Daemon Ex Machina

It was silent in the jungle, save for the low rambling of the Ralhoma River, and the wind among the leaves. Clouds had called her foolish, for fighting the Black Formian in moonlight, when their strength was at its highest. But Flay didn't tell her uncle the truth -- that she wasn't hunting the Formians... She was hunting the strange presences she felt in the dark. Their leaders.
Flay had been stalking a group of the bugs all evening, now well into the early morning. The moon was bright tonight, stretching her darkvision further, but she could only pick out the hazy outline of her prey... The tall, spindly creature in the group's center, who chittered away at the rest. For the past hour she'd been getting closer to it, moving up and ahead of them, her ambush set in the lowest branches of the trees. Now it was close, completely unaware...
The war drums built in Flay's mind.
White Flame glittered along her blade, and she dove into evil incarnate.
She could see it clearly now -- its body resembled all Formians, but its eyes were missing, and there was a great mass inside its thorax, which looked eerily held together by ribs. It shouted a startled order as she landed, and Flay danced.
It was her and the moon, the wind among the leaves, the rambling of the Ralhoma River. It was the fight for her home that lit the White Flame, and guided her steps throughout the battlefield. Limbs went flying, insects chittered in agony, and bodies fell to the ground. Over half of the lesser Formians had fallen before the Daemon reacted, drawing a sword made of chitin from inside its body, ichor still streaming from the blade as it swung.
Flay caught it, but the force of it went down her arms and into her spine, making her hands go numb in an instant. This thing was strong, far stronger than any of the Ysoki. If she let it reach the battlefield against her people, it would be a bloodbath... She ignored the dozens of such presences she felt closer to the spire, and focused on the problem at hand.
It was fast too, almost as fast as she was, capable of parrying each of her blows, as she did the same with the creature's swings. But whereas the Daemon was merely annoyed, Flay grew exhausted, and soon found herself surrounded on all sides, pressed by the Daemon and its remaining Formians.
She was in trouble.
Flay tumbled back at the soonest chance, using her small size to her advantage, and looked for an escape route. The jungle was suddenly all Formian faces, one at every possible point of egress. The Daemon released a horrifying, screeching chuckle, and Flay knew then that this had all been a trap. The Daemon moved in, closing the gap between it and Flay...
Clouds: "Loose!"
There was a chorus of twanging bowstrings, and then dozens of arrows rained downwards, stabbing the ground and the Formians in equal measure. The Daemon chittered, many of the arrows simply pelting off of its back, but its minions fell, and Flay took the chance. She rushed in, blade streaming fire, only barely taking notice of the form that fell from the trees, holding a spear with a leaf-like blade.
Dances with Leaves side-stepped the creature, keeping it between her and Flay as they danced, and the Daemon snarled, finding itself at a sudden disadvantage. If Flay had planned this, it would have been the coolest thing ever. Instead, she was preparing for the biggest dressing down that Leaves would give this year.
Worry later. Daemon now.
She parried another blow, and Leaves' spearhead burst out of the thing's side, glancing off one of its ribs. The Daemon spun, attempting to swing at her, but Flay cut the back of its legs as it made the attempt. It howled again, and focused on Flay. She'd been quite surprised to learn that her aunt was once the best duelist in Wexa, but this was the present, and it was clear that Flay was now the better fighter. The Daemon threw blows down on top of her, her shoulders screaming in pain, as Leaves thrusted and sliced, little pieces of ichor streaming across the ground. But the Daemon didn't falter...
Flay growled as she saw her aunt's initial wound slowly close, as she realized the monster was regenerating. Leaves made a similar sound, likely noticing the same thing.
And then the Daemon dropped low, its face in line with Flay's, and kicked backwards with all its might, sending Leaves cartwheeling into a tree. Her body made an awful thunk as it collided, and slid to the ground, fully unconscious. The Daemon followed up with a wicked rising jab, which Flay blocked, but sent her flying back, crashing into a net of clawing vines, which wrapped around her arms and legs. More arrows burst into the night, all melee fighters now clear, but the Daemon hardly registered it, and turned towards Leaves.
Oh no.
More arrows fell, and another shape fell from the branches, as Clouds landed in front of his mate, and drew his family's sword. He was a warrior, but the Daemon was beyond him. It took two blows before Clouds' sword was thrown into the jungle, and the Daemon went in for the killing blow. Flay pulled at the vines, breaking enough to get free, but not fast enough to get there in time.
If only she were stronger.
???: "You're plenty strong."
If only she were faster.
???: "Then be faster."
Although she thought her blade had been lost to the vines, she found a hilt in her hands, and that voice-- No, it was an entire presence, both gentle and alive, like a low flame. It guided her, bringing her blade up and above her shoulder, and the whole world slowed down.
In one instant, she was pulling herself from the vines, watching her aunt and uncle's upcoming doom.
In the next, she was beside them.
A chitin blade swung weakly at the back of her head, leaving only a light scrape, and then ichor sprayed from the twin halves of the Daemon's corpse, as it fell soundlessly to the cherished earth of Ikal. There was a wild howling, as the warriors of Wexa beat their war drums, and Flay fell to her knees in exhaustion. She tried to clean her blade in the grass, but found that she wasn't holding one. One of the warriors brought it to her, still caught in the vines, and Clouds checked on his wife.
She woke moments later, lightly stunned, with possibly a broken bone or too, but alive.
???: "I believe in you."
Flay could handle the pain and the fear. The overwhelming emotion of reaching the brink, and coming back to victory. But when that voice spoke, it all fell apart. Flay wept, and Leaves embraced her, and received the greatest dressing down that the Ikal Expanse had ever known.