Devil Ash Disarray (Devil Ash Saga Book 3) (40 page)

“
Stay back
,” Ash threatened. “I’m warning you, I’m a
feral human
.” He tried to make himself look intimidating.

The demon prince chuckled to himself. “A feral human,” said Otozek. “Then you should have no problems avoiding
this
!”

Before Ash could answer Otozek’s tail was flying at his face. The boy tried to jump out of the way using his good leg. It ended up being more of a dive, and Ash went rolling across sandy ground to avoid the attack. He shuffled up to his feet, but almost tipped right over again.

The boy retreated, hobbling like an old man to a safer distance. Once he had eyes on Otozek again, he saw the blue demon still slowly approaching him. With all his attacks failing, the boy resorted to his most desperate attack.

He raised both arms above his head and put palms up. He’d need to collect a lot of flames quickly. Ash cut loose again, releasing flames all over his upper body and collecting them in a giant sphere above his head. The flaming ball grew to enormous proportions as the demon prince continued nonchalantly toward the human boy.

I’ll smother you in flames
! thought Ash.
You can’t block or cut your way out of this
!
I’ll burn you into soot
!

With a ball of flames the size of a minivan hovering inches above his head, Ash roared as he willed the flames forward. A ball of flames that big didn’t move very fast, but it wouldn’t really need to. Ash could always increase the size or direct the attack if his enemy tried to dodge. There was no escaping his raging blast.

But Prince Otozek did not need to dodge. The demon lifted its tail so the pointed tip was just above his head. With Ash’s massive fireball baring down on him, Otozek’s tail tip split again. This time, it shredded into hundreds of thousands of tiny strands, so much that it looked like one solid shape. The tail split apart and bent backwards, stretching and changing shape as it wrapped around the demon’s body from head to toe. Ash’s fireball slammed into the demon’s strange pod-like tail cocoon that it had hidden inside.

The demon prince’s pod-like protection disappeared in the inferno Ash dropped on him. The boy concentrated on increasing the size and heat of his flames, turning the burner up to eleven. When the ground was scorched black, Ash released the flame attack, certain nothing could survive. At the very least, he expected the demon’s defenses to be breached.

What he saw when the flames had dissipated came as a terrifying shock. The blackish pod that reminded Ash of a seed was unharmed. Once the heat had let up, the pod split at the bottom and deposited the demon prince with not a scratch on him.

“
No way
…” said Ash in utter shock. “
That was my strongest attack
.
It doesn’t make sense. My flames burned through your stingers before
…”

“What you just saw was another skill,” replied Otozek. “My second ability: Ultra Shell. The shell that my tail turns into is made from a different composition than my stingers. It’s more like your fingernails. It’s also hard as diamonds and completely impenetrable.”

Holy crap
, Ash thought, speechless.
I’ve got to escape
!

Around this time Ash realized he’d only been moving further into the valley and away from the only walking path out. In such a narrow canyon, flight would be trickier. Especially if he needed to evade possible attacks from the demon’s tail. The boy still didn’t know if there was a limit to how far the tail’s stretchy stingers could go, but he knew they’d definitely pursue him if he fled.

Ultra Relax, Ultra Shell…
thought Ash.
I need an ultra escape plan
!

In that moment, Ash went from fight to flight. Unfortunately his powerful enemy blocked the route to the walking path. His only means of escape from the valley, unless he went by air. He doubted the possibility of getting past those stingers. Not with his bum leg. He decided he’d have a better shot at escaping by air and brought out his wings.

I was completely wrong about fighting him
, the boy thought. He beat his wings and took off.
There’s no way I could beat him
.
He’s way too strong
!
It’s like fighting Prince Killian, but ten times worse
!
Even Aura would have trouble fighting him
,
and he’s got a death touch
!

As Ash flew he caught sight of Prince Otozek below. The demon prince was lifting his tail. He pointed the tip at Ash, tracing the boy’s path as he flew. Ash had a bad feeling about his enemy’s actions, and banked hard to the right just in case. Right in time too, as something shot past him and lodged into the canyon wall. Ash circled in place and inspected the damage.

Embedded into the side of the canyon was a black cylinder about the size of a pen. Ash knew from experience the tip would have been really sharp, sharp enough to pierce stone it seemed. Judging by its short size, it looked like some sort of projectile dart attack.

Great
,
he can shoot them too
, Ash thought.

He didn’t have time to think much else. Otozek, with his tail leveled at Ash, fired off several more of his stinger darts. He changed the angle and elevation of each shot, making Ash really work to dodge them all. The boy twisted and turned through the air like the Red Baron. Hard as he tried, he still felt the stinging sharp pain between his shoulders.

Everything went numb. The boy couldn’t control his wings anymore. He could barely tell if they were even still out as he dropped from the sky, trying his hardest to just recall them in to his body.

Ash’s body hit canyon wall and bounced. Lucky for him, everything from his torso to his arms went tingly and numb. His wings, which hadn’t been recalled like he’d hoped, were wrapping around the boy as he rolled and fell to the bottom of the valley, back down to where Prince Otozek waited patiently.

By the time the boy’s body rolled into the bottom of the canyon, Otozek stood ready to intercept. The boy was in rough shape, with thick cuts and bruises all over his wings and body. Something finally went right and his wings sucked into his back. But he could see the figure of the demon standing over him and felt death breathing down his neck.

His arms, mostly numb, had to be flailed till he could get his hand into his pocket. He had just enough feeling left in his hands to be able to grip the pillbox. He rolled and tumbled on the ground till his hand came out of his pocket, spilling the pills on the ground.

Otozek paused and sniffed the air. “Strange time for a meal,” he said.

Ash didn’t bother with a response. He was busy wiggling around on the ground, trying to move his face closer to the pile of pills in the sand. He wriggled like a maggot until his face was inches off the ground, the pills just beneath his mouth. Ash chomped down as wide as he could spread his jaws, taking in the pile of pills and a large chunk of sand.

He swallowed it all in one big gulp. This caused him to start coughing and gagging as he choked the sandy mixture down. The demon prince approached him without fear. He knew there was no way the human could escape.

But Ash surprised Otozek by regaining control of his body. The boy pushed himself off the ground with his arms and legs, his eyes bloodshot and strained. Flames billowed off Ash’s body as the boy let out a low growl. Consuming so many of the pills had given the boy a tremendous boost of power, but there was a downside. He wouldn’t be conscious much longer.

As the boy regained his footing and prepared to make a break for it, flames still shooting out of his body, the blue Prince struck with his tail. The movement was too fast for Ash to match. Otozek’s tail split into five separate stingers. Two pierced his arms. Two pierced his legs. And the last one pierced Ash in the back of his head.

The five stingers stuck inside Ash, keeping him propped up on his feet, unable to fall forward. When the boy was good and stable, Otozek removed his stingers. He pulled his tail back to enjoy the sight of the frozen human. Ash resembled a statue.

“That was a small dose, too,” said Otozek. “Far less than it took to control the others. It should be more than sufficient for a
human
. Just stay where you are for now.”

Ash stood silently, arms at his side. Though he was terrified for life just moments ago, he felt a disturbing calm gripping his body. Like being wrapped in a warm, snuggly, blanky. Ash just didn’t want to move.

Can’t run. Can’t fight,
the boy thought, barely holding onto consciousness.
What’s the point in trying
?
I can either run myself tired trying to escape the inevitable, or I can just relax and let it all go. I’m dead tired, too. Why the heck not relax a little before I’m dead
?
It’s not so bad. I can’t even feel anything. I’ll just stay right here where he told me to and relax.

“Wait right there while I possess your body.”

Otozek took a step closer. He wanted to be in front of Ash to enter the boy’s body through his mouth. But before he could step in front of him, an even quicker event happened.

Someone with wings outstretched flew in and snatched Ash off the ground. The greater demon’s tail slashed at the air and made contact with skin, but it wasn’t enough to bring the person down. Otozek fired off several stinger darts but the stranger flew around a bend in the canyon and out of sight way too fast. Otozek made a break for the devil body of Commander Stryd he’d left laying in the valley. He needed cover before he could exit and pursue.

As they flew from the valley leaving Prince Otozek behind, Ash regained enough control of his body to bend his neck and look at his savior. He looked up to see Aralia’s determined face, hauling him off to safety in her arms. The boy felt a debt of gratitude to the girl before he passed out from all the toxins in his body.

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Get it Together

The scared girl fled through the streets of West Hell. She was certain the strange being she’d rescued her friend from could be nothing other than a greater demon. The bizarre creatures rarely attacked the devil’s kingdom, but when they did, there was always mass death. The girl and her sister were among the majority of Hell’s devil population that could claim to have lost a loved one to the actions of a greater demon.

Now one of them was after her.

Aralia escaped the canyon valley by flight, but as soon as she cleared the rim of the canyon she dropped to the ground. The weight of the unconscious boy she carried was too much for her to sustain flight for very long, especially at such a steep incline. She made it to a more populated area without the blue demon catching up, which she considered a decent head start. But she could hear the invasion sirens sounding in East and North Hell. There were more demons on the loose in the kingdom.

If Ash was a target of theirs, that would make her one too. Aralia rounded a corner onto a street where some people were still congregating. Many of them carried weapons, prepared to fight if they had to. The sky was bathed in crimson as the Royal Guards flew into a confused state of action. They seemed to be lacking proper instruction. Even if they weren’t sure what to do, the invasion sirens told the soldiers which part of the kingdom they should be heading to.

No wonder he didn’t want me bugging him
, Aralia thought. She wanted to look at the slumbering boy’s face but couldn’t spare a second of her concentration.
Of course, it’s a good thing I followed him or else he’d be
…

The girl tried not to think about what could have been and focused on her escape route. She paused to catch her breath close to the group of armed men standing near a beer cart.

“Hey girl!” one of the men said. “You should evacuate! The public safe zone is just a block
that way
. They have a medic there who can patch up your friend. Get going!”

Raley didn’t like the idea of isolating herself into a stuffy, cramped public safety zone. She saw what the blue demon was capable of. She knew the walls of the safe zone building wouldn’t be enough to keep that thing out. She knew exactly who she needed to find. The problem was that she had no way of knowing how to find them, unless Ash woke up and told her.

That didn’t seem like it was going to happen anytime soon.

So Raley ran, boy in arms, to the only place she could think of. It was definitely the closest place that came to mind. Though she’d only recently committed the location to memory, it was one that would be etched in her mind forever. The orphan girl rushed through The Fire Arcade ignoring the booths with prizes on display and the isolated concentrations of devil muscle congregating here and there. She ignored their stares of pity as she passed by.

All she knew was that she had to get Ash home.

She ran through the residential area of West Hell, a vast series of structures carved straight into a long and winding canyon. In some areas the canyon walls were thin enough to carve straight through, connecting to an adjacent pocket valley. Around the rim of the canyon walls were the Royal Guard watchtowers.

Raley cut across town heading for Ash’s house. It might have been the closest place she could think of, but it was still on the other side of West Hell in the newer, ritzier expansion. It was the type of place she would never go if she didn’t know people that lived there. She still had about a mile to go, but already she was beginning to tire. Her arms were burning and she could barely feel her legs anymore. All the adrenaline her body produced earlier had run out. Now she was powered solely by fear.

And fear can be
quite
tiring. As she ran for her life, and the life of her comrade, she heard a welcomed voice calling out from above.

“Hey! Raley! And is that…
Ash
?”

The girl stopped dead in her tracks as the black-haired man with the gauntlet on his right hand dropped out of the sky, landing in front of her.

“
What happened
?” Aura asked, stepping in to examine his friend. Oddly, his jet-black hair and clothing were soaking wet.

Aralia was overcome with fluctuating emotions, so much so that she couldn’t properly respond. She had no more breath to speak, even if she wanted to. She could feel the water droplets that had been amassing in the corners of her eyes starting to leak. A sudden immense joy replaced her overwhelming distress.

“
Mister Aura Sir
!” Aralia said, tears of happiness flowing. “
It’s… after… us
!” she cried between her heavy sobs. Some of the tears fell on Ash’s face as his head rested in the girl’s lap. The warm tears were not enough to wake the boy.

“Whoa girl!” said Aura, kneeling to help keep Ash from spilling onto the gravel. “Slow down. Take deep breathes. Relax. You’re safe now. You’re with the Drax man.” Aura flashed her the dazzling smile that won so many young girl’s hearts in the Kingdom of Hell already.

“I just finished cleaning up a mess that some greater demon made, in fact. Now tell me, what happened to you and Ash?”

“We have to move!” said Aralia, craning her neck to look behind them. “He might still be after us!”

“Who?”

“The
Commander
!”

“
Stryd
?” Aura asked.

“Yes!” Aralia replied. “Err…
no
. It was, but it wasn’t! He was
possessed
!
We gotta go
!” The girl tried sitting up, but could not stand and lift the boy. Her legs were still trembling too much to stand on.

“No,” Aura replied. The death toucher was totally calm. He looked Aralia directly in the eyes before breaking his stare and climbing to his feet.

“Let him come,” said Aura. “
I’d very much like to meet the demon that did this to Ash
.”

Aura turned his back on the girl and stepped forward. His left hand gripped the gauntlet on his right hand. He pulled it off and clenched his dark fist. Blue bolts of shining soul power shot in every direction. The boy gripped his wrist and held his cursed hand high.

“
You hear me demon
?” Aura yelled. “
I’m the famous death toucher, Aura Draxler
!
I just death-punched your fish friend, and I’d love to do the same to you
!
Come try to attack Ash again
!
I dare you
!”

Ten terrifying seconds passed where Aura emitted his freakishly powerful soul energy. He let out as much as he could, using his anger for fuel. He was aiming to intimidate the demon. The blue electricity his cursed hand produced flashed and crackled more brilliantly than he’d ever seen. The boy’s overwhelming power did not only succeed in driving off the pursing demon, but also made a young girl nearly pee herself out of fright.

At last, the death toucher cut his flow of soul power. The blue sparking jolts of electricity stopped spraying out of Aura’s hand. He turned to face the girl again, a pleasant smile adorning his face.

“Guess I scared him off,” he said. “Come on. Let’s take Ash home.”

The two worked together to lift Ash up to his feet and let the girl up. They both wrapped one of Ash’s arms around their shoulders and carried the boy through the streets, failing to notice the boy’s open eyes.

“
Guys
…”

“You say something, Raley?” Aura asked.

“Not me,” Aralia replied. “I thought
you
said something just now.”

“
Guys…
!”

Aura and Raley tilted and turned their heads to get a better look at Ash’s face. Now they saw his eyelids wide open, his eyes shifting side-to-side, alert. His jaws clenched as he struggled to move his mouth.

“
Para…
” he said, forcing his muscles to move. “…-
lyzed
!”

“He’s awake!” Aralia said with glee.

“I think he said he’s paralyzed,” said Aura. “So that’s what the demon did to you, huh? You did well just to survive and make it back to us with that information. Good job, pal. Now let’s get you home safe.”

By the time Shiva returned home to West Hell the invasion sirens had gone silent. After the defeats of Orkazek and Podavek, the public was to believe the demon threat inside the kingdom had been extinguished. Only a handful of devils knew the truth. But the groups of armed citizens taking to the streets could only mean that more were becoming suspicious. A state of panic appeared on the horizon.

“Big news,” Shiva said as soon as she passed through the front door. “The demons have infiltrated the Royal Guard. And a
Captain
, no less.” She stepped inside with Uverstarr right behind her.

Aura Draxler sat across the living room in ‘his’ recliner. He changed into dry clothes and caught a short catnap after escorting his friends home. He lifted his head and yawned in response to Shiva. He raised a curious eyebrow at the little annoying orphan boy.

“What’s
he
doing here?” Aura Asked.

“Hey! I just helped Prin-sis over there kick some demon butt!” the boy said, stomping his foot. “Or at least, I think we did… I don’t remember seeing a butt anywhere on that demon. I should have asked it about that when I had the chance.”

“That’s just great,” Aura replied, his eyes closed, his head resting comfortably. “Raley’s upstairs in Ash’s room. Go say hi.”

“Ral’s here?” the boy replied. He moved upstairs and disappeared.

“
Knock first
!” Aura called after the boy as he went.

Shiva went to the kitchen and ran cold water from the sink faucet. “I take it your demon encounter went well?” she asked, sticking her lips to the stream to drink.

“I nearly drowned like
a hundred
times,” the sullen death toucher replied. “Other than that, it was a piece of cake. Just an ugly fish. Nothing special.”

Shiva lifted her head and wiped the excess water from around her mouth. “My opponent was an annoying armored insect. You just never know what you’re going to get.” After drinking her fill, Shiva stepped into the living room to talk more with her teammate. A sudden thought dawned on her.

“Wait, why is Aralia in Ash’s room?!” she said, staring at the part of the wall that divided their living room and Ash’s bedroom.

“It’s quite the story,” said Aura. “I was lucky I ran into her when I did. She was terrified, running through the streets of West Hell with Ash in her arms. She told me everything on the walk home. Ash fought that demon Prince guy. Apparently, he attacks with a long tail that can paralyze you. That’s what happened to Ash. We were lucky that Aralia was there to rescue him.”

“That girl saved Ash?” said Shiva. “And they’re
alone together
in his room right now?”

“Until Uverstarr walked in on them, yeah,” Aura replied with a shrug.

Shiva left the living room and went upstairs. Instead of turning to go to her bedroom, she went the opposite way toward the boy’s bedrooms. Without so much as a courtesy knock Shiva burst into Ash’s room.

“Oh, that’s not even the
worst
part!” Aura called behind her. But she was already gone and definitely not paying attention to him anymore.

Inside Ash’s darkened bedroom, Shiva found an odd scenario playing out. Ash was wide-awake sitting upright in bed, propped up by about four pillows behind his back. He wasn’t moving much, except for his mouth. Aralia sat at his bedside, hand feeding the boy grapes. Ash looked reluctant and embarrassed, especially when his eyes strained wide open at seeing Shiva enter the room.

Uverstarr stood by Ash’s desk, engrossed in the human’s small collection of items from Earth he’d found or bought since moving to Hell. There was his ipod, which he received from Shiva. The battery died long ago. Uverstarr picked up an aerosol can of deodorant and pressed the cap down, spraying the stinky substance through the air and making him sneeze. He put the can down and picked up a book. The cover depicted a young looking boy changing into some kind of Earth creature. He mostly tried to ignore Shiva, after putting up with her for so long already.