Read Online The Paladins by James M. Ward, David Wise - Free Book Online Page A

Without warning a wave of nausea drenched him. He staggered back from it, his vision spinning. Trandon lunged for him as he fell. The warrior caught the young paladin in his burly arms and lowered him gently to the floor.
    “Tyr save us!” sputtered Kern. “I’ve never felt so much concentrated evil in my life!”
    Miltiades stepped into the shaft, steeling his nerves against the assault that overpowered Kern. Bitterness stung his heart like wet hornets, and he turned away from it. While the others looked on, he marched over to the northeastern corridor.
    “Evil in that direction as well, but not so strong as from the east.”
    “Time for justice!” swore Kern, struggling back to his feet and glaring down the east shaft. Jacob drew his sword and stood next to him. Trandon tucked his quarterstaff into the crook of his arm and took up a position behind the swordsman.
    “But what of the evil in the other direction?” asked Aleena.
    “There’s evil everywhere down here,” said Miltiades. “Besides, I don’t want to separate the party. It’s too dangerous.”
    “Then let’s send a small group, just to spy it out,” suggested Able. “We don’t want to be caught from behind.”
    “They’re right,” said Kern. “I’ll go investigate it alone.”
    “No, I’ll go,” volunteered Able. “If that much evil radiates from the east, you two should stay here in case whatever’s down there comes this way. Ill just peek in this direction and be right back.”
    “Trandon, you’re light on your feet,” said Miltiades. “Go with him.”
    “Right.” Trandon swung around to the northeastern cave mouth.
    “If it’s okay, I’d like to go, too,” said Noph. The paladins looked at him doubtfully. “I mean, I’m not even wearing armor, so I can sneak better than any of you. I promise I’ll be careful.”
    “All right, but don’t start anything,” cautioned Kern. “Just check it out and get right back. And hurry. We’ve got a princess to rescue.”
    “I’m telling you, Kern, she’s not a princess,” growled Aleena.
    The trio crept down the water-carved passageway and slipped around the bend. Soon, the backward cast of their dim blue light faded from view of the cavern where the rest of the party waited. The passage stretched on for several hundred feet, cutting a crooked path that turned toward the north. A few cave links large enough for one person to squeeze through branched off here and there, but they kept to the main shaft.
    The party reached a sharp turn and paused. Around the corner, they spied reddish light.
    “Can you see what it is?” whispered Able. The others shook their heads.
    “I’ll crawl up there and see if I can get a better look,” hissed the boy.
    “Be careful, Noph. Be very, very careful!”
    Kastonoph drew his dagger and clenched it between his teeth. It forced him to pull his tongue way back into his throat and felt uncomfortable, but it did give him a fleeting sense of confidence. He dropped to his belly and wriggled around the corner, making his way toward the source of the light. Quietly he shimmied into a shallow depression of the cave floor. He clawed his way to its opposite rim and peeked over, looking into the cave beyond.
    A hulking, brutish creature, with reddish-brown fur covering most of its body and gray flaps of skin along the sides of its face stood with its knuckles resting on the floor, looking into a mirror. It grinned wickedly into the glass, baring its long fangs, and lifted one forehand to flex its six digits in a grotesque wave at itself. Noph choked back a gasp.
    The mirror began to glow brilliantly, and the beast covered its eyes with a hairy paw. A low hum swelled, followed by the shrill snap of lightning sparks. Before the boy’s amazed eyes, a red-furred, six-toed foot stepped from the mirror’s smooth surface. A second later a duplicate monster fully emerged, paused a moment while it checked its footing, and then drew itself up before the other. The