Devil Ash Days (Devil Ash Saga) (29 page)

“Question,” said Aura. “How much do we get paid for this?”

“Your payment for completing a mission is the experience you acquire
d during it,” Goddard told him.

“
I’d rather be paid in skorch
,” Aura said quietly to himself.

“Excellent work today,” Goddard said, wrapping up the meeting. “
You can take the day off tomorrow.”

“Alright!” Aura threw
his hands in the air in triumph. “Party at our place tonight!”
Now
he was okay with not getting paid for the mission.

Goddard made his move to exit the room, but Shiva intercepted him. “But God’s Blessing was a one-of-a-kind artifact!” she
said. “Don’t we at least deserve some form of punishment for the destruction of it?”

Ash and Aura were dumbfounded. On the outside they were quiet, but inside they were shouting
Shut up Shiva! Let it go already!

“You
want punishment?” Goddard asked.

“You may punish me as you see fit,” Shiva told him.

“Very well,” Goddard said. “Your punishment is to partake in whatever social gathering the boys arrange tonight,” Goddard said, pointing at Ash and Aura. He knew this was the only form of punishment she would actually
hate.

“And Shiva joins the party!” Aura
said, rubbing it in.

“
But!
” the girl protested, trying desperately to change her sentence. “That’s not a real punishment!”

“Also,
I forbid you from training tomorrow.”

“
What?!
” Shiva said, making it clear the punishment hit home with her.

“
Woohoo!
” Aura shouted again, “Party all night, sleep all day! It’ll be like old times again!”

“Her idea of punishment is seriously weird,”
said Ash.

“You’re dismissed,” Goddard said, pushing his way past Shiva and exiting the room.

“We’ll see you at sun-out!” Aura said with a smirk to Shiva. “Bring lots of booze!”

Shiva didn’t bother with a reply. Instead, she turned a pale color and looked sick. She dashed out the door in order to catch up with Goddard. With her gone, Ash and Aura finally let o
ut their suppressed happiness.

“Alright!” Aura
said, “go grab everyone you know! Tonight, we’re partying hard!” Somehow, Aura didn’t seem so sore from the battle anymore. The thought of living to party once again probably helped. “And now, I’m off!”

“What are you going to do?” Ash asked him.

“I’m going to get us some girls!” Aura left in an excited frenzy, making sure to go the opposite way that Shiva had gone.

* * * *

A little way down the hall, Shiva caught up to Goddard. He was speed walking, certain that the determined girl would be after him. Unfortunately for him, his preemptive actions weren’t enough to save him from the torment of an ornery Shiva.

“Goddard, wait!” she called to him. “I have a few more concerns!”

Goddard stopped and turned to face her. If he couldn’t escape from her, he may as well dominate the conversation by laying a guilt-trip on her.

“
I’m
the one with the concerns, Lady Shiva,” he said, spinning the conversation so that he was the one in charge. Shiva stopped.

“It was an order – he was
not
supposed to come into contact with the amulet.” Goddard bared his fangs, but it was only for show. Inside, he was ecstatic that Ash had been able to activate God’s Blessing.

“I only gave him one location to search, it was a one in fourteen chance!”

“There should have been
no
chance!” Goddard raised his voice in mock anger.

Shiva remained quiet
like a child being scolded.

“You w
ill resume training in two days and await your next mission,” he said with finality. The Royal Advisor turned to leave, but Shiva continued their conversation as if she’d already forgotten her reprimand.

“The thing is,” she
said, drawing a disappointed sigh from Goddard. “During the fight with Apsat, I could have sworn Ash was using his soul power.”

Goddard pivoted on his heel, turning to face Shiva once again. He already had an explanation in mind. “So the weak human managed to gain a small power boost from touching the amulet. I told you that might happen, so I don’t see why you’re so surprised.”

“Well, it’s just…” Shiva stammered to find the words. “There are so few devils that can actually
use
soul power, let alone the amount that I felt coming from Ash. For a small moment, he seemed like he was as strong as…as
my brother
.”

“I can assure you, whatever small boost in ability he managed to gain was nowhere near the level of The Prince,” Goddard
said.

“That’s not what I’m concerned about. How come Ash was able to activate God’s Blessing when no one else could? You even
suspected
he could do it, that’s why you didn’t want us to let him touch it, right? If I’m going to be watching over him, this is something I should know: Exactly who, or
what
, is he?”

“He is no
one important,” Goddard replied. “Just an experimental weapon. If at any point he becomes a nuisance to us it will be
your
job to kill him. Am I understood?” Shiva said nothing, not completely satisfied with Goddard’s answer, but nodded anyway. Goddard turned again, hoping that she would for just this once keep her mouth shut. But of course, Shiva rarely closed her mouth when you wanted her to.

“One last thing, Goddard,” she said. He didn’t bother turning around this time.

“Apparently Apsat had already been caught several days ago. They even had the paperwork drawn up for it. Except he never made it to his prison cell,” the girl said. “Because of an impromptu meeting, he was left in the care of a single guard – a guard who was murdered.”

Goddard remained quiet, waiting for her to finish.

“Apsat was a bumbling weakling, originally. To me, it doesn’t seem likely he could kill a trained guard all by himself. The only mystery we weren’t able to solve was how he managed to escape. You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?”

“I
’ll look into it,” Goddard said. “So don’t worry any more about it.”

“See that you do,” Shiva said.

“Now, if you’ll finally excuse me, I have a meeting with your father.” With that, Goddard sped off down the hall, leaving Shiva behind feeling very unfulfilled. Her thoughts turned to her next task at hand.

Ugh,
she thought,
do I really have to party?

Chapter Twenty-Four: Sly Devil

Two Days Ago
.

“Get your hands off me!” Apsat
said. “I didn’t do
nothin’
wrong!” His bad grammar did not help his cause, as he’d just been brought down to the Royal Guard holding area after being caught looting. Two guards detained him while another stood idly by watching, a huge smile spread across his face. He’d dealt with Apsat several times in the past, and it was always a treat hearing exactly how he’d been caught and what fabrications he’d spout to feign innocence.

“Apsat again, huh?” the watchman
said. “What’d he do this time?”

“Caught looting during the demon attack,” the guard
who was detaining him answered. His partner concealed a laugh, and Apsat continued struggling weakly.

“Classic Apsat!” the watchman replied. “You can leave him with me, then. Apsat and I are
well acquainted
.” And with that, the two guards pushed the thief to the ground. The three of them shared a hearty laugh over it, as the criminal fumed on the cold stone floor. Pathetic as he was, he didn’t enjoy people relishing in his misery.

“Right on time, too,” a guard said. “They just announced a mandatory meeting of all castle staff in ten minutes. You
did
know about that, didn’t you?” he asked the watchman.

“Afraid I won’t be making it,”
he replied. “There must always be at least one watchman on duty in the holding area. No exceptions.”

“Must be terribly boring,” the other guard
said. “I like patrolling the streets. There’s so much more action!”

“I’m perfectly fine right here, away from the demons thank you!” The watchman gazed at Apsat, slowly wriggling to his feet. His attempts to stand up were hindered by his hands cuffed behind his back.

“To each his own,” the guard replied. “Come on then, or we’re going to be late!” The two guards that escorted Apsat in took their leave, slamming the steel door as they went, leaving only the watchman and Apsat behind. The watchman picked Apsat up by the collar of his shirt and tossed him in the open cell nearby. Cell 01 was usually only used for temporary holding until it was decided exactly how long the prisoner would be kept, and to which cell they’d be moved to.

He opened a nearby cabinet and pulled out the standard paperwork form for transferring new prisoners. Apsat became quiet inside the cell, as he’d been through the process enough times to know what would happen next. Usually, he’d be transferred to a different cell and held there for several days, at which point he’d be taken outside the castle and set free. They’d usually also
give him a good beating.

The watchman sat at his stool, filling out the paperwork and humming a tune. He wasn’t surprised when the door swung open once again, as various Royal Guards came and went from the holding area all day. He barely looked up from his paperwork, but once he saw who had entered, he tense
d up at once.

“Royal Advisor Goddard,” he said
. “What an unexpected pleasure to see you, sir!” Goddard entered the holding area, carrying with him a cloak. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but aren’t you supposed to be giving an address to the castle staff in a few minutes?”

“Yes, that is correct,” Goddard
said. “I’d hate to be late, so I’ll be making this quick.” Goddard moved towards the cell that Apsat was locked in.

“This must be our latest guest,” Goddard said. Apsat edged to the rear of his cell, having heard many stories of Royal Advisor Goddard. He
sat quietly, too afraid to speak.

“That’s Apsat, sir,” the watchman told him, attempting to sound knowledgeable. “He’s a regular here! Comes in all the time!” The watchman
laughed nervously to himself. This is when he should have stopped talking, but not being that clever, he continued. “Apsat here was just brought in not fifteen minutes ago. Caught stealing again, for the umpteenth time.”

“May I see your blade?” Goddard
asked, hoping to stifle any more banter the talkative guard may throw his way. Something about the way the candlelight glared off his glasses made Goddard look frighteningly untrustworthy.

“My blade, sir?” The blade in question
hung on a rack on the wall, and admittedly was never used by the watchman. It was only for emergencies, which honestly didn’t happen all that often. “Right, yes sir,” the watchman said, reaching for the short sword on the wall. Judging by the way he handled it, it was obvious he had very little experience with a blade. He handed it over to Goddard.

“Thank you,” Goddard replied, taking the sword from him. Goddard himself was not the most adept person with a sword, but he’d done a great deal of studying on the topic and knew, in theory, the correct way to hold one, which he then demonstrated.

Apsat did not like the look of him. When someone came down to the holding area asking for both a prisoner and a blade, things did not appear to be going well. Even worse when that person was Royal Advisor Goddard von Gosick. Apsat thought Goddard was holding a body bag, so that scared him even more.

“I need to
borrow
this prisoner from you,” Goddard told the watchman.

“No way!” Apsat backed up against the furthest wall of the cell, “I ain’t goin’ nowhere with you!”

“Oh…” the watchman said. “How…unorthodox. I suppose that’d be alright, but I’ll have to fill out some paperwork. What exactly are you borrowing him for?”

“May I see your keys?” Goddard asked.

“Oh, yes sir.” The watchman handed him his key ring. “Cell 01, the first key on the ring. So what’s this all about then?” He turned his back and busily went about looking for the proper paperwork in the cabinet.

Goddard inserted the key into the cell door lock and opened it. He did not enter the cell, but instead tossed the cloak to Apsat, who let it land on the floor rather than grab for it. “You’ll want to put that on, especially the hood,” Goddard said to him.

“What was that?” the watchman asked, thinking that Goddard was speaking to him.

“I was telling him to put the cloak on,”
said Goddard. “He’ll need it to move undetected around the castle.”

“And why would we want him moving around the castle undetected, sir?” The watchman was having trouble locating the proper papers for Goddard t
o fill out. He toiled away searching the file cabinet.

“We want him undetectable because he just murdered a guard and stole something of great value,” Goddard
said. With that, he pulled God’s Blessing from his pocket and tossed it on the cold stone floor in front of the thief. Apsat took one look at the shiny pendant and scooped it up.

“Is that so?” The watchman didn’t understand. All the same, if Goddard said it was okay, then he trusted him. “Well, it all sounds very
secretive
.”

“Oh, it really is.”

“Well don’t you worry, sir. I won’t be telling anyone!”

“No, you won’t be.”

The next sound the watchman made was an unrecognizable gurgling noise. This was because there was a blade plunged through his backside, with Goddard at the end of it. The watchman had time only to realize what happened, and then promptly died.

It had been a simple matter to take the pendant from the snoozing King Satan, as his chamber was left unguarded during this chaotic time, and no one thought twice about Goddard entering or leaving. Goddard smiled, thinking he’d truly outdone himself. It was a simple matter, albeit entirely unconventional, to call an emergency meeting of all castle staff and guards. He’d given Commander Stryd a long list of to
pics to start off talking about in order to buy him some time here. He even took the extra measure of putting a rush order on creating a replica of God’s Blessing! Now all he had to do was get Apsat out of the castle.

Apsat was even more terrified of Goddard, though he was intrigued by what he had said just before the stabbing. “What…what do you want?” he asked with trembling knees.

“You are going to do exactly as I tell you without raising a single argument, or you will die.” At least Goddard was nice enough to give him a choice in the matter. Not that the choice was a particularly
good
one. Apsat remained quiet and listened to Goddard lay out his plan, and the more Goddard spoke, the more Apsat liked what he heard. When Goddard was done explaining, Apsat gave a silent nod of approval and followed him out of the holding area. With the cloak pulled up over his head to conceal his face, he moved more stealthily than he ever had before. Not that stealth was necessarily needed at this time, when the majority of the Royal Guards were in their meeting, and most other people were asleep.

The pair made their way up many flights of stairs and down many hallways until they eventually reached the storage room. Goddard ripped the bars off the window with little effort while he explained what God’s Blessing was known for, before giving Apsat
a final warning.

“You have now killed a guard, escaped from the castle, and stolen a priceless artifact.
Run
.
Run and hide
.” With that, Goddard left him behind in the storage room. A minute later, a castle servant entered just in time to see the thief slip through the bars on the window. She hustled over to the window and saw the man fall, deploying his crippled wings as he went.

Back to the present.

Goddard, King Satan, and Prince Darko were sealed inside the royal chamber. The two royalty listened as Goddard recapped the events of Apsat’s attack on the city. While King Al found the story frightening, Prince Darko was significantly less enthralled.  He didn’t believe for a second that Commander Stryd had really saved the kingdom.

“Where is this ‘Apsat’?” King Satan asked. “I wish to personally torture him for the theft of my most beloved necklace!”

“I can assure you, My Lord, that
he is in a state worse than torture,” Goddard told Satan. “He’s being held in the lower prison, and when…
if
he ever recovers, you will be the first to know. For now, you should be happy with
this.
” The Royal Advisor pulled the wooden box containing the God’s Blessing replica out from under his arm. He handed the box to The King, who opened it curiously. Upon seeing his beloved piece of jewelry, he shut his mouth and put it on. He didn’t appear to notice it was a fake, and Goddard said nothing.

“What a
coincidence,
” The Prince said, “that a thief happens to steal what turns out to be an enchanted artifact, and then proceeds to be the first devil to ever successfully activate it.” He had done some reading in the last hour about God’s Blessing, and what it was supposed to do. He was no fool; he could see that the one his father currently held was a fake. It lacked the same shine that the real artifact had.

“Yes, what a coincidence indeed,” Satan agreed, not paying much attention anymore. He was enthralled to have his necklace back, and stopped caring about everything else. “All this worrying has caused me to work up a sweat,” he
said. “Servants! Draw me a bath!” Several nearby servants scrambled in preparation. “I’ll retire now. Good work today, Goddard.” With that, Satan let out a yawn and shambled off to his bath, leaving The Prince and Goddard alone.

“If that is all
My Lord, I will take my leave now,” Goddard said with a bow.

“Not so fast, Goddard.
” The Prince stood up. “My father may be oblivious, but I know you’re up to something.” Goddard didn’t so much as flinch in response. He’d expected some sort of retaliation from Prince Darko.

“Ask me anything you like, and I shall answer you honestly My Prince.”

“Where’s the real God’s Blessing?”

“It was unfortunately destroyed. Given your father’s attachment to the object, I surmised it would be best to have a replica created, and neglect to mention its destruction to him. I believed he’d be happier that way.”

“It’s a dangerous assumption to believe you know what is best for our happiness,” Prince Darko said.

“I live only to serve you, My Lord.” At this statement, Goddard suddenly found himself just inches away from the tip of Prince Darko’s blade, Infernos.

“I could execute you right now,” Darko said. “My father wouldn’t think twice about it if I told him you stole from him.”

“My Prince, I assure you my intentions were pure
and just. I did not think your father would be inclined to part with his precious treasure if he knew it might be damaged. I merely wanted to create a scenario in which the boy could come into contact with the pendant through his own free will.”

“I’ve waited long enough,” The Prince said
. “Tell me what significance that boy holds to us. Why have we spent the past year scouring the Earth, injecting children with your blood samples? This boy is obviously special somehow; he was the only one to survive your little blood transfusion! Does that have something to do with how he was able to activate God’s Blessing?”

“What if I told you,” Goddard
said, “that the boy is more than he appears to be? Something more than human, more than devil even. That with time, he could be raised to be the greatest challenge you’ve ever fought against?”