of the warriors turned and desperately slung his warhammer at the piling fiends, reaching into their midst with his free hand to seize hers, then snatching it back as they snapped greedily at him. He cried out 'Aleena!' as he fought through the horde, and a second warrior turned to help, but it was too late.
Both vrocks cackled joyfully in the echo of the warriors' cries of anguish.
'Nooo!' wailed Noph from the ground behind them, his magical charm broken at the sight. 'Aleena! You bastards!' he cursed and began to sob. The master fiends laughed harder.
'You wish to fight unseen?' asked Shaakat in the Tyr-lovers' minds as he sent forth utter darkness from his own mind, plunging the entire party of humans into blindness. At the same time, he cocked his arm to hurl his javelin at another one of them. Then he paused.
Amazing! The humans were fighting completely blind and slaughtering the manes while suffering little damage themselves! They shouted to each other and moved into a defensive circle, allowing themselves plenty of room to swing, then entered into a warrior's dance, thrashing the space around them in a graceful series of attacks that crushed and scattered the tanar'ri. One of them-a warrior completely sheathed in shining plates of finely wrought metal-spun about, holding his gleaming hammer at arm's length while he twirled and uttered sickening words of goodness and light-and the darkness fell.
'I want to attack, too!' complained Rejik in his head.
'Just keep that warding circle intact, leatherhead! They're still coming this way!'
Shaakat flung his deadly javelin again, aiming for the one who banished his arcane darkness, but the human anticipated his throw and swung his hammer to meet it. The flat of the paladin's mallet squarely met the point of the spear with a resounding crack, and the fiend's prized weapon splintered into black rubble that flew back to the pyramid and rattled against its surface like a hail storm.
The paladin with hair the color of fire and armor like the scales of a golden fish held up his hammer and cried, 'In Tyr's name, be gone!' His voice echoed through the chamber like a titan's, and all around the warriors a dozen manes convulsed and ruptured into black smoke. The stinging residue of slaughtered manes grew dense, and the fighters choked and reeled. Shaakat leaped upon the opportunity.
'Now,' thought the vrock to the bar-lgura, who rippled forth from the walls of the chamber and sprang at the paladins with fore- and hindclaws extended. The humans parried their savage slashing and biting attacks, yet the one wielding a staff rolled to the ground under the crush of a leaping bar-lgura. The tanar'ri seized the fighter by the throat and released its Abyssal aura of terror; the prime gagged with sudden fear. He dropped his weapon and struggled frantically to get free of the fiend, which leaned over to clamp its vicelike jaws upon his face. The remaining manes in the room converged upon the fallen man, climbing atop one another to get at him.
'Trandon's down!' shouted the warrior with a large blade, and the remaining three humans shifted smoothly to a triangle defense. Onward they pressed. The remaining manes burst into roiling puffs of toxic vapor, and their spirits fled back to the Abyss. The bar-lgura leapt in groups, hoping to overwhelm the paladins, only to be driven back on their heels until, one by one, they too fled for their native plane.
At last, bloody and weaving from their battles, the three warriors of Tyr reached the base of the pyramid and began to climb its steps. Side by side they ascended, grim-faced, readying their weapons for another bout. The two vrocks waited at the top.
'Paladins beware!' shouted Noph.
Shaakat wheeled and slapped the young man with the back of his emaciated hand. Noph cried out and lay still.
'Yes, beware paladins of Tyr,' sneered Shaakat in their heads, returning his gaze to them. 'We have your impudent whelp here. Surrender or we'll murder him right now!'
'Let them kill me!' mumbled Noph through bleeding, fattened lips.
'You shall be remembered with honor, Freeman Kastonoph!' cried the red-headed human.
The paladins continued their ascent without hesitation. Shaakat hissed and raised his arms as if to strike at them, but waited for them to reach the top.
As one, they stepped up to the top of the pyramid, sword and hammers raised high, but as their feet touched the warding line of blood, a bright flash erupted in front of each of them with a shrill crack, casting them back down the steps like rag dolls. They tumbled downward with a clatter of metal and groans of misery, coming to rest in a heap at the pyramid's base. Shaakat and Rejik roared with laughter.
'Kern!' cried one. 'Kern, rise in the name of Tyr!' The paladin in golden scales shook his head and weakly rolled to his knees.
'Jacob?' called the elder warrior to the swordsman, who lay still and lifeless. 'Jacob!' The human looked up at the vrocks with an expression of hatred to warm a tanar'ri's heart. 'Damned fiends! Tyr, grant me the power to fight once more!'
The two paladins pulled themselves to their feet and began to climb once more. 'This is it, Miltiades,' said the one called Kern. 'It's now or never!'
'That's it! Come a little closer,' thought Rejik to them. He broke his concentration upon the ward and stepped closer to his partner, at the top of the steps, watching the humans stumble toward them. 'Creatures of law,' he sneered. 'They never quit. It's their greatest weakness!'
The paladins fully regained their feet about halfway up the stairs and began to gain speed. Their hammers swooped down and around, then curved upward on their backswings, coming over the top with deadly force as the warriors gained the last few steps. They opened their mouths and bellowed with holy righteousness. The fiends spread their wings in response and spewed forth a swath of stringy, greenish fluid; then they blinked themselves to the side. The paladins' weapons caught only air, while they themselves were drenched in the tanar'ri's deadly, viscous juices.
The spores hatched with lightning speed, nourished by the wholesome flesh of the Tyr worshipers; vines wrapped them tightly, thrusting into their bodies.
The two men rolled down the steps and came to rest atop the third, who gave no protest as he received their full weight. The elder paladin twitched in his death throes for a few moments before the last glimmer of his life faded away.
Noph's stomach turned as he watched the vrocks caper in an obscene victory dance. They cawed in horrifying, otherworldly laughter as they circled each other. His eyes filled and spilled over, blurring the ghastly vision. Angrily he blinked away the tears and cast his gaze about the room, seeking the specter of death coming to claim his unworthy life.
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 Faeriin, 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!'
Mow 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.
