"He's not dead. We need to leave."

The Orange Knight kept his sword at the ready, eyes glued to the corpse of the God. His voice was steady, but his shoulders were wound tight. I kept my own blade up, ready to skewer him if he made a move. Not that I thought that would work. I didn't know crap about swordfighting. The bastard would be too much for me even if he wasn't a prophet that could see the future.

"None of you are going anywhere," William growled. He and Patrick kept their swords firmly aimed at Roderick. The Green Knight was practically vibrating. "Except maybe hell." His voice, his posture, his entire being radiated hatred and the need for violence.

"Wasn't talking to you, dipshit," the Prophet didn't take his eyes off the dead God. "Roderick. The plan's failed. We need to go."

"Not failed," said the Black Knight. He shook his head. "Not yet. But you're right." He tossed his sword to the ground. "It's time to get off-"

William bolted forward. Patrick came in half a step behind. The Black Knight swept under the Green Knight's blade with liquid grace, slapping the Blue Knight's rapier aside with his hand. "-the-"

William tried for a second swing, but he was too slow. Roderick shifted out of the way of Patrick's second stab as he caught the Green Knight's sword arm. He twisted at the shoulders and hips, jerking William off his feet and slamming him into Patrick like a baseball bat. The Blue Knight tumbled away, landing face down in front of the Purple Knight, who promptly stepped on his rapier and pressed a longsword against the back of his neck.

"-island." The Black Knight finished his sentence as if he slammed the Green Knight into the ground. He hadn't paused his speech while he was dealing with our two most experienced Knights. Hadn't needed his sword. Hadn't even needed both arms. Holy fuck.

Roderick stretched William's arm out and slammed the edge of his shield into it. The Green Knight's elbow shattered, bent at the opposite of it's natural angle.

A shotgun boomed. After putting another round into the head of Buttchug, Mike turned the weapon on the Black Knight. "Let go of him and back away."

"Don't-" the Black Knight started.

The shotgun blasted a second time.

"-bother," the Black Knight finished. "No arrow can touch me." He looked down at William and shook his head. "Three hundred years. Three hundred years, and you're the same stupid, reckless boy." He shook his head. "Some people just refuse to grow up." William's arm snapped back into shape, and he grabbed for the Black Knight's leg. Roderick gave the Green Knight a kick, launching him through the air to crash against the table that held Nynyane. "Do you know why I never killed you, William?" Roderick reached down, picking up William's sword. "Nynyane knows. It's why she always made sure someone held your Bequest." He flipped the sword in the air, catching it by the tip. In the same motion, he sent it spinning towards the Green Knight. The sword lodged itself in Nynyane's table, about a foot away from the hand William was using to pull himself upright. "It's because you're arrogant. Hot headed. You refuse to learn from your mistakes. As long as you're leading the Knights of Avalon, I knew you would lead them into trap after trap. Failure after failure."

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

The shotgun bloomed a third time. Roderick spared a glance at the Red Knight. Mike shrugged a shoulder, sighting down at Buttchug's newly splattered head. "He twitched. Don't mind me. Keep monologuing."

"If you'd been replaced, if you'd learned," the Black Knight continued. "If you'd even been just a little bit smarter," he gestured at the fallen God. "Then none of this would have been possible."

"Kill you," William growled. "I'll fucking kill you."

"But now you have a chance. Your last chance." Roderick gestured at the Purple Knight. The man took his foot off Patrick's rapier and stepped away. "Learn from your mistakes. Let us leave, and concentrate on stopping the God of Hunger. Or you can throw away your lives and doom mankind in a pathetic bid for revenge."

"We left you alive for a reason," said the Purple Knight. "Don't waste it."

The Green Knight grabbed his sword, jerking it out of the table. As he did, I heard the clink of chains. Roderick's throw had severed the chain binding Nynyane's left hand. "No." He set himself, feet spread, shield raised. "No. Not after all you've done. You have to die."

"Don't be an idiot," the Orange Knight told him. "The four of you couldn't handle me on my lonesome. Now you want to fight me, the Knight of Storms, a God, and fucking Roderick?"

"Let them go, brother," Patrick urged. "We can hunt them down another day."

"There is no other day, Patrick!" The Green Knight snapped. "Roderick's done what he wanted to do. If he gets off the island, we'll never find him again."

"We can't fight three Knights and a fucking God, William," I told him. "It's a risk we gotta take."

"No we don't," William stepped forward. "We just gotta kill them before the God wakes up."

"Let them go, William." It was Nynyane. With one hand free, she'd managed to remove her gag.

"They have to pay."

"And they will," the Lady on the Table assured him. "But not tonight. The God of Hunger must be stopped." The Green Knight shook his head. Nynyane pressed. "That's an order, William. Do as I say."

Before William could answer, another voice rang through the courtyard. "SERVANTS..."

The shotgun boomed. Buttchug fell silent.

"Fuck." Buttchug owned Roderick's soul. I already knew the Black Knight couldn't fight him. It was probably a good guess the God could order him around if he wanted. I'd only seen Roderick fight twice, but I was pretty sure he could kill all of us with his eyes closed. If Buttchug gave the order, we were fucked. "Go!" I yelled at the enemy knights. "Go now!"

"No!" The Green Knight rushed forward.

"Mike!" I yelled.

The Red Knight pivoted, blasting a steel slug into Williams helmeted dome. The Green Knight sprawled into the dirt, down for the count. He'd heal. I hoped.

The bad guys were still staring down at William's unconscious form. Idiots. "What are you doing?" I yelled at them. "Get out of here."

Roderick gave me a nod. "Wise." He and the Purple Knight broke into a sprint, heading for the gate. They weren't fast enough for the Prophet. The Orange Knight went big. His thirty foot tall ass scooped up the other two and cleared the wall in one massive leap.

"You're still dead when this is over!" Mike yelled after them. He was fumbling at the fanny pack he'd belted around his armor.

"Fuck you!" the Orange asshole yelled back.

I could still hear the Orange Prophets massive footfalls pounding down the road, but I couldn't afford to waste time just listening. Four careful swings of Solais freed the Lady on the Table. Nynyane still had steel cuffs with small lengths of chain attached to each limb, but she could move around and that was good enough for me.

"Ok," I asked her. "Buttchug's down but not out. How do we kill him?"

"I don't know," the Lady was grim. "I'm not sure he can be killed."

"Well you better figure something out fast," Mike warned. He slid a single round into his shotgun and pumped it. "I've only got one slug left."