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This was supposed to be a low stakes mission, too high for newer trainees but low enough to be entrusted to those in their last year before being declared full members of the order. Xier and his fellow paladins-in-training had come into this believing it would be relatively easy; all they were expected to do was deal with the ogres that had been lurking uncomfortably close to the village of Smallbrook for the past months, then return back to the temple once the job was done.
They hadn’t expected the ogres to knock down the dam keeping the nearby river from sweeping through the valley, destroying everything in its path—Smallbrook included.
Now their combat mission had turned into a rescue effort instead as they did all in their power to save the villagers from the lake that had engulfed their homes.
Xier dove through the murky water towards the remains of one of the houses, where he could see an orc boy of about eleven years of age struggling to wriggle out from beneath a large wooden beam that pinned him to the ground.
Well aware of the fact that the boy couldn’t have much more air left, Xier pushed himself to swim faster, ignoring how his aching arms—which had already been propelling him about for some time and hauled their share of the survivors to the safety of a nearby hill—complained with every sweep through the water.
The boy paused in his struggling just as Xier reached him, and Xier briefly feared that he had already lost consciousness—or worse—until he noticed that the young orc’s green eyes were fixed on him, filled with fear but also a hint of hope as he realized that help had arrived.
Determined to ensure that that hope wasn’t misplaced, Xier let himself drift down until his boots touched the ground, allowing him to reach the beam and grasp it in his hands. He began to heave it up and, although he could lift it, was surprised by its weight and struggled with it more than he’d expected.
The boy didn’t need to be told to squirm free as soon as he was able, and Xier dropped the beam before swimming over to pull the orc to him…
He didn’t get the chance to follow through with the action before a boulder suddenly came crashing down through the water, narrowly missing him. Startled, Xier jerked back through the water and looked up, where he immediately spotted the bulky shape of an ogre standing atop one of the few mostly-intact buildings nearby.
He also noticed the unmistakable shape of a boulder in the monster’s hands, lifted high above its head.
Hastily, Xier shot forward, grabbing the orc boy as he went. It was no sooner that they were out of the way that the next boulder crashed down with a loud splash, and Xier pressed on, knowing that a third was sure to follow.
By this point, he was rapidly running out of air and, worse yet, the boy had gone limp against him. Both these realizations clear in his mind, he immediately began to swim up as well as forward, trying to get out of the ogre’s range so that they could take a breath without risking being crushed.
When he finally reached the surface, however, there came another loud splash from behind him as he—and the boy, he realized with a wave of relief—gasped and coughed. Immediately suspecting another boulder, Xier turned to look warily over his shoulder, preparing to swim off as quickly as he was able.
But there was no ogre in sight now. Instead, a gnome in chainmail—another one of the trainees he’d come with, he realized—stood in its place, offering him a thumbs up.
Xier didn’t know the gnome’s name, having only seen him in passing during training a few times, but was relieved to see him there now.
He nodded his thanks, hoping that the gnome could see the movement, and glanced at the orc boy, who had finally finished coughing and was now scanning his surroundings—looking for his family, Xier didn’t doubt.
“Are you alright?” Xier asked him.
The orc nodded, apparently too rattled to speak.
“Good. Your parents should be waiting on the hill over there.” He jerked his chin towards the hill, where figures could be seen moving about. “Try to hold on; I’ll get you to them.”
The boy bobbed his chin again, and Xier began to paddle towards the hill.
The going was smooth after that.