The Paladin's Sacrifice

Addrigg grunted as he finally managed to land a hit on his slippery opponent, bringing his warhammer down on his foe for a crushing finishing blow. As the formerly-animated skeleton, now missing its skull, dropped to the floor in a heap of bones, he looked around, both to assess the situation and search for another enemy. Around him, a half-dozen other adventurers struggled with opponents of their own, some doing better than others, but all of them struggling.

That was all he had time to take in before another monster, this time an undead ogre, lurched towards him, forcing him back before he attacked its legs, trying to bring it down to his height to get that finishing blow. The blood-splattered silver of his warhammer glittered in the torchlight of the cavern as he smashed in its knee, forcing it to stumble before it clumsily lashed out with a poorly-maintained club, knocking the dwarven paladin backwards and onto the ground.

As it got back to its feet, towering above the diminutive paladin, several silver-tipped arrows abruptly buried themselves in its neck and shoulders, causing it to turn its attention towards the party fighter with a confused-yet-angry moan. The centaur fighter took a few steps back as it fired more arrows, Addrigg struggling back to his own feet before, with a roar, he swung his warhammer once more, taking out the undead's other knee with a powerful strike. As the undead collapsed, Addrigg raised his hammer again and delivered a downward strike on the head, spraying . Turning, he caught sight of something alarming, causing him to extend his arm and bark an order.

From seemingly nowhere, a spectral mastiff emerged, charging forwards and launching itself off of the surprised centaur's back before sinking its teeth into one of the zombies that had been sneaking up behind the unaware centaur. Giving a quick salute as thanks, the centaur turned his attention to these new targets as Addrigg charged towards his own target - the armored skeleton warrior about to plunge a sword into the chest of a fallen spellcaster.

The dwarf's warhammer easily crumpled its chestplate, accompanied by the sound of breaking bones as the skeleton stumbled back, giving the paladin just enough time to cast a quick Cure Wounds spell on the wounded wizard. He hadn't gotten there in time to avoid all damage, as the sword had still struck the scholar in the chest, but its aim had been thrown off just enough by Addrigg's blow that it had missed anything vital.

Above them all, on a tower of stone surrounded by a spiraling staircase, another spellcaster chanted, a book floating in front of him as the air filled with a purplish glow. Addrigg looked up at this and scowled as the wizard he'd healed sat up and managed to blast the skeleton to pieces with a Magic Missile. With a quick whistle, Addrigg's spectral mastiff charged back to his side, which he swiftly mounted. A quick nod to the wizard, now standing despite her injuries, was all she needed to know what to do. A quick casting, and the mastiff was off, carrying the dwarven paladin towards the one in charge of all these undead - the necromancer in the middle of his ritual.

The Haste spell carried them up the stairs at a rapid rate, the dwarf barely able to hold on to his mount's fur due to the acceleration. Once the target was in site, he leapt off his mount, which disintegrated into spectral ash that rapidly vanished, tackling the necromancer just as he finished his ritual, a tear in the air opening before him... and directly in the path of the paladin's charge.

Seeing this, and seeing the many souls of the damned, Addrigg knew he couldn't allow them to escape, now could he allow the necromancer to continue his life's work. Behind him, he heard a shout as the wizard realized his plan, calling out his name in surprise as the Paladin did his best to shove the necromancer into the tear he'd created, the paladin himself following afterwards.

He smiled to himself, even as he heard the shrieking of angry evils around him. He had done his duty well. In the name of his god, Helm, he had defended the country at all costs. "Goodbye, my friends... may you carry on my will, even though I'm gone..."