporated the moment he looked up. There wasn't land on the other side. There was bare rock and a battle line!
Percey could see Amaryl only a few feet ahead of him. He hurried after her and glanced over the battlefield. The allied defenses were still fighting off demons while a new wave of demons came thundering into the defense. Standing prominently among them stood the largest demon Percey had ever seen, at least ten times the size of a man. It looked like the very embodiment of corruption and filth, walking like a drake but more grotesque and swollen like a toad. Suddenly the Portal seemed like a comforting place to be.

Barely able to think, the words escaped his mouth before he thought them through.
"We have to save them."
Amaryl nodded and dashed forward without a word. Shocked, Percey looked around him, but found only lonelyness to stare back, pressing his conscience. With a grunt he reached for his shield and sword and ran after Amaryl. He could see her jump past the line of the defense and be swallowed by the wave of attackers. Shouting her name, Percey jumped alongside the defense. He only received an answer from the sergeant leading the defense. The man grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him by side.

- "Shield UP!" Then he ordered the whole line, "Shield wall!"
Percey felt the shoulders and shields press from all sides till he could barely breathe. He felt like a stone in the wall of a fortress, carrying the weight of a dozen men on each side of him. A mixture of fear and adrenaline started pumping in his veins. He would brave this, he knew, but he couldn't stop the shaky feeling in his limbs.

Remorselessly, the line of demons crashed into the defense. The impact felt like the anvil was beating the hammer. His arms were crushed under his shield as it slammed into his chest. All air was pushed from his lungs as his back landed in the shields behind him. His feet barely felt the ground. The men behind behind him pushed back, while he desperately tried to improve his footing. The Sergeant shouted another order.
- "Two!"
On each side of their line, two men jumped out and started flanking the assailants. Like water, the defense flooded over the attackers. Demons that didn't turn to stop the flankers were cut down by them. Those that did, were taken down by swords stabbing from the shield wall. Percey could barely keep up, not being used to this type of fighting. He could hear the Sergeant shout orders at him, his arms and legs following them blindly as if he were puppet. His mouth screamed and called for Amaryl but there was no response but the grunt and cursing of the large demon leading the attackers.

More attackers charged in. The men who attacked the flank paid their bravery with a heavy price. Two were carried off by a demonic hounds, screaming in terror and pain as the hounds played about with their food. One was cut in two by a downward cleave. The last one tried to run back to the defense when an upward swing from a mace, almost as large as the man himself, obliterated the soldier and spread his remnants over the line of defense.
- "Shield WALL". The defense followed obediently, cursing and shouting. Percey felt an anger and frustration growing at the situation. The adrenaline and anger awoke his mind in the fight, be it without clear thoughts.

The attackers slammed into the shield wall. Percey gasped for air as the impact slammed his shield against his chest, once more. The soldiers behind him pushed him forward again, but this time Percey worked along, thrusting his shield upwards and knocking a demon back. The brief opening in the enemy line revealed a flicker of Light in the distance. Amaryl!
He felt a desire to help and save her surge through him. In that brief moment, the flash of Amaryl's Light embodied his destiny, his desire to become a Paladin... the path he'd work for relentlessly. Then it was cut off from him. He shouted in response, before the Sergeant could issue another order:
"All or nothing!"
He cut one Demon down and charged with a fierce cry. The completely irrational passion to charge spread like a wildfire in the defense. The demons, hastily trying to take Percey out found themselves overwhelmed by the defense. In his blind attack, Percey spearheaded an unexpected countermove that swept over the demons as if they were made of paper. Not wasting effort to style, Percey swung his blade as hard and crudely as he could, following Amaryl's teachings as properly as his rage would let him.

His blind rush stopped when suddenly the world darkened around him. The Pit Lord leading the attack towered over Percey, shutting off what unholy light gloomed down from the sky. But the Pit Lord seemed focussed on something else. There was a groan and then a cry emerging from the great depth of his corpulent body when seemed to implode. A stream of entrails bursted out to his side. An unbearable stench followed.
"Amaryl!?" Percey ran about the grotesque corpse as it started collapsing like a blown up pudding.
Drenched hip deep in the demon's entrails, Amryl stared back at a surprised Percey. The fiery stare in her eyes almost burned him on the spot but he held ground. There was a glow about her and in her eyes, and ever more than before she reflected the image of Paladins that Percey so dearly kept alive in his dreams... except this one stared at him with a crude killing mood burning in her eyes.

She didn't look unscathed. Her armor was completely bent around her left shoulder. Marks across the armor revealed she narrowly escaped death a few times. She was covered in blood and gore... the shock of it wakening Percey from his mesmerized stare and pointing at him he was covered in blood as well.

Her first, shaky, steps revealed the fight costed her more than her eyes left to guess. The overwhelming turmoil of amazement, shock, horror, relief and a tiny sparkle of joy kept Percey's babbling mouth shut. Slowly her stare softened.
- "This is all we can give these men for now. We need to move on."
Percey followed silently, keeping a safe distance.

As the horns and shouts of the gate's defense faded in the background, Percey slowly became himself again. Having recovered from the adrenaline and his lack of breath, his mouth took lead over his mind once again.
"Whoa.. I can't believe you did that. All by yourself! That's amazing!"
She sighed, a doomed to fail attempt at making him shut up. She walked on and increased her pace instead.