asked, cocking my head. “But what of Gadreel? Isn’t he working with you?”
Mammon snorted. “Gadreel is nothing but a tool the Archdemons have used to weaken you. He gave us the information we needed, but he’s a pawn. An inside man, if you will. He serves us, like all your Fallen will soon. They’ll be on their knees before the Archdemons, where they belong…or they’ll be dead. Along with you.”
His threats against my people made rage boil up inside me. “I am the true Demon King, and you will kneel!”
With a wave of darkness, I pushed Mammon through the windows into the night sky and launched after him, my dark wings spreading as I dove. Blood red scales slithered across his skin as his own wings erupted, his body shifting into his massive dragon form faster than I expected.
We wove and dodged through the sky amid the other fighters, though they gave us a wide berth. Mammon scraped at me with his enormous claws, but I pulled back, trying to avoid the pointed tips. He was too fast though, and one of the massive claws caught me, gouging a jagged split from my collar bone to my abdomen.
I went into a spin as I fell toward the city streets below. Pain washed through me, but the darkness forced my body to heal, and I fought for control over my flight. My wings beat strongly, lifting me back up, chasing the man who dared lead a revolt against me, who dared endanger Hannah.
He banked and whirled, flying high over the city lights, above the fighting around us. Pushing out my wings, I soared upward as fast as I could, and moved just in time as a blast of orange dragonfire erupted from Mammon’s mouth, the heat intense even over the distance.
He’d left himself vulnerable by spewing the fire. It took him precious seconds to coordinate his massive body for movement, and while he swung his head to try to locate my position, I made my way around him. I dropped onto his back, almost grateful for the opportunity to rest a moment while my body burned with the effort of healing. His leathery wings beat against the night air as he fought against the sudden addition of my weight.
Dragon hides were nearly impossible to penetrate due to their scales, but I pushed my darkness into his ears, his eyes, his nostrils, choking him. I wished for a moment I had my sword, Morningstar, but it was in the library with Hannah. Probably for the best. Instead I unleashed my hellfire, bright blue and charged with the magic of both Heaven and Hell, fueled by both light and darkness. A gift I rarely used because it was so destructive, and one that only I possessed. Well, along with Belial, but I hadn’t seen him in years.
In a desperate move, Mammon dropped from the sky, unseating me as his weight plummeted from underneath me. He spun frantically, trying to put out the hellfire, the only kind of fire that could harm him. It went out, but I’d managed to injure him at least.
I followed him down, but he banked again and maneuvered around me. Staying on his tail, I chased him high into the air, before I got close enough to sling out my darkness like a whip and wrap it around the base of his wings. I yanked hard, and the popping of his wing joints reverberated through the sky like thunder and skittered along the threads of my dark magic.
He plunged from the sky as he tried to escape, but I made sure my threads of darkness held his wings just enough so that he couldn’t move. Pointing myself downward, I flung my feet onto his chest and held my darkness like a rope, pulling on his wings while letting another tendril of magic wrap around his throat. We kept falling, but I controlled it with my wings as Mammon struggled underneath me.
“You can’t kill me,” I said, glaring into Mammon’s eyes. “Concede defeat and I’ll let you live.”
“Never,” he growled, baring his fangs. “Even if you stop me, there will be others. This is just the beginning, Lucifer. You have no idea what’s coming. For you and your little bitch.”
Fury consumed me at his words. He could insult and threaten me all he wanted, but now he’d insulted Hannah, and I was done playing around.
Narrowing my eyes, I unleashed my hellfire again, the destructive magic rippling over his scales like