“Aye, my lady. They’ve broken through and are approaching the gate.”
Her features turned to stone. “Gather my army. ’Tis time we returned Thorn’s Deadmen to the hell that spawned them.”
*???*???*
Using his thoughts, Devyl commanded the raven to set them down on the sea barely a heartbeat before the dragons began their vicious attacks. Their incendiary breath lit the sky as they sought to sink the ship. Fireballs exploded all around.
In a bright flash of light, the raven transformed back into Simon Dewing, which startled the rest of the crew, as they realized Devyl had used the witch’s feathers for a spell to enlarge their striker’s alternate incarnation. As a shapeshifter, Simon had come in handy a number of times for certain tasks. But never more so than today.
Mara smirked at him. “You could have told us who the bird was, you know.”
Winking, he cracked a rare smile at her. “And miss the look upon all your faces? What be the fun in that, love? Got to have some enjoyment in me death.”
With a deep laugh, Simon moved to stand ready with Kat and Roach. He draped his arm around Kat, who shook his head at him and rolled his eyes.
“I should have known it was you.”
“Aye, you should have. You’ll never be hearing the end of it now. Didn’t even miss me or ask after me.… And I saw the way you were eyeing Bart in me absence. Don’t think I didn’t. There’ll be the devil to pay later over that, mark me words.”
Kat jerked his head toward Bane. “’Tis the other Devyl we have to pay right now that be worrying me most, me love.”
Simon wrapped his arm around Kat’s shoulders and pulled him close so that he could kiss the side of his head. “No worries. Ain’t no one getting their hands on you but me. They’ll have to come through me first.” He unsheathed his sword and used his powers to ignite the blade.
Devyl and Bart took the first wave of dragons that flew in to attack the ship as William went to stand beside Mara so that he could protect her. Bart and Devyl deflected the dragons’ fiery goo before it could land on deck or set the sails ablaze. Thank the gods that Bart and Will were as skilled with their magick as he was.
Their being Simeon Magi was one of the main reasons Devyl had approved Will and Bart as first mate and quartermaster for his crew. They were old school. Highly trained and deadly in just such encounters. While their astral hands were tied whenever they were around baretos, or uninitiated humans who knew nothing of the real preternatural threats that surrounded them, out here on the open water, among their own …
Bart and Will were every bit as lethal as he was, which was good, as he’d need them all to survive this day.
“Roll the long nines!” Devyl shouted to his gunners while he reviewed the best way to defend the ship and crew against their incoming threats.
Those would be their best regular defense. A demi-cannon wouldn’t be accurate enough at the distance the dragons were flying and the culverins didn’t shoot a heavy enough ball to penetrate dragon scales.
Aye, that load would only piss them off.
Same for their philosopher’s fire. Since dragons breathed fire, it wasn’t the most optimal weapon against them as they were heat-shielded for it. Their hides were thick and hard to pierce. Worse than trying to harpoon a whale with a sword. While it wasn’t impossible to take down a dragon, it was a specialized skill and none on board were dragonslayers by trade.
Damn me for that oversight. He should have thought ahead on that.
But that was all right. Their gunners were all Aru Mages—courtesy of a most defiant Thorn. Normally, such demonic creatures were reserved by the Sarim only for Necrodemians. And they would be all kinds of furious to find them on board the Sea Witch at Devyl’s command.
Why? Because they were a secret weapon the Hell-Hunters didn’t want to fall into the hands of their enemies under any circumstance. A special breed of demon, an Aru Mage was capable of assuming any metallic shape or object a Necrodemian might need for battle against the Cimmerian horde.
And it was an advantage that might allow them to emerge victorious this day.
Throwing his fire, Devyl brought down one dragon, which only angered another.
Just how had the beasts seen the ship, anyway? They had all been using their powers to conceal their presence as they headed into the dragons’ territory. It made no sense. None of them should have seen a single thread of sail. His answer came a few seconds later when bloodred clouds parted and he saw the other winged creatures flying beside their enemies.…
I should have known.
“Iri!” he shouted to warn his men so that they could prepare.
These were the Seraphim who’d turned against their brethren—or the children of those betrayers who’d chosen to fight with their fathers and mothers against Gabriel and his Kalosum warriors—they were what the Necrodemians had been created specifically to fight.
And they were a lot more powerful than the demons Devyl’s crew had been recruited to return to their respective dimensions. These were the top-level commanders. The most powerful of their kind.
More than that, they’d once been Devyl’s allies.
He cursed as he saw Gadreyal leading them. She was a nasty piece of work. The kind of demonic creature no man wanted to meet alone.
Except for Devyl. He relished a good fight with an equal opponent.
In particular, he wanted a piece of her highly attractive ass to mount to his wall for what she’d done to him. Right next to his ex-wife’s head.
“Gadreyal!” he called, summoning her away from his men as the cannons turned from firing on the dragons to aim at the new threat.
The moment she saw him, her eyes lit up to a vibrant red and she dove for him straight away. While he’d been damned, she’d been his primary torturer. They had centuries of mutual hatred they’d nursed against each other.
She bypassed his men and left her dragons and soldiers behind to deal with the rest and the cannon fire so that she could take Devyl on personally.
Good thing, that. It was enough to make him smile.
“Well, well,” she sneered, flapping her wings. “If it isn’t my favorite toy.” She unsheathed her sword. “Ready to give me what I want now?”
“I’m not imprisoned here, Gaddy.” He blasted her.
Shrieking, she landed before him and attacked.
Devyl caught and deflected her thrust with his own sword and advanced with the skill that had won him countless battles. He wasn’t bound by chains now, nor weakened by all-out starvation. While he might not still be up to full strength, he was a lot stronger than he’d been in centuries.
She was in for a full-on battle and he was ready to give it to her with everything he had—mage fire, fangs, and swordplay.