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confidence that one day he will prove himself a paladin of great worth." He
turned to address the others. "But surely the consum-mate paladin Miltiades
could not have intended that a mere stripling quest for the hammer while the
fate of Phlan hangs in the balance."
For some reason Sir Rialad's expression made the pal-adin-aspirant shudder,
and Kern had to fight the urge to squirm out of the knight's grasp.
"But we dare not disregard Miltiades' prophecy!" Tarl said angrily.
"So you would send an inexperienced puppy into the face of peril?" Rialad
retorted. The paladin spun on
Kern. "You understand, don't you, aspirant? We must place the good of the
temple above our own ambitions for great-ness. That is the first lesson you
must learn as a paladin. You see as well as I how foolish it would be for you
to seek the hammer, do you not? I have a strength and experience you could
never hope to match."
Kern shook his head dizzily. Sir Rialad's words made sense. He didn't like
being called a puppy, but he knew that he was young and sadly inexperienced.
He opened his mouth to reply as the paladin watched expectantly.
"Kern, don't!" Listle hissed in his ear.
He ignored the elf. The word yes formed itself on Kern's tongue.
He never had the chance to utter it.
The enchanted stones of the temple's portico thun-dered a warning chant.
"Beware! Foes approach!
Stand ready, clerics of Tyr! Beware!"
Kern and Listle exchanged a look of surprise. Instantly the clerics around
them jumped into action.
"Seal the gates!" Anton bellowed.
Four clerics shut and barred the main gates. Never in the temple's history had
the gates been breached, for underneath the ornately carved wood were thick
plates of forge-hardened steel. The clerics of Tyr themselves were every bit
as hardened beneath their kind and courteous manners. Ever battle-ready, they
wore chain mail con-cealed beneath their gray robes.
Kern dashed up the steps leading to the battlements above the gates, Listle
hot on his heels. Already clerics were readying piles of heavy stones and
lighting fires under waiting caldrons of pitch. Kern gazed down the street
that led up to the temple's gates.
"Something tells me we'd better get ready for a fight," Listle noted as a
horde of men clad in ebony armor marched toward the temple, snaking through
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the street like a vast, dark serpent.
"You don't say," Kern said sarcastically.
"May Tyr grant us his protection!" Kern heard Anton shout below. The
patriarch's voice was instantly echoed by a score of others. Suddenly, a
shimmering blue nimbus sprang to life about the gates. The holy wards infused
the portals, strengthening them with magical power.
Listle rummaged through the countless pouches hang-ing from her belt, readying
the mystical components nec-essary for her spells, while Kern hefted his
battlehammer. From his vantage on the wall he could survey all the
preparations. Half the temple's clerics had mounted the wall, ready to drop
stones and fiery pitch through the machicolations when the enemy arrived. The
remainder had gathered in the courtyard below, poised to fight hand to hand
should the enemy somehow manage to breach the walls. A
few of the older clerics, Tarl among them, sequestered themselves inside the
temple's main hall. There they wove spells of protection around the temple's
entrance, preparing a last stand in the event the clerics were forced to
retreat into the temple itself.
A cleric, whom Kern recognized as Sister Briatha, approached. Before he could
say anything, she touched him on the forehead and whispered a brief prayer.
Sud-denly Kern felt a warm wave of strength flow through his limbs, and a
flame of courage ignite in his heart. He barely had time to react before
Briatha had moved on to the preoccupied Listle.
The elf looked up in surprise as Briatha joined the other clerics along the
wall.
"Why am I glowing blue?" she asked Kern in annoy-ance.
"It's a protection spell," he explained. "Be grateful. Tyr himself is watching
over us this day."
"Really? Well, I can take care of myself," Listle replied haughtily. "Besides,
blue isn't my color."
She drew out a pinch of powder from a small bag and sprinkled it over her
head. Immediately, a silvery lumines-cence swirled about the elven mage.
"There!" she said in satisfaction. "That's more like it."
Suddenly there was no more time for preparations. The attacking army was
storming the walls.
"Loose the rocks!" Anton shouted as he sensed the first emanations of dark
magic probing the holy enchant-ments that strengthened the gates.
Kern and the others atop the wall dropped a volley of rocks onto the throng of
armored attackers below.
Many raised their shields to deflect the heavy stones, but not all were swift
enough. A score of enemy warriors fell to the ground, their black armor
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