But the song. He rose, nose bleeding into his beard. He charged the Draug, and he and Girel collided.

Idelt swung his fists as if they were his hammer and the undead a piece of metal on the anvil.

One, two, three—he felt the man’s bones breaking with each punch. But the Draug didn’t care. It had taken Girel, that gentle man, and turned him into this. The Draug raised a hand and hammered down on Idelt’s shoulder.

The [Smith] screamed. He didn’t see Lantal landing, Ser Dalimont getting to his feet and fighting the undead coming through the gates. They were trying to help him, but no one could hit the Draug with Idelt so close. The Draug punched again, trying to grab Idelt’s head.

The man hit Girel across the neck and snapped it. He saw Girel’s head snap back and break there. The head lolled to the left and right. Still, it came on. Idelt set himself. He swung with all the fury in his soul.

A monster had taken his wife. Never his daughter. Not his land. Not him.

The man and the Draug surged at each other. The undead swung its broken arm. Idelt blocked. He kicked the Draug, and the undead stumbled back. The huge body moved with the impact. It charged at him. Idelt swung his right hand again with a roar. He had stopped feeling the pain. His energy was back.

He was just—

Angry. This time the punch carried the corpse off its feet. It tried to get back up, awkwardly. A bone stuck out of its neck. It felt nothing, but it had enough intelligence to do more than attack. It raised an arm, seeing the [Smith] charging.

This time the impact actually lifted the body off the ground an inch. The Draug stopped, stunned again.

A second fist like a hammer carried it up. A punch hit it into the wall of a house.

The Humans stared at the Draug. And the man. He hit the Draug in the chest, in the face, into the wall until the masonry cracked. Until the thing stopped moving, mocking his friend.

“Idelt! Idelt, it’s dead man!”

The pounding thunder in Idelt’s head faded enough for him to hear at last. The world was quiet. He looked around—and only then felt the pain in his fists. He raised one hand, wondering if he’d fractured the very bones.

Then he saw the Draug. Girel—the giant of a man twisted in death—had been put to rest. Nothing would rise from the battered flesh and bone lying…in a broken wall?

Lord Lantal and Ser Dalimont were standing behind him. Idelt turned, shaking with exhaustion. He looked at the two men. Both seasoned warriors were staring at him.