Chapter Five
Two day cycles later, a few more reapers arrived, along with Davariel's weredragons, Drakken, and Eriel.
Eriel was not the same angel Ashriel remembered. He looked solemn, somber. He hung back and barely uttered a word. When Natanael approached him about their upcoming mission, he merely nodded.
"You okay, Erie?" Natanael asked putting his hand on his arm.
"I'm fine," Eriel replied.
"He's depressed," Remuel sighed walking up to them in the hangar. Unlike his son, Remien, Remuel's hair was a silken fall of crimson down his back. Remien had about ten times the amount of hair on his head making it poof out like a lion's mane. But Ashriel knew for a fact that he was just as annoying and insane as his son.
"Depressed?" Ashriel echoed.
Eriel rolled his eyes as Remuel continued. "He had his mind wiped of all memories pertaining to Dava's days, but—"
"That idiot, brought them all back," Eriel spat pointing to Zakreel. "Now that Drakken is better and we're here..." Eriel's eyes drifted to where Devon stood speaking to the newly arrived reapers.
He glanced back to see Devon look over his shoulder at Eriel. Once again, Ashriel marveled at the uncanny resemblance between father and son. If Devon's hair were thicker, with more curl, and blond, his skin sun-kissed bronze, he'd be Davariel.
Ashriel sighed and turned as tears begin to spill from Erie's eyes.
"Oh, here we go with the water-works again," Remuel cried dramatically. "Erie, for fuck's sake, find yerself a nice big cock to impale yerself on, or a nice juicy pussy to bury yerself into. Sex always makes ya forget."
Eriel gripped two handfuls of his hair. "We've been off Arboria for almost six months. Why do you and Zakreel still speak with that annoying accent? You sound like a freakin' leprechaun."
Remuel snorted with a frown as Zakreel stepped up next to them also. "We need to get our translation devices adjusted, idiot."
"Besides, we're not staying," Zakreel added.
Zakreel, although very tall, was not as muscular as his massively proportioned son, but the dark blond wavy hair and sapphire eyes were very similar.
Ashriel frowned. "Where are you going?"
"We're going back to the old mansion," Remuel replied.
Eriel shook his head. "No. I can't ever go back there. It'd be too much," he whispered.
Natanael wrapped his arms and wings around his friend.
"What mansion?" Ashriel asked.
The dragons looked at one another before Remuel answered, "Luci and Dava's house on Sjoria."
Ashriel's eyes narrowed. The last portal Davariel had traversed was in that house. Ashriel would be able to locate the chamber that still held the portal into the realm of shadows where Davariel and his lover were trapped. If he could destroy it, then that would eliminate the threat of Davariel.
He felt Devon's presence behind him. He knew what Ashriel was thinking, but it didn't matter. Ashriel didn't care. He wanted to see Devon attempt to stop him.
Ashriel turned and began walking toward where his Silver Comet was, leaving the others behind. He felt Devon's luminescent eyes on him the whole way.
The hangar was big. It spanned a few miles around the bottom of Alpha 7. Most of it remained unlit, but wherever the sensors picked up life, it would illuminate the immediate area.
Up ahead, he made out the solitary beacon where Zak and Remi worked on his transport. As he drew closer, he had to blink a few times to allow what he was seeing to register in his stupefied mind.
Ashriel came up to the exact point where the parts began. Pieces of metal, wires, cables, plastic, foam, and glass covered the ground surrounding what was left of the Silver Comet. It spread at least fifteen paces wide around the empty hull of the transport. The crazy son-of-a-whore hadn't even left the seats inside the pod.
Zak's eyes widened and he slapped Remi on his ass to warn him they had company.
"Stop flirting with me, fucker. For the last time, you're not my type," Remien called from inside the open hull of the transport.
Zak snarled and reached in. He pulled Remi out by a handful of his hair.
"Shit, Zak—" His eyes finally caught sight of Ashriel. Zachariel released him with a snort. Remien grinned. "What's up, dude?"
Ashriel looked once more at the remains of the Silver Comet. "What the hell have you done?" he bellowed.
To his utter annoyance, the red-haired weredragon shushed him. "Easy, man. Just walk carefully over here and see for yourself."
He gestured into the hull.
Wanting nothing more than to get his hands around Remi's neck, Ashriel stalked forward.
"Look in there," Remi said in a soft voice.
Ashriel ducked his head into the wide hole where the nose of the transport used to be and gaped.
Curled up at the back of the open hull was a strange, bright-purple, furry creature. It was round, quite big, with six black button eyes, three red horns poking from its head and a short snout. The creature lifted its head and suddenly opened its snout to expose jagged lines of lethal looking teeth. It hissed and began to growl ferociously.
Ashriel staggered back and reached for his divine sword.
Remi and Zak gripped his arms. "No. What the fuck?" Remi hissed.
Ashriel shook them off. "Fuck you both. Why the hell is there a Moordian Devil in my transport?"
"Geez—just calm down. She's gonna give birth—"
"What?" Ashriel shouted.
From within the hull the growling grew more vicious.
"Dude you're scaring her," Remi insisted with a scowl.
Zak just stood by, his arms crossed over his chest and his lower lip tucked between his teeth. Somehow, Ashriel got the irritating idea he was trying not to laugh.
"Why in hell's name is there a pregnant Moordian Devil in there?" He never did like the overgrown rodent like creature, though he knew very well it wasn't a Devil like the name implied.
"Well, how the fuck should I know. You told me to fix your transport, Remi replied indignantly.
Ashriel looked around, his mouth open in shock. "So you dismantled the entire thing?"
"I was looking for baby Moordian Devils. They're tiny when they're born."
"You just said she was still pregnant."
"I wasn't sure, man. She was just in there growling. She's got about five out so far. I just wanted to be sure there weren't any more crawling around inside."
Ashriel ran a hand threw his hair. "Five? And how many do they usually spawn?"
