"That's big talk for a guy who's been dead the last few minutes." Mike drew his last pistol. The Red Knight pointed the gun at the God of Hunger. "I've taken shits that are scarier than you."

"You can't slay hunger, mortal," Buttchug sneered, "and it is not wise to disrespect a God."

"Yeah?" Mike transferred the gun to his shield hand. He picked Dyrnwyn off the ground. The sword burst into flames. "Why not? You're already trying to kill us."

"And you're all alone." The Blue Knight's rapier whipped into position as he set his feet.

"Your servants have run," Nynyane, stepped forward with a lofty expression. "There are no wyrms, no hungry dead, no creatures to come to your aid." The Lady Who Was Recently Chained To a Table gave the Devourer a smugly superior smile.

While everyone else was talking, I made my way over to Patrick. The Blue Knight spared a startled glance when I pulled the Pink Knight's Bequest out of the sheath on his back.

"All alone, am I?" the God smirked. "You were there for the War of the Partition, priestess." He shook his head. "You should know better than to taunt me." He raised his spear.

Mike wasn't having that shit. He opened fire. The Red Knight aimed for the head, and his aim was good. Puffs of blood and brain matter spattered out of the back of the evil God's head. It wasn't enough. Buttchug finished his motion, and the blood coating his raised spear burst into brilliant red light.

The light faded as the Red Knight finished emptying his pistol into Buttchug's head. The God fell backwards, missing most of his face and a lot of the back of his skull. Patrick was there the moment he hit the ground. His rapier pierced the God's leg, and Buttchug was frozen solid.

I started to hold the Pink Knight's Bequest out to Nynyane, but a sound stopped me. A wail. It was high pitched, but somehow managed to be gravelly and low at the same time. Like an animal had just been kicked in the nuts after gargling some marbles. The sound of it sent a shock of shivers down my body.

My head whipped around of it's own accord. The sound had come from the keep's gate. More wails followed. A lot of them. I shoved the Bequest into the Lady's hand and whipped Solais out of it's sheath. A thunk made me spare a glance behind me. Nynyane had dropped the sword and was sprinting for the nearest wall.

The first creature appeared a moment later. Bone white skin. Glowing red eyes. It tore the chainmail off its body as it walked through the hole in the portcullis. It spotted us as while removing its helmet. It smiled, revealing rows of needle-sharp teeth before it let out another squealing, gravelly scream. It wasn't carrying any weapons, but its fingers had lengthened into claws.

"Fuck," shouted the Green Knight. I hadn't noticed him get back up. "Wights! Protect the Lady!" He turned and sprinted after the Lady Who Ran Away.

"What the fuck's a wight?" Mike yelled as he swung Drynwyn. The flaming sword sent a sheet of fire billowing into the courtyard. The Red Knight stabbed his sword up at the darkening sky, and the flames roared upwards. Hot air blasted all of us as half the courtyard was engulfed in pillar of flames forty feet high.

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"Bad news," Patrick answered. "Intelligent undead. Strong as a vampire. Immune to most weapons." He stepped slowly backwards, his rapier at the ready. Mike and I decided to follow his fine example. The Red Knight's fire had been useless against everything we'd gone up against so far. I doubted this would be any different. "And they've got magic. Wights can control the weather, do curses, shapeshift, all kinds of shit." At his words, Mike raised his sword again. The pillar of flame brightened, reaching another thirty feet into the sky. The Blue Knight shook his head. "I never seen one in person, though. I just know what the lore tells us."

"No one's seen one in person," William hollered. He was pretty close. The wall hadn't been that far away. He still had to yell on account of the Red Knight's obnoxiously loud firewall. "Not since the Partition went up. They got sealed away just like the draugr and shinigami."

Dark shapes walked out of Mike's wall of fire. Just a few, at first. I couldn't see a lot of detail with Mike's giant fucking fire behind them, but their red glowing eyes gave me the impression they were amused. Smug, even. "Drop the fire, Mike," I ordered. "It's not doing anything."

The Red Knight consented with a grunt. Mike's column of uselessness flared even brighter for a moment before the flames died away. In their place stood eighty or so wights. I guessed the Hungry God had converted all the Revenants that had been snuffed out by the Green Knight or frozen by Patrick, but hadn't bothered with the ones we'd dismembered. Or maybe he had, and they were still in the progress of wriggling our way.

The wights had removed their armor. None of them carried weapons. None of them had been harmed by the Red Knight's flame. Twenty of them moved over to the Hungry God, chanting in a guttural tongue. The other sixty spread out, forming a semi-circle around us.

The Lady of the Lake was chanting as well. A glance told me she'd smeared some of her blood on the wall. A second glance noticed the stones that made up the courtyard were etched with runes and sigils. Whatever she was doing, I hoped it would help.

Mike asked the important question. "How do we kill them?"

"We get a demigod to wrestle each one back into its grave." William set himself, sword at the ready. His voice was grim.

"Uh..." Mike holstered his pistol and took a firmer grip on his shield. "We don't have a demigod."

"I know." The wights finished forming up. They started forward at a malevolent walk. "We'll have to settle for dismemberment. Remove the heads if you can." He shifted around the Red Knight, putting himself in the center of our group with his shield raised. "And don't let them touch you."

The nearest wight was only ten feet away, now. Just a few more steps, and they'd be on us. Sixty undead sorcerers with super strength and who knew what else. I tightened my grip on Solais. The sword burst into brilliant light. Just before I could start swinging, the wights stopped.

"What the hell?" Mike said what I had been thinking. The things were supposed to be powerful, and they had us outnumbered fifteen to one. If they'd charged in all at once we'd be dead already. Surrounding us at a slow walk was stupid. Stopping was even stupider. The Lady Who Hadn't Been Very Useful Up Til Now was still chanting. The smart play would be to take us down before she could pull off whatever spell she was slinging.

"Why'd they stop?" Patrick wondered.

"They stopped," the voice of the Hungry God rang through courtyard. A spear arced over the wights. The Red Knight tried to dodge it, but the spear swerved to match him. Buttchug's weapon took Mike in the hip, but the Red Knight himself was not the target. The spear had cleanly pierced the holstered pistol, destroying Mike's last gun. He barely managed a grunt before the weapon jerked itself out of his body. It flew back to Buttchug with alarming speed. The God caught it. His smile was viscous.

"Because they were waiting for me."