《Greenskin》Chapter 65 - The Righteous

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The paladins filed slowly, two-by-two into the mineshaft; the tunnel was maybe five-feet across, and it meant there was very little room to swing a heavy blade or even a proper sword, so instead, the paladin's held small steel cudgels and maces in their right hands, shields held up in their left. Standing side-by-side meant they had just enough room to maneuver, but they were able to effectively block off the corridor as they advanced ever further.

They were only a few feet into the mineshaft before the last beams of morning sunlight tapered off into nothingness, the paladin's were left in the dark for a brief moment, until the golden-helmed figure in the center of the procession rose his shining blade high again, till the tip clashed against the rocky ceiling.

"May Solaria's Light Bless Us!"

His swift, but zealous chant rung out and echoed through the dark passage. Followed by a dim orb of light that seemed to burst from his chest and dance in the air for a few moments, before brightening, casting it's golden light over the paladins like a miniature sun.

The speaker hummed a gentle tune to himself, the orb hummed back and drifted forwards to the front pair of paladins.

Still, the light didn't stretch very far, it lit maybe twenty-feet ahead into darkness, the light shone along the rocky walls, old wooden supports and old, discarded mining gear that disrupted the paladins' march, making them shift their formation to get past upturned mining carts and bundles of pickaxes.

They made their way further down the mine for almost five minutes before Kor'Ak spoke up, tapping his hand gently against the shoulder of one of the paladin's infront of them.

"Hey, Knight, I thought this place was infested with undead, doesn't seem it to me."

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Shining metal scraped and shuffled as the paladin infront of them swung his arms upwards with great bombast, clumsily hitting part of his shield into the side of the dwarven paladin beside him.

Kor'Ak paused as the paladin craned his neck, managing to mutter "Oh... No-" before the silver-armoured figure ahead of him craned his neck.

"HARK! Thou shall call me Lord Angus Reginald Pennysworth! Not 'Knight' like some-"

Another voice, rough and stoic roared out from the stout figure at the over-bearing paladin's side. "Oi ya limp-legged, loud-mouthed git; another word outta yee and I'll smack ya silly n' send you up front!"

Just like before, Larp seemed to lose his pretentious vigour, speaking back meekly, in an almost wavering voice "B-But Sergeant-"

"I said shut yer trap lad, ya older than me and yer still act like a spoilt brat." The dwarves stern voice came out almost tinny and sharp from within his helmet, making him seem, atleast to Steal, a lot less intimidating than when the dwarf wasn't wearing a helm.

Larp's sudden silence made it clear that perhaps it was only Steal that thought that way.

"What were yer sayin Djaal?..." The dwarf seemed to reach up to stroke his chin with his shield-arm, but his gauntlet smacked sharply into his metal helmet. "Aye... Well we ain't in the dungeon just yet, quite a ways down"

The Djaal let out an affirming grunt "So they dug too deep?"

His questioning words were met with an agitated grunt from the dwarf now "Gek... Don't say that phrase aroud my people lad, we don't take too kindly to it."

"Ah... Apologies Sergeant, I never served with a dwarf, never really met many at all."

"Served? Yee were a soldier?"

"I was, I fought in the first, and the last battle. And everything inbetween."

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"You were under At'Uo'Aka's orders when-"

"..."

"Aye... Sorry fer askin... The Knights of Solaria have never fought for a country, never been in a war."

"Besides the war on evil?"

"...Aye"

Kor'Ak frowned a little, paused, as if he was about to say something, then shook his head and tried to change the subject. "You were talking about the dungeon?"

Steal could barely make out the hint of uneasiness that displayed itself with the twitch of Hard's lips and shifting of his eyes.

"Aye, it's still a ways forward, looks like it's an archetypal dungeon as well, just a lotta undead and narrow corridors"

Kor'Ak nodded along without offering his input, letting Hard go on uninterrupted.

"-Atleast that's what our latest scouts from last night said, they encountered a handful of Tier Two's as well, looks like a few ghast and ghouls will be the worst we have to deal with."

Kor'Ak let himself give another affirming nod.

The heavy clatter of bone against stone sang out through the tunnel, echoing down from somewhere far off into the dark.

Another clatter.

Another.

The clattering noises became louder, echoed less, and rose in number with each step the Knight's took forwards.

Kor'Ak's frame stood taller than most of the other men, so he saw them come, in flashes of porcelain white bone and rusted, crude weapons. Empty, black sockets staying just that, dark and empty, even as they pushed into the rays of the ball of light that floated above them. Seven skeletons clambered over each other, sprinting forwards towards the paladin's with unnatural movements, possible only by creatures that weren't restricted by simple things, like physics and musculature.

The Djaal expected the paladin's to flinch, many of the men at the front were more boys than men, youthful, fresh and unscarred faces that couldn't have seen that many battles.

Hard's booming voice rose above the sound of bone striking bone, and it echoed far further "Shields!"

Every paladin's shield sprung up with practiced fervor, raised and ready. Any knight that wasn't in the first row pressed their shield into the back of the man infront of them, bracing the entire party for the charge. The first of the skeleton's rusted, jagged blades clattered against the frontline's shields.

Hard's commands now rose above the sound of steel slamming against steel. "Counter, 2 Rows!"

The first row crouched low as they pushed back against the barrage of bones, whilst the pair behind them pointed their cudgels forwards. "Solaria Forgives You!". Twin beams of light shot forwards, like sunbeams through a dusty window.

The skeletons that were caught in the rays were set alight, their bones blackened in seconds, then crumbled to dust.

Only one straggler had manged to avoid the thin beams of light, the skeleton had collapsed to the ground in a pile of bones, it didn't have chance to reform itself before a heavy boot crunched down on it's skull.

The sight was an interesting one to Kor'Ak, there tactics brought back memories of his time in the army, and he'd never expected a band of merry witch hunters to move in such a practiced manner. The Djaal couldn't help but murmur as the paladin's began to press forwards again, stomping the bones and ash into a fine powder with each pair of boots that crunched forawrds. "That was uneventful"

Hard quipped backwards, barely containing a smile that threatened to tear it's way across his stony face. "Aye, it's better that than being dramatic."

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