“It has been so long daughter. I’ve missed you,” Lord Honor said as his daughter sipped a glass of wine with him. She’d just returned from her extended sabbatical to the human lands across the sea. All twelve Paladins traveled by portal from their base in Castle Herron in Khatuna, to the courtyard of House Honor.

“It would have been longer, perhaps forever if you had not sent for me.” Her bitterness was still fresh. She looked out at the grounds where servants were tending the garden and walking the horses.

“I regret how things were between us before you left. I’m not a man to apologize, even when I know that I’m wrong, but for you, I will. I was wrong about everything. We should have cordoned off that area of the forest, build a thousand-foot-tall wall around it with no entrance or exit.”

“From what I hear, many lives have been lost and an uncountable amount of money has been squandered. All to prove that you know more than what was clear to Keshet and I.”

“In the time that you’ve been away, things have grown considerably worse. Nigide is the eye of the storm, and he is surrounded by concentric layers of monsters or demons. The area affected has grown and threatens to drift into the farmlands of both our subjects and those of House Pax. I’ve heard that you and your friends have been fighting the forces of darkness in the human lands. I beg that you and the rest help us, your people.”

She looked at her father, seeing him as a changed man. He was understating how difficult things had gotten. She could tell that his hold on Aquila was tenuous and that he wealth had taken a severe hit. When she had left, he would not listen to her, would not entertain taking her advice. Because of that, he had and continued to pay a price.

“We would not be here if we were not willing to look into the matter. When I retold them the story of how Nigide froze my men with pure fear, they were most interested. In the morning, we will scout out the area, and together, we will decide on the best course of action.”

Dulcinea transported the paladins to the courtyard of House Honor, then decided to help in their cause. She had family in Aquila, though she had essentially left her people to go out into the wider world. She now called ‘the mage’s estate home. She was well-versed in magic, but there were always more things to learn, and she often found herself teaching less experienced mages.

She knew Iovita and Keshet from the Honor family. Iovita was a little stiff for her taste, but Keshet was a handsome man, and he had a quick wit that she favored. She had met Radek Oskar when fighting the pirates, most of them were new to her. There was a Doreh Paladin, Dolphus Eggmar, and an Uzor Paladin, Erkin Shouji. The two men were as different as night and day, both in color and temperament. There were two women, Anastasia Shirin and Olivette Nazim. She thought that they must both be O’Bell knights, but Olivette was from a noble house somewhere up north. Anastasia wore white and silver armor and had long blonde hair. Olivette was the opposite, her long, straight steel grey hair hung down to the center of her back and was held back by an armor headband, inlaid with intricate carvings. Her clothes were the same color as her hair, grey like the sky just before the thunder comes. She carried a triangular shield, wide as her shoulders at the top, both sides angling down to a point, and had a raised design that showed a monstrous bird of prey. Her shield covered her from shoulder to ankle, and Dulcinea wondered how she could fight with such a heavy-looking armament. By now, everyone knew Hristo Syphon. The others were Nocolo Hugo, Otgar Isaac, Rocco Zayn, and the Cleric, Seneca Augustus. She hadn’t talked with them much and she found nothing very interesting about them. The big one, Rocco, was nice enough and the Cleric was a fairly odd fellow.

“I think Keshet should lead the way,” Iovita said. "He has gone there a time or two since my leaving for Kronos.”

“I think we should all go. Eleven knights and a Cleric should be enough to take care of this wee beastie of yours,” Dolphus said to the assembled Paladins. His reddish-golden hair, mustache, and beard gave him the appearance of a lion. He wore heavy plate armor on his huge frame, and he carried an axe easily twice the size of a normal battle axe.

Hristo replied, “We’ll all go when it's time to face the creature…”

“Creatures,” Iovita cut in. “There are an unknown number of Nigide’s minions that we must fight our way through to face a god.”

“I don’t want to contradict you lady, but this Nigide is ‘no god’. From what you tell me, the creature was sent here, specifically to torment your people.” Nocolo said.

“We should send only a few of us, and not risk losing all of us without knowing more clearly what we face,” Keshet said to the group. “I will take two, and if Dulcinea is willing…”

All eyes turned to the young mage. She was far older than any of them, but her elven ancestry gave her a youthful appearance. “Why not! For the people!”

“I will go,” Erkin offered. He was similar in build to Hristo. Both men were tall and wide of shoulder, and they were dark as night under a starless sky.

“And I,” Olivette got in before the others could volunteer. “I am new to this brotherhood, and I would prove that I am worthy to be in your company.”

“That’s it then. It's several hours away and I’d like to get there while there is still light. These monsters seem to thrive in the darkness.” Keshet said standing. “Gather your gear, food, and water. We leave in one hour.”

They left the safety of Aquila and the four of them were on the road to Glaucia. The trip was uneventful for the first few hours until the Paladins became visibly agitated.

“What is it?” Dulcinea asked.

Keshet looked like he wanted to spit, “Not being a Paladin, you are not as attuned to the presence of evil as we are. We are miles away yet and I can smell the stench of an evil that exceeds any human aberration.”

Erkin showed anger on his usually placid face, “Very strong.” He paused, looking around, “They are on the move. I feel hundreds of them coming around our position on the left.” He pointed to the stock of woods to their left.

“Hundreds?” Dulcinea asked, “There are only four of us. Perhaps we should head back.”

“The mage is correct,” Olivette added. “Our mission is to locate the enemy and evaluate their strength. There are hundreds of them, each with a powerful taint of evil on their soul.”

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“Let's go,” Keshet said, turning his horse. They reversed direction and headed back towards Aquila at the same pace that they’d come. A few minutes later, “We need to go faster!” he said, spurring his horse to a steady gallop.

There was a rustling behind them that grew in intensity steadily till it was clear to even Dulcinea that they were being pursued. Without direction, they all spurred their horses to a full, all-out gallop. The horses were not hard to convince, they too could sense that they were being pursued. Minutes later, they could hear the stomping of hundreds of feet, hot on their tail. When they could, they would look over their shoulder to see what was following. They were shocked at the horror that was running them down. The creatures were thin in the torso and had muscular legs and arms that were long enough to allow them to run on all fours. Bones burst from the skin at the joints and spine, creating ragged-edged spikes, and their heads were eyeless animal skulls with elongated snouts and spiked horns.

“We’re not going to make it,” Keshet said. "I’m going to try and slow them down, the rest of you ride for your lives!” He pulled back on the reins, his horse protesting loudly as they skidded to a halt. The others also stopped and turned to stand with him.

“No man left behind,” Erkin stated flatly.

Dulcinea jumped from her horse and began using her natural ability to create crystals. They had pulled up in a pass through the woods, maybe a hundred feet across. She wove her spell quickly and without the need for an incantation. A hundred or more tetragonal crystals formed and were lined up like posts in a fence. Hard as quartz and translucent pink, they were taller than a man on horse, and went from tree line to tree line.

The creatures crashed against the crystals, finding them unyielding. The things made no bark or growl as the Paladins had anticipated, instead, they snapped their massive bony jaws open and shut, showing the empty well down their fleshless maws. Climbing over each other, the first few were able to get over the makeshift wall and continue their attack. Others were working their way around and through the woods.

Erkin pulled his massive sword, the intricately carved blade was four feet long and half a foot wide at the cross guard. He swung his blade in a huge arc that cut through one of the beasts completely and embedded in the creature behind it. No blood flowed from the wounds inflicted and the skeletal jaws continued to clack vainly. One of the creatures leaped at him while he was fighting and snapped its jaw around his left forearm. When he’d dispatched a monster that he’d been fighting, he brought the hilt of his sword down on the skull, cracking it to pieces and freeing his arm. He kept fighting but noted mentally that he had holes in his armored gauntlet. Blood trickled into his glove, but they weren’t deep punctures. He knew it could wait till later.

Dulcinea was creating huge crystals to entrap the monsters. Crystals of Amber, Violet, Scarlet, and Emerald formed around a single or pair of the creatures, freezing solid and immovable. Each one she encased was killed or immobilized, but she began to sweat as they came at her faster than she could handle. She was carried to the ground by a pair of creatures, and she cried out as they locked their jaws on her arms with their dagger-like fangs and tore at her flesh with their long, wicked claws. She screamed in pain and fear as she bled profusely from multiple deep gashes in her formerly pristine body. Suddenly, they were off of her. From her back, she could see Keshet above her, tossing the monsters around like rag dolls. He must be using some strength-enhancing Paladin power, she thought to herself. As damaged as she was, she looked at him with a mixture of curiosity and affection. She may not survive, but he’d come to save her and that filled her with joy.

“They look like undead creatures,” Olivette said, let me try something. Standing behind the others, she began a prayer, casting a spell and tapping on the holy energy that filled her. Her voice grew in strength, powered by the energy that all Paladins could tap into. The last part was said in the common tongue.

“In Domina’s name, begone!”

Every one of the monsters looked up from whatever they were doing and with a silent howl, they turned and ran back in the direction they had come from. The chaotic scene turned into an eerily silent crime scene, all of the humans and elves had taken some damage.

“Over there!” Erkin pointed. A lone figure stood in the middle of the road as the undead monsters flowed around him and disappeared down the trail. He was far off, but they could see that he too was undead, though he had at one point been an elven knight. His clothing was as worn and threadbare as his flesh. The nose and eyes were empty black holes in his skull. He wore the colors of House Honor, but there was nothing honorable about this demon. They could sense the evil coming from him, even at a distance. He half drew his sword, then replaced it in its scabbard and turned. He mounted a horse that also appeared to be a reanimated corpse. With a last look at the party, he turned and slowly rode away.

When he was out of sight, all three Paladins placed their hands on Dulcinea. They were able to stop her wounds from bleeding out and got her stabilized. Keshet mounted his horse, and they handed her up to him. He got her sitting side saddle in front of him and held her to his chest as he rode. They couldn’t ride at full gallop but made the best time they could. Hours later, they were again at the Honor estate in Aquila.

When the guards saw the condition of the mage, runners were sent for Seneca Augustus. When the Cleric saw her, he didn’t waste time asking questions and set immediately to healing her. It took the better part of an hour to channel enough of the holy energy into healing her various wounds.

“She should be as good as she was when you left this morning, but I’d still have her rest a couple of days, and make sure she gets plenty of liquids, and some food,” he instructed.

“We should gather everyone and head right back out!” Erkin said.

“Dulcinea needs to heal, and we were all injured,” Keshet said. “We must gather as much help as we can before going out there.”

“They are much closer than you thought,” Olivette said grimly, “If you do not go to fight them out there, the fight will be coming here.” She looked at her fellow Paladins, “That soldier at the end, the one that rode off. From stories I heard as a young girl, that’s a Lich.”

“A what?” Keshet asked.

“Liches are undead, either mages or knights that were so evil that even death can’t stop them from spreading misery. He was the great evil that we sensed. It seems clear that he was controlling the things that attacked us, and perhaps he sensed our good, as much as we sensed his evil. That’s why he turned and left instead of attacking us.”

Erkin loomed over all of them, “How did you learn that ability, to turn undead?”

“It is in the scripture of Domina. They do not specifically speak of turning undead, but all undead are evil in nature and we have the inherited ability to turn evil and to turn undead. I believe that the nature of being a Paladin makes us perhaps the best weapon against this Nigide and his hell-spawned minions.”

Several of the other Paladins joined till the dozen of them were all standing around Dulcinea who was resting on a lounge chair. Most had stayed away while she was receiving treatment, but now that they were back to safety, it was time for all to show their respects. Indrani joined them, looking grim as he surveyed his good friend's recovery.

“You were able to get away alive, but just barely,” Hristo said. “I fear that twelve followers of Domina alone might not be enough to fight this legion of minions, much less take on a god.” He looked to Iovita, “Do you think House Honor believes you now, and is ready to lend the swords that will be needed to slay this demon?”

“I do,” she replied. “Our house, our reputation has suffered the most from this invasion. He didn’t believe me years ago, but things have gotten exponentially worse. So bad that I’m sure he’ll send every man and woman that can hold a sword or pull a bow.”

“When Dulcinea is better, I’d ask that she take me and a few others to speak with my uncle. Perhaps he will lend the support of the King’s Table to your defense.”

“I can take you now,” Dulcinea said, struggling to get to her feet.

“There’s no way you are ready to do that level of magic. You need days more to recover,” Keshet said. Indrani put his hand on her shoulder, nodding in agreement with his fellow Elf.

“We don’t have as much time as you might think. If what Lady Nazim said is correct, as we are planning our defenses, they are actively making their attack plans.” They all looked doubtfully at her. “Now or never,” she said as she began casting her transportation spell.