This was going to come a bit later, but I'm having trouble finishing the chapter that was going to come here, and as this was ready, here we go.

Now, time to get my Tolkien on...

Married Life

Chapter Seventeen: Good Samaritans

Female Knight gripped her sword in one hand and the battered remains of her shield in the other and calmly looked death in the face.

It had seemed like such a simple quest at first: investigate reports of bandit activity centred on a long abandoned Keep in the hills to the South-East of Frontier Town. It should have been a routine job, a way for Druid Girl, Scout Boy and Half-Elf Fighter to gain some experience fighting Highwaymen and other bandits, but they discovered too late that the criminal activity had been but the cover for a dark cult of chaos worshippers. It had only been by luck that they'd sprung the trap laid for them early, but Heavy Swordsman had still taken a critical blow to the back, a slash that had torn his armour asunder and laid open his back almost down to the bone. Druid Girl had managed to stabilise him, but he was effectively out of the fight, forced to lean on Scout Boy for support.

The the true enemy had revealed itself: a dozen Wraiths, spectral beings with no physical bodies of their own, yet more than capable of killing just the same. If they hadn't been enough, thay had slain the assembled cultists and reanimated their bodies to be their undead minions. Impervious to pain, they were the perfect foot soldiers for dark forces, as they had to be burned or almost completely dismembered to be killed, acts that took time.

And time wasn't something that the Adventurers had.

Female Knight had ordered the retreat, knowing that, even if Heavy Swordsman hadn't been injured, they would have been hard pressed to deal with the new threat. With half their front line strength already taken out of the game, it was impossible. Druid Girl took the lead, with Scout Boy helped Heavy Swordsman while Half-Elf Fighter stepped up to help Female Knight guard their backs. Mostly that consisted of dodging attacks by the Wraiths while keeping their undead minions at bay. They'd moved as fast as they could, backtracking through the crumbling remains of the old Keep, but it soon became clear that they would be unable to reach the entrance before they were overwhelmed. Ordering the others to keep going, Female Knight had turned to face the enemy in a large, circular chamber with three hallways leading off of it.

If she made her stand there, then it would be harder for those following her to tell which path the others had taken.

She had no illusions of escaping: her opponents were too many and too powerful, but every second she could keep them busy brought her friends one step closer to safely.

"Come, dark ones!" she raised her sword high, trying to sound more confident then she was, "Come face the agent of your destruction!"

"Foolish mortal." a rasping voice proclaimed as the Wraiths entered the chamber, fanning out to encircle her, their undead warriors eager to be unleashed, "You will die here, alone and unremembered..."

"She is not alone!" a tall Knight, dressed in the finest set of full plate armour she had ever seen appeared through one of the archways. His left hand held a large Mithril shield embossed with the sword-and-scales of the Supreme God, while his right hand held a longsword that's blade was enveloped in shimmering blue flame.

"Are you in need of assistance, my lady?" a booming voice announced, and the imposing form of a Minotaur appeared through the doorway directly behind her, a massive double-headed battle-axe clasped in one gigantic hand.

"You should have stayed dead." a third voice warned the Wraiths as a tall, slender man dressed in the robes and pointed hats of a senior wizard appeared in the final doorway, a tall black staff topped with a massive peal in one hand.

It took Female Knight a moment to recognise them, mostly because she'd never expected to be saved by living legends.

Lord Paladin and Mage, names that were spoken of in hushed, reserved voices by Adventurers across the land. They had all made a name for themselves before the War of the Dragon King, but it had been at the Fields of Fire that they had truly earned the admiration of all followed the Gods and Goddesses of Light and Order. Their actions that bloody day were the stuff of legends, and had in no small way inspired Female Knight to take up the sword and become an Adventurer herself. The passage of time may have greyed a few hairs and added some lines around the eyes, but they stood tall and proud, like the Titans of myth, ready to smite down any Non-Prayer Characters who were foolish enough to stand before them.

And stand the Wraiths did, but not for long.

Lord Paladins sword left a brilliant after-image in Female Knighta vision as it sliced through the nearest Wraith, the purifying flame it bore burning the phantom to smoke in an instant while Mage struck out with his staff, the pearl at its tip burning as bright as the noon sun. With the Wraiths well in hand, Minotaur Blacksmith turned his attention on their followers, slicing one clean in two, shoulder to hip, with a single swing of his axe.

Female Knight considered herself to be a skilled fighter, but she was but a novice compared to the three Adventurers who had come to her rescue. Every move, every attack and block, was careful, precise, not a single step wasted. It wasn't like watching a High Elf, where their moves were almost dance-like, but rather it was like watching the a master craftsmen at work, their moves practiced to the point where their minds hardly even had to tell their bodies what to do. There was a reason why both Lord Paladin and Mage were Gold ranked Adventurers, and given what she was seeing with her own eyes, she could well believe that it was only due to internal Guild politics that Minotaur Blacksmith had been kept at Sapphire.

Realisation struck like lightning: Guild Girl had told of a Minotaur with a Sapphire tag visiting the Guild Hall one night, delivering Goblin Slayers stash of weapons and armour. She'd called him Minotaur Blacksmith, but Female Knight had simply assumed that he was a Minotaur who happened to be a blacksmith, not thinking for a moment that he could truly be one of the noble Adventurers who stood with her idols at the Fields of Fire and had followed them ever since. And yet here he was, exactly as her friend had described him, right down to his gruff but surprisingly polite voice. Even with that said, she could see him fighting with all the ferocity his people were known for: many considered Minotaurs to be little more than dumb brutes, barely more than a strong body and a weak mind, easily bent to the will of another. Some didn't even consider them People With Words.

In her head, she had always known that to be a lie, but there was a world of difference between knowing someth and seeing it for yourself.

Yes, Minotaur Blacksmith was perhaps the deadliest close-range fighter she had ever seen, his axe a whirling tornado of death and dismemberment, to the point where she very much doubted that she herself would be able to stand against him. But there was no mistaking the cool, calm and logical mind behind every move, every slash and twist. He was fighting like the devils of hell were after him, for sure, but he was also fighting smart, using his opponents numbers against them. His axe, almost as long as Female Knight was tall, moved with a fluid grace, often catching more than a single target with every strike, always keeping himself between her and the undead.

Female Knight turned to watch Lord Paladin: he was the living embodyment of everything she strives to be, almost the perfect example of chivalry and honour. To see him battling against the forces of chaos was almost a religious experience for her. His face was a mask of grim determination, his eyes hard and unyielding, and it was clear that he would give nor ask for any quarter. Only in death would the battle end. She found herself studying his moves, trying to commit them to memory, in the vain hope that she might be able to reproduce them herself one day.

"Ok, bored now." Mage proclaimed, throwing his arms wide open.

A circle of billowing golden fire emanated out from him, enveloping the remaining Wraiths and burning them away to nothing. Their undead minions erupted like torches, thrashing about as the fire consumed the demons controlling them. Female Knight felt it wash over her, but was not burned. Indeed, it felt most refreshing, like the kiss of summer sunlight upon her face. The wave of purification reached the walls and continued down the halls, seeking out any Non-Prayer Characters hidden in the darkness. None escaped its reach.

"And why didn't you start with that?" Minotaur Blacksmith asked, planting his axe point down on the stone floor and resting one hand on the pommel, "Some of us aren't as young as we used to be."

"Now where would have been the fun in that?" Mage asked, "Besides, you looked like you could use the exercise."

The Minotaur snorted in response, hanging his axe over his back before checking the bodies for any clues to the origin of the cult.

"I apologise for my compatriots odd sense of humour; it takes some getting use to." Lord Paladin slipped his sword back into its scabbard and hung his shield over one shoulder like it weighed nothing before offering his hand, "I am known as..."

"My Lord." Female Knight dropped to one knee before him, bowing her head as low as she could, he sword and shield clattering to the floor, "I have not the words to thank you for saving my life..."

"I think you just did." The Gold ranked Adventurer laughed as he held out one hand, "Please, there's no need to kneal before me. I hold no Noble titles or Rank of Office."

"My Lord, you are..." Female Knight blushed, "My entire life has been dedicated to following the path you set, to becoming a Paladin myself!"

"Looks like you found a fan." Mage laughed from across the room.

"We encountered your companions outside; they told us what had happened and begged us to come rescue you." Lord Paladin redrew his sword and tapped the kneeling Adventurer on her left shoulder, "You put the life of others ahead of your own." he tapped her right shoulder, "You faced the forces of the Dark Gods without fear or hesitation." he tapped her on the the back of the head, "Before these two witnesses, and under the Authority of the Supreme God, I bid you now; stand a Paladin."

Female Knight felt her breath catch: it had been her life long dream to become a Paladin, that was true, but to be elevated by by Lord Paladin, the head of the Knightly Order himself? Such a thing she had never dared imagine. She stood slowly, shaking like a leaf in the autumn breeze, and looked at her hands: they seemed no different, but they were the hands of a Paladin. She was a Paladin, yet she felt just the same as she was before.

"Do you want to know a secret?" Lord Paladin lent in close, "Being tapped on the shoulders and the head doesn't make you a Paladin, not really." he tapped her on the head with one finger, "It comes from here." he then tapped her armour over her heart, "And in here. And something tells me that you've been a Paladin for some time. You just need to accept it."

"I... I do not understand." Female Knight admitted.

"Ah, first step on the path to true wisdom." Minotaur Blacksmith nodded, "Something tells me that's she's a good one."

To Be Continued...