Commander Braghaman Larethian

Guarding Camp

Braghaman looked across the road at the recently damaged militia camp and then turned towards the path leading in the other direction. While he thought through the situation, he could hear next to him his trainees as they shifted restlessly. Turning to face them, the elder paladin saw the five young paladins watching him intently.

“Okay, here’s what we’re going to do,” Braghaman started as he pulled his shield off his back. He looked over to the camp again and saw Valiant staring at him. The paladin smirked before he continued, knowing the lion wasn’t going to like it. “I’m going to scout down the path. See if any ogres are still poking around. You five stay here. Keep an eye out.”

“Stay here?” one of the trainees said.

“Yeah. Keep a watch out. If any ogres start moving this direction, try to slow them down. Give the militia time to get their injured out of here. But don’t try to take on more than one at a time. They’re tough enough alone.”

“We can handle them,” another one of the younger paladins said with a broad grin.

“Do not try to take on more than one at a time,” Bragh repeated, staring straight at the recruit. “Guard the path and I’ll be right back.” Braghaman looked at each of the five younger paladins before turning and trotting down the path and disappearing around the bend.

“He should’ve let us come with him,” the second trainee said as he traced the tip of his longsword in the dirt on the ground.

“The commander know’s what he’s doing,” the third trainee responded. “We’d just be getting in the way.”

“Maybe you’d be in the way. Not me.”

“What’s that?” the first trainee asked, looking towards the brush across the road from the camp.

There was the sound of branches breaking. An ogre pushed is way through the bushes, dragging a large club behind him. It looked across the street at the camp as the injured militia were climbing into the back of a cart. Then it turned its head and looked straight at the group of paladins.

“Finally!” the second trainee yelled. The paladins lined up and began moving towards the ogre. The monster roared and raised its club in the air. As it brought the club down, the paladins’ line broke and they surrounded the monster. The group worked in tandem, alternately attacking in from behind as it clumsily attacked each of them. The ogre’s attentions kept darting back and forth between the five paladins, but they were much quicker than it was.

“There’s another one!”

About ten meters further down the road, another ogre pushed through the brush.

“Fall back,” the first trainee called out. 

“I’ve got it!” One of the paladins broke away from the group and charged at the second ogre.

“No! We’ve got orders!”

The eager paladin ran straight at the ogre with his sword in the air, yelling out a challenge to the beast. The ogre looked at the lone paladin and turned to face him head on. The paladin swing his blade and it sunk into the thigh of the ogre, where it stuck. The paladin tried to pulled his weapon free but, before he could, the ogre roared and back-handed him and sent him flying to the ground. The ogre looked down at the sword sticking out from its thigh and pulled it free. Flinging the blade to the side, it stalked forward to the paladin laying prone on the ground. 

The ogre reached its hand forward to grab at the fallen paladin. Before it could grab the young man, a grunt came from the bushes and Braghaman came barreling out. The elder paladin brought his mace down on the ogre’s arm with a loud crunch. The ogre yelped in pain and then brought its other arm around to swat at the elder paladin. Braghaman blocked the attack with his shield. Before the ogre could grab the edge of the shield, Bragh pulled back and swung his mace out again.

“Up! Get back to the group!”

The trainee scrambled to his feet and started backing away. Behind them, he saw that the first ogre was laying on the ground a bloody mess. The rest of the paladin trainees surged forward and surrounded their unarmed teammate. They watched as Braghaman deflected strike after strike from the second ogre’s fists.

“Any time now!” Bragh yelled as he held his shield up to block another punch.

As if woken from a deep sleep, the four trainees who were still armed moved forward and surrounded the beast. With their trainer keeping the ogre’s attention, the young paladins attacked from the side and the back. After several attacks, the ogre slumped to its knees and then fell onto its side on the ground. The paladins started backing away from the beast as it lay bleeding on the ground.

Braghaman looked at the unarmed trainee with a deep frown. He let out a slow breath and then turned to look at the camp. All the militia were loaded in their cart and were waiting. The elder paladin then looked back to the group of trainees.

“Anyone hurt?”

No one replied.

“Get on your horses. We need to get these men to town.” Braghaman turned towards the ogres on the ground and backed away slowly. Once he’d crossed the road, he waited until all the younger paladins were sitting on their saddles before he moved to climb atop his winged lion.

“Town. Now. Go!”