The Golden Princess

Alice took a deep breath and faced the menace. As she did so Alwyn, who had also recovered his feet, rushed at her to drag her away to safety. He grabbed her around the waist but Alice swept him aside with a powerful, and almost casual, swing of her arm, sending him flying backwards.
The beast, which had started to advance toward her, stopped. As Alices power began to work on it, it gradually began to shrink and fade. She took one pace toward the beast and it disappeared completely. From where he was lying, Alwyn saw all that she did. This was not the Alice he knew. What he could see was a tall, strong, stone faced, hard woman with eyes that were glowing white. This was not his Alice!.