ships. Either he’d made enemies at court or he was inept. Judging by the fact that he had fought a valiant and intelligent battle against an enemy that must have seemed to fly straight from a nightmare meant that he’d made enemies.
“Two guns are gone and the others are disabled!” the captain shouted. “But we can hold on, sir.”
Stephano saluted in acknowledgment and then told Droal to make a wide, swinging circle that would take him close to the demon commander. If Stephano had been riding Lady Cam, he would have been able to communicate the direction they should take through a shifting of his body in the saddle, the pressure of his legs. Droal had not been trained to carry a rider, so Stephano had to tell him where to fly. Droal was an old soldier, and he immediately understood Stephano’s plan. The loss of the demon commander would hopefully throw the rest of the troops into confusion.
The demon saw the dragon coming for him. The Cloud Hopper was in position and its swivel guns were firing, two at a time. Now that she could leave the helm, Miri must be assisting Dag. The swivel guns were finding their marks, dealing damage to the demons. Stephano heard the screeching of wounded bats and he saw one go tumbling into the Breath.
With his force reduced to about fourteen, plus a few bats that had lost their riders, the commander had to know he could not hope to battle a dragon who could wipe out at least six bats with one breath. In the commander’s place, Stephano would have pulled his troops from the cutter and flown off to join the assault on the abbey. Stephano planned his attack accordingly, telling Droal to fly into position to kill the commander and then attack the demons who might try to retreat back to the abbey.
The shrill whistle sounded. Stephano was close enough to the commander to see the details of the insignia on his armor. The bat hissed and screamed at the dragon. The demon turned his frozen, hideous, expressionless face to stare directly at Stephano. Reaching around to his back, the demon seized hold of an ax. The bat carrying the commander made a steep, sudden, darting dive, flying off so swiftly that by the time Droal breathed his fiery breath, the commander had flown safely out of range.
Droal rumbled angrily and was preparing to chase after him when Stephano called to the dragon to halt. The commander had not given his troops the order to fly back to the abbey. He had given them the order to make a last, desperate assault on the Cloud Hopper and the Suspicion.
Bats darted and swooped at the two vessels. Green flames spread over the ship and the little houseboat. The cutter fired its last working cannon. The ball whistled harmlessly past its target and fell into the Breath. The swivel guns on the Cloud Hopper continued their firing. Dag was managing to keep the bats and their riders at bay.
Catching sight of Stephano, Dag pointed to the preloaded chambers for the swivel guns and then held up one hand, fingers spread. Only five rounds left.
The demons flew low, firing their strange cannons. Green fire burst on the protection spells. They were still holding; the Cloud Hopper was not yet badly damaged. But each shot weakened them, weakened Gythe. Dag fired and missed. One round gone. Miri fired and winged a bat, causing it to veer off with a screech. Two rounds gone.
The demon commander left his troops to continue the assault. Flying his bat perilously close to the Cloud Hopper, the demon looked straight at Stephano. The orange eyes flamed in derision. He jumped off the bat and landed on the deck of the boat. Two more demons joined him, leaping from their bats and landing on the deck. They had abandoned the green-fire guns and carried axes.
They had no thought of retreat. They had boarded the Cloud Hopper with the intent to kill.
Two of the demons raised their axes and ran across the deck, one heading for Dag, the other for Miri. The commander ran for the hatch that led down into the hold. The demon would find Gythe and Rodrigo. Gythe helpless, Rigo unarmed, unable to defend her or himself. Dag was sighting in the swivel gun. Intent on his aim, he did not see the demons. Miri saw them and cried a warning.
Stephano swore savagely. He could order Droal to incinerate the demons, but the dragon could not do that without incinerating the Cloud Hopper.
Stephano drew his dragon pistol.
“Take me in close,” he ordered Droal.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Aertheum the Fallen knows that God has given mankind free will, the choice between good or evil. With honeyed words and false promises, he entices us to leave God’s side and join with the foul legions. Some listen; the choice is theirs. Never turn your back on the Fallen for that is when he drives home the knife.
– “Thoughts on the Nature of Evil” from the writings of Saint Michael
DAG HEARD MIRI’S CRY AND TURNED to see one demon coming at him, ax raised and a demon running at Miri. The demon was right behind her. Dag had his pistol in his hand, but the demon was too close to Miri for him to risk shooting it without hitting her. He roared a warning.
Miri reached beneath the helm, seized a pistol, turned, and fired all in the same motion. The blast struck the demon full in the chest and sent him flying backward. The fiend smashed into the base of the mast and crumpled over in a heap. Miri stood trembling, her face and clothes covered with blood and gunpowder.
Dag fired at his demon, aiming for the hideous face. The demon’s head exploded and the fiend dropped to the deck. Dag threw down the spent pistol and was drawing another when he heard Miri scream. He looked over to see the demon with a gaping hole in its chest had regained his feet and was coming at her again, a knife in his hand.
Horror-struck by the awful sight, Miri could not move. Dag shot the demon again, this time in the legs. The demon crashed down almost at Miri’s feet. Still the demon tried to stand up. Miri grabbed a boat hook and began beating it, hitting it again and again until the fiend finally stopped moving.
Dag turned to look at the one he had shot and was thankful to see he was still dead. The third demon had almost reached the hatch. Stephano and the dragon soared past, the dragon’s belly gleaming in the sunshine.
“I’ve got this one, Dag!” Stephano shouted, aiming his gun at the demon commander.
Droalfrig made a steep banking turn, wings narrowly avoiding taking out the boat’s main yardarm. Stephano fired. His shot struck the demon commander in the back just as he reached the open hatch. The demon commander either jumped or tumbled through the hatch and disappeared. The dragon flew past, shouting as he went something about his brother being attacked at the abbey. Dag had no idea what the dragon was talking about. He lost sight of both the dragon and Stephano in the smoke.
Another demon leaped from his bat and charged straight at Dag, sending the bat to attack Miri. Dag fired the blunderbuss at the bat and the creature was a mass of blood and bone and fur. Dag swung the empty blunderbuss like a club and caught the demon in the midriff. The demon doubled over. Dag smashed the stock down on its neck.
“Reload!” he shouted at Miri.
She dropped to her knees and picked up a pistol and put in the powder and shot. She thrust that pistol into her belt and grabbed a musket.
“Dag, behind you!” she yelled, jamming the ramrod into the musket.
Dag turned to see the demon he’d shot in the face getting to its feet. Blood oozed from the demon’s cracked helm. The orange eyes glowed. The demon reached out his hands and foul-smelling reddish noxious smoke began to flow from the demon’s limbs. The smoke roiled around Dag. He covered his mouth and nose with his hands, but he could not filter out the fumes. He began to feel giddy, light-headed.
Dag had been raised by a deeply religious mother who believed in a God of wrath. People who did bad things in this world were forever damned. Dag had done many bad things in his life. He had since repented and worked hard to make amends, but he feared in his heart he could never right the terrible wrongs. He was doomed to spend eternity in Hell and as he watched the demon coming toward him, reaching for him with bloody hands, he heard his mother’s voice crying that he was doomed, the fiends were coming to claim him and drag him into the Pit. Dag stood helpless, staring transfixed at the fiend.
Miri saw Dag was in trouble. She had no idea what was wrong with him. He was just standing there, making no attempt to stop the demon that was about to kill him. The ramrod was still in the barrel of the musket she had
