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  “The spell does not work that way. You need to imagine it as having two parts. The first part of the binding keeps the larvae dormant. The second part keeps it subject to my will. If I release the first part the second part will still hold as long as I am alive.”

  “So in fact you have a tame demon hidden in body waiting to serve you.”

  “If you want to look at things in that way then yes. However, I can assure you that in your current form you are much more admirably suited to be my bodyguard than a near mindless swarm demon.”

  Ulrik wondered whether that was really the case. It seemed quite possible that he was in fact the container for a hidden weapon that the sorcerer was waiting to deploy. He knew far too little about the Malashtra to be able to tell. He needed to find out more if he was going to judge his real worth to Valerius and what the magician’s design might really be.

  If Valerius was aware of the direction his thoughts were taking, he gave no sign. His gaze remained focused on the distant horizon, as if he was reading some dismal portent in the towering clouds massing there.

  Ulrik’s heart hammered. The wizard’s words had convinced him that his life hung even more by a thread than he had suspected. There were far more ways that the demon could be brought to life than he had previously imagined. He needed to find a way to get free of this.

  He knew people in Hydra, wizards and fleshgrafters who might be able to help him. Of course, to manage that he would have to slip away from the wizard without Valerius suspecting what was going on, and perhaps removing the implant would prove beyond the skill of any mage he knew. Still it was a hope and that was something he needed desperately right at this moment.

  “What’s that in the distance?” Rhea asked. They stood at the prow of the Fiery Blade looking out over the figurehead. She had joined him after Valerius went below.

  Ulrik followed her pointing finger. Something moved amongst the multi-coloured clouds, in a different direction, against the wind. It was too diffuse to be a ship although it might have been a swarm of small launches or one-man flitters.

  Because of the distance the objects were still small but he could make out winged humanoids, armed and flying purposefully in their direction.

  He told himself that it might just be coincidence; perhaps they had interrupted a migration of demons from one wormhole to another. But he did not believe in that sort of coincidence and decided that he’d better give the alarm anyway. Just as he came to that conclusion, the lookout sounded a warning and the deck swarmed with sailors, taking up positions by their weapons, moving into place to repel boarders, stowing down loose gear before battle commenced.

  Valerius and Serena emerged from below. The captain hurried to her post. Once on the command deck, she raised a spyglass to her eye and studied the approaching flock, then she twisted the wheel and changed course. After a few moments, the demons altered theirs. It seemed that they were going to have to fight.

  Ulrik could make out more details as the demons closed. Their skins shimmered a bloody red and their eyes glowed with strange internal fires. Bat-like wings emerged from their backs and he realised that distance and the lack of background objects had given him the wrong idea of their size. The smallest of them was as big as the largest man in the crew. They had claws on the ends of their hands and feet, and great curling horns emerged from their foreheads. A few of them clutched spears tipped with black blades on which red runes glowed. There were scores of them.

  Valerius knew better than to get on the command deck but he shouted, “I must have my adjuncts and my companions must have their weapons.”

  “You are in no position to give orders here,” said Serena. She pulled one of the great levers beside the wheel. The ailerons altered their position and the Fiery Blade began to gain altitude.

  “If you wait much longer, neither will you,” said Valerius. “That flock will overtake the ship in minutes. We will all be demon food then.”

  Serena considered for a moment, then nodded. She unhooked keys from her belt and tossed them down to Riordan. “You know where to go,” she shouted.

  They followed him swiftly below decks.

  Ulrik did not feel quite so vulnerable with a blade strapped to his side and protective amulets in place round his neck. He did not relish the idea of getting back on deck and waiting for the demons to overhaul them but at least he had the opportunity to die fighting now and that was all he had ever asked.

  Valerius soon had his adjuncts in place, assorted runes clasped to his arm, and various amulets hanging from his neck. He grinned like a man who had long been parted from his favourite things and had just had them suddenly and unexpectedly returned.

  Rhea strapped two daggers to her sides.

  Riordan watched them as if expecting a sudden attack. Valerius said, “We’d better get back on deck. It will only be a couple of minutes before the battle begins.”

  “Perhaps you should stay down here,” said Ulrik. “We would not want any accidents befalling you now, would we?”

  Valerius grinned at him. ”Your concern for my welfare touching. Under normal circumstances I would agree with you but at times like this everyone has a part to play. If you and the crew are overwhelmed, my own life will soon be forfeit. On deck I may contribute something to our defence.”

  “It wasn’t your welfare I was concerned about,” Ulrik muttered. Valerius shot him a warning look and he realised that there were some things it might not be wise to talk about with outsiders present. Of course, none of that might matter in a few minutes. They might all soon be dead.

  “Time to go,” said Rhea, leading the way out of the bowels of the ship and into the light. The demons were so close now that Ulrik could catch their scent on the wind. They smelled of brimstone and musk and human bodies rotting.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Bat-winged demons crowded the sky around the Fiery Blade, screaming and bellowing like rabid beasts.

  “That’s not good,” said Valerius. He frowned as he listened.

  “You speak their language?” Ulrik asked. He had to shout to make himself heard over the booming voices of their attackers.

  “They say they are going to enjoy the pleasure of raping and torturing us and feasting on our entrails. Apparently they can do all three simultaneously. What a startling lack of originality that displays. You’d think with all eternity to think about these things they would be able to come up with something less banal.”

  “Some are content with the simple things in life.”

  “Is that the voice of experience talking? No. Don’t answer. I must prepare spells for our mutual assistance.”

  Serena turned the wheel so that the ship was broadside on to them. Suddenly the huge prismatic cannon opened fire. The screams of the tortured elementals bound within filled the air. Bolts of multi-coloured, mystical energy tore through the ranks of the flock, blasting them with a torrent of mystical energy.

  Demons screamed and vanished, their outlines fading as they came apart in a shower of sparks. The cannons blasted again and again.

  The demons began to peel off towards the ship, coming in from different angles, out of the line of fire.

  A demon folded its wings and plummeted towards them, stooping like a great hawk in search of prey. With one hand Ulrik pushed Valerius to one side and dived in the opposite direction himself. The demon hit the deck where the wizard had stood a second before. A shower of sparks erupted where its talons impacted. Ulrik willed his elemental blade to life. Flames licked along the blade, fluttering in the breeze of the ship’s movement. He stabbed it home. The demon’s flesh parted, and it let out a terrible roar.

  Its wings snapped open. The pinions were razor edged, and each of the struts ended in a great hooked talon. Ulrik ducked just in time, feinted at the demon’s eyes and then struck, landing only a glancing blow. The demon sprang into the air, its wings carrying it upwards and away. Ulrik leapt after it, thrusting his blade upwards, catching it where the groin would have been
in a man. The demon howled in anguish as it disintegrated into a shower of stinking sparks.

  A terrible melee engulfed the ship. Men wrestled with demons. Stormlances flared, sending blasts of power shimmering across the deck. Another demon lunged at Valerius. Fear grasped at Ulrik’s heart. He was too far away to intervene and the mage was simply not strong enough to defend himself.

  Rhea appeared. Her blade smashed into the back of the wizard’s attacker. Runes flared along its length as it bit into alien flesh. The demon howled and twisted to strike at its tormentor but Rhea sprang away, easily eluding it.

  Ulrik threw himself headlong at the demon. His elemental blade ploughed into its flesh and the thing screamed and died. Valerius raised his hands and muttered an invocation. Haloes of energy played around his head and hands. His aura of power intensified.

  On the command deck, Serena and a few of her officers fought back to back against their attackers. A whirlwind raced around her, buffeting the demons and sending them off balance, telling of the presence of her elemental protector. Many of the crew were down, with demons bestriding them, feasting on their entrails, performing the unnatural acts they had threatened.

  Here and there, some pirate with a strong set of grafts or a particularly powerful elemental blade held their own, but it was obvious that unless something was done the ship would very swiftly be over-whelmed.

  Valerius completed his spell.

  Filaments of fire danced through the air all around him, snaking out and zig-zagging around humans to spear through the flesh of demons like red-hot wires through tender meat. Each line of light and magic pulsed, colours changing along its length as it moved. Every one of them sought out a demon, and every demon it touched howled in agony. Those that survived took to the air and fled as fast as their wings would carry them.

  Valerius slumped to the deck, looking drained of all strength, as if invoking the spell had cost him very dearly. Pain stabbed at Ulrik’s chest. For a brief moment of vertiginous horror he thought Valerius might have over-extended his power. There was another stab of agony and Ulrik howled with anguish. Slowly, the pain subsided leaving only a feeling of tightness in Ulrik’s chest. He slumped down beside the weary sorcerer, blade held loosely in his right. The shadow of Serena fell across them.

  “I thank you for your aid,” the pirate captain said. “I thought we were doomed there for a moment, but your spell saved us.”

  “It was my pleasure,” said Valerius. His face was pale and sweat beaded his forehead.

  “However I must insist you hand over your adjuncts. I will put them into safekeeping,” said Serena. “Along with Captain Ulrik’s weapon.”

  Her crew gathered around, paying close attention to the conversation. They held their weapons at the ready, as if they were quite as afraid of Valerius as they had been of the demons.

  A new tension filled the air. The captain and her crew had just become aware of what Valerius was capable of, and they felt threatened. Ulrik could understand that. The crew were never going to get a better chance to disarm them, with Valerius weakened by over-use of his magic. Valerius’s smile showed that he too understood that they stood at a cross-roads.

  As a former captain himself, Ulrik could understand Serena’s line of thinking. No one wanted to have a potential enemy as powerful as Valerius loose on their ship. His own hand strayed to his sword. If she gave the order to attack, he would meet violence with violence.

  Valerius noticed his action and shook his head.

  “You look just about done in,” Serena said. “Working such formidable magic must have left you very tired.” She continued to stare at them hard. “I feel prompted to add that for a pleasure slave your cat-girl handles a blade with great deftness.”

  “She also acts as my bodyguard. I find the combination useful as well as stimulating.”

  “You are a man of interesting tastes,” said Serena. “Now if you will hand over the rest of your adjuncts and war-gear, I would be most grateful.”

  Ulrik tensed himself for the hopeless conflict to come. Valerius shook his head. “I think we should all surrender our weapons,” he said. “After all Captain Ulrik, there is no need for you to throw your life away on my behalf.”

  “What happened back there?” Ulrik asked as the three of them crowded into the cabin. “Why did I feel like I was having a heart attack when you cast the spell.”

  “I must apologise, Ulrik,” Valerius said. “Back there on deck, I lost control of the binding spell temporarily. The stress of casting Laedon’s Linear Dismissal cost me dearly and I fear it might cost you the same.”

  “That’s not very reassuring.”

  “There is a limit to what any wizard is capable of, and today I am afraid I reached it. Console yourself with the thought that if I had not done what I did you would even now be enjoying the gentle ministrations of a demon.”

  “I find myself oddly ungrateful.” Anger bubbled up within Ulrik. It gave his voice an edge. It made him feel strong and powerful.

  “That is understandable,” said Valerius. “Still we all must endure some setbacks in this life and much that is unpleasant.”

  “It seems to me that my share has been disproportionate.”

  Valerius raised an eyebrow. “The people you encountered in your pirate days might disagree if they were still alive to do so. Some might even go so far as to see your suffering as a just punishment for your acts.”

  Was there just a hint of annoyance in the wizard’s voice, Ulrik wondered? Valerius looked tired enough to vent his emotions. There was a warning tone to his words that should have made Ulrik back off but instead merely goaded his temper to new heights. “Is that what you think? Who are you to judge me? You can’t understand what my life was like?”

  “Doubtless any one of the people you murdered and robbed might have said the same thing. You passed a death sentence on them though. Who gave you that right?”

  “I would not expect a man like you to understand. Your sort has everything in this world. You don’t know what it’s like to be poor. To have nothing, to be less than the dirt beneath some merchant prince’s boots.”

  “There are millions more people in this world who are poor. Most of them manage to avoid robbing and killing their fellows.”

  “And that’s the way your sort likes them, isn’t it? Docile? I refuse to live like that.”

  “The unvarnished righteousness of your wrath is impressive. Although I’m not convinced all the people you killed would see the justice of your arguments.”

  “I’ve been there when you’ve killed a few people as well, and I’ve not known you for very long.”

  Valerius shook his head. “In my defence, I could say that I did not do this for my own gain.”

  “And doubtless your victims would find this just as unsatisfactory an answer as mine.”

  “Well this is a breakthrough,” said Valerius. “At least you have admitted that the people you killed were your victims.”

  The argument was spiralling out of Ulrik’s control. The wizard was capable of twisting his words the way his spells twisted the fabric of reality. Ulrik felt like punching the man but his sense of self-preservation told him that this would not be wise. At that moment there was a knock on the door and Serena entered. Ulrik wondered how long she might have been outside listening. Her face gave no idea.

  “I wanted to thank you for your help,” she said. “I am grateful to you for saving my ship.”

  “I take it your gratitude does not extend to letting us go,” said Valerius.

  “I am afraid not,” she said. “I should sell you to Lord Molok.”

  She looked frightened and a little ashamed.

  “Is he really so powerful?” Ulrik asked.

  “More powerful than you can imagine. Hydra is not the city you left. Molok and his acolytes rule it in all but name. The Council of Captains merely puts their seal on his edicts. I fear you will not recognise the place when we get there Captain Ulrik.”

&nb
sp; “Thank you for the warning.”

  She slumped down in the chair and stared at them. “These demons. They are becoming more common. They have been all along these routes in the last few months. It’s almost as if something is drawing them.”

  “I feel sure it is,” said Valerius. He sounded sympathetic.

  “How, in what way?”

  “I don’t think it’s coincidental that demons starting appearing at the same time as Molok rose to power and the black ships appeared. These things are all connected. After all, he must be getting the creatures he binds into these hulls from somewhere.”

  “You are saying he summons them and we simply got in the way this time?”

  “Perhaps. Or perhaps it’s simply that his magic has caused ripples. Maybe he has unleashed enough power that the old gates and portals resonate to it and the demons find it easier to enter our world.”

  “That does not sound like a good thing,” said Ulrik.

  “Your gift for understatement astounds me. And there’s something else worth considering. Perhaps all of these things are not accidents, but part of a greater plan.”

  “To do what?”

  “I will not know until I see this Molok and his handiwork.”

  “No need to worry about that,” said Serena. “We will reach Hydra soon enough.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  The Fiery Blade of Devastation swept down towards Hydra. Those of her crew not busy with their duties stood on deck watching their home port approach. Ulrik joined them, out of nostalgia and a desire to catch a glimpse of the only place he had ever really thought of as home.

  Hydra had sprung up like an evil fungus amid the ruins of a long-dead city. Its huge buildings were scattered amid the calderas of a group of long extinct volcanoes: abandoned palaces, fallen warehouses, gigantic residential insulae. Around the rim of the craters, broad, brutish towers pierced the leaden sky, and long roads, leading to long dead kingdoms, wound like demented serpents through the tortured rock.