"Take them."

At the Hungry God's words, half the wights surged forward. The other half started chanting. The good news was, the things weren't any faster than a normal human. The bad news was that was the only good news. The Lady Who'd Better Hurry the Fuck Up was still chanting and rubbing blood on the wall, and I had no idea how long it would take her to finish, or if what she was doing would even help.

I didn't bother with finesse. Solais was basically a magic lightsaber, and the Strength of Seven made the blade feel like it weighed nothing. I swung fast and wild like a little kid with a willow switch. Hands, arms, torsos, anything that came within range got diced like a barbie in a blender. I still hadn't recovered from the long run/hike to get here, or the fights that followed, and a few seconds into it my chest was heaving and my arm felt like it was made of burning lead. I kept at it. Terror is an excellent motivator.

The others weren't doing as well. I couldn't spare the attention for more than the occasional glance, but I could hear the curses. The other Knights had magic swords, but those swords didn't have the ridiculous cutting power of Solais. They were fighting hard and covering each other as best they could, but I didn't think they could keep it up for long. I was a little further out from the group. I hadn't wanted to risk hitting Mike by mistake.

Mike hollered as one of the wights caught his sword arm. A quick step brought me just close enough to reach over and swipe through the thing's wrist, but not before it crushed the Red Knight's vambrace and the arm beneath it. His flaming sword winked out, falling to the ground.

I moved closer, waving my sword around like a kid with a sparkler. To my surprise and relief, the wights backed off, moving around me to attack William and Patrick instead. I took a couple steps forward, giving Mike the chance to pick up his sword.

A peal of thunder brought my gaze up to the sky. Dark clouds were swirling into place above us. The chanting of the wights reached a crescendo, and the world disappeared in light and heat and sound.

The next thing I remember I was on the ground with William crouched over me. The light was still bright enough to make me squint, but the thunder had been replace with the crackle of fire and the screams of a large number of dead things.

I rolled my head enough to see the source of the light. It was the wights. They were on fire. Not Mike's pansy ass yellow fire, either. Blue and white flames immolated the dead things. They were still fighting. Two of them were in the process of ripping the Red Knight's arms off. Several more were dog piling the Blue Knight.

Half a dozen screaming burning dead monsters crashed into the Green Knight. The whole pile of them fell on top of me. I had a handful of horrified moments to realize the holy fire wasn't enough. We'd lost. The wights would kill us all. All the pain and horror and loss crashed down on me. I was going to die. I was going to die, and all of this had been for nothing.

I definitely didn't cry. Not a single manly tear. I don't care what anyone says.

I was just about to whisper a desperate prayer to a God I didn't believe in when William rolled off me with a curse. There was nothing left of the wights. Just ash. The Green Knight rushed over to Mike and Patrick. I took a couple of deep breaths and climbed to my feet. The ground around me was black and charred. I found Solais a few feet away. I picked it up and looked over at Nynyane. The Lady of the Lake was no longer chanting. She leaned against the courtyard wall, breathing heavily.

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There was still a pillar of white flames standing in the courtyard. The God of Hunger stood calmly, wreathed in holy fire. Buttchug hefted his spear, then chucked it. The spear punched through the stone wall a few feet from Nynyane's head. With a gesture, the burning god called the weapon back, then chucked it again.

"The wards," shouted the Lady. William was already moving. He snatched the spear out of the air, spun, and launched the weapon back at the God. The burning figure caught it by the shaft mere inches from his chest.

The Green Knight rushed at the God. The Blue Knight retrieved his rapier from a pile of ash and followed. The Red Knight clenched his fist, and the white fire surrounding Buttchug flared even brighter. I broke into a run, too, but in a different direction.

"Fool," the Devourer scoffed. He chucked the spear a third time. The Green Knight tried to catch it, but it swerved downward and pinned his leg. "I'm the God of Hunger, and there are few things as hungry as fire." Buttchug raised his hand, gathering a portion of the holy fire into his palm. The white flame exploded outward, a ball of fire streaking towards Mike. The Red Knight hit the deck, narrowly avoiding the blast. Nynyane dived as well, just before the fireball detonated against the wall of the courtyard. Stone shattered into molten debris.

An eight foot section of the wall crumbled. A few chunks landed on the Lady of the Lake, but she was far enough to the side to avoid the worst of it. The Green Knight managed to jerk the spear out of his leg, but instead of throwing it he jammed it into the ground and held on with both hands while the Blue Knight closed in.

I didn't waste any more time watching the fight. I scoured around and found a sword lying next to the charred remains of the table Nynyane had been chained to. I didn't realize it was the wrong sword until after I picked it up. This one had a black pommel stone, and veins of gold and silver and black flowing through the blade. It was the sword Roderick had dropped. Clarent.

The sound of William crashing into a stone wall brought my gaze back to the fight. Buttchug had his spear back, and he moved in a blur, stabbing and parrying and generally kicking the asses of Mike and Patrick. The God of Hunger wasn't much faster than a human, but his movements were so fluid and graceful he made the Knights look like extras in a cheesy kung fu flick.

I took Clarent in my shield hand. It was a little awkward gripping the hilt and the shield strap at the same time, but I managed. A little more searching yielded the Pink Knight's Bequest.

The original plan had been to stop Roderick before he could bring Buttchug into the world. Plan B, which wasn't going well, was to keep the God occupied while Nynyane did whatever she had to do to banish the fucker. Aoife, the Daughter in White, was waiting at the village with every priestess she could muster. With the power of the Pink Knight, Nynyane could get there in minutes. Together they could set up the ritual much faster, and banish the Hungry God.

It was the best plan we could've made with the information we had. It still sucked. The four of us would have to keep the God occupied for at least an hour, and probably a lot longer. Our best option would be to have Patrick freeze the prick with his magic rapier, but that plan went out the window when the Blue Knight stuck the God in the forearm. It didn't do anything. Probably the wights had given their master some sort of protective magic while they were thawing his eldritch ass. It was reasonable to assume my illusions wouldn't be worth a damn, now, either.

Plan B could still work, but I didn't like our chances. The God was both immortal and a much better fighter than us. He'd shown off a bunch of powers, probably had a bunch more we didn't know about, and he'd nullified most of our abilities. Overpowering the deity might be possible, but I didn't think we were the guys to do it.

We needed a new plan. A better plan. Something the God of Hunger wasn't ready for. Hefting two shiny magic swords, I thought I had just the thing. I hustled back to the Lady of the Lake.

It was time for plan C.