Devil Ash Deceit (Devil Ash Saga) (20 page)

The enormous demon stopped flailing as it came to its senses. It had never known danger in its life, and this little devil boy was the first to teach it a lesson in fear. This sent the bear into a wild rage. Aura knew his only chance of making it out of this alive was by running away. Ignoring the Prince, ignoring the demon, Aura turned tail and fled.

The demon pursued, and Aura took to the tree branches above. After only a few seconds the two disappeared from Darko’s sight. The Prince sighed and shrugged.

“
Death toucher
,” he said. “I fear your powers may have been drastically exaggerated.”

* * * *

Shiva stood utterly speechless from her teacher’s words. She struggled to comprehend what he asked her, but there was no more breath in her lungs.

“Do you mean it?” she asked.

“Every word.”

“Can I have some time to think about it?”

“Of course. Take all the time you need,” Phoenix replied. “The sun started to shrink a while ago. You’ve come a long way. You’ve got your demon, now head back to the safe house.” Phoenix took off through the forest, leaving almost as fast as he appeared.

He did zigzag patterns, trying to hide his destination by disappearing behind the trees. Shiva realized what he was doing and couldn’t help but smile at his actions. After saving her life and embarrassing her, Phoenix made it up to her by not revealing the direction back to the safe house.

What a gentleman,
the girl thought.

Knowing that Phoenix likely took off in the wrong direction on purpose, Shiva started walking in the direction that
felt
right to her. She slipped her blindfold back over her eyes and returned to ‘determined’ mode. Her small but significant chat with Phoenix allowed her enough rest. She could move at top speed once again.

She found that even with her body rested, her mind was still in shambles. Phoenix had really rocked her world with his question, and as a result the distracted girl missed a tree branch and plummeted to the ground below. Deciding it might be safer to travel by ground for the time being, Shiva settled for a brisk walk back through the forest.

She passed uneventfully enough through the forest for a long time, still lost in thought. Then she heard something that didn’t belong in the forest ambience heading towards her.
Two fireballs,
she thought.
They’re heading straight for me, but…
Shiva turned her body sideways so that the fireballs passed right by her on either side.

Hah! Too far apart!
she thought, triumphant. Then a metal chain caught her by the throat and slammed her head into the ground.

As she struggled to stay conscious, all she could think was:
Why… a chain?
Through blurry eyes she saw her attacker standing before her: a woman wearing a cloak and mask.

Aura ran through the thick forest tree line as if his life depended on it, which it did. An enormous momma bear demon was right behind him. The enraged monster chased after the boy on its hind legs, running like a giant person. The demon slashed apart any trees in its path, ensuring that nothing would stop it from reaching its prey.

Damn that overgrown teddy!
Aura thought.
Was it too powerful for my death touch to work on? But I’ve killed a greater demon with it before! Was that time just a fluke? Some sort of saved-up ‘power burst’ or something? Whatever it was, I should by all means be able to do it again!

The demon closed in, and with the forest becoming more and more dense Aura was having a harder time moving forward. The boy’s heart pounded like a jackhammer. His foot got caught on something on the forest floor, tripping him to the ground. He didn’t catch himself properly, and ended up slamming his face into the dirt. In a matter of seconds, the demon would be on him.

Aura had enough time to roll over and lock eyes with the demon, but little else. The bear demon bared its enormous fangs and went in for a bite. Before it could chomp down on the terrified death toucher, the serpent-masked rebel leapt out of the treetops.

“
Out of my way!”
he yelled, slashing forward with his swords. The strikes from his blades cut an X-shape across the demon’s face. The big bear roared in pain as the serpent-masked man rolled over the top of the demon’s head and kicked off, rocketing into the sky once more and slamming the demon’s scarred face into a nearby tree.

Ash appeared from the treetops above. The sight of his comrade lying on the ground caught his eye. The boy dropped down and rushed to Aura’s side immediately.

“Aura? What are you doing?” Ash asked.

“We…” Aura muttered.

“Whatever! The important thing is that you’re alright!”

“We should…”

“You’ll never guess who I’m chasing! It’s a rebel, Aura! A real rebel is here in the Hellwood! He attacked me with two swords, and he seemed really strong! But I had him on the run with my flames! How cool is that, Aura?”

“We should…
go!
”

“
Aura
?”

Behind Ash, the demon bear was up on four feet again. The creature had gone from enraged to
berserk.
Ash became aware of the monster’s hot, raunchy breath gusting at him from behind. The boy turned around at once expecting to see something
his own
size. He was met with the killer red eyes of a vicious, mad demon. He had only seconds to comprehend this, before another foe showed up on the scene.

Through the tree line emerged the rhino-centaur demon that Ash had encountered earlier. It plowed through the scene unaware of the drama unfolding there, knocking the bear demon to the ground once more. The two demons tripped over each other, utterly confused. This gave Ash the chance he needed to make a break for it.

“What are you just sitting around for?!” Ash shouted at his shell-shocked friend. “
We should go
!”

Ash lifted Aura to his feet and the two boys skedaddled. The rhino-centaur was the first to get back on its feet and give chase. The demon bear was not far behind it, still looking to feast on some fresh devil.

* * * *

A bull-masked rebel stalked his prey across the Hellwood. By total luck, the man had run into an unexpected target not accounted for in the plot. Seeing this surprise guest and catching him off-guard, the rebel soldier couldn’t pass up the opportunity to spy on him. The buff rebel made absolutely sure to stay out of sight at all times, because he was tracking the deadliest prey in all of Hell:
Prince Darko Satan.

The Prince had his clothes back on and stalked the forest with no attempt at even trying to hide his presence from any of the dangerous demons around. The bull-masked rebel watched as Darko attracted the attention of a carnivorous hair-hog, only to cut the creature down in two slashes. Any woodland dwelling creature he came across was either cut or burned to death.

The rebel could admit the Prince was talented at slaying demons, but he had yet to see how strong Darko truly was. He followed with utmost caution, seeing how dangerous Darko was firsthand. Tracking him was made easy, since all the rebel had to do was follow the trail of demon corpses.

Eventually Darko stopped walking. The rebel examined him from afar, trying to deduce what the hold up was. Peeking out of the shrubbery, the bull-masked rebel saw Darko kneeling down and extending a hand to something on the ground. The rebel waited, his view of the Prince’s obstruction blocked by a bush.

Finally, the creature in question moved closer to Darko’s outstretched hand. The bull-masked rebel saw that it was a small wolf demon cub. The little creature couldn’t of been any more than a few months old. It stared up at Darko with frightened animal eyes, and the Prince called softly to it. When the wolf cub came within reach, Darko extended his hand and started petting the cub gently.

Who would have ever known
, the rebel thought.
Prince Darko has a soft spot for cute little creatures
!
Maybe we could use this against him somehow
…

His thoughts were interrupted by a high-pitched squeal. When he looked back at Darko, the man was holding the demon cub by the skin on its neck. Darko was shaking the little fella violently, trying to make it squeal in pain and fright. His face remained emotionless the whole time.

After a while, a chorus of howls was heard off in the distance. The animal music continued to come closer, until a pack of enormous black furred, red-eyed wolf demons appeared. The wolf pack attacked the Prince, who finally dropped the little cub. With his sword strapped to his back, the Prince engaged the wolves in hand-to-hand combat.

He stopped a charging demon with a single punch to the side of its head. Another one leapt at him, only to be tossed to the side by a kick. A third wolf lunged at him with open jaws, and Darko only managed to grip its bared fangs in time to stop it. The Prince’s soul power flowed freely, and Darko easily tore the animal’s face apart.

He wiped out the rest of the pack in minutes. When every last demon was dead, Darko sat down in the grass for a little rest. The bull-masked rebel sat frozen in terror, still watching from the bush far away. The man stared down at his trembling hands, lost in thought.

I’ve got to be at least that strong to beat Darko,
he thought.
For now, I’d better get back to hunting those kids
!

* * * *

Shiva’s vision cleared; she had managed to stay conscious. She saw her enemy, a woman wearing a far-too revealing outfit under a cloak. The mask she wore was shaped like a heart, but split apart down the middle as if it were broken.

A masked woman…
Shiva thought.
Is she a rebel…
?

The girl had no idea why she’d be under attack from anyone unless they were of the rebel persuasion. If they had been tailing her, waiting for the right moment to strike, then this would certainly be it.

Shiva lifted her head to examine the chain that was holding her throat against the ground. The two fireballs she dodged were connected to the ends of the chain. Those fireballs were now plunged into the forest floor, unmoving.

“What…do you want?” Shiva managed to ask.

The heart-masked woman said nothing in response.

“You… you’re a rebel, aren’t you?”

The woman raised her head slightly, as if lost in thought. She faced Lady Shiva again and spoke. “Do you think your family will miss you after I kill you? Do you think
anyone
will miss you? I don’t.”

Shiva remained stone-faced. “That’s… all you had to say then!” The girl lifted her body off the ground despite the heavy chain and fireballs pinning her down. She had done enough weighted sit-ups in her life that this was hardly a challenge. With a deep gasp for air Shiva was back on her feet. The chain and fireballs remained stuck to the ground as the girl examined the strange weapon further.

“So there’s a chain connecting these two fireballs? Looks interesting. But how does it work?”

The lady rebel snapped her fingers, enlarging the two fireballs at the ends of the chain. With a flick of her fingers, the flames sprang to life and shot towards Shiva. Her neck was once again the target, as the chain spun and wrapped around her. Underneath her mask, the lady rebel smiled at the pain she was inflicting.

Shiva did the unthinkable and grabbed a hold of one of the fireballs. She put everything she had into emitting her own flame and injecting it into her opponent’s. Caught off guard and too far away from her flames, the lady rebel could only watch as Shiva suffocated the fireball and claimed it for herself.

Thanks, gramps
,
for spending a day teaching us how to use the flame thief technique,
thought Shiva.

Now in control of one end of the strange weapon, Shiva focused on sending the chain spinning in the other direction. The chain loosened as it unwrapped, freeing the girl from its choking grasp. The lady rebel grit her teeth in frustration and retaliated by willing the other end of the chain to spin the other direction and entangle her again. By the time she got it to rotate around her captive’s neck once Shiva had already managed to loosen the chain enough to slip her head out.

Shiva had another surprise in store for the lady rebel as well: twin fireballs that she blasted at her. The rebel dodged out of the way, recalling her flame and with it the strange weapon that utilizes fireballs. She kept her distance now, knowing not to underestimate Lady Shiva.

“You said you want to kill me…” said Shiva. “It’s because I’m Royalty, right?”

“Of course,” the lady rebel said. “Though it’s mostly your father and brother we’re after.
You’re
not much of a threat, really. We’re just trying to be thorough.”

“You insult my honor…” Shiva whispered.

“
Hmm
? What’s that? I couldn’t quite hear you!”

“You try to kill me…”

“You’ll have to speak up if you want to be heard!”

“You say you want to kill my
family
?!”

“That’s better! Now we’re using our outdoor voices!”

“
I’ll kick your skanky ass before any of that happens
!”

Shiva threw her plan into motion. Igniting the fireball she still had attached to the rebel’s weapon, the girl started wrapping her enemy’s leg with the chain. The rebel screamed in surprise and tried to make her end of the chain unwrap itself, but it was no use. She only made the situation worse and wound up binding her legs together. This gave Shiva the opening she needed.

The girl dashed forward, twin daggers brandished and ready for action. She would end this battle with one strike and gain the respect of her family for bringing in the first rebel. Her arrogance at believing she’d already won was what did her in. Too many thoughts about victory instead of watching her surroundings, and she was completely caught off guard by the other man who’d been watching and waiting this whole time.

The bird-masked man leapt out of hiding and slashed Shiva across her chest with his sword. The girl, caught completely off guard, was cut deep and dropped to the ground in defeat. The masked man rushed to the lady rebel’s side and tore the chain apart.

“I’m sorry…” the lady rebel whispered.

“
Let’s go
,” the bird-masked rebel said.

“
You’re not leaving
…” said a voice from behind them. The two rebels turned to see their prey, Lady Shiva, still standing despite the long bloody slash across her body. “
No way I’m letting you leave here
…”

The lady rebel jumped to her feet, eager to finish the battle. But the rebel leader raised his hand, signaling her to stand down. He studied the girl instead. Lady Shiva had a desperate look of motivation on her face. She refused to give up even with her life on the line.

“Stand down,” the rebel man said, his voice rocky and harsh. “You can’t win here.”

“
If I let two rebels get away…
” A faint, steamy glow emanated off of Shiva. “
If I don’t kick your asses right here and now… I can’t protect my family! I’d rather die… than let you all dishonor me!”

“Then die,” the rebel man said, forming a fireball in hand.

“I won’t die here!” Shiva said. “
Phoenix is still waiting for my answer
!”

Those words, paired with the faint trace of soul power coming from Shiva, were enough to change the rebel’s mind. He extinguished his fireball. Shiva took a step towards him, barely able to hold her twin daggers up. Her attempt to move forward was too much for her. She fell to her knees and dropped her weapons. Her hands found their way to the bloody gash across her chest. She was on the verge of blacking out, and as she struggled to stay awake once more, she saw her enemies disappearing into the forest. The last thing she saw was the bird-masked man staring back at her as he fled.