The Paladins (7 page)

“Victory!” cried the vrocks together as they strode through the archway… and to the other side of the platform, without teleporting anywhere.

“Passworded!” snarled Shaakat in sudden fury. “The gate is passworded!”

His rage swept over the troops, who promptly dissolved into anarchy. They turned and charged out of the chamber, surging into the corridors of Undermountain, shrieking madly as they fled. A party of wandering drow, who had been approaching stealthily to investigate the disturbance, suddenly found itself overrun by the rampaging manes. The dark elves desperately tried to escape, then to defend themselves from the murderous throng, but died screaming. And the stampede continued.

When things go wrong, try not to go with them.

“We’ve been going east for hours, now,” groaned Noph. “We’ve got to be close!”

The party stripped off their backpacks and sat in a cavern with just enough floor and head space to accommodate the seven of them. Its smooth limestone surfaces, streaked with strands of burgundy and brown blended like pools of color, spilling and swirling together. The rock gracefully bent and turned at right angles, creating natural seats for the weary heroes. Irregular rifts in the walls and ceiling led in every direction, but three large passageways branched off from the chamber—one to the southwest, from which they’d come, one to the southeast, and the third due east. A distant cacophony rumbled in from the passage to the east, perhaps a crowd of creatures or the rush of the sea.

“Still no sign of any room that appears on this map of Khelben’s,” said Miltiades, studying the parchment under the light of an enchanted jewel. “This mazework of caves and corridors required the work of a twisted genius!”

A whisper of laughter echoed through the hallways.

“You’re welcome,” scoffed Jacob to the darkness.

“Actually, we’ve been extremely lucky,” said Aleena. “We’ve only encountered a handful of monsters, and most of them were of the bite-and-run variety.”

“That’s because somebody else has already been through this area,” replied Miltiades. “We’ve certainly encountered a lot of bodies.”

“Who do you suppose wiped out those beholders back there?” asked Able. “Whoever did it, I hope they’re on our side.”

“Many groups of adventurers wander these hallways, honing their survival skills,” said the wizardess.

“I’d say whoever killed those beholders is ready for dragons,” said Noph.

Trandon stood and walked a few steps into the eastern corridor. “Whatever’s making that noise, it’s getting louder.”

Kern got up and joined him, staring into the impenetrable darkness ahead. He concentrated on the noise, trying to decide if it was a mass of voices or blowing wind. Without warning a wave of nausea drenched him. He staggered back from it, his vision spinning. Trandon lunged for him as he fell. The warrior caught the young paladin in his burly arms and lowered him gently to the floor.

“Tyr save us!” sputtered Kern. “I’ve never felt so much concentrated evil in my life!”

Miltiades stepped into the shaft, steeling his nerves against the assault that overpowered Kern. Bitterness stung his heart like wet hornets, and he turned away from it. While the others looked on, he marched over to the northeastern corridor.

“Evil in that direction as well, but not so strong as from the east.”

“Time for justice!” swore Kern, struggling back to his feet and glaring down the east shaft. Jacob drew his sword and stood next to him. Trandon tucked his quarterstaff into the crook of his arm and took up a position behind the swordsman.

“But what of the evil in the other direction?” asked Aleena.

“There’s evil everywhere down here,” said Miltiades. “Besides, I don’t want to separate the party. It’s too dangerous.”

“Then let’s send a small group, just to spy it out,” suggested Able. “We don’t want to be caught from behind.”

“They’re right,” said Kern. “I’ll go investigate it alone.”

“No, I’ll go,” volunteered Able. “If that much evil radiates from the east, you two should stay here in case whatever’s down there comes this way. Ill just peek in this direction and be right back.”

“Trandon, you’re light on your feet,” said Miltiades. “Go with him.”

“Right.” Trandon swung around to the northeastern cave mouth.

“If it’s okay, I’d like to go, too,” said Noph. The paladins looked at him doubtfully. “I mean, I’m not even wearing armor, so I can sneak better than any of you. I promise I’ll be careful.”

“All right, but don’t start anything,” cautioned Kern. “Just check it out and get right back. And hurry. We’ve got a princess to rescue.”

“I’m telling you, Kern, she’s not a princess,” growled Aleena.

The trio crept down the water-carved passageway and slipped around the bend. Soon, the backward cast of their dim blue light faded from view of the cavern where the rest of the party waited. The passage stretched on for several hundred feet, cutting a crooked path that turned toward the north. A few cave links large enough for one person to squeeze through branched off here and there, but they kept to the main shaft.

The party reached a sharp turn and paused. Around the corner, they spied reddish light.

“Can you see what it is?” whispered Able. The others shook their heads.

“I’ll crawl up there and see if I can get a better look,” hissed the boy.

“Be careful, Noph. Be very, very careful!”

Kastonoph drew his dagger and clenched it between his teeth. It forced him to pull his tongue way back into his throat and felt uncomfortable, but it did give him a fleeting sense of confidence. He dropped to his belly and wriggled around the corner, making his way toward the source of the light. Quietly he shimmied into a shallow depression of the cave floor. He clawed his way to its opposite rim and peeked over, looking into the cave beyond.

A hulking, brutish creature, with reddish-brown fur covering most of its body and gray flaps of skin along the sides of its face stood with its knuckles resting on the floor, looking into a mirror. It grinned wickedly into the glass, baring its long fangs, and lifted one forehand to flex its six digits in a grotesque wave at itself. Noph choked back a gasp.

The mirror began to glow brilliantly, and the beast covered its eyes with a hairy paw. A low hum swelled, followed by the shrill snap of lightning sparks. Before the boy’s amazed eyes, a red-furred, six-toed foot stepped from the mirror’s smooth surface. A second later a duplicate monster fully emerged, paused a moment while it checked its footing, and then drew itself up before the other. The new arrival snarled and raised its hackles at its twin, and they began to slowly circle one another.

Noph took advantage of the moment to slip back toward Able and Trandon.

Something against the wall next to him shifted….

Noph caught the movement out of the corner of his eye and froze. He tensed his muscles for a spring and dug his fingernails into the soft sandstone, then raised his buttocks as he shifted to his knees, finding purchase for his toes. His eyes and nostrils flared wide. With a final deep breath, he leaped up and forward, grunting with the effort. His hands left the ground as he shifted his weight to his feet and pushed off for all he was worth. A cool breeze slid through his hair as he accelerated.

In a flash, a massive claw shot out from the cave wall and snatched the boy by the collar. His feet swung out in front of him with a jerk as his forward momentum came to a sudden stop. Another one of the creatures, somehow camouflaged against the cave until now, lifted him by the back of his shirt and grinned cruelly into his eyes. Noph gawked back at the thing and opened his mouth to scream, but no sound came out.

“Stop!” shouted Able, who stood two paces away. The creature looked his way with a start. “Filthy Abyssal barlgura! You shall not have him!”

Trandon came to the cleric’s side and twirled his quarterstaff threateningly. “You shall know and fear the power of Tyr!” he cried, pointing at Able. “This priest carries the god of justice within him!”

At Trandon’s words, Able started and froze. He held forth his warhammer with Tyr’s scales of justice emblazoned on its head, but no words came to him. Trandon looked at him with a frown of concern, and both the barlgura and Noph paused in dread, watching him—yet nothing happened. Five more barlgura stepped away from the walls. They were joined by the two from the room beyond.

“We feel nothing!” sneered voices in Abie’s head. “No power of Tyr. All we sense from you is… fear.”

“Able, call upon Tyr!” urged Trandon, taking a step back

“Feel the power of the Abyss!” whispered the telepathic voices. The barlgura released their aura of terror and Noph screamed. Able and Trandon fell to the floor as though they’d been run over by a war wagon, crying out in horror themselves. “Tyr-slime, unloved by Tyr,” the barlgura sneered. “We shall eat you alive and take this man-boy back to the Abyss, where he will be turned into a larva!” Macabre laughter rang through their heads.

“No!” shrieked Able. “Tyr, why have you forsaken me?” He looked at the wretched tanar’ri leering at the boy, who dangled helpless before them. Suddenly, his fear turned into fury, and he climbed to his feet. The barlgura looked at him, surprised.

“No, I say!” declared the warrior-cleric. “You shall not have him! If there is justice in this or any world, I shall have it, wherever I stand!” He looked at the fiends before him with a wild glint in his eyes. “Your evil power is nothing before justice! Nothing!”

The symbol on Abie’s warhammer caught the dim light of the chamber and flared to brilliance. A wave of screeches passed through the fiends. The one holding Noph dropped him to the ground. The symbol burned brighter still, bathing the entire cavern in holy white light

“My god!” uttered Trandon, somewhere beside him, amazed at the sudden burst of power. “Noph, come to me! Come to me! Come now!”

Pure energy such as he had never felt filled Able, surging through his body and flowing into his hammer. He dropped to one knee and held his blazing holy symbol high. “Justice!” His voice resonated through the cavern. “Justice is Tyr, and He is Justice. So long as it lies within me, so does my god!”

With an ear-piercing howl, the nearest barlgura exploded! The one beside it threw back its head and shrieked in agony, then shattered into ichorous shreds while the rest began to wail and stumble toward Able, claws raised.

“Noph, run!” cried Trandon. The boy turned at the sound of his name and blinked uncomprehendingly at the cleric, then burst to life. He scrambled in the sticky mess splattering down from above, dropping his dagger. The screaming barlgura began to move with him, pressing toward his friends, so Noph grabbed at a furry leg and used it to catapult himself by, sliding toward his comrades and tripping the fiend in the process. It went down with a thud and ruptured, spraying flesh everywhere. Trandon leaped forward and seized the boy. Together they rolled away from the carnage and made their way behind Able.

“Run!” ordered Able. “Run for the others!”

“We won’t leave without you!” Noph yelled.

“Go! For the quest!” He turned back to look at Noph for an instant, his eyes beaming with surety and light. “For justice!”

A barlgura seized Able by the neck and lifted him in the air. “Run!” he screamed. Then the fiend swept its massive claw with a snarl, ripping his head from his shoulders. Trandon and Noph bolted down the corridor, the slap of heavy paws on the stone at their heels.

As Trandon ran, he seized a ring upon his left forefinger and turned it; a blue glow rose on its surface.

“What are you doing?” panted Noph. At that moment, a hairy hand caught his ankle and tripped him. Trandon ground to a sudden halt, spun about, and threw out his pointing finger in the face of the two remaining fiends. A streak of jagged, radiant blue lightning shot forth, catching them both in its electrical fork with a peal of thunder. They bellowed in pain, fell over Noph, and disappeared!

“Noph?” cried Trandon. “Noph!” He dropped to his knees and searched the ground with his hands, refusing to believe his eyes. “Noph!”

At the sound of approaching footsteps, he looked up. The rest of the party stormed into the corridor and skidded to a halt.

“What’s happened?” demanded Miltiades. “Where are Able and Freeman Kastonoph?”

“Dead,” said Trandon.

“What happened?”

“We came upon fiends—tanar’ri, barlgura in a room with some sort of magical mirror in it. They caught Noph, but Able—”

Trandon’s eyes brimmed and spilled over. “Able called upon Tyr, and it was glorious! I’ve never seen such power! He saved us, but they got him, and then they got Noph. I killed the last ones, but it was too late, too late!” He bowed his head and wept. Tve never seen anything like it!” he insisted through his sobs.

Kern and Miltiades looked at one another; the latter smiled with brimming eyes. “May Able be sitting by Tyr’s side even as we speak,” he intoned. “I knew he’d make it.”

Somewhere in the distant complex, a fearsome cry went up. The screams of a hundred evil things filled the corridors, followed by the sound of a stampede.

“Whatever it is, it’s coming this way!” shouted Jacob.

“Tyr’s blessings on us all!” declared Miltiades.

Interlude 5

No one succeeds without a little bit of good fortune, and the luckier you are, the smarter your stupid plans look.

Kastonoph lay on his side before the gate to the Utter East. His wrists were bound to his ankles behind him, and his body was racked with agony from arching backward so sharply. So much for his service to Khelben and Piegeiron. So much for his heroism. Shaakat and Rejik had trussed him up and tossed him upon the platform and were laboring to reestablish control over the remaining manes and barlgura around them. When the wailing of the troops finally subsided, the vrocks turned their attention to their human captive, helpless and useless.

“How is this gate activated?” boomed Shaakat’s voice within Noph’s head.

“Get out of my mind, fiend! I won’t tell you!” snarled the young man.

“Then you do know,” said Rejik, aloud. “Open your mind, human. Open it to us….”