Devil Ash Deceit (Devil Ash Saga) (40 page)

Looks like I can never truly escape Death,
Aura thought.
Even if I do, He still takes away the people I care about.

* * * *

The death toucher walked the winding cavernous pathway back to the prison. He was glad to finally be going
up
. To him, it felt like he’d been down there for months. When Aura emerged, he was greeted by a small group of Royal Guards accompanied by Goddard. Standing behind the Royal Advisor was a beat up looking Ash.

Aura hustled over to his friend while they were just shoving Lionel into a cell next to Phoenix. The leader of the rebels looked like Ash had really done a number on him, with torn clothing and black scorch marks all over his body and face. The two captured men sat on the hard stone floor of their cells with their faces expressionless, looking down. They would use their remaining time trying not to think about their inevitable execution to come.

“You survived,” Aura said, slapping Ash lightly on his shoulder.

“Yeah, I guess so,” Ash replied.

“I knew you’d be alright.”

“You two!” Goddard said, turning his attention to the boys. “You did spectacular! Words cannot express my gratitude!” The boys awkwardly nodded their heads in acknowledgement, trying to avoid gazing at their captured enemies. “Just tell me, and be honest, did either of you get a look at what was inside those rooms you entered?”

Ash hesitated to reply, but Aura spoke up immediately to cover his silence. “Just an old well. Nothing special, really. I was more focused on keeping the enemy from reaching it. So what’s down there, anyway?”

“Family secret, I’m afraid,” Goddard told him. “And how about you Ash? Be honest now! You didn’t try to go inside that hut, did you?”

“I already told you no,” Ash said, trying to muster up some enthusiasm behind his words. “I couldn’t look away for even a second. That’s the only way I was able to beat him.” Ash felt bad about lying to Goddard, but he couldn’t tell him the truth. That would have to remain between him and Aura, the next time he got a chance to speak with his friend in private.

“Very good then!” Goddard said, seeming satisfied with their answers. “Now let’s all get out of this dingy dungeon. We’ll have to increase security to this area from now on, as well.”

The Royal Advisor turned to leave with the rest of the Royal Guard following like obedient dogs. Ash and Aura stole one last look back at the men they left behind. Even though they were enemies, the boys couldn’t help but feel they were leaving behind two good men to die.

“You okay?” Aura asked.

“I don’t know,” Ash replied.

“Yeah,” said Aura. “Me too.”

Wilhelm Satan moved with stealth down the empty side streets of the Kingdom. When he encountered a demon, he’d end its life as hastily as possible and keep moving. His goal was to find the rebel soldiers,
before
his murder-happy grandson killed them all. Turning a corner, the old Satan almost ran directly into a masked rebel warrior heading towards the final battle at the castle courtyard.

The rebel drew his sword at the sight of the man. Wilhelm raised his hands at once and said “It’s me!” The rebel lowered his blade and listened.

“The invasion has failed. Flee now!”

The rebel nodded in understanding. At once he removed his mask and cloak, tucking them away inside a small bag. The man rushed out into the street, heading west. Wilhelm sighed with relief at having saved at least one life today. The Great Satan pressed on, aiming to assist as many of the rebel soldiers as possible.

* * * *

All around the Kingdom of Hell, battles were taking place in the streets leading up to the Royal Castle. The Royal Guard stood its ground in the castle courtyard, which seemed to be where the final battle would occur. If the rebels broke through here, they would retake the castle and the King.

A smaller lad that had only been a member of the Royal Guard for one week ran across the courtyard terrified. Bounding after him was the rebel’s special weapon: a demon wargi. Riding atop it, controlling it somehow, was a rebel warrior. The man wore a hood and goggles to hide his identity.

The unfortunate soldier ran until he could go no further, trapped in the courtyard by the castle wall. The lad turned around and drew his sword, knees trembling. The beast’s humongous teeth were about to bare down on him, but another soldier entered the fight first. With a swing of one giant axe, the wargi’s teeth shattered to a hundred pieces.

The green Royal Guard lad could not believe his eyes. Standing before him was a single man, with what looked like a large barrel full of weapons strapped to his back. It was the former Royal Weaponsmith Amos Draxler who stood triumphant as the wargi kicked its rider off and ran away, tail between its legs.

“Stand up and fight!” Amos commanded the poor lad.

“Y-yes sir!” he squeaked.

Surrounding the two of them were ten rebel warriors, all slowly advancing with their weapons drawn. Amos’s giant axe had suffered some damage when he struck the wargi earlier. Just like the demon’s teeth, his axe also crumbled to pieces. Amos dropped the broken weapon and reached behind his back, fishing for something else.

The first rebel to attack made his move. The man charged in brandishing a sword. Just as he struck, Amos pulled from his back-barrel a sword to defend himself. The two of them locked blades in a stalemate, trying to push one another back. Another rebel decided to join in the fun. That man jumped high into the air, aiming for the preoccupied Amos.

With startling accuracy Amos reached behind his back with his free hand and pulled out a single throwing dagger. “Wait your turn!” he shouted, hurling the dagger at the rebel. He kicked away the man he was holding back with his sword and jumped back. The airborne rebel dropped to the ground screaming in pain. The dagger was lodged in his right shoulder.

Amos pulled out another sword and kept moving. With two blades at his disposal, he charged brazenly ahead at the next couple of rebels. It took him just three movements to disarm three more men. The group of defeated rebels took off running in fear. Amos took a step after them but another wargi rider moved in to block his path.

The two stood sizing each other up for a moment. “Catch!” the rebel shouted, tossing something down to Amos. The weapons master knew better than to go accepting gifts from the enemy and let the object fall to the ground in front of him. It appeared to be a small bone, like a demon chicken’s leg. Amos didn’t have time to think about what it meant as the wargi snapped into action, charging forward with its mouth wide open.

Amos jumped back just in time to miss getting chomped on. He threw his swords forward, hoping to slow down the enormous demon hound. This wargi was smart enough to leap out of the way of Amos’s weapons, and the swords dropped harmlessly to the ground. The weapons master reached behind his back once more, this time pulling out a wooden bow staff. The wargi stopped charging abruptly and sat before Amos, whining playfully like a puppy.

“You want this, boy?” Amos asked.

“No! Bad! Don’t you dare!” the rider on the demon shouted, clinging to the fur on the creature’s neck to keep from falling off.

“
Go fetch
!” Amos shouted, tossing the wooden staff across the courtyard. The massive demon tore off after it, trampling several of the invading rebels in the process. Amos smiled in satisfaction watching the chaos he’d caused. Sensing danger, he grabbed two more weapons out of his barrel and ended up with a thick club in one hand and a long spear in the other.

Several more rebels attacked him at once. With a swing of his mighty club one rebel hit the ground. Another man stayed back a little to fire a flame at him, but was quickly impaled by Amos’s spear. Winding up like a baseball batter, the weapons master swung wildly and took out another three rebel soldiers with his club. The ground started rumbling, an ominous sign.

Bounding back into battle was the same wargi rider, still anxious to defeat Amos. The rider prepared twin fireballs in his hands, ready to launch at his enemy. Amos dropped his club and spear and pulled two new weapons out quickly. He got just what he needed, too. The man grinned.

In his left hand he held another sword. He tossed the sword as high into the air as he could. In his right hand he held a bolas: two weights connected by a length of rope. Amos tossed his bolas forward, aiming low. As he intended, the wargi’s stubby front legs became wrapped together, causing it to drop snout-first into the grass. Amos leapt high into the air. Catching his sword in midair, the weapons master drop-slashed his rebel opponent before he could so much as toss a fireball to stop him.

The rider dropped to the ground with a bloody wound forming across his chest. His demon mount tried desperately to bite at the rope that bound him. Unfortunately, the demon’s legs were so short it could not reach the rope with its mouth. Eventually it got up and limped away like a moving tripod. Amos suddenly realized he had no more opponents to fight, as the only rebels surrounding him were either unconscious or dead.

“All clear here!” Amos shouted to no one in particular.

“We’ve got them on the run, men!” Commander Stryd shouted from the castle wall. He was still slouching in pain from his stab wound and hadn’t done anything more than shoot a couple of fireballs at the rebels. Instead, he focused on directing his soldiers from the relative safety of the castle wall high above the battlefield of the courtyard.

Like he said, the rebels were outnumbered and beating a retreat. Most of them brought out their wings and took to the skies, dodging enemy fireballs and Royal Guards as they flew. Others retreated on foot, only using their wings to help them jump clear over the castle walls. Once they were on the ground or in the sky, the rebels all scattered in different directions.

“After them, men!” Stryd shouted at the top of his lungs, his voice becoming hoarse from all the screaming he’d been doing today. Several of the Captains led smaller units out of the castle courtyard, pursuing their fleeing foes. Some lesser demons still roamed the streets, but were quickly overwhelmed and slaughtered by the surge of devils fighting back.

Goddard, followed by his entourage of guards, emerged from the castle lobby. Ash and Aura followed after. The two boys moved slower than the rest of the group, lagging behind everyone else. They were exhausted from their battles and had much on their minds, but didn’t want to talk about it just yet for fear of being overheard. They still didn’t understand why they both felt so bad. Goddard approached the ledge of the castle entrance that overlooked the courtyard and smiled, seeing the coup ending.

The wedding guests that
didn’t
storm out of the castle with Amos were right behind them. The group that consisted mostly of nobles crept cautiously out of the castle. They all seemed to be flocking around one person: Shiva.

“Leave me alone! Stop following me!” Shiva could be heard shouting. Glebeck and Machmann swarmed beside her, asking questions and taking notes. Behind her, Bliley and Rumbaugh trailed with King Satan, all looking out of breath and terrified. They were quite old and fat, and it had been a very exciting and exhausting day for them. They weren’t used to that kind of action.

Shiva spotted Goddard and called out to him excitedly. Before she could reach him she ran into Ash and Aura. She locked eyes with Ash, ignoring the various questions still being posed by the swarming Nobles. Ash smiled at his friend, giving her the thumbs up sign. In an unexpected move, Shiva threw her arms around the boy. It was a good thing she’d changed into a softer, pajama-like outfit and wasn’t wearing her armor or else she might of actually hurt Ash with the hug.

Ash kept his arms out to the sides, afraid to embrace the girl back. Behind her back, Aura shot Ash a baffled look. Ash responded with an equally confused face. Just as he was becoming comfortable in her embrace, Shiva pulled away suddenly. “Thank you,” she said to him. Before Ash could even open his mouth she turned to leave.

“I beat up a rebel too,” Aura said, holding out his arms for a hug.

Shiva smirked. “In your dreams, Draxler,” the girl said as she left them.

“
Sure, hug only the guy who beat up your fiancé
,” Aura muttered.

Shiva joined Goddard to observe the situation below. The fighting was over, and only a few Royal Guards remained in the courtyard. Commander Stryd barked orders to subdue any of the wounded rebels that were still lying around. Most of them were dead or unconscious, so it wasn’t a very tough job. The wedding guests filed down the stairs and into the courtyard, uncertain of what they should be doing.

Outside of the castle gates, many of the Kingdom’s citizens were bravely poking their heads out of their shops and homes to see if the rebellion was over. Even Prince Darko, who’d been outside the castle gates eliminating rebels and demons alike, came walking back triumphantly. Soon it was like a parade, as more and more citizens poured out of their shelters to follow the Prince back to the castle.

The march led by Darko entered the castle courtyard and spread out. It didn’t take long for the entire square to fill up, and soon Goddard and Shiva were on the move. They walked on top of the castle wall moving towards the gate into the courtyard. When they arrived at the end of the wall they could see even more citizens showing up outside the castle. It was time for some crowd control. Their position at the courtyard gate was the best spot to be heard by the most people.

“Citizens of Hell!” Goddard called out, waving his arms to hush the crowd. “As you now know, the royal wedding was interrupted by a full-scale rebellion. The leader of the rebels was none other than Lady Shiva’s supposed fiancé: Phoenix Dawnfall! But their rebellion was stopped! We have captured him and several other high-ranking rebel officers.”

“Which man captured the leader?” Glebeck shouted, fighting his way through the crowd to get closer to the Royal Advisor.

“Who’s the Royal Guard we all have to thank?” Machmann bellowed, tagging along behind her boss.

“The people responsible for putting an end to the rebellion and capturing the leading rebels were members of my very special team, consisting of Lady Shiva and her two subordinates.” Goddard pointed across the courtyard to where Ash and Aura still stood at the top of the stairs near the castle entrance. “There they are! The human Ash Kaplan and the death toucher Aura Draxler! They’re the ones who are most to thank! And let’s not forget our Royalty, Lady Shiva Satan and Prince Darko!”

The entire crowd inside the courtyard turned and gawked at the boys while everyone outside applauded Shiva and her brother. With more than a thousand eyes on him, Ash was finally able to crack a half-hearted smile, even giving a little wave. The crowd erupted into cheers and applause. Aura was more suited to being the center of attention and immediately began waving to any cute girls he saw in the gathering. Ash’s smile quickly faded back into the sorrowful expression he’d adopted since leaving Phoenix behind in the prison.

Shiva noticed her teammate’s gloomy disposition from all the way across the courtyard. It made little sense to her why he would appear depressed when they were receiving the praise and honor they deserved for their heroic actions. It soon became clear to her that it was an empty victory however, as she’d lost more than she’d saved. Now she understood why Ash was being such a downer. Thinking about it began to bring her down as well.

“You should probably say something too,” Goddard told her, jabbing the girl with his elbow.

Shiva reluctantly stepped up the edge of the wall, as the crowd grew silent once again. The girl hated public speaking, even more so when the topic would be her own embarrassment at having her wedding fall through. She cleared her throat and scanned the crowd, trying to buy time to think of something to say. The leering eyeballs of the public weren’t helping her concentration, either.

“Umm…” Shiva stammered, still struggling to find the right words. “So the wedding is off, obviously…” The crowd remained as silent as they were anxious. “My team is…” Shiva could feel her heart about to leap out of her chest. Everyone in the entire Kingdom was staring at her. “My team is…”