Devil Ash Days (Devil Ash Saga) (14 page)

From below, and out of sight, two more flame-rainers flew towards them in hot pursuit of something. Ash spared a moment to gla
nce around and saw no one else at this altitude. The two other demons closed in, and suddenly the boy realized what all the screeching was about.

The demon
was calling its friends.

One of the demons flew in closer and lashed at Ash with its long tail. The boy just barely ducked in time, but the other demon was closing in too. It a matter of seconds, they’d get him…

Aura dropped down onto one of the demons from above. He gave a ‘thumbs up’ to Ash and flashed a smile, before repeating his death touching talent. The demon screamed as a blue bolt shocked it, and once more the purplish orb of a soul escaped from its dead body. Aura hopped over to the other demon, which reluctantly sped off, now having to deal with its own clinger.

“Finish it off already!” Aura
shouted as the demon flew him away.

Aura was right. Enough was enough. Ash stood once more, raised his blade and thrust it as hard as he could into the soft skin of the dragon’s neck. The blade sunk in smoothly: it was a clean cut. The flame-rainer let out a much different shriek this time. The sound faded as
the creature lost strength.

I did it
, Ash thought. “
I did it!!”
His celebration was cut short by the fact that the demon, no longer living, was now plummeting out of the sky. He held the sword handle, but it slid effortlessly out of the demon’s neck wound. Now in freefall, Ash brought out his wings. Trouble was, he was falling with his back towards the ground. His wings couldn’t be utilized backwards, and so he continued to fall. He tried flipping over onto his belly so that his wings could catch the wind. Before he could though, something broke his fall.

Thump!
Pain shot through his back as he tumbled through the air once more. Luckily, all the tumbling had turned him over to his belly, and he was now facing the ground. He didn’t see what he’d hit until it was falling right next to him: another flame-rainer. He had landed right on top of it, snapping its neck at breakneck speed, literally!

That’s two,
he smiled to himself through the pain and fear. He was having trouble getting his wings to respond. The force of the wind was still too strong, pushing the thin wings back and rendering them useless. If he couldn’t move, he decided it’d be smart to just withdraw them. The wings retracted into his back, where it was his intention to bring them out once more, taking great care to hold steady against the onrush of wind. Something knocked against him once more, and before he knew what was going on he found himself pushing away from the jaws of another flame-rainer.

Of course, to the demons Ash appeared to be a falling treat. A small snack they could simply nab out of the air, if they were fast enough. Miraculously, Ash had managed to hold on to the sword this entire time. He forcibly jammed his blade into the creature’s eye. It screeched in pain, let him go and flew away.

There was still the minor problem of becoming flattened like a pancake on the city streets below. Ash was falling fast, and Hell was steadily approaching. He thought about releasing his wings again, but he was distracted by something. Another flame-rainer was flying around directly below him. This one was small, perhaps even an infant. It was an easy target. With the force and speed of his plummet, Ash surmised he could reach the demon and still have time to deploy his wings. It’d be cutting it close though. He held the sword out and tilted himself so that his head was facing downward, aimed at the demon like a speeding arrow.

The demon had no idea what happened until it was already dead. With untraceable speed and surprising accuracy, Ash sliced
the demon’s head clean off. The sword, broken in two from the force of the cut, was lost in the plummet. The dead demon glared at the boy as they fell, as if to say “
Dude, not cool
.” Ash was so proud of himself that he almost forgot to deploy his wings. With the ground less than a hundred yards away, his wings shot out and caught the wind, jerking him upward like a parachute.

Amongst a shower of dead flame-rainers, Ash drifted down and gently landed on a building top in
North Hell. From the castle wall, Goddard smiled proudly.

Chapter Twelve: The Warped Tour

Goddard and Shiva were already present in the meeting room when Ash and Aura scurried back in. Shiva was in a more unpleasant state than usual. The boys could tell by the way she crossed her arms and tapped her foot, the way she glared at the floor as if it had recently insulted her. They guessed it was because she hadn’t managed to bring down a single flame-rainer, and they were right. Goddard spun around upon their entrance, a rare smile on his face.

“Splendid job,” he said. “Mr. Draxler, your talent is especially entertaining.” Aura nodded a courteous but silent reply. “You look a little under the weather,” Goddard remarked, taking careful consideration of Aura’s appearance and body language. The young death toucher was a few shades more pale than usual.

“Yeah,” Aura replied. When Goddard continued to stare at him awaiting more information, Aura added, “Using my power takes a lot out of me, but its nothing I can’t handle.”

“Very well then,” Goddard said, and moved on. “Mr. Kaplan, you did better than I thought you’d do.”

“Why thank you, sir,” Ash replied, happy to hear the compliment.

Shiva made a disgusted, throaty noise.

“As promised, five hundred skorch for each flame-rainer felled.” Goddard produced a small bag, untied the strings and plopped a couple of coins down on the table. He separated the coins by color: red, green, yellow, blue, and brown. He took three red coins and slid them across the table. “Here’s 1500 skorch for Mr. Draxler,” and taking another three red coins, slid them across the table to Ash. “And 1500 for Mr. Kaplan.”

Ash picked up the coins and looked them over. On one side, there was a fireball similar to his flame/wing pin, but minus the wings. On the other side, the smiling face of King Satan greeted him. The picture took some artistic liberties, making him out to be far more handsome than he truly was. There was also the number 500 printed on either side. Ash pocketed the money, proud of his first successful job.

“
Tch
!” Shiva made an audibly disgruntled sound, capturing everyone’s attention. “We done here?”

“I suppose that is enough for today. You will all meet in the private yard tomorrow at sun-up for more training, unless…” Goddard let the word hang for a moment. “
Unless
a mission should arise for you, in which case, I will send a special notification.”

Without another word, Shiva stormed her way towards the exit before anyone else even realized they were dismissed.

“Lady Shiva,” Goddard said. Shiva halted with the door half-open, one foot in the hall. She didn’t turn around or say anything. “I expect that beginning tomorrow, you will assume the role of this team’s leader in a more appropriate fashion. I don’t want to see another sloppy display of abandoning your team like you did today.” Shiva gritted her teeth. “Maybe if you had stuck with them,
you
could have killed a demon yourself.”

Shiva could take no more of his scolding and walked out to go sulk alone for the rest of the night.

“You know,” Aura said after she was out of earshot, “
I
have leader experience if you’d like to consider me for the position.”

“She’s a smart girl,” Goddard told them, “and will make an excellent leader
someday. She only needs to learn how to work with others.” To Ash, this sounded perfect reasoning
against
Shiva being the team’s leader. But what could he say? She was the daughter of Satan.

“You have your orders, now go enjoy your free time.”

Goddard dismissed them.

Aura followed silently as Ash led him down the winding castle halls that he was becoming used to navigating. Aura, being more accommodated to life on the streets, couldn’t help but feel the prying eyes of the Royal Guard members posted in the various halls they moved through, passing judgment on him. He kept his mouth shut as they arrived at the front doors. The Royal Guards posted there silently stared at the boys.

“Um… Going out?” Ash
said. The guards nodded and opened the door for them. Outside, the kingdom seemed to have returned to normal. The siren had stopped blaring long ago, and now people were once again going about their business, trying to make up for time lost during the demon attack. The sky seemed even busier now with devils flying everywhere, some carrying large sacks of goods and struggling with the extra weight.

They were in the courtyard now, and could easily go their separate ways. But Aura stood motionless next to Ash, gazing up at the sky just as he was.

“So…” Ash said, trying to initiate a conversation.

“What do you feel like doing now?” Aura asked, surprising him. No one had asked Ash what he wanted yet, and truthfully Ash had become accustomed to not asking for what he wanted. He had to think about it. But thinking was hard. His fee
t were really beginning to hurt because his shoes were a size too small.

My shoes
, he thought. “I’d like to go exchange my shoes at Gio’s,” he said. Aura remained blank. “Then, I guess… I’d like to just go look around. See the sights.” His hand patted the copy of ‘Hell in My Pocket’ that resided in his pants pocket. It would prove to be a better source of information for him than Shiva had.

“Sounds like fun,” Aura replied. “Okay, I’ll show you around.” Ash was surprised that Aura would want to waste his time playing tour guide. “I’ll take you on a little foot tour of the
Kingdom, right after we exchange your shoes,” he said, smiling.

“Really? You don’t mind?”

“If we’re going to be working together, we might as well get to know each other. And we’ve both got a pocket full of money for once!”

“Good points,” Ash
said. “I don’t think I’ve ever had this much money in my life… Of course, I don’t really know the exchange rate of scorch to dollars.”

“Me neither,”
said Aura. “But this is the most money I’ve ever earned for doing an honest job!” The pair continued walking through the courtyard, again having the Royal Guards posted at the entrance open the gates for them. One of the guards smiled, recognizing the boys for their effort in helping with the flame-rainers. The two were already gaining fame among the citizens.

They set out down the crowded streets of North Hell. Aura didn’t ask, but Ash still felt the need to explain why they were walking instead of flying. “I’ve only been to Gio’s one time, and it was by foot. I’m afraid that I wouldn’t be able to find it in the air,” he said.

Aura didn’t seem to mind. Walking the streets of North Hell at sun-out was just as enjoyable as flying, if not more so. The Northern section
of the city was beautiful. The architecture alone was well worth the stroll, but as the artificial sun grew smaller in the sky, Royal Guards were beginning to light the street lanterns that lined the roads. With the immediate threat of demons gone, everyone was out and about, the city very much still alive.

Children played games in the streets with cards, balls, or even crudely crafted wooden swords. Aura ogled at all the North Hell beauties that paced the avenue, and at least a couple of them returned his sentiments with a shy giggle or flirtatious wink. They’d constantly have to step aside for someone pulling a cart drawn by demons, usually the unicorn or oxen type. Ash even noticed a strange tricycle contraption go whizzing by. It seemed that even though the devils possessed the gift of flight, they didn’t depend on it as their
primary mode of transportation.

Chatter between the two was minimal, since Aura’s knowledge of
North Hell was limited. He saw that Ash was content with taking in the sights anyway, and wasn’t too worried about providing narration. His words could never match the amazing sights Ash was taking in.

“Recognize any of this?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Ash responded, though he couldn’t be sure if he recognized it from when he and Shiva had walked to Gio’s, or from when he and Aura pursued the flame-rainer. Either way, it was familiar to him now. “I think if we keep going this way, we’ll find it.”

Ash decided to pull out his book and
flip to the section on North Hell for any interesting information he could find. He read that North Hell was where the ‘high class’ citizens resided, and that they considered themselves ‘nobles’.  He read that the most prestigious schools were located here, and that it had the lowest population of all the sections of the kingdom. As they walked, some of the citizens recognized Aura the death-toucher, and the boy who must be Ash the half-human. Anyone who saw them fight against the flame-rainers gave a courteous nod in acknowledgment of their skill.

Finally, Ash caught a glimpse of the mural that Gio had been painting on the side of his shop when he’d first been there with Shiva. The mural was complete now, depicting a devil man holding hands with an angel woman. There was a pile of dead demons at the couple’s feet. At least, their eyes were replaced with X’s, which Ash took to mean they were dead. Despite its gruesome scene, the mural was actually quite beautiful.

“That’s the place,” Ash said to Aura.

Gio St. James was working on sewing a new jacket and humming a tune to himself when the boys walked in. “Hello again,” Ash
said. Gio spun around on his stool, taking notice of his customers.

“Ash Kaplan!
” he said. “And who might this be? A friend of yours?”

“Aura Draxler.”

“
Aura Draxler?
Now why does that name sound so familiar?” Gio thought on it for a moment, and taking notice of Aura’s metal gauntlet, he suddenly realized why he’d heard the name before. “Oh my,
death-toucher
Aura Draxler?”

“The one and only!” It was becoming increasingly obvious to Ash that Aura adored any and all recognition.

“Well gentlemen, to what do I owe the pleasure?”

Ash explained the problem with the shoes that Gio had given him and asked for a new pair. Gio was rather embarrassed about the whole situation and retreated to the rear of the store to fetch Ash some new shoes. He dug around for a while, searching for the correct size. While he was rummaging around in the back, he made small talk with the two.

“So what brings the two of you together? I’m guessing two people of interest don’t end up meeting by accident.”

“Actually, he and I are on a team with Shiva now,” Ash
said.

“T
he two of you with Lady Shiva? What ever for?”

“We’ve been hired to be the first ever ‘special forces’ team,” Aura
said, actually sounding somewhat proud of his new vocation.

“Remarkable! Then the strangers I heard about taking to the skies, fighting against the flame-rainers… That was you, no?”

“Guilty as charged,” Aura said.

Well then,” Gio
said, heading back to the front of the store with a box of new shoes. “I suppose I was right to expect great things of you, Ash,” he told him, presenting the box to the boy. Ash smiled and opened it. Inside, the new shoes resembled a pair of trainers without any laces. Ash slipped them on, and to his joy they fit perfectly.

“These are great, thanks Gio.”

“Stop by any time, boys,” Gio bid them farewell with a smile and a wave.

Outisde, the boys began their tour. “What do you want to see first?” Aura asked, attempting to play the role of the tour guide.

Ash pulled out his copy of ‘Hell in My Pocket’ and flipped to the map of the kingdom. He had yet to see the East Side, which they were close to at the moment anyway.

“I’d like to see the ocean.”

East Hell
possessed a unique beauty Ash had yet to see in Hell. The boy could have never imagined that a part of the Kingdom could so perfectly capture the look and feel of a seaside fishing village. He and his companion walked to the ocean shoreline where they found a pebble beach. Aura watched as Ash took his shoes off and stepped into the water. It was freezing cold, but he enjoyed it regardless. He’d never been to the ocean on Earth. From what he gathered reading ‘Hell in My Pocket’, the East side was about as middle-class as Hell got. Because it bordered the ocean, it was the leading provider of seafood for Hell.

From his spot on the beach Ash could see that all along the coast jutted out hundreds of long, wooden piers, all bustling with the activity of fisherman and market-goers. Some of them were so large they carried several shops and warehouses, and most of them were connected by walkways and stairs. It was like another city, raised out of the water. Several miles down the coast, Ash saw that the giant wall around the kingdom even extended into the ocean, before dropping off completely below the surface. They found a diner on the shore and strode towards it.

“You’re going to love this place,” Aura told him. “They know me here, so I’m sure drinks will be on the house! Not that it matters, since we have so much money.”

They entered the diner, and almost immediately the owner, taking notice of Aura, spoke up in protest. “Ah ah ah ah ah! What are
you
doing back here?”