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 been reloading. She didn’t have time to take it out. Hoping the weapon would not blow up in her hands, she aimed and pulled the trigger. The recoil knocked her sideways. The long wooden rod flew out of the musket and drove like a spear through the demon’s back.
Blood spewing, the demon fell to the deck and this time did not get up. Miri ran to Dag. He was in a daze, his eyes wide and unseeing. The reddish smoke was starting to dissipate, shredded by the gusting winds, but she caught a whiff and tasted the bitter flavor of what might have been some sort of opiate. She cried Dag’s name and flung her arms around him, pleading with him to come back to her. She felt a shudder go through his body and then he blinked and looked up at her. He seemed about to say something when a wail of terror and a frantic shout came from below.
“The demon Stephano shot went down into the hold!” Dag said. “Are any of the guns loaded?”
“Two,” said Miri, pointing to the pistol in her belt and another lying on the deck. She drew the pistol from her belt and handed it to Dag.
“I’m going below. You stay here. If one of those fiends lands on the boat, shoot it.”
He disappeared down into the hold, leaving Miri alone on the deck. Several bats without riders flew around the Cloud Hopper. They screeched at her, but didn’t attack. She picked up the pistol and looked down over the rail at the cutter. Demons had boarded it, as well. Captain and crew were fighting them off.
Three demon riders were still in the air. Miri kept a watch on them and gripped the pistol in her hands. She tried to find Stephano and the dragon. She had lost track of him during the battle, and now they were nowhere in sight.
Three more demons, armed with the green-fire cannons, flew toward the Cloud Hopper. Miri heard yelling and shouts coming from below and her sister’s terrified screams and then green fire dazzled her eyes. She felt the heat of the flames wash over her, and she flung open the hatch and dove through it, shutting it behind her as the green fireballs burst on the Cloud Hopper.
The dragon was pulling out of his dive after Stephano had shot the commander when suddenly Droalfrig lifted his head and roared out his brother’s name. He made a steep, arcing turn that forced Stephano to fling his arms around the dragon’s neck and hold on tightly.
“Droal!” Stephano yelled. “Don’t throw me off!”
“Sorry, Captain,” Droal returned. “Forgot.”
Stephano waited for his stomach to resume its proper place in his body, then asked, “What’s wrong?”
“Brother Hroalfrig, sir! Demons! Attacking the abbey!”
Stephano could now see another dragon, flying over the spires of the cathedral, valiantly fighting off a horde of demons. Splotches of green fire burst in the air around the dragon. Smoke coiled into the air.
“I have to go to him, sir,” Droal yelled. “Should I set you down?”
Stephano looked back at the Cloud Hopper. Dead demons lay sprawled on the deck. Dag and Miri appeared to have killed the boarders. He didn’t see any other demons and he was worried about the nuns in the abbey. He turned back to the dragon.