Devil Ash Days (Devil Ash Saga) (6 page)

Chapter Six: A Walk Through Hell

Ash awoke with a headache and back problems. Presumably because he was lying on a cold stone floor with no recollection of how he arrived there. As he came to, he looked around at his immediate surroundings. There wasn’t a whole lot to see. The boy was stuck in a small room made from stone and brick. No window, no bed. The most notable feature was the steel bars on the cell door. It was some sort of jail cell.

While sitting up he noticed his wings were no longer sticking out of his back. He couldn’t remember losing them, either. For
one hopeful moment, he thought he could have made it all up. The angels, the demon creatures, and Goddard were all just a bad dream. The unfamiliar jail cell and his own memories made him realize that was just wishful thinking. Hope as he may, nothing could erase the terror of that night from reality.

He heard footsteps
outside his cell coming closer. The boy climbed to his feet and edged forward to investigate. Before he could reach the cell door a man walked by. Ash jumped back in surprise. The guard also jumped, surprised to see Ash awake.

“Oi! Finally awake ‘en, are ya?” he said with a grin.

The guard, who couldn’t have been any older than Ash, wore a crimson undershirt and metallic armor.  The armor covered most of his body, but his arms and legs were only protected by some leather boots and gloves. With no helmet, the guard’s dirty crop of hair was distractingly visible.

“Um…Where am I?” Ash asked, trying to sound casual, calm, and collected. He found it difficult to pry his eyes off the man’s greasy, disheveled hair.

“Yer in a ‘olding cell in the basement of the castle,” the guard said. “Ol’ Goddard brought you ‘ere ‘imself, ‘e did.”

“How long are you going to keep me in here?” Ash asked, beginning to panic that perhaps this small, uncomfortable cell would be his new permanent home.

“Goddard gave me orders to bring you to ‘im as soon as you came to,” the guard said as he rattled around with some keys. After finding the appropriate one, he opened the cell door. “Come on ‘en.” Ash didn’t need to be told twice. He exited the cell and made a silent promise he would never end up in one of those again.

Following behind the guard, Ash noticed something peculiar about his outfit. On his backside, there were two holes in his armor right above his shoulder blades. The holes were sort of small, and the only explanation Ash could muster was that they were for wings to fit through.

The guard led him down a long stone corridor filled with other holding cells. Ash counted over fifteen cells before they reached the end of the hall. Another guard was positioned at the end. He wore the same uniform, and Ash noticed all the little cracks and rust he had overlooked before. Their equipment was seriously outdated.

“Transporting a prisoner,” Ash’s escort told him. Ash cringed at the word ‘prisoner’. The
door guard didn’t question him and let them pass. Inside was a stone stairwell going up. The guard ascended the stairs and Ash followed. After going up five flights of stairs, Ash began to realize that he wasn’t tired at all. As a human, an exercise like that would give him a side ache at least.

After several more flights of stairs, the guard stopped and opened the door there, exiting out into an elaborate hallway. It seemed the basement levels were made mostly of stone, but the upper floors were built with wood and brick. Lit candles hung along the walls, providing the only light in the hall. The floor was covered in a crimson-colored carpet. It wasn’t long until they stopped at another door.

“Go on now!” The guard said, giving him a push.

Ash grabbed the handle, which seemed to be made from some kind of bone, and pushed the door. Inside, light coming from a large window illuminated the room. There was a long, rectangular table with many seats, but only one occupant: Goddard. He was sitting at the table with a stack of papers, writing on them with an old quill feather and ink.

“You’ve kept me waiting,” Goddard said, not looking up from his papers. “Sit,” he commanded.

The guard closed the door and
left them alone. Ash took the seat next to Goddard. The chair creaked as he pulled it out and sat down. He realized that - like the door - the chair was made from an odd mixture of wood and bones. The chandelier that hung from the ceiling would be considered a piece of art on Earth, for it was also made from bones.

“I imagine you have a lot of questions for me,” Goddard said.

“I do,” Ash replied, his mind actually quite blank.

“First, tell me…
have you read the Bible?”

“No.”

“Oh
thank goodness
,” Goddard said, breathing a sigh of relief. “It’s all garbage anyway.”

“
Really?
”

“It’s a two-thousand year old book that was written by humans, what do
you
think?” Goddard said, finally looking up from his papers. Ash stared at him with a blank look. “I’ll tell you what you need to know to survive.”

Outside the window, Ash could see a large sun in the sky.

“Can you tell me if my mom is okay?”

“You de
fended her magnificently. Not a hair on her head was harmed, and it’s all because of your heroic actions.”

“Wait,
did you just leave her there in the forest?! She’s probably worried sick about me right now!”

“Before you have one of those silly little human panic-attacks, you should know that your mother is fine; the angels would not allow harm to come to any human. My guess is that she’ll be made to forget the entire night’s events.”

“You mean… the angels are going to erase her memories?” Ash was puzzled, but realized he shouldn’t be. If angels existed, then why not the ability to erase one’s memories as well? “That’s fine, I guess. I’d rather she forget about the demons… but she’s still going to miss me terribly.”

“No,” Goddard said. “They’ll have erased
you
from her memories as well.”

“
They can do that
?!”

“Of course. With God’s power on their side, nearly anything is possible.”

“What about coming here to get me?” Ash asked with a trace of optimism.

“I said
nearly
anything.” Goddard crushed his hopes. “Hell is too far from Heaven to be able to travel directly between the two. That is why Earth is so popular among angels and devils. It’s a middle-ground.”

“Oh. So what happens now?” Ash asked, his voice glum.

“Work,” Goddard replied.

“And what if I refuse? Tried to escape from here?”

“Take a left in the hall. Go down three flights of stairs, then go right down the next hallway.”

“
Huh
?”

“Those are directions to get you out of the castle.”

“You mean I’m free to go if I want? I can just…leave?”

“If you absolutely refuse to work for me, you’re free to go. But let me first ask you this. What would you do out there? You don’t know anybody. You have nowhere to go. I’m offering you a job. I’ll set you up with a place to stay and provide your meals.

“Besides, we had a deal. I held up my end of it. If you back out now,
you’ll
be the bad guy here. Perhaps I should have taken you for a stroll around the Kingdom first… I think if you saw the Kingdom firsthand you would see that Hell is far nicer than you imagined.

“If it weren’t for all the demons, Hell would be quite pleasant. Oh, that’s another thing. Good luck with the demons if you walk out on me. There’re way stronger creatures out there than the ones you fought, but I guess you don’t want the
special training
I was going to give you…

“I’m not going to lie; you’ll be fighting demons on almost a daily basis. It can be dangerous, especially if you don’t learn to fight. I saw something in you, back on Earth. I believe you
can
fight. I was hoping you’d join our ranks, defend the Kingdom from the demons and help save innocent lives. But if you’re not up to it, if you’re still too
weak
to do anything, I suppose I would rather not have your help.”

Goddard sighed and returned to his writing.

Ash brooded. He couldn’t believe what he just heard. The devils were so desperate for help, they’d recruited
him?
He would have to stop himself from laughing, if he weren’t in such a dismal mood. They must have been in a real bind if
he
was their first choice of help. He sighed and gave his answer.

“I don’t know…”

“I don’t expect you to be enthusiastic about it immediately, by all means take a look around the kingdom. See for yourself our suffering. I’ve arranged a guide to show you around. In the meantime, I have some light reading material that I believe will be helpful to you.” Goddard handed Ash a small, thick book titled ‘Hell In My Pocket’. The title was appropriate, given the book’s small size that would fit perfectly into even the smallest pocket.

“This book is the standard for all scholars in Hell,” Goddard
said. “It’s the most comprehensive and informative source on our world you’re likely to find here. Consider it a gift.”

“Thanks, a
book,
” Ash replied. He’d rather wait for the movie.

The next couple minutes
passed painfully slow. Ash was a fast reader, but his current situation and somber disposition didn’t exactly put him in the mood for reading. He sat there flipping through the pages mindlessly. Every so often he’d find a chapter that interested him slightly and pause to read what it said. Here are the sections he read:

Kingdom of Hell

The Kingdom of Hell is divided into four sections: North, South, East, and West, with the castle in the center. When Hell was first colonized, the northern section was the first to be built, with the others being developed in the years to follow.

Unlike Earth
and Heaven, Hell does not have a natural sun. That is why the citizens of Hell must give a little of their own flame every day to create an artificial sun for roughly 15 hours at a time. Without them, all of Hell would exist in complete darkness. This is done not only to bring light to the Kingdom, but also to simulate day and night cycles. It has also been proven that the artificial sun deters the demons from invading.

Devils

The devils were created when God cast us from Heaven for Lucifer Satan’s planned rebellion. To distinguish us from his loyal followers, our appearance was altered; instead of the beautiful, avian-like wings, ours were transformed into the ugly, bare wings we have now.

Our Holy light was also taken away, and only later did we learn to create and manipulate flames for ourselves. It took many years to learn such a powerful technique.

The Negative Divide

The Negative Divide is outside the Kingdom, and is the area where evil human’s souls are deposited. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHOULD YOU EVER GO THERE.

Demons

Demons inhabited Hell long before the devils arrived. Currently, it is unknown how many demons there are in Hell, but they are assumed to vastly outnumber the devils.

The demons are ranked by intelligence and power. Some devils rank them by letters, some by numbers, but essentially they all boil down to two categories: Lesser Demons, and Greater Demons.

The lesser demons are the more animalistic types, commonly found wandering outside of the kingdom. These are the demons that long ago invaded Earth, and over the many years evolved and changed into the animals that currently populate that planet. More commonly, lesser demons are used as livestock for farming.

The Greater Demons are intelligent, dangerous, and powerful. Very rarely do they come to the kingdom, but whenever they do it has always resulted in battle. Unless you are highly skilled in the usage of soul power, it is recommended you stay away from Greater Demons. 

Several pages displayed maps of the various sections of the kingdom. Ash spent a long time studying the lay of the land and reading all the various labels assigned to the many districts, as well as the surrounding areas. On paper, the kingdom of Hell looked pretty huge.

“Am I to assume you’ve finished your reading?” Goddard asked.

“Yeah…” Ash muttered, tucking the book into his pants pocket. “It’s awesome that my vision is perfect again,” he said. Suddenly, Ash realized something: Goddard said Devil eyes were perfect, but if that were the case, then why did
he
wear glasses?

“If devils have perfect eyesight, then why do you wear glasses? Are they just for looks?”

Goddard actually stopped his writing for a moment and looked up, though not directly at Ash. “I read a lot of books.”