Devil Ash Deceit (Devil Ash Saga)

by Olson, Mitchell

  "This is stupid!" Aura said. "I'll just kill them all with my death touch!" The boy stopped and faced the demons. Shiva and Ash stopped as well but kept their distance. They remained alert and ready to flee again at a moments notice. Everything went silent as the demons disappeared suddenly from sight, burrowing underground.

  Five of the demons emerged from the sand, encircling Aura. The death toucher removed his metal gauntlet, revealing his blackened hand. He was about to shoot forward when the demons unanimously shot out the same acidic liquid that Ash had encountered.

  Aura dropped to the ground and covered himself with his arms. He couldn’t avoid the demon’s attacks, as their acid sprayed across his cloak. The material dissolved almost instantly, leaving Aura with only his signature black and blue coat for protection.

  "Is that all you got?" Aura said. The demons did not acknowledge him. "I take it you're done puking, since you're not blasting me again? That must mean you've run out." Again, the demons did not respond. Aura grinned. "Now you're all in big, big trouble!"

  Aura shot his hand forward so fast it was a blur. He pivoted and blasted his arm out again. Five times he did this, each time an electric blue shock occurred and the demons dropped dead. Five purple wisps of demon souls disappeared into the night. Aura fell to his knees, his nose trickling with blood.

  Ash tried to rush to his friend, but more demons emerged from the ground and blocked his path. Even more of the worms popped up surrounding Shiva. Those demons began spewing out their acidic gunk at the girl. Shiva moved like a gymnast: twisting, bending, turning her body in every which way conceivable to avoid their acid. Their toxic substances missed her entirely. Now it was her turn.

  Drawing twin daggers out from underneath her cloak, Shiva lunged at the nearest of her foes. With a quick swing of her arms the demon was severed into four sections. It dropped to the ground where it continued to wriggle around disturbingly. Again, Shiva leapt forward at each foe, cutting them all to fleshy ribbons. After her final attack she took a knee and tucked away her daggers, thinking she’d won. Another demon popped out of the sand behind her, spraying her down with the acid.

  Her cloak and facial protection melted away, revealing the spunky redheaded girl in armor. She turned and blasted a small shot of flames at the demon that sprayed her and its head exploded. I need more training, Shiva thought.

  Ash's defense was a little simpler. With the worms surrounding him and spraying their acid at the same time, the boy simply jumped. At the peak of his jump, he brought out his wings and flapped powerfully downward. The result was an extra spring to his jump, launching him higher. From above he readied fireballs in both hands. Since learning how to use flame a month ago, Ash discovered he had a natural talent for it. He shot the fireballs at the demons and quickly readied two more. Over and over he did this, floating in the air and raining down fire until there was nothing on the ground but demon puddles.

  The boy dropped down and pulled his wings back inside his body. Shiva and Aura joined him, and all three of them appeared to be okay despite some minor burns from the acid.

  "Anyone injured?" Shiva asked.

  "Are you kidding? Those guys were small fries," Aura said, wiping away the last of the blood from his nose. He caught a concerned look from Ash about it, but smiled confidently as if it were no big deal.

  "That was a lot of demons,” Ash said. “Do you think we stepped on their nest back by that Beetle?”

  "There was another demon back there?” Aura asked, alarmed.

  “No, I mean… Oh, never mind.”

  “Did you see anything else?” Shiva asked.

  “Oh yeah!” Ash said, remembering the cloaked figure. “I saw someone, I think! Just before the demons attacked us.”

  "Sounds too convenient. Maybe the demons were part of the rebels defenses," Shiva said.

  Aura snorted, unconvinced. “If there even are any rebels. We still don’t have any solid proof yet,” he said. “All we’ve got to go on are a few of Goddard’s suspicions.”

  "Regardless, we’ve finally got something to report,” said Shiva. “Let’s high-tail it back to the kingdom so Ash can inform… Where’s Ash?” Shiva asked, noticing the boy had wandered off.

  Increasing the size of her guiding flame, Shiva found the boy standing several feet away, staring up at the sky. Before she could ask what he was looking it, there was a brilliant flash in the sky miles away. What looked like a black meteor shot through the sky and rocketed down, but did not hit ground.

  “It can’t be…” Aura said.

  The team advanced cautiously. Ash relit a new fireball and floated it forward slowly. Up ahead they could see the ground came to a cliff-like edge. With more bright eruptions in the sky raining down glowing objects, Ash crept closer to the edge for a better look. He was only a few steps from falling off, but his fireball was hovering twenty yards out. There was no bottom to the canyon. All they could see was a radiant black haze that obscured the view of anything below. For a moment, Ash thought he might have stumbled upon the Grand Canyon. But he was not on Earth, and he knew at once where they must have ended up.

  "So, we've come all the way out here," Shiva said.

  "I've never seen it," Aura said.

  "I’ve seen drawings,” Shiva replied. “But drawings are nothing compared to the real thing.”

  "The Negative Divide," Ash said in wonder.

  The Negative Divide, Ash recalled from his book 'Hell in my Pocket', was the place in Hell where all the evil souls from Earth are deposited. Above the canyon, brilliant flashes of light sent darkened souls raining down randomly every couple of seconds. Those blackened souls, Ash knew, must be the poor souls of those condemned to Hell for eternity. The hazy abyss of the Negative Divide was the true Hell that humans knew. Standing there, observing the shower of fallen souls, Ash actually felt lucky to be living in the Kingdom of devils.

  "Careful: don’t go falling in,” Aura warned Ash. “No one’s ever come out.”

  Ash shot a flame down into the cloudy canyon. It disappeared in a flowing river of negative soul energy, as more and more spoiled souls fell from Heaven.

  “Those flashes in the sky…” Ash said. “What are they?”

  “Temporary gateways to Heaven,” Shiva said. “The souls have to get here somehow.”

  “I thought there was no way to get to Heaven from here,” Ash said, hoping he’d been misinformed.

  “I wouldn’t get excited if I were you,” she said. “The gates only open for a second at a time. Anyone stupid enough to stand in front of one gets blasted with a direct shot of soul power. Instant death.”

  “She’s right about that,” Aura said. “A long time ago many people died trying to get to Heaven that way. It’s a definite no-go.”

  “Oh…” Ash said deflated. For a moment, he thought he’d found a way out of Hell. But they are gateways to Heaven, he thought. Maybe… Out of sight of his friends, he clasped his hands together, hoping with all his might that his prayers might be heard this time.

  "Let's get going," Shiva said. "The artificial sun should already be dimming, and I highly doubt you two can navigate back without it."

  The team's mission of looking for rebels in Hell a partial success, they flew with as much stamina as they had remaining all the way back to the protective gates of the Kingdom of Hell. Behind them, Ash had hoped, was the last he'd ever see of the Negative Divide.

  Chapter Two: One of Those Days

  Ash was moderately aware of his alarm clock ringing out once, and then his flat was slowly filled with light as the creation of the artificial sun took place. At that time of the morning, the Kingdom was just waking up but there were already plenty of people out and about contributing to the sun's creation. Ash and Aura very rarely woke up early enough to contribute to the sun when it would actually make a difference. By the time they were out of bed and out the door the sun was already large enough to bring light to almost every corner of the Kingdom.

  When the l
ight starting peeking in through the window next to Ash's bed the boy turned over to face his roommate instead. Sometimes Aura would have his back turned on Ash, and other times he’d be facing toward Ash. This was a problem because Aura frequently slept with his eyes open. Today was one of those days.

  Instead of trying to ignore it, Ash decided he felt awake enough to get out of bed. He counted himself lucky that today he would get in the bathroom before Aura, who always took too long in the morning. The boy quietly folded his blankets back and climbed out of bed slowly, all while watching Aura's unflinching face staring back at him. Ash stepped lightly to his clothing trunk and began to dig for a clean outfit. Despite his silence, this just happened to be the moment when Aura snapped awake. He jumped out of bed and stepped into the bathroom before Ash could make his move.

  Maybe he’s not really asleep when he’s like that, Ash began to wonder.

  The kingdom was almost fully lit by the time they were exiting their tiny flat. Once again, Aura had taken a half hour in the bathroom. Ash was starving and really had to pee, but was too passive and polite to say anything to his friend. The two set off, as they did every day, walking to the castle. Though they lived in the Northern section of Hell, quite close to the castle, they usually kept to the ground instead of flying. Aura said this was because it helped to wake him up, but Ash thought it was more about getting to see all the cutest shop girls and practice his flirting skills.

  Only on the days when Aura's hair had really given him trouble or they were running late would they fly to the castle. Truth be told, neither of them were in a very big rush to have Shiva boss them around all day. With Castle Hell’s many jutting towers in their sights, the boys were only several blocks away when a most dreadful sound rang out through the streets: the demon invasion siren. Demons had entered the kingdom somewhere. People rushed indoors and closed their windows. Merchants frantically rushed to pack up their wares. Children started to cry. People were going to die.

  "Yes!" Aura said with glee to Ash.

  "It's going to be one of those days, huh?" Ash said smiling.

  It had actually gotten to the point where they wished a demon attack would happen in the morning, giving them bonus time away from drill sergeant Shiva. Goddard’s orders were for them to assist the Royal Guards with clearing out any invading demons. At first, the boys thought it criminal to have to fight demons without pay. They began to realize that time away from Shiva was their payment, and they accepted it gratefully.

  The young men, feeling liberated despite the chaos, brought out their wings and took to the sky. Traffic was a nightmare with all the commotion, forcing them to dodge and dive past other fliers in their effort to pinpoint where all the Royal Guards were going. From a hundred yards above the city they located the source of the problem. The demons had broken through the crumbly portion of wall in the Southern section, which was expected since it happened nearly every week. Ash and Aura beat their wings, anxious to find out what they'd be up against.

  The boys could only catch quick glimpses of the demons at first. They saw roughly humanoid figures lurking between the buildings and avoiding the main streets. The longer they watched, the more the boys saw those dark shapes dart out quick as a blur and snatch anyone trying to escape. When Ash spotted a helpless young boy get snatched, he could wait no longer. The boy dropped from the sky in a free-fall, turning it into a glide only several feet above the street and then landing squarely on the ground.

  The building he stood in front of was wide-open. Inside, Ash could hear the little boy crying out for someone to rescue him. Apparently the demon had not yet sunk its teeth into the boy. Aura landed next to Ash and tucked away his wings.

  "Are you going in there?" Aura whispered.

  "Yes," Ash nodded.

  "Want me to go with you?" Aura asked.

  Ash hesitated out of uncertainty. A terrified scream from the little boy jolted him back into reality. “I got this,” he replied with renewed confidence.

  "If you need this," Aura said, holding up his death touching hand. "Just holler."

  "Thanks," Ash said, ducking inside the building quickly.

  The lights were out as Ash expected. He could still hear the boy crying out, but it sounded fainter now. The building was a deli that he recognized from a previous lunch outing with Aura. He even recalled the particular tasty sandwich he ate and his desire to return here for another. If he failed to save the child now, he doubted he would ever want to come back. Ash moved from the front of the shop to the back and onto the other side of the sales counter. In the back storeroom he found a cellar door left wide open.

  You've got to be kidding me, Ash thought. He recalled the last time he went down into a cellar. Back then, he found Apsat with the stolen God's Blessing in his possession. That led to a whole mess of trouble for him and the rest of the city. But the cries from the boy were becoming few and far between so he didn't hesitate any longer. He lit a flame in his hand and plunged into the cellar.

  The storeroom below was not large. The middle of the room was clear, the shop's inventory kept on shelves along the walls. As soon as he landed Ash saw before him the little boy sprawled out on the floor. With his small flame, he could clearly see the young boy's arm had been severed off at the elbow. Blood dripped freely onto the cold wooden floorboards. Ash rushed to the child and crouched beside him, shaking him lightly.

  "Hey kid, wake up. Don't go to sleep. Come on, I'm going to get you out of here." He realized he was neglecting the demon that was surely in the basement with him. There was one more room down there, and the door was only partially shut. Whatever sort of demon it was, it was inside that room. Ash kept his eyes glued to the door as he gently lifted the boy into his arms. He crept backwards toward the stairs, never taking his eyes off the partially shut door.

  As his foot reached the first stair, the demon leapt out from behind a large box to Ash's right side. The devil’s superior instincts kicked in and he jumped, kicking off the demon to launch himself up the staircase. With the injured child in his arms, Ash exited the cellar with the demon in hot pursuit. The boy felt the breeze from the creature’s claws wildly slashing the air right behind him.

  Ash burst out of the deli’s front door and started booking it down the street with the canine-like demon charging after him. He caught glimpses of other shady figures watching from the shadows. One of the monsters moved to block his path. Finally he saw the creature in the light of day. Black fur covered its buff bipedal body that looked almost human, except for the snarling wolf head attached. He was apparently running from ‘the wolfman’.

  I wonder if one of these things got to Earth a long time ago, and that's how the legend of werewolves got started, Ash thought as he ran for his life down an adjacent alley. He sped past a doorway where a strong, hairy arm grabbed him by the collar and pulled. Without the use of his arms, Ash was left with only his head to defend against the hungry foe. Instead of trying to pull away, Ash pushed off the ground with all his might and slammed his head into the werewolf's forehead.

  The demon staggered back in pain, releasing its grip on the boy. Ash regained his footing and jumped, kicking the demon in the chest and knocking it back into some garbage cans. The boy felt safe for a second until two more of the creatures entered the alley and cornered him. This would have been the end of him if not for his ability to fly. Ash brought out his wings and leapt, taking to the air just a moment before the two demons could tackle him. They instead slammed into the third demon, which was still climbing out of the trash heap.

  Ash landed on a flat rooftop. There he gently set down the injured boy, who was barely conscious. Figuring it was only a matter of time until the demons caught up with him, Ash prepared for a fight. He removed his peacoat, which limited his movements in combat. The small boy was trembling fiercely now, so Ash covered his fragile bloody body with his beloved coat. Before covering the boy’s face, Ash gave his instructions.

  "Stay right there and don't move a
round too much," Ash said. "Oh, and try not to bleed on my coat too much." He wasn’t sure if the kid heard him, but he covered the boy’s face and stood up anyway.

  By the time Ash became vaguely aware of the demon on the roof, it was already too late. One of the stealthy creatures was clamped tightly to his right bicep. He screamed out in a mixture of shock and pain. Ash pulled back his left arm readying a punch, but before he could another demon sunk its teeth into that arm as well. With both his arms feeling as if they were about to be ripped off, the pain was unbearable. All Ash could think to do was try to kick the demons off of him, but a sudden pain in his leg made him realize there was already a third demon biting at his ankle.

  Ash screamed bloody murder as he felt his limbs being pulled apart. He tried using his one free leg to defend himself, but it was no use. He couldn’t move anymore. His head drooped, and he could see the ground covered in his blood. His vision became foggier and he started to lose consciousness. Any longer and Ash would be dead.

  One of the demons released its jaws suddenly and dropped to the ground, a blue jolt of electricity running through it. Joining them on the rooftop was Aura. The other werewolf-like demons tried to retreat but they were too slow. Aura whipped his arm forward and caught one of them easily, his deadly ability activating on-touch. Two small smoky orbs drifted up and faded away. The demon souls departed.

  One wolfman was all that remained. It bounded towards the ledge and stopped. In its moment of hesitation, Aura caught up with it. Slamming his open black palm into the monster's chest and emitting a blue shockwave, the demon died instantly and fell off the building and into the street below. Blood trickled out of Aura's nose and he swayed a little, but his focus returned to his friend. He ran to Ash's side and dropped to his knees. Ash was alive but in shock as his blood flowed freely from the many puncture holes in his body.