He gave the troublesome two a last warning glare, then turned to Kay and gripped his shoulder comfortingly."I'm sorry.Good luck."
Kay smiled crookedly."Hey, I survived literally dying, I can handle these smartasses."
Delighted by that answer, Percival and Tristan dragged their new best friend away.
Lancelot watched them go in affectionate amusement, then sent out summons to Dred, Gawain, Morgan, and Galahad.When they arrived, he opened channels to those not present, so everyone could be apprised at once, updated the ones with him, and then continued, "Assuming the worst, we need to run through our preparations."Not that there was much.Last time, they'd had an entire army fighting with them.Clearly the magic had not included that in the second round.
"We have the NPCs we can use as cannon fodder, I suppose, but it feels pointless in the end," Mordred said.
"Agreed," Lancelot replied.
Morgan tapped her chin."Not necessarily.I can fill them with shadow magic, cause disruptions through the lines that way, because I don't doubt he's going to do something similar."
Lancelot sighed."I didn't even think of that.So we need to wipe them out while staying focused on the goal.How do we ensure that, if we succeed, Maleagant doesn't squirm free somehow?If they made backups of Kay and the others, we must assume they did the same for themselves…which means we could face them all over again."
"No," Merlin said from behind Lancelot as he joined them."They're done.Especially Kinborough, since she sacrificed herself to become that lindworm.It was her last ditch effort at victory, and if she'd won, she'd still be trapped in that form.We destroyed every last thing we could that we did not bring with us.I can't promise they don't have backups of themselves stored somewhere else entirely, but it doesn't matter, because that limits them to the pocket universe, and after this is over, I can ensure they get zapped out of existence every time they try to enter, like a virus program.Eventually, we'll find where their server blade is stored and destroy that for good measure.But the most important part is to kill their real selves, which we've done, save for Maleagant."He looked at Lancelot, smiling softly."So what's the plan, Captain?"
"Morgan and her shadow possessed NPCs on the forward offense, to deal with the noise ofhisNPCs.Gawain will serve as her protection.Percival and Kay will be with Arthur in the great hall.Dred, Tristan, your only job is to find and secure Bran and Bertilak.Galahad, focus on Galehaut."Saying the words hurt, becausehewanted to get Galehaut back more than anything.But he trusted his friends with his life, and he was needed elsewhere."Guinevere, Iseult, and Elaine will man the traps around the castle and provide support.Merlin and I will focus on Maleagant.If something goes wrong, your priority is to get Arthur and get out."
They all knew it wouldn't matter, because if they lost Camelot, they were as good as dead no matter where they fled, but better to hope and try than accept defeat before it was forced upon them."Orders clear?"
"Yes, Captain!"they chorused.
"Then make ready, knights.The war ends today, one way or another."
"Yes, Captain!"
They dispersed, save Merlin, who stood there with him on the steps watching the horizon and awaiting the scouts' return.
"It's interesting we have gained Kay, that he feels like one of us already," Merlin said."The laws of magic dictate that nothing of significance should have changed between our initial failure and this second chance.I sense some greater force has interfered where they can."
Lancelot smiled faintly, thinking of a beautiful fish with pink fins, carrying a ring that had clearly been made some time ago.
In the distance, the smoke was coming closer.
Merlin was messing with his screens, and sighed as he dismissed them."We're locked in.There won't be any retreating, except within the game itself.Which, granted, we can go far, but if we lose Camelot, it doesn't really matter."
"It's not over until we're dead.And if we die…well, Maleagant becomes someone else's problem, I guess.Hopefully they'll learn from our failure.Ideally, it won't come to that."His chat window flared to life in front of him with lurid red alerts."Scouts report inferno dragons and golems."
"That explains the smoke," Merlin said with a sigh."He came loaded for bear, I'll give him that."
"NPC forces being led by Bertilak, but they seem to be a vanguard.The main force, with the dragons and all, are back further and led by Bran.Galehaut seems to be protecting Maleagant himself."Lancelot's stomach churned.
So close, they were so close, but what if in this mess they could not free Galehaut?Would they achieve victory only for him to lose the love of his life?
"Don't borrow despair," Merlin said."Galahad knows what's been trusted to him.He would never fail you, especially not in this.There's no spell we cannot break, given the time to do it, and with Maleagant dead, we'll have all the time we need."
Lancelot gave a terse nod, then called up another window and relayed all the information."Ready the traps, by your pleasure, my queen, my ladies.Everyone else, into position."
Percival, Tristan, and Kay came running through the portcullis that immediately slammed closed behind them, followed by heavier, nigh-impenetrable gates of solid iron and wood on either side.
High above, storm clouds gathered at alarming speed.Painfully familiar.Dread coiled through Lancelot."Merlin…that…"
Confirming his fears, a collection of terrible roars tore through the sky, thunder and lightning filling the air, and on the clouds was a shadow of a nightmarishly large dragon with more heads than could be easily counted."Damn it!"Lancelot snarled."I thought you said Kinborough wasdeaddead."
"She is," Merlin said as the dragon broke through the clouds and Maleagant's terrible vanguard came into view."That's just the game boss this time.Should be easier to kill."
"I'll handle that," Arthur said as he joined them on the steps, Excalibur already drawn."Keep to your plan, Captain.All that matters is killing Maleagant—and getting our friends back, but Maleagant above all of us, however much I loathe saying that."
