The Paladins - James M. Ward [30]
His eyes went wide, then he looked up at his tormentors.
"You sickening pair of Abyssal garbage trolls!" he snarled at them. "I've seen some spineless, yellow-bellied, scum-sucking cowards in Faerun, but I never knew it got that much worse in the Abyss!"
The vrocks stumbled to a standstill in the midst of their dance and stared down at the helpless human.
"You think you're so tough; just untie me and give me one of those hammers! One-on-one or both of you together, I'll kick you from here to Elminster's tower and back!"
"The little berk wants us to untie him. How sweet!" jeered Rejik. "Let's do it."
"Bah! There's no sport in squashing bugs," scoffed Shaakat.
"I'll squash your ugly pointy heads, birdbrain! If you've got guts, I'll spread 'em all over this room!"
"How about a hunt?" suggested Rejik. "Give him thirty seconds to run."
"Wait!" cried Shaakat. He hopped closer to Noph and glared into his eyes. "He's not thinking of fighting or running." The vrock leaned into the boy's face, making him wince and shut his eyes tight. "He's thinking… distraction!"
The vrocks spun about with a rush of feathers. Miltiades, Kern, Jacob, Trandon, and Aleena were standing inside the warding circle. They were completely unharmed and grinning ever so slightly.
In unison, Shaakat and Rejik emitted a paralyzing screech. The humans cringed in pain and leaped to the defensive, and the vrocks took advantage of the moment. They disappeared with a pop and fled for the Abyss with all the speed they could muster.
"Victory!" shouted Aleena.
"Justice!" cheered the followers of Tyr.
"You used the magical mirror, didn't you?" said Noph.
"Smart boy!" answered Kern, kneeling down to release him. "Well done, Freeman Kastonoph!" said the younger paladin, imitating Miltiades' rolling burr and tone of voice.
"Well done, indeed," echoed the elder paladin, himself, taking no note of the jest. "You risked your life to draw the fiends' attention so we could cross the warding line without delay. That took a paladin's courage and wisdom."
"It would've been worth it," said Noph while Kern and Aleena massaged the feeling back into his extremities. "For the quest," he declared, looking at Aleena. She smiled softly and ruffled his hair. Noph sighed in contentment.
"You were in little danger, actually," said Trandon. "Seeing what our reflections went through allowed us to prepare for a lightning strike of our own. Those tanar'ri would've been bad-smelling gas before they could lay a claw on you."
"That's right," agreed Kern, and his face grew serious. "We couldn't lose you."
Noph stared up at the youthful paladin. "C-couldn't lose me?" he asked, perplexed. "But-I've been the fifth wheel, the 'chaos child,' the foolish youngling.'"
"You accepted the quest, in spite of your weaknesses," replied Miltiades. "You are a member of the rescue team." He patted Noph's head. "You are one of us."
The ancient knight looked at the group around him and pointed toward the enchanted arch of mammoth tusks. "There lies the next stage of our quest. Thanks to our noble reflections, who died for us, we are fresh and ready to continue. If Freeman Kastonoph is ready, let us activate the gate and proceed!"
"Gentlemen, there's a damsel in need of rescuing out there," cried Kern with a wink at Aleena. "May Tyr guide us!"
"Tyr!" shouted the other warriors. Noph merely stared at the portal and gulped.
"Open in the name of the past and present lords of Waterdeep!" called Miltiades in his deep, rolling voice. The flowing veins of magic within the tusks dimmed and disappeared while a thin ripple of yellow light spread across the plane of the portal. The wall of the gate chamber no longer appeared beyond the archway; within, all was darkness.
One by one they cautiously stepped through, weapons drawn and