Devil Ash Days (Devil Ash Saga) (16 page)

“What do you mean?” Aura asked.

“
How much do you know about me?”

“Not much,” Aura
said. “You’re a human, from Earth. I guess… You came here to become one of us? To fight demons or something? I don’t really know
why
a human would want to come here.” Suddenly, it all made sense to Ash. Aura had no idea just what Ash had been through, how he’d basically been kidnapped. Separated from his family, his friends, his life, and his home. He thought of Ash as some sort of conqueror, come to Hell of his own accord. The truth was that he felt more like a prisoner. Maybe if Aura knew how Ash really felt, he would treat him differently. But Ash was not in the mood for an explanation, and simply waved him off.

“Yeah,” he
said. “Me neither.”

When the sun had completely dissipated, Ash decided to call it a night. He and Aura left the bar, and despite Aura’s best attempts at convincing him to ‘keep the party going’, he succumbed to exhaustion. A disappointed Aura took the hint, and they parted ways. Ash flew home slowly to enjoy the view of the city lit up by torches and streetlights.

He arrived promptly at his flat with little trouble finding it. After using the bathroom and readying for bed, he lay down and finally realized the full extent of his fatigue. Before drifting off to sleep, he felt incredibly guilty. Except for his momentary breakdown, he’d had an unexpectedly fun time with Aura. But having fun was exactly what was making him feel guilty.

As strange as it may have sounded, he felt that it was wrong to be having fun. He needed to be concentrating on finding a way back to Earth, but so far he’d found nothing that would help him in his quest. Admittedly, it seemed that making it back to Earth would be impossible.

So then why did it feel so wrong to enjoy himself, given those circumstances? He decided that even if it were impossible, he’d never stop searching for a way home. After all, he’d once thought the very idea of devils and Hell were impossible. Perhaps getting back to Earth wasn’t impossible at all; he’d just need to find a way.

Chapter Thirteen: The Royal Advisor and The Thief

Goddard’s Research
Notes: Ash Kaplan – Human(?)

We found the boy exactly where I predicted we would. As Prince Darko
predicted, he was quite pathetic. That’s to be expected from a human, though. He had no combat experience. Since ingesting the sample of blood I provided and coming to Hell, he has endured several battles. Amazingly, not only has he survived them all, but he is flourishing! This is an unexpected but fortunate turn of events. He is still nowhere close to being at the level I require him to be, but I did not expect him to become that strong overnight. If he is to be useful in the future, he will need to be tested thoroughly. Now if only I had a worthy test…

While Ash and Aura were on their tour of the kingdom and Shiva was off sulking by herself, Goddard von Gosick toiled away in his laboratory deep within the castle’s basement. He allowed no one inside his lab save for The Prince and King Satan. And even they rarely made the trek to visit him there. No one else was allowed to set foot in his lab, and that was exactly the way he wanted it. For it was here he kept all of his books and notes, his research and studies; his life’s work.

His laboratory appeared to be a mess, when
actually it was organized specifically to
him.
His bookshelves, which stretched from one wall some thirty feet across the room to the other side, housed his thousands of books. He’d read them all in their entirety, several times over. In one partition of his lab there were small, steel cages that he used to contain lesser demons for experimentation. Presently, the cages were all empty.

As Goddard wrapped up the last of his duties for the night – paperwork, mostly – something still weighed heavily on his mind. Though he’d succeeded in bringing the
human boy to Hell and turning him into a devil, that was only the first part of his plan. The next phase was a long way off. He needed the boy to be a powerful trained killer, completely obedient and never asking questions. A flawless assassin. He was growing stronger, but he needed a proper test of his abilities and obedience. Simple jobs wouldn’t cut it for long. He needed a
mission.

Goddard searched through his stacks of work request f
orms, sent in by the citizens of Hell. As usual, there were requests for assistance in the development of West Hell, but they’d already been given ample amounts of help and Ash would not benefit from being put to work there. Another request from the Nobles of the North, who sought added security to their various trades of business. Goddard thought them greedy, undeserving people to offer any assistance to. None of the requests in his stack seemed to offer any sort of challenge that could be used to gauge the boy’s growth.

Goddard lost track of the time. After dismissing his team for the rest of the night, he’d
been sealed in his lab with the doors locked. Now, he realized he’d once again spent the majority of his night inside. It was past midnight, and he hadn’t eaten in at least a day. His hunger was beginning to get the best of him, his stomach roaring with the desire to be fed. Frustrated with not being able to unearth a proper mission, the Royal Advisor decided to give in to his mortal requirements.

He stood, but had greatly misjudged just how much his hunger would affect him.
He became light-headed and slipped. He put a hand on his desk to steady himself, but in the process knocked a nearby stack of books off of the edge of his workspace counter. He swore, frustrated, and then bent to pick up the spilled tomes. This was his stack of reading material he had
not
read yet, most of them being of low priority to the seasoned scholar. He shuffled a few of the books together and plopped them back down on his desk, then reached for the final book on the floor.

The book
was titled ‘Myths, Legends, and Fairy Tales of Hell’, and that was the single reason Goddard had not read it yet. He had a severe lack of interest in any information that was not factual. He grinned when he saw it, and decided on a whim he’d finally take a peek at it. He hadn’t had luck finding a mission in any of his other reading material. Perhaps something in this book’s unknown pages would present a possible challenge. At the very least, it would make for an interesting read during dinner.

He skimmed
the book’s pages as he walked the castle halls heading towards the cafeteria. Usually, he would have food delivered to his lab so that he could eat while he worked, but since he was currently free from his duties, he felt the walk might be good for him. He was largely unimpressed by what he found within the book. Stories of ghosts, urban legends, and magical creatures all sounded unscientific. He flipped through the pages more quickly, his interest almost lost until something finally caught his eye. It was a sketch of an item, a pendant encrusted with an enormous jewel. It looked exactly like the one that King Satan wore around his neck.

With peaked curiosity he
read the section about the artifact known as God’s Blessing. The more he read about it, the more intrigued he became. He was certain this artifact was the very same as The King’s, but where did King Al find it? According to the book’s entry, the item had gone missing hundreds of years ago. Goddard tried to think back to when he’d first seen Al wear it. It had to have been at least ten years ago. Though Goddard hadn’t asked about it, Satan
had
informed him. What did he say back then?

“How do you like my new necklace, Goddard? Can you believe it was just sitting in the storeroom all this time? I was absolutely tickled when the chamber maids brought it to me!
”

Al had
said something to that effect, Goddard recalled. Though he thought nothing of the pendant at that time, now it all suddenly became clear. The item known as God’s Blessing must have disappeared hundreds of years ago, been found by someone who had no knowledge of it, and then placed into storage in the castle.
Amazing
! Goddard thought.
Such a powerful artifact was hidden practically in plain sight
! The Royal Advisor starting thinking of all the ways the item could be useful to him.

The only problem was that it currently sat around The King’s flabby neck.
Al had become attached to the jewel over the years. Since acquiring it, Goddard had not seen King Satan without it even once. He was rumored to even sleep with it on. He could probably ask for it directly, but that would require giving King Satan an explanation, which was something he wanted to avoid. Information was one of Goddard’s most valuable treasures, and the more he knew that others didn’t, the stronger he viewed himself. There had to be another way of retrieving the artifact…

He
reached the hall just outside the cafeteria and was about to enter when he heard a loud bellowing of defiance from somewhere in the castle. Curious, Goddard followed the shouts. Near the entrance of the castle he found the source of the disturbance. The Royal Guards were transporting a new prisoner, who was screaming at the top of his lungs various slogans of his ‘innocence’.

“I’ve done nothing wrong! You can’t prove anything! I demand a trial!
You are violating my rights as a devil!” the man said.

Assuming an air of authority, Goddard approached the Royal Guards moving the subdued man along.

“What is going on here?”

Earlier that day…

While every d
evil with common sense was either fleeing from the flame-rainers or doing their part in defending the kingdom, there was another group of people that only added to the trouble: looters. As soon as any demons entered the kingdom and the majority of citizens barricaded themselves inside their homes for safety, the looters took to the streets risking their lives for riches.

Among the low-lives was a man named Apsat Glumb. Apsat was a small, meek, ugly, pathetic excuse for a thief and a man. Only an hour before the attack was he wa
lking the streets of South Hell picking pockets. The trouble was that he was lousy at it. He ‘accidentally’ bumped into a man, trying to slip his hand into the guy’s pocket, only to have his hand get stuck inside. The man, Dunger the bar-brawler, knew of Apsat’s reputation for being very lousy at his job. Another one of Apsat’s weak points was his choice of targets, Dunger being the perfect example.

Not only did Dunger know Apsat,
but he was also notorious for being a short-tempered, tough-as-nails man and someone you didn’t want to mess with in the South. While Apsat’s hand was still trapped in Dunger’s pocket, he delivered one of his weakest punches to Apsat’s face, which was still enough to send the pickpocket staggering backwards. Apsat tripped on a bag of garbage that was set out for collection and fell into the dirty stinking pile.

Dunger didn’t waste any more time on the pathetic man. He flashed him a look that said “
Idiot!”
with a grunt and turned his cheek, walking away. The third major flaw with Apsat was his level of confidence and his dedication to the craft. All of his failures never deterred him from continuing his life of crime, which he actually thought was a strength of his. It was not. Even after the sad display with Dunger, he continued walking the streets, looking for his next target.

He came across a small child clutching a sweet hard-shelled candy on a stick. He licked his lips
in hunger and decided without hesitation to steal the candy from the child. When no one was looking, Apsat reached out and grabbed the child’s hand. He tried prying the candy away as the kid watched, unrelenting to the thief’s actions. The child’s grip was tight, and Apsat couldn’t budge it. Finally, the kid tired of this man’s poor attempt at stealing his beloved candy and waved a few sparks at him.

The sparks showered
the thief’s face and he let go. He swore in pain as the kid ran away. As Apsat rubbed his eyes in pain, he heard a sudden panic strike the crowd around him. When he opened his eyes again, he found that he was alone on the street. Everyone had simply left, leaving behind various carts full of merchant goods and food!

What luck!

A flame-rainer demon swooped overhead, and Apsat realized his plight. He dived into the pile of garbage nearby, hoping to hide from the demons. Apsat himself was not a homeowner, and routinely spent nights squatting in unoccupied buildings or taking shelter in some of the more covered back alleys the South Side had to offer. When demons attacked, he was always concerned about where he’d take shelter. For the moment, he appeared to be safe. The flame-rainers stuck to the skies for the most part. He emerged from the garbage heap, keeping one eye to the sky.

Apsat’s final flaw, and what would
probably be his ultimate downfall, was his greed. When faced with an opportunity like an empty street full of goods, he could not resist even knowing his life was on the line. He rationalized by telling himself he’d never get another chance like this. So ignoring the invading demons for now, he started grabbing goods from the merchant’s carts. He filled his pockets with candy and other edibles. He grabbed as many weapons off the carts as he could carry. When his arms were full, his desires still unquenched, he sought even more.

He loaded up one of the merchant’s carts with his pilfered goods. It had wheels and handles for pulling, and he
went about hauling it down the streets, stopping only to pinch more items off of any other carts he passed. All was going well, until one of the airborne flame-rainers took notice of the lone devil below. The demon swooped down to the street, flying right over Apsat’s head.

Fearing for his life, Apsat abandoned his quest for more loot and settled with what he’d collected so far. Now it was time to hide. His mind raced thinking of places he could go. It had to be indoors. He knew he wouldn’t be safe in any of his usual outdoor locations. But he’d been kicked out of more unoccupied houses than he could remember, and was sure they were adequately locked up by now. As he brainstormed, the flame-rainer that
pursued him dropped to the ground in front of him, interrupting the man’s thought process.

Apsat turned the corner to avoid the beast and fled with the cart rattling behind him. With the demon in hot pursuit, he ran faster than he’d ever run in his life. As he booked it across town, he encountered several other looters who’d now become onlookers to his shenanigans. They got a good laugh off the sight of Apsat, hauling a cart through the street while screaming in fear, but once the flame-rainer appeared behind him they all made themselves scarce.

Apsat could feel the heat coming from the demon’s mouth as it gathered an enormous fireball. Any logical person would have ditched the cart by now, knowing that without the extra load to worry about they’d be able to make it to safety with relative ease. Not Apsat. He turned another corner just in time as the flame-rainer’s fireball went whizzing past him, crashing into another building.

He recognized the street he was on. It was only a short distance to a safehouse he knew about, though he’d never really been admitted into it before. He hoped the sudden demon invasion and the promise of looted g
oods would change the resident’s minds. He could see the house just ahead of him, another minute and he’d be there. Of course, within a minute the demon would catch him. He needed a distraction…