The Trials of a Modern Paladin 2

by Kevin Culp

  It was obvious that she was trying to preserve her spells due to the fact that these guys were not much of a threat. I’d definitely say that she used her breath weapon at the right time. I could tell their numbers were dwindling and knew that this battle wouldn’t last much longer. Part of me was somewhat disappointed even though I knew I shouldn’t be. I had expected that the fight here would be a challenge maybe not in the form of an individual but at least due to numbers.

  I heard a few shouts from Christina and Korana that indicated they had been injured, but it always just seemed to be a slight scrape or something of that nature. I still wanted to preserve my healing to some extent, but I did need to watch out for either of them taking a particularly nasty hit because the last thing I needed was for one of them to be overrun.

  At this point, Christina and Korana also dispatched at least one or two of them every few seconds. Korana had both of her claws and occasionally lashed out with her tail, and Christina seemed to be gaining even more proficiency at wielding her dual swords. A few of the goblins dropped their weapons and ran out of the tunnel on the opposite end. Eventually, the fighting stopped.

  I walked over to Christina and Korana and healed them both with a Cure I spell which brought them to full hit points. Eventually, Phillip joined us. Zeus was with him but wasn’t enjoying the small tunnel and rushed past Phillip to get into the room.

  The ceiling here was more like eight feet high and the room was only about thirty feet across and roughly sixty feet wide. I had to admit that the giant ballista pointing up the tunnel was a pretty good defense here. That was the only good defense I’d seen yet. These weapons still concerned me, and I hadn’t seen a single hobgoblin. The ones that had attacked the cave near Freid at the very least had short swords or daggers, and the ones that had clubs were spiked. Had they really just devoted all of their resources to the attack and left such little defense?

  We continued on and went through the corridor on the opposite end. There was a torch set about sixty feet down the path where it started turning to the right. When it opened up, we were in a giant cavern with torches all over the place. It seemed to be an underground city.

  There were rows of buildings hewn from the stone with windows and doors. The curtains were all drawn shut. It was what I imagined a dwarven city would look like not a goblin city. Maybe I was stereotyping the creatures, but I began to question the origin of this place. Based on its name and the fact that it was labeled as a goblin encampment, I would assume that this place had been occupied by goblins for a very long time at the very least.

  We wandered the streets. I was honestly worried we would get lost and not be able to find our way out. There wasn’t a soul in sight. Part of me wanted to knock on a door and ask for directions, but I doubted anyone would answer given the circumstances. I didn’t want to start breaking down doors because while this may be war, we were the invaders, and I didn’t want to involve the noncombatant civilians.

  Just as I thought we were lost and had gone in circles, I saw a young goblin standing in a doorway holding an actual sword. His awkward stance and trembling knees told me he didn’t really know how to use the weapon and wasn’t a threat. We approached him slowly.

  He spoke in Goblin. “Du... de… do… don’t come closer. Turny warn you.”

  I held up my hands to show him I was unarmed. “We don’t want any trouble. We just need to find our way to speak with your king.”

  “You no fool Turny. They run screaming. They say murderer. Unkillable Demon.”

  “Loss of life is a tragedy. They are right. I killed many of your people in the cave's entrance, but I am here for my people. Do you understand that?”

  He looked confused. “Your people not here. Leave.”

  “Do you know about the attacks that are going on to the north?”

  He nodded slowly.

  “They took some of my people. You are protecting your people, yes?”

  “Turny protect.”

  “What would you do if someone took the people you were protecting?”

  “Turny find them.”

  “I’m doing the same thing. I know they are being taken here. I know that your king is responsible. If I don’t stop that, then finding them doesn’t help. To you, I’m a demon. I can sense that what you are protecting is what’s behind that door, not the king. If you help me, your people will stay safe, and I can keep my people safe.”

  He looked confused but seemed to consider it. I spared a glance at my notepad and saw that I had actually rolled a natural 20 on my diplomacy. He lowered his sword to his side.

  “So, Turny show you King, and you leave family alone.”

  “You have my word.”

  “If King dead, who keep Goblins safe.”

  “Well, it seems that you could have something to do with that. If you really want to keep your people safe though, then change has to start somewhere. As long as your people continue to attack innocents, conflict will come for you.”

  “Turny young. No one listen to Turny.”

  “I assume your name is Turny?”

  He nodded.

  “Well, Turny, people will listen to you if you speak with confidence and have something important to say. If you try and fail, then you just need to try again. I’m not sure how many of these houses are occupied, but we have passed hundreds and no one else was standing out here to defend their families. You believed there was a murdering unkillable demon and still came out to face me to protect your family. If that isn’t the courage to do what’s right, I don’t know what is.”

  “Turny go. Show you King.”

  The goblin began walking, and we followed.

  Chapter 14

  It confused the others when we began to follow the goblin. They couldn’t speak the language to know what had transpired, but I explained it to them. Phillip seemed to want to object. I’m sure, like me, he was considering the possibility of us being led into a trap, but I was pretty confident that wasn’t the case.

  The young goblin held his sword at his side and walked through the halls. I thought I might have seen a few quick glances out the windows from the occupants inside. I hoped that we weren’t causing trouble for Turny, but it wasn’t something that I could base my judgment on at this time. Meeting a goblin like him that was honorable and understood why we were here was a stroke of luck. We stopped in front of another long corridor that was sloping downward.

  “Turny go no further. This hall lead to king room.”

  “Thank you, Turny. I will not forget how you have helped us.”

  As we began to walk away, Christina turned and did a slight bow. “Thank you.”

  The goblin cocked his head and nodded. He didn’t understand the words, but I assumed he got the meaning.

  He spoke again. “Turny not think you demon. Turny kill lots too to protect family.”

  “I’m sure you would.”

  As I said it, he turned and walked away.

  When I had spoken with the goblin in Freid, I had believed he spoke the way he did due to a lack of intelligence. I didn’t get that impression from Turny though. I tried to access Archaeus’ knowledge of the language. Once I was thinking about it, I realized that it had very little grammar structure, and the main goal just seemed to be to assemble the words in a way that made sense. They also placed a greater significance on the words I and me. It was an indication of self-importance to use such terms.

  I questioned if my conversation with the goblin had been modified without me realizing it. I took a second to look at my notepad, but it seemed I had been speaking normally with him. I guess as long as it made sense, it didn’t matter if I applied a structure that didn’t need to be there. As for referring to myself as I, maybe Archaeus wanted the goblin to recognize that he thought of himself as important, or maybe he just realized that goblins didn’t expect other races to place the same value on the terms.

  I guess now wasn’t the time to get distracted dwelling on this. I closed my notepad
, and we began to travel down the tunnel.

  It was bigger than the one from the entrance but not by much. It was probably eight feet wide and tall. It was arched but the walls, ceiling, and floors were all smooth. Torches were along the sides of the tunnel every forty feet or so, but only every other one was lit.

  The downward slope was slow and steady. The path continued straight for probably close to three hundred feet. Every eighty feet there was a thick door on both sides of the hall. I questioned whether we should investigate these before continuing forward, but I decided against it. There was always the possibility that soldiers were inside the rooms and aiming to trap us, but I still felt that Turny would have warned us if there were any traps to worry about.

  The tunnel opened up into a twenty by twenty room with a ceiling probably fifteen feet high. There were stone benches lining the room and a set of impressive stone double doors at the end of the room. Strange runes lined the door.

  “All are welcome who honor the King of Stone.” I read aloud.

  “You can read this too?” Christina asked.

  “I can. It’s dwarven. Really old dwarven. I thought this looked more like a dwarven civilization than goblin.”

  I grabbed the giant metal ring on the right side of the door and pulled. I had expected to need to use a decent amount of strength, but it pulled open relatively easy. This shouldn’t have surprised me given how impressive dwarven engineering and stonework were supposed to be. They also designed it to be opened by smaller individuals and even if dwarves were often as strong as humans, being short would make it harder to get leverage to pull something too heavy. Still, it had been maintained exceptionally well.

  The room on the other side of the door was forty feet wide and probably a hundred feet long. Most of the floor was a common stone, but there was a ten feet wide smooth marble path leading all the way to the other end. It was well lit with torch brackets every twenty feet or so on the side walls. Two large wooden doors were in the corners along the wall at the opposite end of the room. A fifteen feet wide and five feet tall platform was at the other end of the room with stairs leading up. On the platform, I could see a throne of stone with an exceptionally high back. A giant ruby was set into the top of the seat.

  The only thing in the room that was ugly was the potbellied wart covered goblin sitting on the throne. He had on a thick purple robe that was open in the front to expose his weak chest and fat belly. He had a long nose and bulging eyes. A golden scepter with various gems set all over it was in his hand.

  He looked at us and spread his arms wide. “Welcome all. I see you have come to pay homage to the King of Stone.”

  He spoke in common. I could sense the sarcasm in his voice, but he also didn’t seem to be scared. Surely he knew that we had just slaughtered nearly two hundred of his men at the entrance. Yet, he sat on the throne casually as if he didn’t believe that he was in danger.

  “Leonard Hunkerman, I presume?” I questioned.

  “Oho, so you have heard of my greatness?”

  “I have heard of you, but I assure you nothing about what I have heard is great.”

  The king scowled. “That opinion will change, I am sure.”

  “I have many slaves. I am inviting you to have the honor of joining their ranks. I am a gracious king. You will be kept alive to serve as a workhorse as a show of my gratitude for bringing me such beautiful new wives.” He licked his lips.

  I was holding my sword and my grip tightened. This was the first time I had truly felt anger coming from Archaeus. It mingled with my own to become something more, and I could feel my judgment becoming clouded.

  Zeus growled.

  Christina put her hand on my arm.

  I looked at her.

  She shook her head, and I could feel my grip loosening, and my anger slipping away.

  “The reason we came here was for the people you took from the Varnelion Empire. While we are here, however, we will be freeing all of your slaves. The time of you being able to take whatever you want has ended.”

  The king smiled from ear to ear. “Oh, I don’t think it has. The man has bored me. Kill him and incapacitate the rest. I’ll keep the beast as well if you can take it alive.”

  Suddenly, I realized we weren’t alone in this room. I saw no one, but I could sense another presence. I heard tiny feet rush past me on the stone floor.

  “Guahhh!” Phillip let out a strained gasp, gripped his side, and fell to the ground.

  Korana attempted to flap her wings, but the way her back then spasmed told me that something had struck her as well. She fell forward unconscious.

  “Christina, get behind me!” I yelled.

  Zeus snapped forward. Suddenly, blood spouted from the side of his nose. He lunged and began to bounce around the room, occasionally snapping at an invisible attacker. The Keen Scent ability of wolves allowed them to pinpoint invisible attackers when close enough. That being said, Zeus still had a miss chance for attacking something he couldn’t see, and it seemed that whatever he was fighting likely had a high Armor Rating as well given that the only blood on his teeth was coming from his own wound.

  I moved up and tried to follow where Zeus was attacking as well as listen for any sounds the attacker was making. I felt I could hear the occasional foot touching the ground and whoosh of a blade, but it was so slight.

  I swung my sword just after Zeus had pulled up from an attack, but I hit nothing but air. Suddenly, pain erupted from my side as a sharp metal object stabbed just below my breastplate. When the object was removed blood poured out and flowed steadily from the wound.

  Knowing that I couldn’t see this thing anyway, I spared a glance at my notepad. I had taken 43 points of damage after my Damage Resistance. It had other notes associated with it. Apparently, the weapon itself had only done 11 points of damage, but there had also been 47 points of sneak damage in the one attack as well as 1D6 bleed damage that would bypass my Damage Resistance. This was a very high-level rogue we were fighting. Certainly, the strongest enemy I had faced yet by far.

  I knew that I needed to heal myself to stop the bleeding. Luckily, I could use Healing Hands on myself once per turn as a free action. After healing myself, I swung my sword again. This time it connected with flesh, and I heard a screech of pain.

  The King shouted in a rage. He was speaking goblin now. “What’s matter with you, I say kill these imbeciles!”

  A blade suddenly hit the outer side of my left thigh, and another sliced across the back of my right calf. Both of them were explosively painful. I healed myself again and swung my sword, but came up empty. Zeus bounded past me and bit down. It looked like he actually connected this time, but as he did, blood erupted from the bottom of his jaw, and he howled in pain losing his grip on whatever he had hit.

  “Just kill the stupid mutt!” The King screamed.

  Christina took off running towards the King now. I wasn’t certain that it was the best idea because, for all we knew, he could have been a decent fighter. His original confidence seemed to be more from this hidden individual than himself, but we still didn’t know.

  I heard a clear footstep heading after Christina and swung my sword. It connected again, and the target squealed. It felt like it had turned back to face me but there was no way to know for sure. I would just have to do my best to keep this guy busy and trust that Christina could handle herself.

  “Zeus, flank him. Make sure he can’t follow Christina.”

  Zeus jumped past me and immediately turned around. Just as he did, another blade entered my hip, while at the same time, one bounced off my breastplate. The pain was starting to get unreal. I had plenty of hit points and a lot of healing, but this thing was definitely hurting me and Zeus a lot more than I could hurt it. I was more of a tank and support character than a damage dealer, though as long as it had no healing hopefully I could outlast it.

  Christina met the King, attempting to end it quickly bringing her sword towards his neck. He blocked it with the
golden scepter that was sturdier than it had appeared. Her second blade came in towards his side, and he drew a blade from inside his robes with his other hand to block it.

  After parrying the second attack he went on the offensive. He thrust with the small sword but rather than swinging the scepter, kept it ready for defense. Christina was pushed back and when she missed a step being pushed from the platform, he took advantage of the opening and drew a deep cut across the top of her shoulder.

  “Christina!” I yelled.

  “I’m fine! Just focus on your fight!”

  As she said it another blade hit my inner thigh and one stabbed directly into my abdomen. I immediately expended another use of Healing Hands and swung my sword to no avail. Zeus bit down and missed again.

  The fight went on like that for a short while. He kept hitting me, and I would heal. Every now and then, Zeus or I would manage to hit him but it was rarely a solid hit. I watched Christina, and she was doing much better after the one incident stepping off the stairs. She looked like she had the upper hand.

  The King wasn’t as out of shape as his potbellied form would have you believe, and he didn’t seem to be level 1. He took several hits from her swords and was burned by both fire and acid. There were a few prominent tears in his fine robes, and you could tell he wasn’t happy about it. He couldn’t actually hit Christina when it came down to a straightforward fight. I’ll admit that if she didn’t have her special items, it likely would have been another story. With the ring, bangles, and amulet, she had an Armor Rating of 27 which was impressive for a character of her level.

  That wasn’t to say he never hit her. The goblins in the entrance had hit her several times just due to the number of swings they got. The same went for the king. Christina struggled to hit him as well, so the fight was lasting. She may have hit him more, but he clearly had more Hit Points. That being said, he didn’t look well off, and the hits he had on her had just been scratches.