Chapter 5

In the central part of the city, many of Neverwinter's guards were lined up together, their swords in one hand, and their shields in the other. The only thing the soldiers held that was stronger than the two, was the courage and hope they had in their hearts.

Stepping to the front line, Marshall Udeen wore her golden plate armor, carrying her two handed sword. She whispered a prayer to her god Tyr, then stared ahead, waiting for the enemy.

She didn't have to wait long, as a small force, comprised of orcs, bugbears, and hobgoblins marched through the streets, their eyes looking towards the army of Neverwinter guards who awaited them. In the back of the group, marched dretches, a lower class of demon from the abyss.

The small army stopped several feet from Neverwinter's warriors. Part of the marshal believed that the battle was in their favor, that is until the marilith materialized in front of the soldiers. In each of her six hands was a barbed long sword, and her eyes glowed a bright red color. "So this is what Neverwinter conjures to save herself," Gargana bellowed.

"We are but a small force in Neverwinter's defenses," Udeen shouted. "Take your men and leave the city, or suffer a horrible defeat."

Gargana was amused by this human's words. The marilith made a mental note to kills this upstart of a commander herself.

I pray Thomas and Nala can release the Guardian before it's too late, the marshal said in her mind. Then she gave the order for her men to attack.

The group of five moved quickly up the stairs and through the next door. To their surprise they didn't find any orcs. Instead there were two ogres, sleeping sound fully on the floor.

"It looks like they didn't hear us," whispered Tanis, who put a finger to his lips. "If we can keep quiet, we can slip past them."

"To the abyss with letting them sleep, I say we give them a chance to defend themselves," objected Thomas, who was still a little upset about the whole slitting the sleeping orcs fiasco, that took place minutes ago.

Kaylah kept her silence, but gave the half elf a look that said she agreed with sneaking past them. Nala wanted to cast a spell to make them invisible.

"I agree with the tin man," Freya remarked, holding her great axe. "I say we wake them up." Tanis sighed, drawing his sword.

"Think you could wake them up?" he asked Nala. The wizard nodded, then made hands gestures similar to the ones she made when she cast the sleep spell on the orcs.

A loud hideous cackle filled the room, and the two ogres, who were enjoying a short break from their guard duties, snapped their eyes open and quickly spotted the intruders. They were on their feet in a flash, holding their battle axes.

"For the glory of the Pharaoh," cried Thomas, as he charged the first ogre, with his khopesh forward. He stopped five feet in front of the beast, and stabbed his weapon into the chest area. The ogre stepped back, the paladin's weapon lightly scratching against his leathery skin. With a growl, the ogre swung his battle axe in the paladin's direction.

The edge of the sharp axe cut across Thomas' face. The paladin felt a thin trail of blood run down his cheek just as he sidestepped the ogre's next swing. Crying another prayer to his god, Thomas thrust his khopesh deeply into the ogre's heart.

Tanis was about to run at the second ogre, but once again, Freya arrived there first.

The halfling stopped in front of the ogre, taunting him with rude gesture of her hand. The ogre gave a mighty swing with his axe, but the halfling's reflexes proved superior, as she dodged the axe, then jumped into air and swung her great axe at the ogre's head. Using reflexes of his own, the ogre reached up with his hand and caught Freya by her throat.

With a grin, the ogre threw the halfling across the room. Her body went crashing through the top of the wooden doorway that led into a long narrow hallway.

Anger surged through Kaylah's body as she drew both Slice and Dice. From the doorway, she heard a series of screeches that sounded like goblins. Though she couldn't understand what they were saying, the rogue guessed that they came across the fallen halfling.

As Kaylah ran at the ogre, Nala chanted one of her more powerful spells to aid the halfling. The five goblins who now stood over the halfling, jabbed their short spears down into her body, but then stopped when two of the spears broke as soon as they impacted with the horde breaker's new stone like skin.

Freya's eyes snapped open. She glanced down, noticing the new rough grayish skin tone her skin had taken on. Grabbing the axe that fell from her hands when she crashed through the door, Freya sprang to her feet and let out a terrible cry of rage. She spun in a furious circle, her great axe cleaving and hacking through the bodies of all five goblins.

In the room, Tanis and Kaylah flanked the ogre together, slashing their blades in their foe's midsection. The ogre managed to block all the attacks the half elf and the rogue threw at him, then slashed his axe low, deeply cutting Tanis' hip. The half elf parried the next attack the ogre made, then watched as the tips of both Slice and Dice ripped through the ogre's body.

"It appears ogres in Fauern are as fierce as the ones in Krynn," Tanis remarked, trying to suppress the pain in his lower body.

Kaylah stepped over to Tanis, patting him on the back. Freya was at work, looting the bodies of the dead goblins. In the corner of the room, Thomas and Nala stepped near a drawn circle.

"Nala, this is where we have to perform the ritual," the paladin announced.

Holding the blue book, Udeen had given them, the wizard walked over to Thomas and opened the book.

In the middle of the room, Tanis and Kaylah sat on top one of the dead ogres. "Are you going to be able to walk?" the rogue asked him noticing the deep cut on his hip.

Tanis gave her a smile. "Just a scratch, nothing to worry about. I'm more anxious just to finish the night." The rogue nodded, then reached into her cloak and pulled out a small vial with blue liquid contained within it. Tanis smiled and took the vial, knowing that it was a healing potion. He quickly popped the cork open and drank it down. The potion had a bland taste to it, but the half elf didn't seem to mind, as the cut on his hip was now mending.

Tanis peeked at his wound once the mending seemed to be done. What was once a deep cut was now just a faint scar. He looked at Kaylah, then stood up. "Well I'm ready to go."

Kaylah stood back up, still holding her short swords. Once she heard Tanis' words, Freya left the goblin corpses and walked over to the half elf. Thomas and Nala wore a solemn expressions on their faces. "Nala has to finish summoning the guardian," Thomas stated with a sigh," and I must stay to protect her."

Tanis gave the paladin a nod. "I'm sure it will work out in the end. Good luck."

"Same to you," the paladin of Horus-Re replied to Tanis.

With a half smile, Tanis turned to follow Kaylah and Freya, who were now stepping over the pile of broken wood, and goblin parts.

Standing in the main altar room, Brazer finished putting on his armor and gauntlets. Reaching out with his hand, he grabbed the double axe the marilith had given him. He knew of the intruders who had come into the Hall of Gruumsh and killed many of his men. Just like Gargana and his men were going to crush Neverwinter's forces, he was going to crush the intruders like gnats.