The Devil's Regiment

The Devil's Regiment Read Free Page B

Book: The Devil's Regiment Read Free
Author: Ben Myatt
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the serpent cult's tame vampires. During all the time, kept unconscious and in agony, he'd dreamed of the fire of his father.
    The dragon Gorton had been another slave of the cult, and Callum's desperate attempt to rescue his reptilian sire has led only to his own capture and humiliation. He'd been kept insensate and powerless until being rescued by Elizabeth and the Werewolf gunslinger, Jim Ashwood. 
    And now Callum had debts. He owed Jim for saving him, and he owed Nathaniel and Elizabeth for bringing him to England. He owed the guild for giving him a life and place to stay.
    He turned in his sleep, and grumbled to himself. His blanket was caught around his ankle.
    The explosion bought him to wakefulness in an instant.
    ***
    Dunwit was been standing on picket, his pipe in his mouth, the curls of smoke slowly winding up into the darkness at the edge of the campfire's light. 
    “You're not meant to be smoking on duty, corporal.”
    Dunwit flinched as Sergeant Ward stepped from the darkness. The Welshman grinned viciously.
    “I'll need to confiscate that, Dunwit.”
    The corporal rolled his eyes, and plucked the pipe from his mouth. He passed it to the welsh sergeant, who popped the stalk into his mouth and took a deep puff.
    “Where did you get this rubbish, lad?” 
    “Regimental stores, same as everyone else.”
    “No wonder it tastes like shite, half that stuff's bloody sawdust.” He took another long drag anyway, and passed the pipe back to Dunwit. The two men had served together long enough to keep their vigilance even in this companionable moment.
    A noise in the darkness caught their attention, their hands leaping to their weapons. In the silence, the smoke from the pipe curled slowly upwards.
    Their instincts kicked in automatically, and the pair dropped to  their knees as a rattle of rifle fire ripped the silence apart. 
    “Enemies!” Dunwit yelled. He levelled his carbine at the flash of the barrels, and squeezed the trigger. A scream of pain answered his shot, and he pushed down the lever on the martini-henry. The spent brass case racketed out of the back of the rifle, and he pushed a fresh round into the breach. Next to him, Ward sighted and fired, trying to hit targets they had no way of seeing.
    Around them, their fellow soldiers ran to their aid, weapons in hand. One of the troopers screamed and fell as a bullet struck him in the torso, a red bloom of blood spurting from his back as the round travelled through his body.
    A barrel came rolling from the darkness, a fuse hissing in it's bunghole.
    “Everybody down!” Ward screamed. 
    The British soldiers threw themselves flat as the barrel exploded, it's cargo of black powder spraying earth and vegetation across them.
    Ward glanced over his shoulder as Carlisle threw himself flat next to the veteran, and saw the trio of agents running for the cart.
    “Where the bloody hell are they going?”
    ***
    Nathaniel pulled the revolver from the holster next to his bedroll, and rolled to his feet, thumbing back the hammer as he rose. Across the campfire's glow, Elizabeth was already crouching, her carbine held ready.
    “Where's Callum?”
    “I'm here.” The dragon-blood said from the shadows. His gun was in his hand, his eyes were sweeping the darkness around them. Nathaniel checked the load on his gun as adrenaline surged through his system.
    “Right, let's get to work.”
    He took a step towards the firing line of soldiers, but Callum dragged his arm.
    “They're trying to flank us – they're going after the weapons cart!”
    “How do you...” 
    But Callum was already running. Reaching over his shoulder, he drew the sabre he'd secured back in Bombay, freeing the blade from it's leather scabbard. He raised the revolver in his left hand as the first of the Indian rebels appeared from the darkness, and levelled an old musket at him. Callum dived to his right as the man pulled the trigger, and brought his pistol to bear. He pulled the trigger, and the

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