Piper hesitated when she reached the hatchway where Malkazar had disappeared into the demonic ship. After her experiences in the ratfolk den and the sewer beneath the city, she didn’t like the idea of entering a tight corridor where her bow would be nearly useless.

  Astaroth stopped at her side. “Is there a problem?”

  “I don’t like tight places.”

  “If it will assuage your worries, I do not sense any powerful demons lurking below decks.”

  “What if the brinefiend returns while we’re all down there?”

  “Then you will probably perish in the depths of the ocean.”

  Piper eyed the skeletal demon. “What about you?”

  “I have methods to escape should the need arise.”

  “Well, good for you.” Piper took a deep breath and climbed through the hatch. She dropped a short distance and landed on the spongy floor. Unlike the outside, the walls and floor almost seemed to have been formed from soft flesh. The material squished under her boots with each step.

  A moment later, Astaroth levitated down and took up a position at her side. “Shall we discuss your classes?”

  “I want to ask you something first,” she whispered. “I… lost some people close to me. Is there any way to bring them back?”

  “If they were in the Infernal Realm, I could petition a demonic noble to bring them back to life. However, even their powers are limited in the mortal realm.”

  “You’re a demon,” she said, rounding on Astaroth. “Surely there’s something you can do. I keep hearing how powerful demons are, but I’ve never seen them do anything useful.”

  Astaroth extended his arm and then unfurled a bony finger to point at Piper’s belt. “I sense an incredibly powerful artifact on your person. Perhaps you could use that to return them to a semblance of life?”

  Piper frowned and reached down to touch the exterior of her leather pouch. Inside, she felt the outline of the magical dagger she’d retrieved from the leader of the undead cultists. Her eyes widened with shock as she realized what Astaroth was recommending. “I’m not turning them into zombies!”

  “If your only desire is to keep them around, then what does it matter if they’re undead?”

  “But they’ll be mindless biting machines!” Piper exclaimed. “I’m not doing that to my friends.”

  “Yet you would have them resurrected in the Infernal Realm? Their life would be one of continuous torture here.”

  “I wasn’t going to leave them here! They were going to come back with me.”

  Malkazar appeared at the end of the corridor, his eyebrow arched. “What’s the holdup, skinny?”

  “Piper is quite distressed that she lost some friends recently. I believe you understand how overly emotional mortals are about their temporary attachments to each other.”

  The demonic noble’s gaze snapped over to Piper. “You lost a friend?”

  “Two friends,” she said quietly. “Althea and Selene.”

  “You have my condolences. I know how important friends are in the mortal realm. Someday, I’ll bring an end to the barbarity and depravity of that place permanently. And you can help me accomplish that.”

  Piper frowned, surprised at the demon’s comforting words and more than a little unnerved at the suggestion that she could help him. What could she do as a low-level demon?

  Shaking her head, she returned her focus to the task at hand. Right now, they needed to figure out what was wrong with the ship. Afterward, she could scrutinize Malkazar’s angle. There was no way he was helping her out of the kindness of his heart; if demons even had hearts.

  Malkazar motioned for them to follow. “Shall we?”

  Piper nodded and followed the demon down the narrow corridor. They passed rooms filled with disgusting piles of pulsating organs before crawling through areas covered with fleshy pink cords draped like spiderwebs over the hallways.

  They reached a ramp leading deeper into the ship, and looking down, she saw that it was flooded. The steaming pitch sloshed around with each motion of the vessel; the dark liquid had almost reached the middle of the ramp.

  “This is going to be unpleasant,” Malkazar muttered. “When I find who did this, I’m going to feed them to an Arachthul.” He clapped his hands together. “No point putting it off. Just remember to keep your [Demonic Blood] active.”

  “You want me to go into that stuff?” Piper asked incredulously. “Won’t it burn us alive?”

  “Most definitely.” Malkazar lifted his robes. “Which is why I said to keep your [Demonic Blood] active. I swear mortals never listen.” Without another word, he descended the ramp and waded into the boiling liquid. He didn’t even grimace as he pushed deeper into the ship.

  Piper exchanged a glance with Astaroth before she gritted her teeth and followed the demonic noble. Within a few steps, the burning liquid overflowed her boots and scorched her skin. She immediately activated [Demonic Blood].

  Ding! Your racial skill, Demonic Blood has reached level 38.

  Between the pain from her skill continuously activating and the burning liquid stripping away her skin, all she could focus on was putting one foot in front of the other.

  About halfway down the corridor, she turned to see Astaroth floating above the steaming surface. Shooting a scowl in his direction, she decided she really needed to learn a flying skill soon.

  After a short distance, they reached a room with a red and purple organ pulsating on a bony base. A black sword protruded from the center of the heart, with streaks of rot spreading out from the blade.

  Stolen novel; please report.

  “Someone stabbed the heart?” Malkazar said, barely seeming perturbed by standing in boiling liquid. “What sort of idiot does something like that?”

  He reached out for the hilt of the blade, only for a black shield to spring up between him and the beating organ. Dark sparks shot out and made him jerk his hand away. “Oh, you naughty girl, Lilithra! You planned for me to come, didn’t you?”

  Malkazar stepped back and snapped his fingers. Nothing happened. He frowned and tried again. Nothing happened again.

  “I’m afraid you’re trapped on this dying ship,” he said to Piper. “While I can escape myself, the way is closed to you.”

  A cold tendril of fear crept up Piper’s spine. “Does that mean I’m going to die here? I have to get back! I have people who need me in Kalmyros.”

  “You’re in Kalmyros?” Malkazar asked, arching an eyebrow. “What an interesting tidbit of information. As for the nobles giving us a hard time, they think they’re smarter than me, but as usual, they’re mistaken. All I have to do is awaken your lineage for you to escape.”

  Piper narrowed her eyes. What was that supposed to mean?

  “I want you to kill this ship,” Malkazar said. “Feel free to use your bow or whatever method you prefer.”

  “You want me to kill the ship?” she said slowly. “The only thing preventing me from drowning in the ocean?”

  “Exactly. Now get to it.”

  “No way.” She shook her head. “It sounds like a fast way to a watery grave.”

  “Come on. Have a little faith in me.”

  “In you or in Raz Kalma? Or whatever name you just made up?”

  Malkazar shrugged. “Regardless of my name at the time, I still saved you.”

  Piper rounded on Astaroth. “Can you do anything to get me out of here?”

  “I’m afraid not. The wardings are quite powerful on the blade.”

  “So, you want me to kill the ship? Then what?”

  Malkazar grinned and tipped his hat. “Isn’t it obvious?”

  “No!”

  “You need to re-summon the ship as your faithful minion.”

  “Like with my bow?”

  “Sure. We’ll go with that.”

  “You know you’re not filling me with confidence…”

  Piper took a deep breath as she tried to decide what to do. Another notification appeared as the pitch scalded her skin.

  Ding! Your racial skill, Demonic Blood has reached level 39.

  Realistically, she didn’t have many other options. If a demonic noble said she should kill the ship, then she should probably listen to him. It’s not like she could see any alternative way out of here. And with every minute that passed, more of the black liquid poured into the room. The ship would probably sink soon anyway.

  “So, just shoot it?” she asked. “Right in the heart?”

  “Just bullseye it.” Malkazar made the motion of drawing and releasing an arrow. “I’d do it myself, but I don’t have the skill.”

  “My lord,” Astaroth said slowly. “She may not receive it either. Though she has reached level 50, not all progeny received it before Thronefall.”

  “Then we take a gamble.” Malkazar splashed over to the towering demon and slapped him on the back. “Won’t it be amazing if it works, though?”

  Piper’s eyes widened. “You’re not sure it’s going to work?”

  “Not completely. But I believe in you. Now, I’m going to retreat to a safe distance with Skinny here. Good luck!”

  Piper watched as the others left the room, leaving her alone with the heart of the ship. With each passing second, the corruption from the blade impaling it spread, which meant she probably wouldn’t have to do much damage to kill it. Still, she had no idea what they expected to happen when she did.

  Piper sloshed her way back down the hall until she stood only a few paces away from the ramp leading upward. From there, she still had a straight line of fire to the heart of the ship. To destroy it, she would probably need three arrows.

  Gorebark craned his head around to look at her. “Don’t tell me you’re going to trust that chump?”

  “Do you have any better ideas? I’m all ears if you do.”

  “Not really. Let me tell you, it’s a bad idea to trust any noble. But Malkazar is the worst of the worst. Next thing you know, you end up as a bow to the most useless demon in the world.”

  “Just shut up,” she muttered. “I don’t want to hear it today.”

  “Touchy, touchy,” Gorebark said. “Don’t tell me you’re still sad about your friends dying a terrible death?”

  “I said shut up!” she shouted. “If you say another word about them, I’m throwing you over the railing.”

  Gorebark grinned, exposing his wooden teeth. “I guess there is some demon in you after all. I like it.”

  Piper exhaled with annoyance as she lined up her first shot. It wasn’t like she could miss the heart; the beating organ was nearly the size of a wagon.

  Closing one eye, she peered down the shaft before releasing it. Her first arrow sped forward and pierced the heart. A second shot quickly followed, both striking near the center.

  Her thoughts turned to Ophelia as she nocked her third arrow. What would happen to her friend if she failed to return? Would Piper’s body waste away in Kalmyros, leaving Ophelia all alone?

  I can’t fail, she thought to herself fiercely. My friend is counting on me.

  Piper released the third shot. Her arrow wobbled slightly before striking dead center. Almost instantly, [Demonic Mark] activated, bursting the heart like a gore-filled balloon. The blast wave rushed down the hallway, tearing chunks from the wall and nearly knocking Piper off her feet.

  She shielded her face and placed one foot forward to steady herself. A terrible cry, like that of a dying animal, emanated from the ship before it began to list even more to the side.

  Congratulations! You have slain a Dreadhulk, Level 218.

  A significant bonus to experience has been granted for slaying a higher-level creature.

  Congratulations! You have learned the racial skill, Subjugator, Level 1.

  The blood of Elaraxa flows through your veins, granting dominion over all demons. Any demon defeated by you in the Infernal Realm becomes bound to you for all eternity.

  Piper’s blood turned cold as she read her new skill. Did that mean she was somehow related to that giant, slumbering dragon? She was just a human from Earth—not some dragon spawn.

  Her mind immediately returned to the memory of the dragon urging her to wake up when she’d been knocked unconscious by the necromancer’s spell. At the time, she’d thought it was a hallucination. But the dragon had called Piper her child.

  And what did it mean by having demons bound to her for all eternity? Nothing made any sense in this stupid place. All she wanted to do was go home and bury her friends.

  She realized with horror that while she’d been reading the notifications, the black pitch had been steadily rising. If she didn’t get out of here now, she ran a real risk of drowning.

  Piper hurriedly splashed back the way she’d come and up the ramp toward the next level. As she did, the dark liquid continued to pour into the ship at an alarming rate.

  She broke into a sprint, glad to finally be free of the boiling pitch. She raced down the hallway until she found the ramp leading to the top deck. For once in her life, she was grateful she hadn’t gotten lost.

  Climbing the ramp, she emerged to see Astaroth and Malkazar standing near the railing, which was worryingly close to the surface of the water. She sprinted over to them but skidded to a stop as powerful roars rang out from almost every direction.

  “Looks like the dreadhulks are coming,” Malkazar commented. “I don’t think anyone has been stupid enough to kill one of their brethren in centuries.”

  Piper peered across the surface of the ocean to see dozens of demonic boats sailing in their direction. At the prow, they had beady black eyes and mouths crammed full of sharp teeth stretching the width of the ship.

  “But you told me to kill it!”

  “Did I?” Malkazar tipped back his hat. “I don’t seem to recall saying that. After all, their vengeance for killing one of their kind is dreadful. It’s in their name and all that. They swallow you whole and digest you for a few millenium. Nasty, nasty business.”

  Astaroth raised a brow on his featureless face. “I can say you most assuredly did tell her to kill the dreadhulk, my lord.”

  “Regardless of who said what, the big question is: did you get the skill?”

  Piper couldn’t tear her eyes away from the rapidly approaching fleet of demonic ships. She did not want to be digested for thousands of years. “I received something called [Subjugator]?”

  “I knew it! Now, all you have to do is summon the ship, and we’ll sail on out of here to get you your class. I can’t wait to see Lilithra’s face when I tell her she failed. She is going to be positively livid.”

  “Um… how do I summon the ship?”

  “How should I know?” Malkazar said with a shrug. “It’s your skill. But if I were you, I’d figure it out fast.”

  “Great,” Piper said, watching the fearsome ships speeding in their direction. “Just great.”