Sir Edward Talos crouched in the shadow of a destroyed rooming house. He held both of his swords at the ready as he looked around. If they could stop the flow of demons, they might be able to turn the battle around for the city and its defenders.

Stopping the flow stumped him at the moment.

“There's Brian and Andrea,” said Macomber. He pointed at their bound colleagues. “It looks like they weren't able to defend the node as well as we thought they would.”

“The cleric isn't here,” said Sir Edward. “We still might have a chance.”

“How do you want to do this, Ed,” said the cleric. He eyed the demons moving away from the glowing door in the air. “As soon as we make our move, the magicians will try to stop us.”

“We need to get Brian and Andrea out of the way,” said Sir Edward. “Then we need to clear the demons. I'm having problems stopping the magicians if the first part of our plan is discovered before we start trying to kill them.”

“Andrea doesn't have any of her juice left,” said Macomber. “Maybe I could jumpstart her if we could get her awake and ready to cast spells.”

“It would still be the four of us versus the ten of them, and their leader,” said Sir Edward. “He's more powerful than all of the rest combined. He would stop any advantage Andrea gave us cold.

The leader of the summoners said something to his chief assistant before stepping into the circle. He shook his head before pushing some unseen force aside. He vanished into the light.

“Our odds just improved by an unknown amount,” said Sir Edward. “Let's try to circle around so we can get to our friends. Anything we need to do has to start with freeing them.”

Macomber nodded. He felt bone tired, but he had killed an unknown amount of demons in the city with Pitt's god word. That must have helped the fighters and civilians alike. He would keep up his effort until he was called home to his god's court.

He knew it would leave his friends in the lurch if he went at the wrong time, but he didn't see any way around that. Pitt had cleared a path for them with his battle with the giant demon. They had used the conflict to get into position while smaller demons had fled from the destruction.

Macomber had not blamed them for their fear. Seeing the masses of rock and wood thrown around by the two forces had made his own blood run cold.

Sir Edward circled around the gathering. He paused to let the bigger demons go by. He held himself ready. If any saw them, this would turn into a fight for their lives. He had faith that Macomber would still be able to clear the immediate area of demons, but they didn't know what would happen if the magicians decided to throw their weight around.

If the summoners had to stop casting the circle to deal with the pair of them, that might be something they could use to help the city. There was no guarantee they could restart the casting without their leader.

Sir Edward would take that as a win if he could make it happen.

“Hold up, Ed,” whispered Macomber. “Let me concentrate for a moment.”

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The cleric raised his left hand. The demons ambulated away in the search of prey as the knight kept watch. They were behind a shattered wall just a few feet away from the prisoners. They would have to cross a clear area to get to their friends.

“All right,” whispered Macomber. “I'm going to ask for two things back to back. I'm going to need you to protect me if I collapse. If I start glowing, I want you to push me into the circle. Understand?”

“If this is too much, we can retreat and think of something else,” said Sir Edward.

“This is the only way,” said Macomber. “Get ready.”

Macomber closed his eyes. He said the words of his blessing. He felt something tear inside. He could stop. That would save his life until a demon killed him along with his friends. He decided it was better to give his friends a fighting chance.

Avri Noll's warriors weren't the only ones who understood the necessity of winning no matter the personal cost.

Macomber's hands glowed with inner fire as he channeled his god outward. His leather armor caught fire as he said the last words. Pressure pushed the air away from him in a great wind.

“Take me to the circle, Ed,” said Macomber. “I don't know how long I'll be able to hold things in.”

Clouds of ash formed an expanding border of a circle around the two friends. Sir Edward grabbed the other man's arm and led him toward the magicians. Fire struck from Macomber's hair as they moved.

The knight pushed his friend into the summoning circle. The magicians seemed undecided what they should do. Should they keep summoning demons, or deal with these newcomers?

Macomber went up in a column of exploding fire. The wave blinded Sir Edward for a moment. The magicians were thrown down from the force of the blow.

The knight didn't waste his chance. He began stabbing magicians as fast as he could. This was their chance to save the city. He wasn't letting it go now that they had it.

Four of the magicians recovered before he could get to them. They threw bolts of fire at him. He took cover as they regrouped to deal with him with something that didn't need to be aimed.

At least they couldn't restart the circle unless they were more powerful than he and Macomber had thought.

How did he deal with the four magicians? Once that was out of the way, he could start dealing with the demons.

One of the magicians fell over. A knife stuck out of his back. The other three looked around, aware for the first time they were in a cleared circle with no cover. One of them suffered from a massive blow to the face by a bowl of light.

“Who would have thought that it would come to this?,” said Andrea. “You two want to give up? It'll go easier when we take you to the temple so you can explain what happened to Mac to his patron god.”

“Shield of Carnan,” said one of the magicians. A wall of numbers blocked him from Andrea. “Go. Step home, Peter.”

The other magician fell over before Sir Edward could do anything. He looked at the scene again. Brian appeared out of the darkness. He let the blood drip from his sword.

“Last chance,” said Andrea. “You can stop any time you want. The clerics will grant you mercy. Drop your will and stop.”

“I can't stop now,” said the last magician. “Thunder of Donse.”

Lightning reached for Andrea where she stood. She was the only magician. The other two were ordinary swordsmen. If he killed her, the others wouldn't have any defenses against his magic. Then he could step home at his leisure.

Andrea took a swallow from a flask she had found somewhere. She held up her hand to catch the lightning. It pulled the ribbon of its body into a spinning ball in the palm of her hand. She flung it back at her enemy with a flick of her wrist. It struck the shield and blasted the area. Burning bodies were flung into the air by the display of power. The magician hit the ground rolling. He tried to get up to continue the battle. He couldn't fight the weakness flooding his system. He collapsed on his hands.

“They always think a shield is going to protect them more than a tougher body,” said Andrea. She shook the smoke from her hand.

Sir Edward looked around. He leaned against a piece of wreckage at the edge of the circle. What did they do now without Macomber?

“We still have to clear the city,” he said. “We need a cleric to help us.”

“We left Constance at that house,” said Brian. “That was a smooth trick if I say so myself.”

“Let's get her and see what we can do about fixing the rest of this,” said the knight.